CUPONK: The Riskiest Toy Hasbro Ever Sold

Today we're uncovering the story of CUPONK, the ball and cup game from Hasbro that (quite successfully) marketed beer pong to children.
Patreon: / slow_start
Second Channel: / @slow_start2
Sources:
There is almost no information regarding CUPONK online. Virtually all the info uncovered in this video was received from the interviews done with the creators. Hopefully someone less lazy than me will take this info and help to archive the story of CUPONK on other websites.
Music
The Bywater - The Mini Vandals
Fingerprint - The Mini Vandals
Cool Vibes - Kevin Macleod
Happy-Go-Lively - Laurie Johnson
Miitomo Shop - Miitomo Music
Corduroy and Cheese - Piotr Pacyna
No Copyright Bossa Nova - Adeus Joao
Covert Affair - Kevin Macleod
Film Noire - Kevin Macleod
By Your Side - David Luong
Curious Notion - Terry Devine-King
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:34 Hasbro in the Mid 00's
2:50 Introducing Dan
3:38 Toys for Boys
5:38 The Research
8:18 The Beer Pong Idea
10:02 The First Prototype
12:00 Bumps in the Road
13:07 Billy Balls
14:15 The Trickshot Idea
15:19 Back to the Drawing Board
16:32 The Second Prototype
17:12 Introducing Drew
19:18 Design & Development
22:00 Advertising CUPONK
23:00 Bringing in Bam
24:29 The Commercials
25:16 CUPONK's Reception
27:10 The New Releases
29:11 Building the Brand
30:54 The NERF Proposal
33:40 The Fall of CUPONK
34:17 The Pink Problem
35:37 CUPONK's Legacy
38:36 Thanking the Team
40:11 Thanks and Patreon

[@martinvallejo9774]

the internet needed a definitive Cuponk documentary. thank you.

[@cs8712]

It is truly an accuponklishment

[@whatstdiggn]

​@@cs8712❤

[@RayRaeTV]

I hope this is Sarcastic 😂

[@fatgecko1616]

It was total ownage

[@Pr0toPoTaT0]

Big facks. Never knew this channel existed til earlier and I'm still watching. 4 more videos to go

[@purplehaze2358]

"Dan and his team quickly learned that boys are very okay with the idea of constantly failing as long as the possibility of enormous success is at the end" You're- You're telling me that Cuponk has the same kind of appeal as a Dark Souls game?

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

Yes.

[@JoshuaPAMployee]

DARK SOULS is just a gameified CUPONK!

[@PeskyFiend]

Always has been.

[@cheetah672]

Elden Ring is the Cuponk of gaming

[@petergriscom3431]

*Videogames*

[@perkypears]

a 9 year old in an oversized slipknot shirt saying "that was total ownage" is the rawest thing ive ever seen

[@spoonyhitman1053]

real shit

[@mRhea]

> parents and grandparents didnt buy the pink on for their kids, > so the pink ones stuck around on store shelves, > and because they had unsold product, stores didnt order more i wonder if this is a contributing factor to the rise of mystery box type toys

[@BinglesP]

That's actually a really good inference, I'm convinced too.

[@M4teo.]

You Made me realize how gambling Is pretty popular among new generations. It's not only toys But for example, FIFA or online games in general. It feels rewarding to invest Time, effort and sometimes money and get something that you want. In the case of not getting what you want, the idea of getting something that you want or something better for "free" or for the price of something worse has you gripped.

[@dracocrusher]

My only take away from this is that Boomers probably killed Cuponk because of rigid gender norms, and hearing that in 2023 both makes way too much sense and also feels really stupidly closed-minded in hindsight.

[@arostwocents]

Mystery boxes are the only way you can sell an identical toy to the same kid a dozen times while they try to obtain the rare one

[@arostwocents]

​@@dracocrusherit's not about boomers and gender norms, it's that little boys literally don't want pink toys. This isn't a problem and has reasons beyond boomers. Trying to insist little boys should like pink toys is toxic, it's changed from kids being allowed to like whatever they like, which was good, to insisting everything should be gender neutral, which is toxic

[@CrashCat2]

I can't believe that Cuponk was literally "nerfed"

[@alex99x99x]

It’s nerf or nothing. Cuponk didn’t choose nerf.

