RUGRATS | 'Cari-Lokas' Sabritas (Mexico, 1999)

This entry was originally published in 'Basura Invaluable' on Monday, March 12, 2018. The entire original text has been preserved, and adjustments have been made to the content, correcting colors in the images. This review requires additional information, such as the original television commercial which, unfortunately, I was unable to find again for this new version. If you have data related to this topic, please share it with us to add and enrich the information. Thank you very much.

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GLUED TO THE T.V.

There are things that bring back many memories, but there are others, much more powerful, that generate tremendous nostalgia and longing. Rugrats is one of those things. In 1998, I was barely four years old when I first saw Aventuras En Pañales (the title in Mexico and Latin America). It took many years for me to have cable TV at home, but back then, I spent a lot of time at the house of a woman who had become my putative aunt. Unfortunately, that sweet woman changed a lot over time, we drifted apart, and now we've even lost touch, and what was her house is about to be demolished. Anyway, that's life. But, undeniably, a large part of my general television culture was acquired during those years, in that house, which I recall to this day with magical feelings.

Tired of the few, repetitive series broadcast on Canal 5 (XHGC), cable TV was a revelation for me, opening up the possibility of entering a wonderful world of pay channels: Cartoon Network, Fox Kids, Discovery Channel, Discovery Kids, all the other channels ending in "kids," etc. And, of course, Nickelodeon. I will never forget the eternal afternoons I spent watching series like: Kablam!, Kenan & Kel, Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, CatDog, Aaaahhhhh! Real Monsters (great name), etc., etc. For many years of my life, I said, and believed, that I was much more devoted to Cartoon Network than to Nick, but, being very honest and reflective, the truth is that my favorite shows, and the shows I watched the most, always and forever, were on Nickelodeon. As an extra piece of information, for those who don't remember, Rugrats was not only broadcast through Nickelodeon; it was also shown on the ZAZ channel, which has been defunct since 2012.

Images extracted from a 1996 Nickelodeon Latin America promotional.

That somewhat bizarre touch of 90s Nick is greatly missed.

Since its premiere in Mexico in 1996, Rugrats was a sensation. One of those "BOOMS" that you hardly see anymore. All the kids felt very identified with many of the situations and scenarios presented in the different episodes of the series, besides being extremely entertaining and funny. The perfect combination, in addition to having charming and unforgettable characters. You can imagine then that by 1999, Rugrats was already a cult object. The success of the series was undeniable, because unlike the tiny or even non-existent merchandise catalog of any other Nickelodeon series (obviously, non-existent or extremely scarce in Mexico), hundreds of different Rugrats items could be found: toys, backpacks, various other school supplies, t-shirts, plush toys, board games, etc. And of course: promotions. You can never miss out on promotions for a tremendous series like this.

Thus, the promotions monster in Mexico, Sabritas, launched its—strangely not-so-well-known and remembered—promotion in 1999: Cari-Lokas (Crazy-Faces).

AN UNHINGED COLLECTION

Lots of GIFs in this entry. Well, to illustrate the following text, I'll leave you some images on the left from the original commercial for the promotion, a rather long one, by the way, with a lot of information and crazy images, in the unmistakable and frantic style of the 90s. NOTE FOR THIS NEW VERSION: These two GIFs above belong to the original entry; unfortunately, since I was unable to re-find the commercial video, I couldn't generate new material. I hope to soon update these two images with ones of better resolution or, even better, the complete commercial.

"Can you imagine changing faces on bodies? With the new Cari-Lokas from Sabritas, swap the characters from Rugrats and make the craziest mixes with faces and bodies. Collect them all, there are 40! - They are inside the bags of Sabritas with the strip. New Cari-Lokas from Sabritas, see them with another face and swap them!"

That's what the commercial said, and as you can see in the GIF below, the promotion (like many others at the time) was distributed only in the "low-end," as I call it, of Sabritas—that is, the cheapest and lowest-grammage snacks, as Fritos, Cheetos, and Crujitos were at that time. Which, by the way, it's been quite a while since I've tasted an exquisite and refined Fritos, in any of its presentations. Once my throat stops oozing purple venom and I'm well, I'll go get some at the corner store and tell you about it... But anyway, let's continue.

But what the $%#&?! are Cari-Lokas? As you may have noticed from the GIFs above, Cari-Lokas are a series of 40 small, thin, rectangular plastic cards with slots all around the edge. The idea itself is similar to that of Yokos, as the pieces are supposedly slotted so they can be joined together to build structures or figures—specifically, as even indicated in the commercial. At first glance, one might think that all 40 cards are different, and that's true, but not entirely.

Cool, huh? Let me explain: above there are only twenty different cards, viewed from both sides. If you look closely at the first image, you will notice that all the cards have, somewhere, a small white circle with the letter "a" inside. Well, this is because the collection of 40 "different" cards is composed of two sets, "a" and "b" (lowercase, as they appear on the cards), but the images are exactly the same, repeated exactly in both sets:

In conclusion: the collection is composed of 40 cards, divided into two sets of 20 double-sided cards (set "a" and set "b"), resulting in 40 different images. So what changes? The orientation of the images, as seen in the example above. The second set exists so that combinations between all the designs are possible:

Maybe you're thinking the same thing as me. Truly, this collection was a headache when it came out, a pain in the ass, as they say further up the continent. And you can imagine, if it was already difficult to complete a single-letter set, with all the amount of duplicates that came out, and also, taking into account that only one piece came inside each bag... A disaster. The good thing (or the bad, very bad thing) is that this happened many years ago, so let's not "malviajemos" (get stuck in a bad nostalgic trip). Nowadays it is difficult to find them all, and much worse if one is very demanding about the condition of the pieces, because due to the nature of the material and the thinness of the cards, they scratched very easily and broke even more easily.

Well, I think there is nothing more to add about this collection. Everything is said and done, as the sacred scriptures indicate. I think everything is quite clear; I've reread it several times, and I believe I haven't gotten mixed up and that I'm not confusing you—or am I wrong? You'll tell me. I hope nostalgia has invaded your hearts, now turned to stone by adulthood. I'm unleashed, as always when I return to the Blog, so maybe I'll continue with a couple more entries...

I'll say goodbye with these super crazy, wild, and sensual bizarre combinations of a few unhinged Cari-Lokas... See you later, and thank you!

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I am very grateful to those who provided me with information to enrich this text, and above all, I am grateful to those who take the time to read and appreciate it in its entirety. This little work is for you, done with great pleasure and care.

I'll sign off for today, but not before reminding you that if you're as passionate about collectibles as we are, you should definitely check out our online store, where you’ll find a beautiful selection of pieces that are sure to be very interesting and valuable for your collection. Until next time!