Toys that came with chips

There was a time when little toy trinkets came tucked inside bags of chips, specially those of the brand Smiths and its successor Lay's. Those were the days!

Flippo

Flippos were collectible cardboard or plastic tokens, known in some other countries as pogs or tazos. They were really big in the 90s, but I only ever encountered those original variations at flea markets. Why were they called Flippos, you ask? Well, try clicking the one on this page and maybe you'll find out!

The first type of Flippo I actually remember also happened to be the last: Pokémon flippos in 2001. They were a huge fad! One girl in my class famously got into trouble for tearing through bag after bag at home, pulling out the flippos and leaving the chips untouched.

I don't recall us ever playing with these. As I've discovered while writing this page, the Netherlands had a Pokémon Flippo Update on TV and lots of extra promotional material, which explained ways of playing with them that I had never even heard of before. It seems to have involved stacks, slammers, and an elemental rock-paper-scissors type of thing.

The regular series had lenticular flippos, so depending on the angle, you’d see a Pokémon or its evolution. The surprise line was see-through, once you removed the sticker.

Spinners

The next line I remember is Beyblade spinners in 2003. These were essentially flippos with pointy edges and a plastic stick in the middle, so you could spin them like tops. They got far more use in our schoolyard battles than the actual Beyblade toys ever did.

The Playground Leftovers

None of these later promotions ever caught fire on the playground the way Pokémon flippos or Beyblade spinners had.

In 2004, chips came with Yu-Gi-Oh! chaps, which were basically just plastic crown caps. I don't remember these being quite as popular, which was even more the case with the Rocket Power Stunt Wheels that came around the time. They were a bit like Beyblade spinners, but turned on their side, with a rubber band wrapped around them.

I vaguely recall Mega Man Metal Tazos, the last major line released in 2005. They were made of metal, as the name indicates. For some reason, by then the UK equivalent of the Flippo name (Tazo) was used instead.

An unpunched Stunt Wheel showing Twister

The backside showing a game you can play with them

The end

After that, the golden age of chips toys was over. Whether because of new regulations about choking hazards or changing marketing strategies, there were no new toys. I think there might have been some minor trinkets that were attached outside of the chips bags, like temporary tattoos, but they never scratched the same itch. Ever since, every bag of chips has ultimately been a bag of disappointment.