[@gabrielv.4358]

wwowwww never ever seeen that before i live in brasil

[@JessicaFEREM]

ngl these guys were genius for finding a way to sell a ping pong ball and a cup to kids. it's all about imagination, and getting the kid in the mood.

[@u0aol1]

💯

[@beestingza]

Yeah but the fact that it becomes another forgotten toy in a pile in the closet after a month or two is a problem.

[@skeletonbuyingpealts7134]

​@@beestingzaNot to the numbers!

[@steinmaniac7920]

Children are much like cats, I've come to discover.

[@sporeham1674]

​@@steinmaniac7920That is one of the most true statements I've ever heard

[@StevenlBlock]

This was one of the best times I had creating commercials in my almost 30 years in advertising. Definitely a career highlight.

[@jttech44]

The whole vision was absurdly well executed. You don't really see much of anything that have this level of well thought out, cohesive vision now, it seems that most things are subjected to the bean counters before they're ever off the ground.

[@LoveMyUnusual]

Excellently done! I'm just a casual trickshot fan, but I love alternative and skating imagery. You nailed this.

[@hannahmoen4747]

I think it's hilarious that people didnt want the "pink" cup - it has like 20% pink over the entire design!

[@expotemkin]

and what the hell is more masculine than a luchador? lol

[@CErra310]

Conservatives 🤷‍♂️

[@Sinsteel]

Learn your market? People like what they like, the customer is right.

[@scaper8]

​@@SinsteelDid you watch the video though? The consumers _did_ want it, it was the _purchasers_ that didn't. That's the perennial problem with marketing to a demographic that doesn't buy their own things: yiu have to appeal both to who's buying it and who's using it.

[@fearsomefawkes6724]

Right?! When he said they didn't buy the pink cup I was confused because I didn't know what cup he was talking about at first because I didn't remember there being a pink one. There's just some pink accents on a wrestling themed cup.

[@spoobini]

I mean i gotta give hasboro credit. They really made my mom go out and buy a cup for 30 dollars for my 12th birthday. We couldve easily done at home with no extra stuff. It just landed in the cuponk better, full placebo

[@shooby9496]

Plus the designs are much cooler than just about anything you'd drink out of.

[@gijsw8681]

It was the sound effect 100% for me

[@domd5989]

The artwork for the cups and balls were immaculate. Almost like if they were inspired from Santa Cruz and Toy Machine skateboard decks.

[@LoveMyUnusual]

It reminds me of the Tony Hawk American Wasteland and SSX Tricky landing + loading screens, I love it.

[@ToyInsanity]

I'm surprised there wasn't more emphasis on collectibility. The cups looked cool, but the balls were surprisingly drab. "Collect them all" is timeless but especially huge at the time... Tech Deck Dudes, Gogos Crazy Bones, Roxx, Zibits, etc. I wanted a reason to collect ping pong balls but they were so colorless and simple. Dagedar was also short-lived but promoted 120 different balls to collect. (They only made 40, but still.) The balls were weighted and the playsets were construction tracks a la Hot Wheels. Great video, no doubt.

[@anonymousidea9119]

Mighty Beanz would like to have a word

[@enderspider15]

My main collectible during that time was the fistfull of power toys.

