Making Back-to-School Magic!

Is everyone ready for back to school season? We here at the JRA are ready with freshly sharpened pencils and new folders full of great information for all of you over the coming year!

Jewel Riders actually has more to do with back to school than many may know. Firstly, the show premiered September 10th, right in the thick of the beginning of a new school year. For both of us, the show brought color, fun, and fandom to the 1995/1996 school year, and many more to come.

Ronnie wanted to share some special memories of Jewel Riders and school.

My memories of youth and school days are especially fond ones. Chris and I first met one another in 1995, a very special year indeed. It was during school yard conversations and recess that we connected over Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders.

A best friendship quickly evolved and has since lasted for over 20 years! Jewel Riders wasn’t limited to recesses, no, Jewel Riders fan art graced several assignment sheets, desk name cards, hushed classroom conversation, and passed notes. During breaks, Chris and I would head straight for the grassy area where we would recite, amongst a “wooded” part of the playground, the adventures we had seen the previous weekend. “Jewel Power!”

The next year, our class had a spotlight style program where one student per week could bring a collection for show and tell. Well, being the brave, proud little 10 year old boy I was, brought my collection of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders dolls. There was some snickering, but I didn’t care. Tamara and Drake accompanied Chris and I as we walked the track that week.

Many years later, we rekindled our love for Jewel Riders during junior high and through high school. Jewel Riders, among other teenage conversations, were the topic of choice during P.E. and throughout lunch.

As if the theme of friendship and the lasting bonds created isn’t strong enough throughout the series, such treasured memories only add to the personal fondness for Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders! “Friends together, friends forever!”

Ps- I wish I had the Jewel Riders stationary and lunchbox back in 1995!

The show’s merchandising team was ready with a fun array of products for kids going back to school in 1995/1996.

First and foremost was the lunchbox and thermos combo. Any child of the 80s and 90s can tell you how important it was to not only have a proper lunch, but carry it in the most rad lunchbox you could find. Lunchboxes were an opportunity to show your fandom at a tender age, and licensed characters were all the rage for adorning your hard plastic box.

The lunchbox and thermos combo was emblazoned with artwork from the Style Guide. How both of us wish we had that lunchbox as kids! (Chris did have a pretty fly Tale Spin one for a long time, though.)

On every back to school shopping list were binders, folders, and notebooks for assignments. Once again, the folks behind Jewel Riders had us covered with not one, but two different binder and matching folder designs. They also produced a notebook, complete with a listing of the school products!

And if you got bored writing on plain old boring wide-ruled paper, Jewel Riders also produced a set of stickers for you to liven up the margins!

And if you wanted to look great on your first day and channel your favorite Sun Stone wielding Princess, Jewel Riders made branded children’s tennis shoes and hair accessories! We couldn’t get away with wearing these, but perhaps some of you remember sporting these accessories to class?

And of course, aspiring young Jewel Riders needed a calendar to pencil in play dates and other ~serious~ business.  Bizarrely, this calendar wasn’t released until 1997, after the show had gone off the air.

Thanks for going back to school with us and exploring some of the great products that the folks behind the show produced for kids to bring a little bit of magic into their everyday lives! Did you have or use any of these products as kids? We’d love to hear your memories! Also, what would you have liked to see produced for back to school? Both of us would have adored a backpack!

Friends Together, Friends Forever!

~Chris & Ronnie