If you don't know what we're talking about, you've missed one of the biggest trends of the 20th century. Today's collectors will pay a lot of money for a set of vintage Pogs - those small metal, plastic or cardboard discs decked out with different patterns and logos.
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The game started out in the early 1990s in Hawaii, where kids collected the lids from bottles of Pog (a popular juice drink) to play with them.
Over time, when the game reached the UK, Pogs were being specially made by toy manufacturers in many different designs, having been developed from the original bottle tops.
How do you play Pogs?
The game was played on any flat surface, whether it was a table, or the playground. You needed at least two players, each with their own collection of Pogs, although it was more fun with a larger number of players.
Each player put in the same number of Pogs to make one big stack, with all the discs face-down. Players tossed a coin to see who went first.
The idea was to flip over the Pogs by hitting the top of the pile with a larger, heavier disc, called a "slammer". You got the keep the discs that flipped right over. Then, the slammer was passed to the next player and so on.
Pogs swept the world!
In this modern digital era of video games and mobile apps, it's hard to imagine such a simple game swept not only the UK, but also much of the world! Kids in the United States, Canada and Europe were playing Pogs during their lunch breaks.
As the popularity of Pogs exploded, marketing people from various brands saw the advertising value of these small, cheap discs that kids loved. You could collect free ones from cereal packets, crisp packets and even in McDonald's Happy Meals. They were almost everywhere!
Pogs had an official mascot: a caveman creature known as Pogman, whose image often appeared on the back of the discs. He even starred in his own line of books.
Pogs backlash
However, teachers began to see Pogs as a negative influence on pupils' education and started to ban them from school premises. In a newspaper article in 1994, the head teacher of one school where Pogs were outlawed likened the game to going to a Las Vegas casino and losing money on a gambling table!
Children also didn't like losing their Pogs in a game. Even if one player won fairly and squarely, scuffles were breaking out, started by disgruntled losers. Teachers also worried about pupils who were missing out on exercise at break times because they preferred sitting around playing with the small round discs.
Schools simply grew tired of the game disrupting the working day, so Pogs were eventually banned. The game fizzled out as quickly as it had begun and by the end of the '90s, it had pretty much disappeared.
This seemed to mark the end of the Pog era on the surface. However, collectors were still squirreling away their Pogs. Many adults have large collections that have been stored in the attic for a couple of decades. Rather than gathering dust, they were growing in value!
How much are Pogs worth today?
Today, Pogs are extremely collectible, predominantly in the UK, but also in some other countries. Some of the rarer Pogs can fetch really good money. There are an estimated three million Pogs in the UK alone.
A UK seller received £122 for their Chupa Caps City People Pogs in 2018, which made newspaper headlines at the time. A set of rare Batman Pogs was on sale on the UK eBay site at £199 in February this year, while the 1995 Waddington's Pog Micro Tournament Game was valued at £140.
There were even higher prices on US auction sites including £406 for a Pog described as "ultra-rare", featuring the DC Comics' character, Venom, but with a printing error. According to the listing, only two are in existence. The rare Snoopy Peanuts Pog Game was valued at £221, while an unopened set of Star Wars Pogs from 1995 was £148.
If you think you have any Pogs tucked away in the attic, it might be as good a time as any to get them out!
Whatever you collect, protect your treasures and keepsakes safe in a lidded plastic container. You never know, they might become your retirement fund!