[@marlilizard6682]

I also loved dagedar and am sad it’s gone

[@kbtvstudios9528]

Collect Them All you say? Skylanders has entered the chat

[@TV---kn2rl]

Maybe so, but there's way more opportunity to lose the ball. It would be devastating to lose your ultra-rare $50 gold ball down a sewer grate lol

[@ItsSilverPride]

I was addicted to cuponk as a kid. I went to a party this weekend and won four games of beer pong without taking a single drink. Cuponk saved my mid 20’s

[@VorpalSlade]

Or ruined them, depending on how you look at it 😂 the burden of skill

[@LeutnantComanderData]

That’s the difference between american “drinking games” and european/ german ones: drinking is not the punishment. I usually play beerpong so I almost loose on purpose while having a side beer or two just because it takes forever to get back to drinking 🤣🤣 ever heard of flunky-ball ? It’s two teams standing about 15 feet away from a plastic bottle armed with a ball - the team that hits the bottle in the middle has to chug till the other team resets that bottle - lots of “punishment beers” later the one team that finishes their pints first has won - drink as much beer as you can as fast possible is a reward and a challenge 🤣🤣

[@michaelsean09]

@@LeutnantComanderData I haven’t been in my early 20s for a while, but when I was younger the way we did it was to buy gross alcohol for the punitive element of our games. We’d all drink what we wanted to while playing, but no one wanted to be “forced” to drink a cup full of King Cobra Malt Liquor.

[@ATZIN_Official]

Excellent video my guy. I'll show it to my mom who never bought me this toy, so I can prove to her that its more than just a thinly veiled attempt to sell beer pong to kids, it's an attempt to sell kids the idea that you can do anything if you try hard enough, and persist long enough.

[@slow_start]

That's the spirit!!! hahaha

[@bloodlove93]

aaaaaaand encourage early beer pong lol

[@ABoyNamedCharlotte]

holy crap, this only lasted a year? i had such intense nostalgia for seeing the commercials once this video came up.

[@aidansky55]

You actually spoke to the people who worked on this?! Man this channel in a hidden gem.

[@VorpalSlade]

You should check out ARTefacts, it's a channel that's almost entirely conversations with the artists who worked on retro stuff!

[@WonderFig]

the packaging and design of cuponk really drew me to it as a kid, the only thing stopping me from getting it was my mom saying “it’s just a cup and and ping pong ball… we have that at home”

[@Ultra_64]

Yeah me too lol. The thing was also expensive. I remember these things selling for like $15-$20+ like damn why so much

[@KennyFrierson]

If only we lived in a world where we had Cuponk competition's instead of 8 billion version of monopoly

[@henrysokol3466]

Or at least Monopoly variants that did something besides give us slap new names and images on the exact same stuff. The darn thing is that Hasbro makes Clue too, whose variants sometimes *do* offer something new to the gameplay. The classic expanded 'Master Detective' version is a favorite of mine; I'm glad to see it being sold again, though disappointed it doesn't have Ravensburger-style wooden pawns anymore.

[@Thwipz]

with tiktok, you can bring it back and just post videos and start a little community

[@M4teo.]

​@@Thwipzbrillant. Lets get skating to be cool again

[@eatatjoes6751]

Especially since Monopoly is just Anger in A Board Game.

[@Olflix]

"Or at least Monopoly variants that did something besides give us slap new names and images on the exact same stuff." Yes, that's true - if you only look at stuff like that one TLOTR Monopoly game then you could see it as a reskin. However, there are also somewhat unique takes like cheaters edition @@henrysokol3466

[@ThySirSlime]

The gorilla sound effect when you got a trickshot is burned into my brain and I’m honestly surprised there wasn’t any substantial discussion about that aspect. Excellent video, this was one of my favorite toys as a kid and I can’t remember what happened to it!

[@barsthehippie]

I know what you mean

[@everegenx]

God this comment is so real, iykyk

[@NightmareRex6]

ah it had sound effects?

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

I'm glad you mentioned that. I never had one so never would have known. Feedback is so important from a design perspective, and getting sound feedback as well as visual with the lights does more to fuel that dopamine hit and keep you coming back for more, almost like Pavlovian style conditioning. It makes more sense to me now why kids wanted this toy instead of just DIYing their own with a plastic cup and ping pong ball.

[@tacticaljunk1608]

This channel's quality is on a different level for one so new.

[@slow_start]

Haha thanks so much! I'm glad you think so!

