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     The Fads And Novelties Of 1990
 By GENEVA COLLINS
 Associated Press Writer
   Novelties that achieved their 15 minutes of fame in 1990 ranged
from the electronic to the idiotic. Catch them while you can: Some
already have joined pet rocks, mood rings and those goofy dancing
flowers in memory's bottom drawer.
   Slap Wraps and clackers proved as irresistible to young consumers
as their noise proved irritating to adults.
   The wraps, and their many imitators, are fabric-covered strips of
springy metal that coil around the wrist when smacked against it.
Clackers, sold under the name Klika and Newton's Yo-Yo, are sticks
with plastic balls that bang together. When operated properly, they
sound like an avalanche of pingpong balls.
   Parents addled by the racket bought peace of mind by giving the
kiddies hand-held video games such as Game Boy, Lynx and
TurboExpress. Big kids dressed in business attire played with the
Wizard, an electronic appointment book, and Poqet, an IBM-compatible
computer the size of a paperback.
   On the fashion front, latex bicycle pants were big, preferably in
colors previously limited to Jell-O. The 1990 Power Tie came in lush,
verdant florals. Catsuits, a new name for the old one-piece bodysuit,
were worn by women who stayed in shape by race walking, step
training, or skating on Rollerblades.
   Underachieving Bart Simpson was the mug of choice for T-shirts,
followed closely by a Black Bart knockoff and Nelson Mandela.
Nose-piercing replaced the multi-piercing of ears in the '80s;
tattoos were discovered by yuppies, who had them positioned to hide
under professional attire. Baby beehive hairdos made a minor comeback.
   The lambada, the sexy Brazilian bump-and-grind, came and went
faster than you can say "The Forbidden Dance," leaving a trail of
hot-hued flounced minis in its wake. (It's too early to tell if the
Bartman, Bart Simpson's dance that debuted in a December video, can
fill the void.) Voguing  the dance style that incorporates the
exaggerated freeze-action poses of models  was spreading from gay
clubs to straight ones.
   The really adventurous tried bungee jumping  strapping their
ankles to elastic cords and plunging off cliffs to stop inches above
water. The really sedentary stayed home to watch "Twin Peaks" or all
11 hours of the PBS documentary "The Civil War."
   On the large screen, "Dick Tracy" did not leave the world awash in
yellow fedoras as its merchandisers hoped, but  cowabunga!  "Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles" was such a hit its amphibious stars went on a
40-city rock 'n' roll tour.