Lately it seems that I see POGs popping up everywhere on social media.
Do you remember them?
For a brief, crazy intense moment in the ’90s, POGs and slammers were everywhere. If you grew up during that era, you might remember collecting the colorful cardboard discs, the thrill of slamming your favorite POG stack, and swapping the ones you didn’t want with friends on the playground.
During that frenzied time, I was involved in a business that not only produced POGs (milkcaps) as business promotional giveaways but created a line of them called The Safe Neighborhood Club, complete with an inserted educational booklet. Some of these designs were included in books about POGs.
For a time, POGS were even outlawed in a few school districts, that’s how popular they were.
The story of POGs began in Hawaii, where children used caps from Haleakala Dairy’s POG juice (passionfruit-orange-guava) to play a simple flipping game.
Alan Rypinski bought the POG trademark in 1993 and transformed it into a global brand. With the World POG Federation at the helm, POGs exploded into toy aisles and schoolyards, becoming an integral part of ’90s culture. POGman, the game’s cartoon mascot, became as recognizable as the discs themselves. He made millions during the craze but was out of the game when the bubble burst.
By 1997, the POG market had imploded. Oversaturation, school bans, and changing fads pushed the once-beloved game into obscurity. The discs that once sparked heated debates and trades among kids now sat forgotten.
Now, nearly three decades later, whispers of a POG revival are surfacing. Can a nostalgia-driven resurgence bring this playground staple back into the mainstream?
Why Revive POGs Now?
I can’t explain it, but POGs definitely ARE making a comeback, not just as a nostalgic collectible but also with a digital component and a focus on both physical and digital gaming.
The World Pog Federation launched new physical sets and online games to engage a new generation of players. They are also exploring partnerships and collaborations to expand the POG brand.
I’ll have to dig around in the garage ‘cos I know I still have a massive collection stored in binders and I can’t wait to show them to the Angels. Maybe they could start it up again at their school; wouldn’t that be awesome?
Further reading:
–Here’s a link to a cool article written just last month about the POG revival:
https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2025/04/dig-up-that-slammer-this-week-were-talking-pogs.html
–Another post from Hawaii: https://www.lanaitoday.com/news/another-chance-to-scoop
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