[@invalidatemyass]

you're right, it's very impressive work. His vids were good to start with but getting even better so quickly.

[@TheOnlyIchiban]

I agree, I really enjoy the videos, especially this new format

[@chickennugget481]

which is ironic given the channel name

[@bigoof42]

I love oddly specific deep dives like this. Like "no ive never gave this a thought, but in 40 min im about to have opinions"

[@bloxyjola6040]

this story is giving massive ub funkeys vibes. Passionate team tasked with making a new toy ip with infinite creative liberties in the late 2000s, personality gushing out the wazoo, discontinued way to soon and often overlooked in toy history. Amazing video man.

[@thejman5683]

Hey I remember those… I mean I never played it but my brother had them as a kid

[@In.New.York.I.Milly.Rock.]

My guy put the Yu-Gi-Oh Life Point counter sound on the cup pong scoreboard. Finna summon the Beer Goggles White Dragon or smth Great video as always, king!

[@slow_start]

Hahahaha, I knew someone would catch that. Thanks for always showing out man 🤠

[@entemisk]

Thank you for making such a fun and informative documentary for a toy I never owned but vividly remember seeing all over TV when I was growing up. It’s such a shame how the project ran out of steam and it makes me wonder if Cuponk could have lived longer if it had been developed by a smaller company than Hasbro. Considering the pitch was to create the next big idea for a similar demographic to what Nerf had already conquered, it’s bonkers that they pushed so hard to merge the two… You should be proud to know that each video is managing to improve its production quality from the last and that your hard work on the small details really shows! It's insane that the algorithm hasn't picked up on it yet but I’m hoping it becomes a hit for you in the months to come! I honestly didn't see myself watching the whole thing in one sitting but your presentation and flow of the video kept me hooked! Just like you were landing those trickshots back in 2010, this video "Was just total ownage!!!"

[@JDVR69]

Ditto!!!

[@slow_start]

It really says a lot about someone when they take time out of their day to recognize and say something nice about your work. Thank you so much for your comment. It made my week and I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!

[@AJR-zg2py]

I honestly think the game came a few years too early - it could really have capitalized on how entrenched social media is now, especially with short-form viral content. This toy would have been a natural fit for Tiktok.

[@NovaCosmo]

18:53 I love seeing people get so excited about their work like this, that's always such a positive thing to see in the design process of any product :D

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

I think if I ever saw the Gorillanator design, I'd have bought it immediately. Instead, I saw all of the other "edgy" stuff that I was less interested in. I am now looking at it on eBay and mulling over whether I should or not. EDIT: I bought it. $12 including shipping.

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

It came in the mail, I love it. It doesn't work (YET) but it's got We Have Gorillaz At Home on it, which is mostly what I wanted it for anyway. EDIT: I got it working! the contacts just needed to be cleaned.

[@henrysokol3466]

But.... but a yellow whatsit that looks like a steroidal tribal Spongebob Squarepants recreating the end of 'Total Recall' or technicolor zombies bouncing eyeballs off brains into Solo cups makes a child's tastes look so sophisticated and grown up!

[@JoJo-oc8zf]

Hasbro getting Kids College ready for Frat life

[@robertschnobert9090]

Abusing hard drugs has never been this AWESOME! 🌈

[@robertschnobert9090]

Alcohol killed my father and it's worse than Heroin or meth. We need to make it illegal and throw all junkies and dealers in prison haha 🌈

[@NobodyInTraining]

I don't know if people really noticed what a big jump this video is in terms of quality compared to your previous videos. They were also fantastic, but with this one having interviews with the original creators and everything flowing so smoothly... I'm super impressed

[@slow_start]

It's an INSANE amount of work but I'm so glad people appreciate it! Thank you for this comment it really means a lot!!

[@Mr.-Squid]

Up next: Funkyjuice, the time hasbro tried selling alcohol to kids.

[@slow_start]

Not funny. I had a crippling funkyjuice addiction at the age of 10.

