Posts  >  Category: Random 80's Trivia

It's wacky! It's fun! It's cr-a-a-a-zy! It's outrageous!!

We can hardly grasp it! The TV icon that raised us through the 80s is turning an amazing 26 years old today!

Yep way back in 1989, we were first introduced to one of the most loved places frankly in the world, The Fun House! It had everything, fun messy games (loved the gunge!), head to head school battles, questions, go-carts and of course (the guy who puts the fun into Fun House) Pat Sharp and his twin cheerleaders Mel and Martina. What more could we have possibly wanted??

Running for an impressive ten years, Fun House was THE kids show of the 90s and was the one place every kid wanted to visit and make as much mess as possible.

For those not in the know, Fun House consisted of two teams from separate schools who would battle it out in and around the Fun House to earn points. After each game there would be a series of questions that could also earn extra points for each team.

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It's back! Yep we're right back at you with another edition of our 10 Things You Didn't Know About blog posts! Oh how we've missed them :)

This time around we've let our feet lead the way as we're celebrating the 31st anniversary of the release of one of the most famous and loved dancing themed films ever....Footloose!

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Yep as hard as it might be to even begin to think about, Footloose first hit the screens back in 1984 and has been a cheesy dance icon ever since. Earning a number of nominations including Best Music, Original Song (Oscar), Best Original Song - Motion Picture (Golden Globe) and even winning a Best Album of Instrumental Score (Grammy) it's easy to see just how much of a retro legend this 80s flick is.

So! Dust of those dancing shoes and take a trip with us back to 1984 as we dig out and reveal our top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Footloose. Enjoy!

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As mad as it is to think, Britain's fruitiest superhero first hit the comic strips today back in 1980!

First appearing in the very first issue of Nutty (then later the Dandy), Eric Wimp AKA Bananaman is an ordinary schoolboy living at 29 Acacia Road, Nuttytown (originally) who when he feels the need or there is hero work to be done eats a Banana which transforms him into one of the most loved retro superheroes ever!

Eric had a crush on Fiona, the newsreader, and as Bananaman he had to fight against the evil plots of General Blight, the Heavy Mob, Dr Gloom, and some aliens called Nerks lead by King Zorg. Busy boy!

Later hitting the screens in 1983, we were introduced to his classic theme tune and intro and a new look Eric making him looks slightly less punky and more nerdy. Perfect Superhero material :)

"This is 29, Acacia Road. And this is Eric, the schoolboy who leads an exciting double life. For when Eric eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs. Eric is Bananaman. Ever alert for the call to action."

Running for a total of 40 episodes which were just 5 minutes long, Bananaman certainly isn't the longest living superhero there has ever been but his quirky get up and silly nature really won our hearts and also made us think that Bananas were just about as powerful and things got!

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Great news retro gamer fans! The iconic Spectrum consoles which first came into our lives way back in 1982 is set to make a comeback in spectacular fashion!

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For those of us not in the know or simply perhaps too young to be clued up (some of us included!), The Spectrum was among the first mainstream home computers in the UK and came in a few different models and specs through the following years including a 16kb RAM and one with 48kb RAM. Mad compared to the number of gigabytes of RAM we have now! Probably explains why the thing took so long to load :)

As exciting as all that was back in the day, it's probably almost as exciting as the news we've just received that this will be making a comeback and will be better than ever!

Produced by SMS Electronics in Nottinghamshire, the project has been in full swing with fans all over the world donating over £130,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to get things off the ground and to become a reality.

The latest iteration of the console will look the same as the original, and comes pre-loaded with more than 1,000 classic games including...

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Ahhh how we've missed these! It's been a little while since we did our last 10 Things You Didn't Know About...feature. It's just all gone wild here at TruffleTowers with more and more cool products hitting the store and everyone getting nice and ready for Christmas. Exciting!

So! To kick things back off with a bang, we've been searching the cyber-space-web-net for some of the coolest, most interesting and unknown facts about one of the world's most-lived cartoons, Tom and Jerry!

Taking us right back to our childhood of watching this at home and at school on rainy days when we couldn't go outside. (Remember the big old TV's??....scary). Sit back and take a trip down memory lane with us as we teach you some of our top Tom and Jerry facts. Enjoy!

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1) Tom and Jerry were actually lined up to star in 1988 classic flick 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', sadly legal smegle issues stopped it from ever happening happening. However! The cartoon team had already featured in live action films before including the 1945 'Anchors Aweigh', when Jerry stole the show in a dance sequence with Gene Kelly!

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Such a little treat fr you here folks! Ever look back at old pictures, find something from the depths of the darkest cupboard, or even see something online that makes you just scream....Ahhh!! I remember that!?

Well! We've been busy collecting some amazing pictures that are just bursting with nostalgia goodness ready to show you guys and send the memories flooding back. If you were born in the 80s but grew up in the 90s like many of us here did, these should transport you back to the school playground or those long hot summers. Enjoy!

No party was truly complete with out PARTY RINGS!

Remember trying to work out what the big art attacks would be? Art Attack showed us we could all create something special with just a few little odds and ends from around the house and of course....more PVA glue than anyone would possibly own. Amazing!

Tucked away at the back or your school sports hall was a weird and wonderful mash or metal, wood and rope. It was only until everything was pulled into place and belted down that you saw the brilliance that was the climbing gym! Loved it!

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