TRN Podcast Pictorial #1: Trapper Keeper, Video Games, and More

Man, it’s hard to believe that the TRN Podcast is already up to a dozen episodes! It’s been a great ride since Mick and I made our debut back in June. We’ve covered some great topics which have stirred up memories long forgotten. The show has given me new eyes now when I make trips to my local thrift stores and antique malls. Items we’ve mentioned in our topic discussions seem to jump out at me now and I find myself immediately taking pictures to text to Mick.

I thought it would be a fun extension of the TRN Podcast to share some of those images here in a pictorial article in case you don’t have a reference point while listening. It will also give us an opportunity to continue those podcast discussions which we’ve been enjoying so much.

After discussing the new Trapper Keeper Game on TRN Podcast 010, I was hyped to purchase a vintage one on Ebay to display my sticker collection. After scrolling through several possibilities, I landed on a Batman Returns “Binder Finder” knockoff. After we expressed our love of Hills Department Store in that same episode, I was overjoyed to discover that my Binder Finder had a Hills price tag unbeknownst to me when I bought it. You can hear me tell the story at the beginning of TRN Podcast 011.

One of my favorite local thrift stores is divided into two sections. One side is your typical thrift store offerings while the other side is about 80% video games from all eras. After our recent discussion about our console experiences in TRN Podcast 009, I decided to seek out some of the earlier games I owned. If you’ll remember from the show, I requested a Sega Master System as a kid and found several games from my childhood including Missile Defense, Zaxxon 3-D, Great Baseball and Great Football. I also found a shelf filled with Atari 2600 games and picked out every one I could find that I remembered owning as a kid…

As I mentioned on the podcast, most of my favorites came from Activision. Demon Attack was really fun and had that unique Imagic cartridge shape and Haunted House was always one I enjoyed. I found a few long-pointed cartridges as well, but none were Masters of the Universe which I remembering having.

After discussing retro drinks in TRN Podcast 003, I was excited when my family made a trip to the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. Several of the old style cans, small glass bottles, and large cans of Hi-C were on display. They also had a whole display on New Coke which was great but surprisingly did not have any on tap in the tasting room despite the recent resurgence with Stranger Things.

Finally, I found this CD Stomper labeling kit randomly sitting on a desk at a local antique mall. This was the EXACT one that came with our Gateway computer in the early ’00s and mentioned on TRN Podcast 008 when we discussed our early internet memories. I was tempted to pick it up and start printing labels, but then I realized that my laptop does not have a CD drive nor does the CD player in my truck work. Ugh!

So there are a few things that have hit me recently thanks to our discussions on TRN Podcast.

About Jason Gross 557 Articles
'80s Kid, '90s Grad, and '00s Dad. I've been writing and podcasting about 1980s pop culture since 2011 at my Rediscoverthe80s.com website. I collect vinyl, cassingles, '80s comics, Batman memorabilia, and all things Mobile Armored Strike Kommand.

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