[@2112thesmith]

what i remember is that my little brother's cuponk would play a couple different apple garageband guitar samples and then make monster noises

[@slow_start]

Aaahh yes, you had the blue one... Monsterosity. Rad!

[@Notester82]

Gosh, this was a fun documentary for a fun toy! The coverage feels pretty full and I enjoyed the theming to be taken back to the time period where Cuponk was a thing, from you wearing the headband to the Cuponk merch and graphics shown throughout the video. c:

[@slow_start]

I think that I can safely say that I am still the world's number one Cuponk fan. Glad you enjoyed the video 🤠

[@mikedrop4421]

Wow, the art, photography and editing of this video is amazing. Well done bro, you've become the explainer of our childhood.

[@gerarddip]

I always wondered why they named it after the weird thing commander worf says

[@slow_start]

LOL, its kinda close I guess

[@rubyrue702]

the video i didn't know i needed. this was awesome, personally as a kid i thought cuponk was dumb but always thought the designs on the cups were amazing, and i felt they were more geared towards older teens then so never bothered to ask for one.. this was an awesome watch!

[@slow_start]

So glad to hear!!!!

[@SmugStick]

Definitely one of the best channels in recent times

[@Kris18]

KZbin kept recommending me your videos and I finally clicked one... then another... then another... and have been watching a few every couple days. I love the content you're putting out! Thanks for these videos! It was a bit surprising to see Bulls-Eye Ball in this video. I thought it was something that nobody remembered and never went anywhere. As a kid, I *loved* playing it and am glad to hear it's still around, even if it's got a new paint job and some of my nostalgia would be gone because of it. So you might not have hit me in the nostalgia with Cuponk, but you got me with that!

[@CSW_YT]

Up until today, I had totally forgot about Cuponk, but just by hearing the name I immediately remembered the art style it had because that was what got my attention the most. If only I had gotten the golden cup when I had the chance, lol

[@lobotomites]

i feel like i should be paying to watch this. it’s seriously so cool that you were able to gather all this information (and even conduct interviews) on such a niche topic and pack it into such an informative, yet also interesting doc. keep up the good work!

[@NightmareRex6]

peaople saying shit like this is why more and more is not free :/ instead should be saying buy merch and support and donate if just want to help and don't want merch.

[@pixelchu]

It’s wild how high quality this documentary is we didn’t know we needed. Very well edited and so cool you found and interviewed members of the team. I only remember Cuponk because I got it as a Christmas gift one time. It’s sitting on my shelf and hasn’t been played with at all.

[@AmberPrice881]

Haven't heard about the game in ages, excited for the vid! Edit: watched the vid, it was epic and so cool how u got to interview most of the team! Always top quality content, amazing stuff, slow🎉

[@spamjam2112]

dude even growing up AFAB i had this toy and seeing this video just brought back so many memories. i STILL have this toy!! i went to go look in my old room. i had the wrestler one. idr where i got it it mightve been an xmas present but i remember playing it.

[@xXRedTheDragonXx]

Hey I was a part of a focus group for this toy! I was like 10 or 11. My mom used to drag me to these groups once a week where I'd be testing out some new toy or pencil and sometimes picking out designs I thought were cool. I didn't like the Cuponk because it was too difficult to set up some of the shots they wanted you to attempt during the testing. I was put in a room with 5 or 6 other people and we had to basically just try and make shots while a bunch of people in the corner sat around and watched us but not saying anything. We were given a box of household objects like pots and pans but there were also pieces of cardboard and folding chairs we could use to set stuff up. There was one kid in my group, I think his name was Adam or Alex or something like that who really hated it and would throw a fit every time he missed a shot. One of my friends eventually got one after it was fully released and if I remember we only made one really cool shot before giving up and deciding it was boring and too tedious. I probably still have a video of our attempts on tape somewhere because I stole my dad's video camera to film it, but I don't remember if the try where we made it was actually recorded or not!

