What's the dumbest fad that you have ever gotten into?

[Mistah K88]

Ah fads, we all have seen and lived through them, whether we regret them or not is a different story. Just in case you don't know a fad is "any form of behavior that develops among a large population and is collectively followed with enthusiasm for some period." Basically I'm talking in terms of fashion, hair, dance, collections, etc. Something you look back on & would laugh your ass off if you saw yourself.

I hit quite a few fads when I was a kid in the 90's like Pogs, but the worst was Pokemon. I was into the anime (wathing it every Saturday) Memorizing the names and order of the 150, and of course played the games. I didn't have enough for the cards, but if I did, I would have burned a good chunk of money on those pieces of paper.

When I was im high school I wore tall tees at one point... looking back, I have to say yikes, because even as a nerd I was perpetuating stereotypes in a way. However, I was simply a stupid kid in high school then. Luckly even then I was still modest enough to know that they couldn't be too long (like too the knees or something like that) like some poeple wore them because that was a little too much. The real funny thing was that I never tried acting hard.

What about you guys? The dreaded Jherri Curl? Wearing your baseball cap backwards? What did you get into that you look back and say "WHAT THE [CENSORED]?"

[Iangould]

Not sure if it counts as a fad but I was completely and utterly convnced by Erich von Danikien's Chariots of the Gods and its sequels when I was a teenager.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Not sure if it counts as a fad but I was completely and utterly convnced by Erich von Danikien's Chariots of the Gods and its sequels when I was a teenager.

You're not the only one. My astronomy teacher and I talked about how we both got into astronomy because of these books and because we were young and impressionable, we believed that something of the like could happen.

Heck, I still read the books, very imaginative and out there.

[The Black Guardian]

I think the winner is: Pet Rock... I mean WTF?!?!

The Lava Lamp was rather pointless, too. I dunno... maybe I didn't do enough drugs.

Lots of fashion things: mood rings (what, I didn't know what mood I was in?!), collecting Swatch watches (and wearing them simultaneously; did I need to tell time that badly?!), ripped jeans, parachute pants...

[Goggindowner]

I want to smack myself every time I think about Pogs.



And then there were HeroClix.......

[Johnny P. Sartre]

POGS!

I never knew how to play them but I found a cases upon cases of them next to my school trash, took them home and just stared at the drawings.

[Jabare]

glow in the dark condoms.

[Paradox]

More fashion than fad, but in the '80s I was dressed in stonewashed jeans with the knees out, pastel t-shirts with a suit coat with the sleeves pushed up and untied high tops.

[mikekerrIII]

High heels on Mens shows in the 70s, With size 14s that meant 6 inch heels on a 6'3" man in japans. It only lasted a short while until I got tired of bending over to get through doors and being unable to stand up in some rooms

[finfangfool]

I had a rat-tail. I'm embarassed to admit this. Also, spent at least a grand on Heroclix cases over the course of that hobby. Kind of wish I still had them, might bring them down to my comic shop and try to get somebody into a game when they do their Magic or 40K tournaments on Saturdays.

[Greg Anderson]

Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-oh! Yo, I spent mad bread on them cards!

[CTpitch]

I had a rat-tail. I'm embarassed to admit this. Also, spent at least a grand on Heroclix cases over the course of that hobby. Kind of wish I still had them, might bring them down to my comic shop and try to get somebody into a game when they do their Magic or 40K tournaments on Saturdays.

Dude I just felt a bonding moment through that post.

[Shellhead]

I don't normally do fads, but I have fallen for a few. Bell-bottoms, the first time around. Rubik's Cube.

Magic: the Gathering was probably the dumbest. Yeah, it's a decent game. The problem is that if you aren't careful, you get into the meta-game arms race where your bank account becomes part of the game. I managed to get out of Magic after spending less than $100, but then moved on to several other CCGs before I finally learned my lesson. And eventually I discovered that Magic was directly inspired by two classic boardgames: Cosmic Encounter and Wiz-War, both of which are back in print now with nice new editions. Buy those two games and stay the hell away from Magic and the other CCGs and you will have all of the fun for a lot less money and hassle.

[Jeff Brady]

glow in the dark condoms.

The Lightsaber effect wasn't impressive?

[Captain Clarkie]

Nearly everything I've ever been into is still around in some shape or form, and I probably still enjoy it, with the exception of Games Workshop.

The only thing I can think of that was a fad, and therefore isn't around anymore, is Garbage Pail Kids cards.