POG Hobby Box Review: A Nostalgic Nod To Nineties Kids Everywhere

As a 90s kid, I spent a lot of my youth collecting, swapping, and battling with toys and gadgets in the school Playground. Sure, when most people think about the 90s they think of Pikachu and his pals being swapped under the table and being confiscated by the teacher, but before Pokémon, Pogman reigned supreme, and man was his reign glorious.

I had so many POGs as a kid; they were one of those collectible toys that, now I think back, I’m not quite sure where I got so many from. I remember having a see-through box filled with little milkcaps of Pogman getting up to strange antics, a black play mat, and some amazing slammers. I’d pick them up in Walkers Crisp packets and from the Newsagents, trade them with friends, and lose them in battles only to acquire more the next week. They were an integral part of my childhood and, when I think back to those glory days of not having to pay bills and always having meals made for me, I see Pogman staring back at me from my bedroom floor.

So, when I spoke to POG Unlimited about working with them on their mission to bring Pogman back for collectors today, I jumped at the chance. We’ve had the pleasure of chatting with the team on the Retrospect Podcast and have lots of exciting things to tell you over the coming weeks, but for now, let’s take a look at Pogman’s resurgence and what’s in store for 90s kids the world over – it’s time to prove that POG collecting wasn’t just a phase, but a way of life.

• Price: £93.00/$119.00
• In The Box: 12 packs of POGs (8 in each), A limited edition KINI slammer, serial number parallels for POG Digital platform.
• Available From (AFF): POG Unlimited

The Hobby Box: A Collector’s Dream

From the moment I pulled the Hobby Box out of my cardboard parcel, I was instantly transported back to when my mum worked the newsagent’s kiosk counter of my local Post Office. She would sell papers and sweets to everyone from kids to pensioners, and behind her on rows and rows of shelves would be display cases like the one I’ve got in front of me as I write these words, all with enticing characters and messages that would make me want to part with my hard-earned pocket money.

The box itself is designed to look just like those old display boxes, featuring a relaxed-looking Pogman telling me to collect them all as well as information about what’s in the box itself (oh I will collect them all Sir, I will!). I think that unless you’re a 90s kid, you won’t feel that same kind of fiery excitement that I have within me right now, that same kind of feeling that you had knowing you were about to go out and play with al your mates after dinner on a Summer’s evening or while opening up a crisp new video game and flicking through the booklet – aka, the feeling of the good old days.

A Brief Intro Into POGs

If you’ve come here by accident and are suddenly intrigued or are trying to learn a little bit more about Pogs, then it might interest you to know that the idea of Pogs dates back to the Edo Period in Japan and takes influence from a game called Menko. The Pogs game that we know, however, was actually invented by children in Hawaii in the 1930s who would take the cardboard milk cap out of the foil milk bottle top and collect them, using their metal caps as slammers to knock the cardboard caps over. It fully came into fruition when a Haleakala Dairy Marketing Director came up with the idea of a mascot for their new fruit juice drink made of Passion Fruit, Orange, and Guava (which is where ‘POG’ got it’s name) and printed him on the caps of each bottle. Think of this mascot as the first version of Pogman and the start of one of the most loved crazes of all time.

The game you and I played and the one we’ve been chatting so much with The World Pog Federation about came into being when a collector came from California to Hawaii and met a school teacher who still had her POGs from the juice drink days. He knew that this would become a global phenomenon and acquired the POG brand. The rest as they say is history, and Pogman has lived in our hearts and minds ever since.

What’s Inside The Set?

If you’re going to play ‘POGs for keeps’ like we did in our youth, then you’re going to need POGs and a Slammer. Luckily, that’s exactly what you get in the box, with 12 packs to open and 8 POGs in each. Quick maths – that’s 96 POGs to collect from one box and a Limited Edition KINI Slammer with which to play the game. There’s either a 22kt Gold Leaf or Metal Slammer in each box. Just picking the packs out for this photo was enough to put a smile on my face, and if you watch the video below you’ll hear every crunch and squeak of these foil packets being opened as though you were right there with me in my office – it’s 90s ASMR at its finest.

The Gold Slammer has a nice weight to it too, which as any POG aficionado will know is the key to coming home with more POGs than you went out with. I wouldn’t advise throwing it down onto any hard surface without a POG Board or other playmat protecting your chosen surface because it really does hit down with a loud (but satisfying) clang.

Getting Arty

Now would be a good time for me to talk about the designs on the Pogs. Brent Scotchmer is the artistic force behind bringing Pogman back to the fold, and he’s been given the task of integrating a familiar 90s icon into a modern world.

One of the things I love the most about this collection of POGs, having collected a lot myself over the years, is that old designs play a prevalent role in the new release. The POGs in the picture below with the gold borders will be incredibly familiar to any POG lovers out there and add to that important Nostalgia score that I gave the Hobby Box at the beginning of this article. Brent also explained that he’s created lots of new pictures of Pogman in different situations and the processes involved with getting into the mindset of a mischievous, slightly stinky character that no one seems to mind when he flashes his behind. There are designs from the 90s that we’ve never even seen before in this set too, giving nostalgia nerds like me even more reason to invest in a Hobby Box.