[@jeremoople]

I definitely remember the commercials and artwork for Cuponk, but I had no idea it was actually popular. I had just become a teenager at the beginning of the 2010s so I was aging out of the demographic and the aesthetic wasn't my thing either (interestingly, I find those unreleased third wave designs way more appealing) but looking back, I really like the idea of this toy. There's really no reason beer pong has to be a drinking game; at the few college parties I went to, I enjoyed finding the one other sober person to play on a team with in the night's bracket. Anyway, great video. Passionate mini documentaries on niche topics are a joy to watch. I'm actually considering buying a Cuponk on eBay now...

[@showtime6310]

You're content is really great, reminds me of that "toys of made us" netflix show I used to watch. hope this blows up it definitely deserves it.

[@slow_start]

Wow, big compliment! Maybe I'll do a series for 2000's toys one day?! Haha

[@jessdrewthis]

Great video, very thorough and well done. I remember having this toy at our house, my 12 year old younger brother was into it (I was 19). Truthfully, hearing about Cuponk after all these years of not thinking about it didn’t hit me over the head with nostalgia like it might for other viewers. What did wreck me was the mention of Bullseye Ball, holy smokes, that game _completely_ wiped itself from my memory. I was and still am a dedicated skee-ball enthusiast. Man, I forgot how much I played it and how much harder it got when the bounce pad began losing its elasticity from overuse lol. Thanks for a trip down buried memories lane :)

[@captaiawesome2260]

It’s crazy, I never heard of this toy, even though I grew up in this era. My friends and I got really into cup speed stacking during that time, but somehow never knew about cuponk.

[@NightmareRex6]

yea i never heard of it early even tho knew about icarly. i wonder who was the first to use an iname as my mom also did that.

[@DustyRagu]

holy shit man you have really upgraded the quality of your videos, and thats saying something because they were already great! Can't wait to see more. This was the most unexpected nostalgia hit, thanks lol

[@laiszaatara3816]

Got a feeling this channel will blow up. Looking forward to watching you for years to come.

[@MetalBansheeX]

He's just in a slow start

[@talissatempleton5298]

I totally forgot about these!! Now I remember the time I'd spent playing this in the school library with random other kids I no longer remember and probably wouldn't've ever interacted with otherwise, feeling so happy to be included in something so cool and popular. Good times.

[@CocoHutzpah]

I never heard of this one. I was in high school at that time, so it was incredibly easy to not notice it. If it had come out in 2003 or 2004, I would have been all over it. I can imagine my parents handing me a ping pong ball and an old plastic cup from Hoss's or something, but it would have probably been a good few weeks with it.

[@Marchingvenusaur]

I was JUST wondering when you'd upload your next video. Excited for this one

[@tpc_red9884]

This video is so good bro! The wave of nostalgia for a toy I didn't even have is testament to that.

[@HubErt-xh2ez]

Your videos have become one of my favourite forms of entertainment. The amount of effort and research put into them makes them so fun to watch and it just feels like a high-end documentary but about these nostalgic, “silly” topics that can bring comfort

[@matthewdaub]

26:52 I forgot about the word ownage until now. God it's been so long since I've heard it.

[@beretnarf]

Never even heard of this one but what an interesting story. Really cool of those folks from Hasbro to share their experiences too.

[@ToyInsanity]

Can you do a deep dive on the Kookys Kollectibles pens?

[@romanromando4648]

hey great video man fun watch i thought it was gonna be more ranty but was really light and funny

[@IAmNVA92]

I hope the algorithm gods bless you. This was surprisingly entertaining. Very well made. 👏

[@slow_start]

Thank you!!!

[@Fawnest]

As someone who also worked at Hasbro during this time (different department but still), I appreciate your research and presentation of this! Nice work!

[@ToyInsanity]

Can you do a deep dive on Tech Deck and fingerboards? They turned 25 this year.

