Trapper Keepers are coming back as tablet cases

For some, each new school year brought a about a specific kind of dilemma. No, we aren’t talking about picking out what to wear on the first day, we mean choosing a new Trapper Keeper. To stoke those flames of indecision and nostalgia, the folks at Kensington have teamed up with Mead, the team behind the original Trapper, and Pee Chee to bring you a line of cases that likely fit whatever 7-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch tablet you may have. The cases come in a handful of designs straight from the ’80s, and they’re sure induce flashbacks of scratching the name of last week’s crush off the front of your catch-all binder. Perhaps even better, they’re priced between $25 and $30 and start shipping this September.

In one of the more brilliant ideas to prey upon our nostalgia, the Trapper Keeper is returning to back-to-school shelves in a form far more applicable to our present-day lives: As tablet cases. Here’s the even better news: They are bringing back some of the traditional Trapper Keeper designs that you might have stashed in your locker 30 years ago. Case-maker Kensington is partnering with Mead for the Trapper Keeper relaunch, so in addition to the gloriously 80s graphics, there is also a composition-style notebook, as well as a version of the Pee-Chee sketchbook you might have doodled upon in class. While these are excellent revivals of an iconic 80s brand, I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t go far enough with the graphics. Who could forget the “Designer Series” launched in 1988 which blasted into our lives with radical computer-generated art that we were proud to carry under our arms? Maybe those are coming up in a future release. For now, the cases will come in two sizes (seven-inch or 10-inch, $25-30) and will fold open into stands so you can watch Facts of Lifeon your Trapper Keeper. By the way, if you’re feeling more analog these days, Trapper Keeper does have versions of its old school notebooks for sale as well.