Tazos are disks that were distributed as promotional items with products of Frito-Lay and its subsidiaries around the world. The idea behind Tazos started out similar to Pogs, whereby each Tazo contained a score value, and a game was played to 'win' Tazos from other players.
Tazos have been released in several different formats, ranging from the original circular disks, to octagonal disks, and in later years, to resemble more of a collectible card. In addition to the Japanese Pog Battle game, some Tazo series feature small incisions around the outside, allowing players to fit them together and build objects. The Star Wars series also included additional pieces which allowed players to construct spaceships.
Tazos are commonly made from a plastic base, but some series have been produced from cardboard or aluminium (such as the Australian Yu-Gi-Oh! Metallix series).
Tazos series
Tazos started out with a set of 100 disks featuring the images of Looney Tunes characters and 124 Tiny Toons tazos in 1994. The disks were added to the products of Mexican snacks company Sabritas and were named after the expression taconazo (to kick with the heel) which was a reference to another popular school game in Mexico where children open bottles with their shoes trying to launch the caps the furthest.
Other sets from around the world include:
- Chiquito de la Calzada (1994, set of 10 in Spain, "chiqui tazos")
- Disney (1994, set of 91)
- Pocahontas (1994, set of 50)
- Los Caballeros del Zodiaco English: Saint Seiya (1994, set of 40)
- The Simpsons (1995, set of 100)
- Looney Tunes (1995, set of 100)
- Monster Munch (1996, set of 30 plus a subsequent set of 10)
- Sailor Moon (1996, set of 100)
- The Mask (1998)
- Pokémon (1999, set of 51)
- Dinosaurio (2000, set of 51)
- Pokémon 2 (2000, set of 100)
- Digimon (2000)
- Pokémon 3 (2001)
- Cubi-Tazos featuring Scooby-Doo (TV, 2001, set of 24) Medabots (2002, set of 70 classic and 70 metalix)
- Dragonball GT (2003, set of 60 metalix)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! (2004, set of 101)
- Mucha Lucha (2005, set of 150)
- Mucha Lucha 2: La Revancha (2005, set of 180)
- Dragon Ball Z (2005)
- Megaman NT Warrior (2005 set of 29)
- Robots (2005, set of 10)
- Los Simpsons English: The Simpsons (TV, 2006–2007, set of 144)
- Bob Esponja English: SpongeBob SquarePants (TV, 2007, set of 163 plus 5 in Cheetos)
- Pokémon 4 Generación Avanzada (2008, set of 235)
- El Tigre: Las Aventuras De Manny Rivera (2008, set of 200)
- WWE (TV, 2009, set of 176)
- Naruto (2009)
- Bakugan Battle Brawlers (TV, June–August 2009 in packages of Cheetos in India, set of 26) Nickelodeon (TV, 2010, set of 195)
- Shrek: Para Siempre English: Shrek Forever (film, 2010 in packages of Cheetos in Peru)
- Bakugan Battle Brawlers (TV, 2010 in Cheetos Sorpresa in Peru with the slogan "Descubre el Poder de los Tazos" English: Discover the Power of Tazos, numbered set of 120)
- Star Wars (original trilogy)
- Chester Cheetah
- Space Jam
- Australian Football League
- National Rugby League
- Beyblades
- Angry Birds (2011, including codes to unlock special branded levels)
- Jurassic World (2018)
- Bad Bunny (2019)
- Pac-Man (2020)
Countries
Tazos have been released around the world, in bags of potato chips (crisps) and other snacks including Bollycao, Chipicao, Cheese Tris, Cheetos, Cheetos Sorpresa, Chizitos, Doritos, Fandangos, Lay's Potato Chips, Meridian Real Thai Chicken Sabritas, Piqueo Snax, Simba Chips, Smith's Potato Crisps, Thins, Twistees, Uncle Chipps, and Walkers.
Countries that have had Tazo releases include:
- Albania
- Argentina
- Australia
- Bahamas, The
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Chile
- Colombia
- Cyprus
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- France
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Australian sets
Below is a list of official basic Australian Tazos and the year they were released.
| Series | Number Run | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Looney Tunes | 1–60 | 1995 |
| Cheetah | 61–100 | 1995 |
| Looney Tunes Techno | 101–140 | 1995 |
| The Simpsons | 141–180 | 1996 |
| Chester Cheetah Techno Tazo | 181–200 | 1996 |
| Time Warp Looney Tunes | 201-220 | 1996 |
| Space Jam | 1–80 | 1996 |
| Star Wars | 81–160 | 1997 |
| Batman & Robin | 1–40 | 1997 |
| Dragon Ball Z | 1-40 | 2000 |
| The Simpsons Pickers | 1–120 | 2002 |
| Beyblades Tazo Topz | 1–54 | 2003 |
| Mega Tazo Topz | 1–65 | 2003 |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Metalix* | 1–60 | 2004 |
| Crush Gear Tazo | 1–40 | 2004 |
| The Simpsons Bowlarama | 1–50 | 2005 |
| Marvel Heroes | 1–50 | 2005 |
| The Simpsons TV Tazo | 1–50 | 2006 |
| AFL Hot Shot Tazo | 1–30 | 2006 |
| NRL Hot Shot Tazo | 1–30 | 2006 |
| Footy NRL Tazo Classic | 1–48 | 2007 |
| Footy NRL Tazo Gold | 1–64 | 2007 |
| Footy AFL Tazo Classic | 1–48 | 2007 |
| Footy AFL Tazo Gold | 1–64 | 2007 |
| Footy Legends NRL | 1–72 | 2008 |
| Footy Legends AFL | 1–64 | 2008 |
- The Yu-Gi-Oh! Metalix set did contain a couple bonus Tazos offered with a kids magazine K-Zone and at Shell petrol stations.
See also
References
- Julian Morgans (29 April 2019). "Meet the Guy Who Invented Tazos and Gave Meaning to School Lunchtimes". Vice.
- "Tazos > Walkers > Monster Munch Series 1". www.milkcapmania.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- "Tazos > Walkers > Monster Munch Series 2". www.milkcapmania.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ^ "Cartoon Network inks deal with Frito Lay". 18 December 2001.
- "BAKUGAN". Archived from the original on 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- spakatak.com, Warren Sergent /. "spakatak.com International Tazos Guide".
- Charubala Annuncio, B R Srikanth (1 March 1999). "Child Is The Father Of Marketing". Outlook. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- "The Ultimate Tazo/POG site".
- "Australia / Australian Tazos Guide". Spakatak. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- spakatak.com, Warren Sergent /. "spakatak.com Tazos Guide". spakatak.com. Retrieved 2024-02-27.