MTV VMA Flashback: Gifts From 2002 and 2003

I wish I were going to MTV’s Video Music Awards tonight! But I can’t complain (too much) because I went from 1999 through 2003. That’s a pretty good run, and those were some good shows. I was there when Diana Ross gave Lil Kim’s bare boob a jiggle; drag queens paid tribute to Madonna; Eminem led an army of Eminems; the Rage Against the Machine bassist acted out; and Britney Spears gyrated with a snake. I saw TLC up close and personal as they waited near my seat to make an entrance (they were all so tiny!), and I asked my sister, “Who is that guy in the terrible red suit?” before realizing it was Moby. I was there when Madonna kissed Britney Spears (and Christina Aguilera, but poor Xtina’s kiss didn’t get the big buzz) and Michael Jackson awkwardly accepted some award that didn’t exist.

A couple of years ago, I posted this picture of me from 2003, holding commemorative Moonman I got at the event.

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In that post, I mentioned that I still had the Moonman, but for some reason, I didn’t share a picture of it. Here it is!

Isn’t it kind of funny that I kept it in the original box all this time? And that’s how it will stay forever.

I have another souvenir that — based on the date and the fact that I only went to New York shows — must be from 2002.

Inside is a very heavy Moonman on a chain. My postal scale says it weighs seven ounces.

It’s amazing I got these two things home. They were left out on the seats rather than handed out in gift bags after the event, and people were ready to fight you to snag an extra one. Survival of the fittest at the VMAs, I tell ya!