[@AleTitan]

I JUST saw one of these cups at a thrift store a few days ago!! Wish this video had been recommended to me beforehand

[@Ziondood]

I never had one of these, but I remember seeing them on the shelves back in the day! Always thought it was such a weird product, so it was really nice to hear your genuine experiences with it! Thanks for seeking out the original creators for this too! I think you made something real special here that likely made all of them happy 😊

[@georgehernandez9767]

Thank you for this documentary. I hope you do more in the future. You also gave me memories of toys of the 1990s and 2000s unlocked!

[@ihatesawa]

BABE WAKE UP NEW SLOW START VIDEO‼️‼️‼️‼️

[@ansel569]

It really does seem like cuponk was a masterclass in marketing, but as a toy, something you could literally do with items around your house, it wasn't enough to keep it popular.

[@gkoww9286]

When that little blue dot shows up on my subscribed list I get so excited to spend an hour learning about a discontinued toy

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Holy fuck, I didn't think anybody else remembered Cuponk. I had ALL of these.

[@slow_start]

Lucky kid!

[@ORANOID]

I love your channel for this felling: "idk, what is this shit, but it would be interesting till the end". I don't know, how you're doing it, but it's ultracool.

[@slow_start]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad there's an audience for the weird and random stories I want to tell!

[@Ceruendiir]

How is this channel not bigger. I'm binging these videos. Good work man

[@Ceruendiir]

Also I used to have one of these and I remember being so excited when I got it for some reason

[@rivetsquid8887]

I never got into Cupponk. As a begleri fan who started with thumbchucks though, I have some fascination with "baby's first skill toy." I've gotta admit, there were some cool cup designs there, I only ever remember seeing the lucha one

[@taylorallen1026]

Great video, I remember this so vividly despite not having one, I’m surprised it’s considered “forgotten”. Needs so many more views!

[@Derpykinz]

I had about 7 of these cups. I lost a majority of them overtime but it was so cool getting another with a new sound and ball combo.

[@PPSH-Riley]

Man i watched hours of commercials in 2003. That bullseye ball commercial just gave me a HUGE rush of nostalgia

[@TV---kn2rl]

I like how your channel reminds me of The Toys That Made Us but takes the opportunity to go into a niche product that was sitting in the back of our memories and tell us everything about it

[@kovacsbalint3317]

amazing video, please never stop, you have to keep this momentum going

[@slow_start]

The video's take a little while to make... but I'm always making them! Thanks for the kind words :)

[@jacko5lol]

great video, loved the explanation on the backstory

[@halbie1694]

The quality of these videos is impeccable! Keep up the great work :)

[@TheGrobe]

Man, this was extremely well put together and you actually found something that wasn’t done to death. I think you have a future in media.

[@ToyInsanity]

How'd you get the headband if you don't have the gold pack? Anyway, the gold edition is under $30 on ebay.

[@slow_start]

Wow, you were paying attention! I bought a weird assortment of Cuponk items off Ebay earlier this year. Kind of a mixed bag. That's how it ended up in my possession.

[@Sinbook]

both me and my boyfriend had a nostalgia wave seeing these again

[@heyitkota]

I still have the pink one with the wrestlers on it from when I was 8. I did play with it for way longer than anyone else probably did lol I was still trying to do some of the tricks on the cards well into my middle school years

[@Persun_McPersonson]

As a kid I thought this thing was weird and pointless, and I didn't have the complete conscious awareness of marketing strategies at the time but even then I felt like it was trying too hard to seem cool. _However,_ I now have a new-found respect and appreciation for the work that went into making it and the history behind it. Great documentary and I look forward to more stuff from you.

[@tcaldwe]

That's awesome, this needs to be on trending tab

[@reccollect]

Love this! The concept is great and the editing is solid. Huge fan of Cuponk, so many memories

[@Nick_115]

Oh my god I totally remember this!

[@EvilOttoJrProductions]

Your closing paragraph here reminds me a lot of my own experience with the folks who worked on the mid-1990's Godzilla line by Trendmasters. Over the years I've gotten into contact with many of them, and without exception, they are all thrilled to know that there are adults today who fondly remember their childhood in large part due to their hard work. Toy designers do NOT get enough credit for the joy they bring into this world.

