Home : The Retro Network

He Man And The Masters Of The Universe: The Cartoon That Helped Build A Toy Empire

The 1980s He Man cartoon became a landmark in toy history, created to support the Masters of the Universe line after FCC rule changes allowed shows built around merchandise.

Burger King’s Forgotten ‘Fine Dining’ Experiment in the 1990s

Burger King’s early 90s Table Service brought popcorn appetizers, Dinner Baskets, new sides, and Bob Uecker and Dan Cortese ads to a slower, friendlier fast‑food experience.

Mighty Max: The Pocket Sized World Of Monsters, Mayhem, And 90s Imagination

Mighty Max turned pocket sized playsets into sprawling worlds of monsters and adventure, proving that 90s imagination did not need big toys to feel enormous.

Batman 1989: The Summer the Dark Knight Ruled Pop Culture

Batman’s 1989 takeover turned a simple movie release into a cultural tidal wave, with the bat emblem dominating stores, fashion, music, and the entire summer landscape.

Cheers: The Show That Made America Feel At Home

Cheers turned a simple Boston bar into one of television’s most beloved gathering places, blending sharp humor, unforgettable characters, and a sense of community that still resonates decades later.

Visionaries Action Figures Are Returning After Nearly 40 Years

Visionaries is officially returning to store shelves for the first time since the late eighties, with Super7 launching new ReAction+ figures based on the classic hologram‑driven toy line.

The Wild History of Action Park and the Chaos That Closed It

Action Park delivered wild, barely supervised thrills where concrete slides, brutal wave pools, and experimental rides made danger part of the fun and ultimately part of its downfall.

The Herculoids: The Most Unusual Heroes Hanna‑Barbera Ever Created

Long before sleek space operas filled the airwaves, The Herculoids gave kids a wild, untamed universe where laser dragons, rock apes, and shape‑shifting blobs defended a distant planet with raw, primal energy.

The Rise of the Personal Pan Pizza and the BOOK IT Generation

For eighties and nineties kids, the Personal Pan Pizza wasn’t just lunch. It was a moment. It was the smell that drifted through the mall, the hot pan placed on a red plastic tray, and the feeling that you finally had a pizza that belonged entirely to you.

Construx: The Toughest, Coolest, Most Underrated Toy of the Eighties

Construx didn’t look like LEGO or Tinkertoys. It looked like something pulled off a futuristic workbench, and for a few magical years in the eighties, it turned bedrooms into engineering labs.

Revisiting Pryor’s Place

Richard Pryor’s Saturday‑morning detour, Pryor’s Place, blended heart, humor, and gentle life lessons, creating a one‑season gem that felt unlike anything else on kids’ TV and still shines as a quirky, forgotten treasure of the ’80s.

Staying Up All Night with Rhonda Shear

Rhonda Shear was an iconic staple of late-night television in the ’90s. She was beautiful, funny, and oozed sex appeal. We pay tribute to her greatness and define why she was so magical.

Visionaries: The Cartoon Where Magic and Machines Went to War

When the many suns of the planet of Prysmos came into alignment, the results were catastrophic. The planet was thrust back into the Dark Ages, where magic equaled power. Because of the cataclysm, the planet

Country Music Stars Who Failed in the Food Business

Having what it takes to become a star in the world of country music doesn’t necessarily mean you have what it takes to succeed in the food and restaurant world. Here are the tales of

10 Discontinued Fast Food Items We Still Want Back

Fast food is as American as McDonald’s fried Apple Pies. The fast-food business constantly innovating, finding ways to turn chicken fingers into Chicken Fries and Chicken Rings. Yet for every smashing success like the McRib,

When Star Wars Became Playable: Why Classic Star Wars Games Still Hit So Hard

Star Wars was never just a movie series. Retro fans have always known that. After 1977 it spilled out everywhere — toy boxes, playgrounds, lunchboxes, comics, TV specials, Saturday morning cartoons, VHS tapes, and eventually

A League of Their Own: The Sitcom That Couldn’t Match the Movie Magic

The Rockford Peaches made a quick jump to prime time in 1993, but their sitcom run was so short and shaky that most viewers never even knew it existed.

From Boom to Bust: The Story of the Nineties Comic Book Gold Rush

The 1990s comics boom erupted with speculation, superstar artists, and flashy new publishers, reshaping the industry before its sudden crash exposed how fragile the frenzy truly was.

How a Little Train Ride Became Dollywood

Dollywood rose from a simple Smoky Mountain train ride, growing through four identities before Dolly Parton transformed it into one of America’s most beloved family parks.

When the Chipmunks Ruled Saturday Mornings

The Chipmunks turned eighties Saturday mornings into a musical playground, blending pop hits, bright animation, and sibling chaos that made Alvin, Simon, and Theodore unforgettable.

Wrestling at the Arcade: 1991’s WWF Wrestlefest

Every spring, I look forward to WWE’s Wrestlemania with all of its pomp and circumstance. Unfortunately this year, with recent CDC guidelines that restrict public gatherings to under 50 people, it looks like for the

10 Great Scenes and Lines from Clueless

Clueless is one of my favorite “comfort food” movies. When I have a tough day at work or I just get tired of watching the news, I either put in my DVD or pull it

The Rural Purge at CBS

In the early 1970s, Fred Silverman undertook a radical plan to remake CBS. What resulted was the programming bloodbath known as the rural purge.

M.U.S.C.L.E: The Pink Wrestler Army That Took Over the 80s

You thought the WWF had some bizarre characters? Please. Anybody who wanted to see some real oddball wrestling action in the mid-80s took a visit down to the M.U.S.C.L.E. arena. Those brawny battlers on television may have

The Alien Autopsy That Fooled the World

In the mid-1990s, when grainy VHS tapes and tabloid TV ruled the airwaves, one broadcast sent shockwaves through living rooms across America: Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? Airing on Fox in 1995, the special promised

When KFC Tried to Build a Roast Beef Empire

For a brief moment in the 1960s, the Colonel tried to expand his kingdom with Kentucky Roast Beef, a forgotten venture that proved not every roadside dream could match his famous chicken.

Plastic Terror: The Jaws Toy That Ruled Toy Boxes

Ideal’s snapping shark turned Jaws into a hands‑on thrill, letting kids recreate the movie’s suspense with a plastic predator that made every game feel like a close call.

The All American Dessert From the ’90s Will Be the Star of Your Fourth of July

Bring a cool burst of nineties nostalgia to your Fourth of July table with this All American Dessert, a sweet and colorful throwback that always shines at a summer cookout.

From Stadium Tours to Pay‑Per‑View Glory: The Story of the Great American Bash

From stadium tours and concerts to pay‑per‑view showdowns, the Great American Bash became a defining summer ritual, capturing the energy and ambition of wrestling’s most transformative era.

Nine Forgotten Detective Shows from the ’80s

Crime dramas ruled the 1980s, yet many promising contenders vanished almost as quickly as they arrived. These forgotten shows capture the era’s energy, ambition, and the risks of chasing a hit.

Super ’70s

Awesome ’80s

Nostalgic ’90s