Man oh man. I remember when Haro made their first frame. Was THE first 'freestyle' frame and featured twin top-tubes. I also remember my first Oakley 3 grips - the ones with the flared ends. They were yellow, on a black/yellow Norco I had.
My first BMX bike had Skyway Tuffwheels. I remember when they came out with their teardrop tube frame for 'areodynamics'. Aluminum was as exotic as titanium became. PK Ripper, Quadangle frames... 3 piece cranks costing $300 back in 1983.
BMX Plus and BMX Action, Radical Rick... Living in the middle of Canada, we didn't have the same sort of scene as on the west coast or the US. I raced for a while, but never super-seriously. ABA vs. NBL, Stu Thompson... it's amazing how the mind stores stuff from 25 years ago so vividly but I can't remember what I ate yesterday!
My big claim to fame was bunny-hopping. I cleared 13 kids laying side by side when we did a show at our school, at the end of our grade 9 year. Teachers had a fit when they realized what they had allowed to happen on school grounds. We walked our 1/4 pipe there on skateboards. Probably a 1/4 mile hike with it up the streets.
Nothing has changed - just the size of the toys.