[@dapperloser3025]

i never owned this but i swear just once back in 2010 i saw an ad or something of this, i think you unlocked a deep cut memory of mine man

[@slow_start]

Yeah this one's a deep cut

[@mesousagaby740]

These aired as Cartoon Network were in a loose TV-PG era, which couldn' tbe any more well timed. Also this was pre-Ryan Dunn death Bam Margera, BTW. You can tell because he's not self-destructing himself here. Feels like anytime I hear his name nowadays, it instantly bums me out cause he's been in hellish times for...a decade.

[@Ssj_tainaka]

This was a really cool video. I was too young to even know about this when it was a thing (tbf it might not have even been that big in the uk anyway) but this totally seems like the kind of thing I’d be into. They kind of remind me of tech decks, which you usually just pick up and play with every once in a while. I doubt they’ll come back now but if they ever did I’d be first in line to buy one.

[@evanlopez8533]

They are back

[@sophiegoose]

Great vid! Been a long-time toy collector, and while that space tends to be full of people who will wax poetic about a given toyline or figure or era of products, there's rarely much attention paid to the actual people working on toylines and all the drama and creative processes behind the curtain. Corporate greed and office politics aside, there are still designers, researchers, and marketing folks working hard to make these things a reality, and hearing from them every once in a while is a treat. I remember seeing Cuponk commercials and seeing them on shelves back in the day. They never quite caught my attention as the mostly action figure focused nerd that I am, but dang did that artwork and the concept stand out. You could tell that someone, somewhere was really trying to get you into this edgy, underground world with this mysterious ball and cup sport. It's so interesting hearing from the folks who workshopped and fought so hard to give that vibe to what is, at the end of the day, such a simple but fun toy. A good reminder that it really does take a village when it comes to making a toyline, and to see the team still remembering it fondly makes me smile. Great research and great vid.

[@gijsw8681]

Omg the sheer nostalgia i felt when i saw this thumbnail, i played these cups too much, those sound effects went hard brooooo

[@StocktonRush-]

I absolutely love your videos man. I really hope you continue to make this great content going into 2024. Thank you.

[@angrynoodletwentyfive6463]

I think another issue with cuponk was that it was too simple for parents who were lower middle class to be willing to buy it. If you don't have alot of disposable income you are going to scoff at the idea of buying a $10-20 light up cup with ping pong balls for your kid. it is something you can very easily replicate with stuff you already have or stuff that costs a dollar or less. So it was more likely to be replicated on the cheap by a thrifty parent or kid than something like nerf or monopoly. A kid is not very likely to build his own nerf gun or create his own monopoly board pieces cash cards etc. but a kid can VERY EASILY make his own cuponk game.

[@jamesroysiederome273]

your videos are great man, i've binged like 8 of them today haha

[@slow_start]

Glad to know I'm bingeable!!! :D Thank you for the kind words.

[@sophiahurtado619]

I totally forgot about this, I still remember some of the commercials that aired at the time.

[@liamcollinson5695]

Please cover the Hasbro ouiji boards designed for kids the pink one became infamous online and sells for a pretty penny now it even has a adorable little pink case to keep everything in

[@Drew791]

What a pleasant surprise to see a new upload! I admit I’m too old to have experienced this oddity so I guess in a way I’m a perfect viewer for this content!

[@slow_start]

Yes!! Love to hear that! Hope you still found it interesting :)

[@mac_dale]

Back at it again making another hood classic

[@idunnoman9402]

I forgot these existed, but I did have one as a kid. The art on Let it Rip was just so memorable for me, really digged the zombies. Thank you for this video!

[@RobbYarber]

Gosh, Christmas 2009, I was only 21 years old! Now I'm 35 and feel like an old man. Where did the years go?!

[@theheadofrichardnixon7252]

The picture of the Strong Museum at 3:11 really threw me for a loop.