Bonkers and Wacky Wafers are coming back!

Did you love Bonkers and Wacky Wafers?

They've been acquired by Leaf Brands, and are coming back by the end of the year!

Thanks to Shawn of Branded in the 80s for this awesome news!

Sheeee gave him a look, it would have worked on any other man around...

"Family Man" wasn't Hall & Oates' most popular song, but it was darn catchy. Heard this in the store the other day and was immediately transported back to listening to the radio in the '80s.

Long tails, and ears for hats

RIP, Josie DeCarlo. You sounded like an awesome lady, and your cute little alter ego on "The Pussycats" should be proud to have been inspired by you.

Oh Barnabas, what have they done to you?

Wait, what? I had no idea that "Dark Shadows" was going to be a broad comedy, sort of a parody of itself, what with Barnabas hanging upside down like a bat and breaking a TV to try and get Karen Carpenter out of the back (it's set in 1972, in honor of the original show).

This looks like "The Brady Bunch Movie," and while that worked there, we am not so sure about this. Although admittedly, "21 Jump Street," out Friday, took a retro drama and turned it into a hilarious comedy. Still not so sure I like Barnabas being mocked in this way though. Am protective of my childhood vampire.

Fun night on WGN Radio!

Gael did a ninety-minute-long interview with the great Bill Leff on Chicago's WGN radio Tuesday night and really had a lot of fun! Callers and texters submitted their memories and we talked about 70s and 80s faves from "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?" and even some that didn't make it into the book -- even a few 1960s memories.

If you're on Facebook, we update daily with memories there, join us at facebook.com/genxtinct. A really fun community of retro-heads hang out with us there.

Here are a few of the topics that came up on the radio show:

--Jell-O 1-2-3. This three-level jello favorite is in our book! Sadly, Jell-O no longer sells the mix, but you can make it at home, and Gael has tried it. It's pretty faithful to her memories. Here's Kraft's recipe.

--Bing, Bang, Boing (I think we called it "Bing Bang BONG" on the radio, whoops). A very cool game that came with mini-trampoline/drumheads that you bounced balls off of. Did not have this but it looks fun.

--Stouffer's Noodles Romanoff. A very nice caller really missed this dish, but here's an online recipe that claims to be pretty faithful.

--Apple Slice soda. Slice went through a flavor phase, but apple was yanked almost immediately and is gone for good. Aspen, another apple soda, is also fondly remembered. It predated Apple Slice.

--Prince Castle. This is a Chicago burger chain I don't remember but people sure think fondly of.

--Big Shot aerosol chocolate syrup. What a cool can! A caller had good memories of this one. The can looks a little like Crazy Foam to me.

--The Quisp-Quake war. This is in our book too, but you can still buy Quisp cereal online at quisp.com. Quake sadly is no more, though they taste the same, so close your eyes and you can call it whatever you like.

--Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific. A very perfumey, very 1970s shampoo. Realistically, it may not be the best scent in the world, but one sniff takes us back to our childhood faster than any time machine. You can still buy it and the scent and design seem exactly the same.

--One caller says he can't find Chunky candy bars any more. They're not the most easy to find, but we have seen them in regular store candy sections. Amazon and other online outlets also sell them, though Amazon seems to only sell them by the 24-count box. Eat all those and anyone would get chunky...

--Remember Arthur Treacher's Fish N Chips? The franchise is not gone, though treachers.com seems to only list Ohio locations. I swear I've seen one in L.A. in recent years. Was the only place we would eat fish as kids...

What do you remember? Share your memories in our comments here, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/genxtinct.

We also have a Twitter feed and a Pinterest account, and of course, we would love it if you would buy the book, for yourself or for a friend who also remembers all these things!

Lip Lickers

Remember Lip Lickers, the lip balm in the tins with sliding lids?

The designer of those tins found my 2006 Pop Culture Junk Mail post and wrote a great comment about what it was like working with the company back in the day.

You can read it here.

Follow us on Pinterest!

Follow us on Pinterest for tons of retro images that will spark some serious memories. We're just getting started, but you can follow us at http://pinterest.com/genxtinct/

Blast from the past?

Does anyone remember Hidden Treasures cereal? Does this not seem like its 2012 grandchild?

Red, blue, yellow, blu--NO, GREEN, AAAUGH!

Simon is much fancier and has more variations than in our day. This Simon Flash looks cool, though.

Man, we loved that game!

Bring a pencil to rewind!

Oh man, of course we love this iPhone case designed to look like a cassette tape. A true crossing of the generations, and so well done.

Bring a pencil in case you have to rewind!

Rejected Star Wars toys

Rejected "Star Wars" toys.

Admittedly, that inflatable emperor's throne looks pretty darn cool. And how hilariously, wonderfully lame is the Death Star basketball?

Also, HAN IN CARBONITE POPSICLE MOLD!

Don't copy that floppy!

This is from the 1990s, but the outfits and the dorkiness stands proudly with every cheesy thing the 1980s ever produced.

The Shat does The Beatles

I'm sure all good nostalgia types know this happened, but every once in a while we just have to replay it and say: William Shatner, what the hell were you on?

As Loey on our Facebook page wrote there, "He was mainlining ego. Pure, high-end ego."

'Valley Girl' remake

They're remaking "Valley Girl"? The great 1980s film with the super soundtrack from before Nicolas Cage's movies were all crap?

GAG ME WITH A SPOON!

But we may have to rent the original just for the memories this news story brought up.

Where are we?

Granted, the GenXtinct blog has gone almost extinct for a while, but we still post multiple times a week at our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/genxtinct.

Check us out there to get your retro fix!