Mental Floss

RETRO

Pictured: The 1980s.

In the 1980s, shopping malls across America hosted everything from video game demonstrations to fans screaming for Patrick Duffy.

Jake Rossen


What kid wouldn't want an Alien toy?

After 'Star Wars,' toy company Kenner thought they had another sci-fi hit with 'Alien.' No one seemed to consider the problem of selling toys for a film that could have gotten an X rating.

Jake Rossen






A still from Ishirô Honda's King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963).

'Godzilla vs. Kong'—a new slugfest from Legendary Pictures—is set to be released on March 31, 2021. But it won't be the first time these monsters have faced off; they met once before in 1962’s 'King Kong vs. Godzilla.'

Mark Mancini
















Amazon

No matter what generation you belong to, consider these retro gifts when shopping for the Millennials in your life.

Michele Debczak
A photo of Radiohead members Phil Selway, Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, and Ed O'Brien in 1995.

When Radiohead released 'Kid A' on October 2, 2000, few people were prepared for the album—or the lasting effect it would have on the music industry.

Mimi Kenny
The cast of Cop Rock—in a rare moment of not singing about law and order.

There’s a time and a place for a jaunty Hall & Oates pastiche, but—as the creators of 'Cop Rock' discovered the hard way—it’s probably not in the middle of a self-described “baby merchant” getting caught in a child abduction sting.

Jon O'Brien