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Do you know why we love to be nostalgic about the past so much? Well, as you know, everything used to be much better, bigger and more interesting. There used to be Tetris, slot machines and Internet Explorer, and now... now there is only a light sadness for those wonderful times when we were younger.

And we will be taking just this fascinating journey into the good old days with you, thanks to Bored Panda and this collection of absolutely wonderful vintage memes, lovingly collected by a dedicated Instagram account. So fasten your seatbelts, put your favorite cassette into that old Sony Walkman, here we go!

More info: Instagram

#1

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Amberlie Mikelsen
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was about 6 when I opened my Angel Tree present and received the AUTHENTIC Crayola 256 Box Set (I knew how much it cost, something like $25) and not 1, not 2, not even 5, but 10 whole coloring books all for just me! My parents swear they thought I had won the lottery!

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Mad Dragon
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These are still around! Last Christmas I bought one for my husband and one for my daughter (and one for myself).

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Rachna Mahajan
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mom bought one for me 5 years ago when I told her I really wanted to this in my childhood and I'm 42 haha

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Ziggyc
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So much fun and still around,Got one for a nephew a month ago

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O-O
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

these used to be in every party bag when i was little - i just back from a party and they gave a mug n candy

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ThisisEngland
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't think I ever got them all on. I bet my mum still has it on the loft.it can stay there, I don't need that kind of stress.

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Nykky
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to be pretty decent at the basketball one we had

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ValdaDeDieu
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And I was so f*****g good too! I beat my brother and sisters, every time it was my turn.

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Joshua David
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved these more than I loved to play them when I was younger. Then again, I'm not competitive either.

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Mark Secker
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have one I got 35+ years ago - sitting on a bookshelf just a meter away... the top cap has rotted but it still works

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Darko Mihoković
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was a similar thing with a basketball player, the ball and the hoop.

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DaniD
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My little brother used to take his in the bathroom to do #2...he'd be in there for HOURS!

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Sofiya Aghouchy
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I grew up in Morrocco and we used to play with this game 😼 Hum....someone can remind me the rules ?😁

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Marcellium
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I work at a school, I've got a handful of these for my students to okay with! They LOVE them

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Brian Leahy
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Before there were smartphones (and smartphone games) this was something kids could fiddle with on car trips

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mark glass
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This provided an early lesson in coping with frustration. Thanks for for the reminder of something else I couldn't do very well. Like piano lessons.

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Huddo's sister
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We still have these in our 'calm/fidget' box at work. Buy them at Kmart or $2 shops.

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Lacia Lew
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was born in '95. Still owned this until the cat broke the watertank.

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guyx23
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, you are very special to remember an iconic and wildly popular toy.

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Val!
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

got those out of the treasure chest at the dentist office

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Nikola Novaković
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I kind of feel like these pictures are more aimed at an American demographics coz I don't recognize a lot of these things (Europe here ) xD

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The most interesting thing is how our perception of "good old days" changes over time. As someone whose teen years were in the 90s, I remember very well how the adults resented these newfangled Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls, comparing them to the great rock classics - certainly not in favor of the youth. And now, nearly thirty years later, we're shedding tears watching the reunited Spice Girls on YouTube, and this time their hits are in our hearts somewhere between Stairway To Heaven and Under Pressure. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want... and I'll tell you, we want to go back to our childhood again.

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Psychologist Alan R. Hirsch in his report, “Nostalgia: A Neuropsychiatric Understanding,” defines nostalgia as a yearning for an idealized past - “a longing for a sanitized impression of the past, what in psychoanalysis is referred to as a screen memory - not a true recreation of the past, but rather a combination of many different memories, all integrated together, and in the process all negative emotions filtered out."

And indeed, the more we live in this world, the more value we attach to things and phenomena from our youth. Often downplaying what we have now. Although, you know, I personally would probably sell my soul if I had my current smartphone somewhere in the late nineties!

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FabulousMari
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know if I can throw mine away. It's like saying good bye to a faithful friend. When Spotify is down or my music is so obsolete that it doesn't exist in digital form, my faithful compact disc's will always be there to sing to me. Now, I just don't know what to play them on...

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And, of course, the Internet and social networks come into play, literally fixing every step of any more or less famous person. For example, would we be so categorical in adoring Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time if we were guided not only by old VHS tapes of his games and Space Jam? Or would we vehemently discuss each of his missed shots and failed interviews like we do with LeBron James? Okay, okay, the second Space Jam really wasn't even half as good as the first one! Or is this where nostalgia kicks in again?

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Haru
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And there were these extra curricular teachers that would hand them out if you did good or smth like that

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Be that as it may, memes are a great excuse to take a little trip back in time, recharge with the energy of our youth, and return again to the crazy, fast contemporary world that has become so incredibly small with the development of all these technologies. Okay, let's digress for a couple more minutes - just scroll this list to the very end, point out the memes you like best and just share your own viewpoint on whether nostalgia is really that cool.

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Mad Dragon
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had the clear phone in my room, and the ringer was LOUD! I would turn off the ringer and it would still light up when it rang, so my friends could call me late at night and not wake up my parents (I had my own phone line in my room paid for by my babysitting money).

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Andy Resh
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah. Well. Have you ever had one slip out of your grasp only to give you a minor knuckle fracture?!!!!!

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Mad Dragon
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are easy to throw and catch, and the sound they make when you catch one is the same as their name (Koosh!),

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Betta Fish
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yooo my grandma had them and let us eat golden ghrams in front of the tv on saturday mornings, probably one of my favorite memories

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dean tirmizi
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn’t nostalgic, the first movies was 2010. The first iron man movie is older than this, wouldn’t call that nostalgic, and this pic is from the 2019 movie

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Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.