RetroDaze

I Don't
Want Necco
Wafers!

CONTEST WINNER!

Russell - The Black-Eyed Simpson

OFFICIAL

Timewarp: McDonald's 1988

RETRORATING: 13

Yesterdays: Things I DIDN'T Have As A Kid

Don't mess
with the bull.
JOIN!!!

2 COMMENTS

RETRORATING: 8

FAVORITED 2 TIMES

Do You Remember: HyperColor Shirts

By: mickyarber

Once upon a time, we saw the future, and it changed color with heat!

Really, you practically couldn’t afford not to buy a HyperColor shirt. I mean, it changed color, right? That was like getting two shirts for the price of one. So that price tag you saw? Remember, that was 50% off what it should have cost you. You should probably buy two then, since you’re such a great bargain shopper.

What wasn’t to love about HyperColor shirts? Well, a few things, but we’ll get to those later. For now, let’s talk about how rad they were. Introduced by Generra at the tail end of those color-crazy 80’s, HyperColor promised a t-shirt revolution. A patented “Metamorphic Color System” caused the shirt’s color to change when it came in contact with heat. Press a warm hand onto your belly, and your purple shirt would have a temporary pink handprint. How cool was that?

Body heat, hot breath, blow dryers… any heat source was enough to change green to yellow, blue to green, and so on. It was like a Mood Ring for the body, and matched up with acid wash jeans, it made you one of the coolest kids in your school! Or maybe not judging by my experiences :-(. These kids below know what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately (and here’s the “what’s not to love” part), there were some drawbacks. Like the fact that wearing a HyperColor shirt seemed to give everybody the right to put their sweaty palms all over you or breathe on you. Or the way your shirt reacted to all heat, including the kind produced by your armpits (no volunteering to answer questions in class on HyperColor t-shirt day). Suddenly, the idea of a heat-sensitive shirt just wasn’t all you had dreamed it would be.

The HyperColor craze faded like a bad tie-dye by the early 90’s, and Generra had to lay off one-fourth of its staff by the spring of ’92. Apparently, the world just wasn’t ready for odd-colored sweat spots and rampant personal space invasion, even for the sake of a chameleon fashion statement.

For me, I thought wearing one of these would be awesome. But the truth was, I was still a nerd but in a cool shirt. No one wanted to touch it, which defeated my plans of getting touchy feely with girls in school. I guess it was a cool concept in theory, but didn't translate too well in execution. But still, I at least have fond memories of waiting anxiously to get my hands on one when the marketing buzz kicked in.

Did you have HyperColor clothing? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.

Mickey Yarber is a freelance writer and lover of all things fun from our childhoods. He has a blog where he shares childhood memories of tv shows, toys, movies, games, cartoons, food, school days, and a host of other things. Stop by and check him out at:

How I Spent My Childhood

And be sure to follow me on Twitter at @yesterdayville for constant retro goodness!

Looking for more from mickyarber?

READ 159806 TIMES

12 Retro Snacks & Drinks I want to see Come Back

Growing up, we all had foods and drinks that we love to consume as kids. Whether it was a couple Pop-Tarts and a glass of Tang for breakfast, Lunchabl...

Weirdest Ghostbusters 2 Merchandise

The 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters 2 flew under the radar this year, overshadowed once again by the hype over Tim Burton’s Batman, in a case of ...

Being An 80's and 90's Fat Kid Part 1

Being an overweight kid in the 80's and 90's was weird. It was awkward. Uncomfortable. You might be thinking isn't it that way for ALL fat kids that a...

10 Pop Culture Dogs of the 80s

Growing up I always wanted a pet dog. It just seemed to be a part of the classic childhood experience I was missing. Sadly I never had a furry friend ...

VHS Odyssey

Since last year I have been on a treasure hunt for VHS tapes to add to my collection. Some are nostalgic favorites, some are films I always wanted to ...

RetroCon 2017 Report

Imagine finding the camaraderie of the RetroDaze community in the real world. Imagine a place where the 100s of people surrounding you are all just as...

Childhood Comic Creations

Many kids I grew up with could just passively watch cartoons, listen to music or see movies and let the experience end there. While some would go so f...

Russell - The Black-Eyed Simpson

When I was a kid, I basically drew all day. All I really needed in order to be entertained was a pad of paper, a pencil, and permission to just space ...

A Talk With Adam F. Goldberg

2017 Introduction: This article was originally published in 2016, but went offline when the site crashed. Thankfully, I still had the corrections back...

MOST RECENT RETRORATING FEATURED OFFICIAL

Go to page: