Pogs / Milk Caps (1990s)

Remember the satisfying clack of a slammer hitting a stack of Pogs? This simple game, originating from cardboard milk bottle caps, exploded into a massive schoolyard craze across the US in the mid-1990s. What made it special was its accessibility – anyone could collect, trade, and play with these colorful discs featuring everything from cartoon characters to abstract designs. Pogs became a form of social currency on playgrounds, fueling intense trading sessions and competitive games where the goal was to flip your opponent's stack and claim the ones that landed face-up. Key features people fondly remember include the diverse artwork on the Pogs themselves and the heavier, often metal or plastic 'slammers' used to play. For a brief, glorious period, Pogs were everywhere, dominating lunch breaks and after-school meetups, defining a specific moment in 90s youth culture.