World POG Federation
Yea…that was a business.
This is the first article of a weekly series. Every week we will feature a business that is hard to believe was or is in existence. This series is meant to prove that ANYTHING can be made into a business. These articles will prove that.
To start the series we have the World POG Federation. Before we get into their company let’s talk about the history of POGS. For those of you that do not know what POGS are, prepare for the excitement.
What’s a POG?
According to milkcapmania.co.uk, the unbelievable POG concept apparently started in Hawaii. The first POGS were the cardboard lids on juice bottles. The cap was labeled POG, which was an abbreviation for the juice that was inside the container. Kids began using the caps in a game. The goal of the game was to flip the caps over. How do you do that? The kids used slammers, supposedly 3 caps glued together, and threw the slammer at the stack of caps hoping to flip them over. The kids would also draw on the caps to make them more interesting.
(Picture courtesy of Flickr user hkboyee)
The game gained a lot of hype and began to grow from Hawaii to the United States and over to the UK. Once POGS were commercialized, the concept did not really change. POGS were no longer caps, but circular pieces of cardboard printed with pictures on one side. Slammers were sold and came in all different forms: metal, plastic, sharp edged, and more. The interesting part of the game (playing by the official rules) after you ‘slammed’ a stack of POGS, the ones that flipped over, you were meant to keep. So, every time you played the game, you would risk losing your precious POGS.
No Way
Now let’s get to the World POG Federation. A savvy business individual saw the potential in these ‘POGS’ and turned it into a business. What a great idea that was because in only 18 months the World POG Federation had made $25 million. Who would have thunk it?!
The POG fad pretty much faded out, but POGS will never be forgotten. The good news…There is an App for iPhone and iPod users called MilkCaps. Bring back the memories for $1.99.
Can you believe that the World POG Federation was a business?
What are your thoughts?
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March 4th, 2010 at 5:10 am
haha! I definitely remember them. We used to get them in chip packets in Australia!
.-= Tom | Build That List´s last blog ..The 4 Reasons People Unsubscribe Mailing Lists =-.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:29 am
These things were an international phenomenon. I used to play my friends for these. So much fun out of something so simple.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Hey Pog Federation ~~~~ Before there was a “POG” Federation, we were in business in New England at several different malls selling yes, the milkcaps and slammers to all ages. Who would have thunk that a dollar would go so far??? We enjoyed the “POG” ride …..