The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any products or services through an affiliate link to the retailer's website.
If you grew up in the ’80s, there’s a pretty good chance you owned—or at least wished you did!—a pair of Freezy Freakies gloves. In the warmth of your closet they already looked more rad than other gloves, but once you stepped out into the cold? Well, that’s when they became the coolest gloves ever (pun intended).
Made with thermochromic ink, the designs on Freezy Freakies gloves remained translucent in high temperatures and turned to bright colors in the cold. Coming in all kinds of styles, like unicorns, robots and rocket ships—all of which only fully showed up in the cold. It was seriously impressive technology for the time.
Now, thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, the gloves are back and—get this—they’re now being made for adults!
The original Freezy Freakies gloves were made in 1980 by the Swany America Corporation and were sold mainly in department stores and children’s clothing stores. The color-changing gloves were a massive hit, selling around 300,000 pairs every year. Just take a look at this commercial and try to tell me your 6-year-old self doesn’t want a pair:
But by the 1990s, the popularity of Freezy Freakies was waning and Bruce Weinberg, who oversaw sales and distribution for the gloves, told The New York Times in 2015 that by the year 2000, the company was only selling a few hundred pairs a year.
But just like Jolt Cola, Teddy Ruxpin and “Muppet Babies”, all things ’80s seem to be making their way back into our lives. So it’s no surprise the cold winter days are leaving us all looking for a dose of nostalgia in the palm of our hands—literally.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc2Yn8lhyHL/?taken-by=freezyfreakies
Making our nostalgic dreams come true are brothers Hans and Karl Reichstetter, who started the hugely successful crowdfunding campaign.
“It all started with my brother and I going skiing. We basically wear all ’80s gear, neoned out and kind of ridiculous. And we get a nice little reaction from people on the slopes usually,” Hans told ABC News. “We remembered way back in the day when we were in school that Freezy Freakies were the absolute coolest and when my old ’80s gloves started to break down, we both started to look for a pair that actually fit our hands but couldn’t find any.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBiigcntVWc/?taken-by=freezyfreakies
While it took a little “back and forth” with Swany America, according to Hans, the company was excited and ended up licensing the brothers its designs. The gloves officially came back in January 2015 with the following designs: Unicorn, Turbo, Ski Alpine, Fighter Jet, Snow and Robot. Each pair costs $34 and can be purchased directly from the Freezy Freakies website or via Amazon.
But if you’re looking for a pair of Freezy Freakies that looks a little more current, check out these “Game of Thrones” gloves! When exposed to temperatures less than 40 degrees, “Winter is Here” appears under a direwolf. How appropriate! They are available exclusively from HBO and are currently on sale for $19.99.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbUgxDsBJRT/?taken-by=freezyfreakies
Looking to reminisce a bit more about your ’80s childhood? Check out this list of retro school supplies and see how many you remember!