The beauty of the designs on POGs has always been that, even though Pogman seems like some sort of prehistoric entity, he can be found doing everyday actions and taking part in hobbies like playing football, rollerblading, cycling, gaming, magic, and more. There’s that moment when you open a new packet and say ‘Oh look, that’s like you’ to a friend who loves skateboarding or think ‘No way, he’s surfing like me!’ There’s a design for everyone, and the images have a habit of evoking so many different memories that you might have forgotten about over the years… like the time I went canoeing with a huge dolphin on my back…

It’s worth noting that, like Pokémon cards, Go Go Crazy Bones, and any other 90s collectible you might have come across, you’re going to get duplicates in your packs. If you’re collecting to play, then that’s not too much of a bad thing as you might end up losing POGs in a battle. But if you’re collecting to simply peruse through your collection and look at them while sipping a fine brandy on an evening, then just remember that duplicates are all a part of the process and something that you’re just going to have to get used to.

I’ve opened all twelve of my packets and only had about seven duplicates which isn’t too bad. I’ve had packs with three holographic foil POGs in them and some with none, and I’ve even found a Limited Edition World Series Pog with a red back, numbered and one of 499. That’s instantly gone into a sleeve for later; let’s hope it can be the downpayment on a new house one day!

Show No Mercy

I’ve been given the Pogger Board with my set for review purposes which has instantly got me ‘game ready’. The board (which is more of a mat and something that will stay on my desk in perpetuity now) isn’t available to buy separately on the website as of this moment, but if you pre-order two Hobby Boxes, then you’ll get one free. If you and a friend are thinking of getting a set each to play, then you’ll get the board to use for matches. I suppose the only hard thing then is deciding who gets to keep it.

‘Show no mercy’ might seem a bit of a brutal message to go on a game that was invented by kids, but there is a certain tension surrounding the game that makes you get into that mindset. It’s a dog-eat-dog world (or in this case, POG-eat-POG) when you play, and one wrong move can leave you with a seriously depleted collection

Playing this on the playground (or on the blacktop for our American readers) really taught us the value of our collectibles. We looked after our POGs and knew the price of entering into a game when we played with our friends. It wasn’t gambling, but it made us all think how dangerous doing this kind of thing with real money could be and allowed us to stay blissfully innocent. See, Pogman had a bigger effect on us all than we first thought!

Slam Dunk Your Gold KINI

Your success in a game of POGs relies on your Slammer, and there’s no better sight than holding a 22kt Gold Leaf KINI Slammer in your hand while playing Mortal Kombat on your SNES. If I was sipping on a Sunny Delight and listening to a ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ album, then I might have to pinch myself and check that I hadn’t travelled back in time. I’ve literally just taken a break to open my last two packets in my Hobby Box and opened up a pack with a Pog slammer inside for normal play which was a nice surprise too – I guess to paraphrase Forest Gump, ‘POGs are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get’.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll get the 22kt Gold Leaf KINI Slammer in your Hobby Pack, but you’ll be incredibly happy if you do. The only way of guaranteeing this Slammer is by pre-ordering a case of 12 Hobby Boxes. That’s 1,152 POGs and 12 slammers for a discounted price of £929. I’m going to be honest – I love POGs, but I don’t have the kind of spare cash to be buying a case of 12. If you’re serious about your collecting and, as I’ve said previously, want to make an investment and kickstart your collection, then it might be something you want to consider, but for most of you out there, I imagine the single Hobby Box will be the way to go with.

Pog Digital

One of the newest features in the world of POG is POG Digital, a place where players can collect, trade, and game digitally. Yes, Pogman is now a digital entity with POGs available on Sol, Pogchain, Theta, and BTC. It’s a place where players can trade, win prizes, and compete in online events, all opening digital packs of POGs on the go. I’m only covering the Hobby Box in this review as digital currencies and online platforms like this aren’t in my remit as a retro reviewer, but if you want to learn more about POG Digital, then you can head over to the official explore landing page to get all the information.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I love everything about this Hobby Box. I recently played a game of POGs down at the Tattoo Studio where my friends work, and both my mates and the customers old enough to know what POGs were were all fixated on the little discs as they flew through the air and landed picture-side up on the ground, marvelling at the designs and reminiscing about the times we all played with them in the 90s. It’s the same feeling I get when I speak to people about entering the Great Deku Tree on Ocarina of Time for the first time or playing a Sonic the Hedgehog game, that feeling of our youth that instantly brings back happy memories.

I know that this is a pricey box for someone looking to kickstart a collection; £93 is more the kind of money that you’d put aside to buy yourself a present to treat yourself rather than something you’d buy on a whim, making this something POG fans might save up for or put down on their Christmas list. Having said that, it’s a couple of pounds less than the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet 151 Eliter Trainer Box which features fewer products and no Limited Edition Slammer, so all things considered, the Hobby Box is good value for money, especially considering that in this box alone I’ve pulled out extra slammers and multiple Limited Edition Run POGs.

I can definitely understand people thinking that it’s too expensive, and that’s where I think singular packs of POGs would be a good shout for those wanting to get back into the craze. While speaking with the CEO of POG Unlimited, we chatted about the fact that the Hobby Box is the company’s first port of call to target adults who used to like POGs rather than children this time around, (initially at any rate) which is kind of where my mind goes back to when I think of those smaller packets I used to see and pulling POGs out of crisp packets.

It’s entirely possible that booster packs might be available to buy separately further down the line, especially considering today’s culture of buying Pokémon Cards from comic book stores and gaming/record shops, and I think that would make POGs much more accessible to people. But bringing back an icon takes time, and POG Unlimited starting with a collector’s box makes a lot of sense on a business level. It all depends on whether you think you can put a price on nostalgia, and for this nerd, that answer is definitely a firm no.

The Hobby Box is available to order now and units are set to ship at the end of this month (October 2024). I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the POG team for joining us on the Retrospect Podcast and chatting with us about Pogman’s return, and I’m looking forward to sharing the episode with you all very soon!