By: R.J. Melby

I was born in the late 1990s, meaning that I teeter between the age of cassettes and discs. My brother was born only a year after me, so we ended up being close in our interests. Whether it was “Lego,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)” or “VeggieTales,” we reveled in it all. I still look back fondly to the days of Dad taking us into the living room, clicking on the old CRT TV and watching Saturday morning cartoons on basic cable. “Kirby: Right Back at Ya” and “Sonic X” were particular favorites in those days. Then of course we’d play video games on our emerald Nintendo 64, exploring “Donkey Kong 64” and racing in “Star Wars: Pod Racer.”

Now I’m nearing my 30s, and it’s hard not to feel the way many others feel in this turbulent socioeconomic climate. A lot of us pine for that simpler time of childhood, when decisions were out of our hands and all we had to worry about was getting up on time for school or who our favorite “Power Ranger” was. If it’s not in material form, it’s through wanting to relive certain experiences, like driving by your old high school or wandering the streets of your hometown. It can be painful then to see these places change so much. The Coon Rapids Walmart recently closed its doors for good. I got my first job there at 15 pushing carts.

According to GWI Zeitgeist’s 2023 study, 56% of Gen Z (those born from 1997 to 2006) reported feeling 2000s nostalgia, with those ages 16 to 64 reporting that most of their nostalgia was attributed to movies (71%), music (64%) and TV shows (60%).

Sometimes, we try to replicate this feeling through nostalgic buying, where one collects items that remind them of childhood to recapture a lost past. I, for one, have been on a “Lego Bionicle” binge. My partner, who is close to my age, collects “Pokémon” toys. For others, it’s through collecting “Transformers,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and retired “Lego” sets.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It can also be addictive. The inner child can be greedier than one expects. It seems like only recently there was the 1990s nostalgia craze. Now it’s moving on to 2000s nostalgia. A few years ago, Playmates rereleased their 2003 “Ninja Turtle” figures, and you better believe I was scouring those shelves along with every other 2000s kid. A cynic would call this wasteful. Others call it enjoying the time we have on this Earth. One can say life’s too short to compromise one’s interests for “adult” activities if it means also trading away one’s sanity as well. When taken in moderation, indulging in the waters of nostalgia can be a rewarding experience.