Ten Coolest Lunchboxes Found At Merchants Outlet Mall

This past Saturday, I did a live broadcast at Merchants Outlet Mall in Henderson.  They have something for just about everyone, but the one thing that really caught my eye were the lunchboxes at one of the booths near the back.

Inside this booth, were lunchboxes from MY GENERATION.  Yes, they weren't the super classic ones from the sixties and seventies.  These were more eighties and nineties territory, some were plastic and that's ok.  Many of these were the ones that I saw at lunch through my elementary school years, and I'd like to share my favorites that I found for sale.

1.  Gizmo and Billy!

This just screamed my childhood!  What an awesome movie, that combined the genres of comedy, horror, family, and Christmas movie all in one.  Who didn't want a Mogwai in their house?  And with this lunchbox, you could keep your food locked up tight, so they couldn't eat after midnight!

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2. Lazer Tag rules

It was a popular passtime of children in the 1980's.  It is also a favorite of Barney Stinson on "How I Met Your Mother."  But, was it a cartoon?  I don't remember it being one, but YouTube proved me wrong.  There was a Lazer Tag Academy show, but this doesn't appear to be it.  To my best guess, this was just a lunch box to promote the toys...and that's OK with me.

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3. The Wars aren't Secret anymore

Well, looking at the date on this box, it was produced in 1984.  This was promoting something called "Secret Wars," but it could be just as popular today with the "Avengers" movie getting ready for its summer release.  Collectors, get to Merchants in Evansville for this depiction of Spiderman, Iron Man, and Captain America.

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4. Hey, look!  It's Canadian Garfield

While blatently obvious that Heathcliff was a ripoff of Garfield, I still loved the show as a kid, and I would have loved to have this.  By the way, the main difference between Garfield and Heathcliff...Garfield was lazy, and Heathcliff was a terror to the neighborhood...oh, and Heathcliff ate fish, while Garfield ate lasagna.

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5. McSheriff 

As if being a clown and running a successful fast food joint where billions and billions are served wasn't enough, Ronald McDonald moonlighted as the Sheriff of Cactus Canyon.  This venture was so important to him, they put it on a lunchbox.  By the way, my sister was such a big fan of Micky D's, she had this box!

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6. Anybody remember these animals on skates?  

OK, so I know it's not a lunch box.  Apparently the lunch box that went along with this thermos skated away, just like the cartoon for the "Get Along Gang."  All too soon, these helpful, lesson-teaching animals, who strangely enough wore roller skates, disappeared from my life.  It's a good thing I held onto my Montgomery Moose stuffed animal.

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7. When WWF wasn't about pandas

When wrestling was new to cable and on the verge of making Hulk Hogan a household name, this WWF lunchbox was released, not only featuring The Hulkster, but also the likenesses of Andre the Giant, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.  Just when I thought I'd seen all the wrestling merch that had ever been made, I saw this one.  It's a real classic.

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8. They make my dreams come true, and they'll do the same for you

I'm not sure why, but so many shows have turned their stars into babies to reinvent the brand.  No group was more successful with this than the Muppet Babies.  It was, without a doubt, the one cartoon I couldn't miss on Saturday mornings.

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9. See, honey, people did like the show

These lovable characters were on my first "big boy" bedding.  I never did get the lunchbox though.  My wife watched "Shirt Tales" with me a few weeks ago on Boomerang, and swore that no one could ever like that "stupid show."  Well I say, "Blasphemy!"  The crew of Tige, Pammy, Bogey, and the others were super cool, with their t-shirts that made comments throughout the show.  Oddly enough, this lunchbox doesn't look like the actual cartoon characters, but it does look like by old bedding.  Weird.

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10. I guess it just looked cool

I put this one last because I actually owned this one!  Silverhawks was a cartoon in the 1980's and of course had a line of action figues.  Funny part is, I never owned any of the figures, nor did I ever remember watching the show.  Why did I want the lunchbox?  You're guess is as good as mine.