What is Digg?166 Comments
- roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+83Those toys served as both natural selection and teaching aids.
Burn yourself? Dont touch the hot thing. Get hit with a lawn dart...pay attention to your surroundings. Get hit by a flying barbie..wtf are you playing with a barbie doll for?
Now we wonder why kids grow up with no common sense...because they never have to think about what they are doing...
Im not even that old, 24, but my playgrounds were wood and steel. Run too fast under the slide without ducking enough....WHAM! You only do it once, i promise. Kids are supposed to grow up in an environment where they can be hurt, thats what helps to build our basic evasions skills at a young age...then again, another advantage we had, is Parents who actually gave a ***** and watched over us...so i guess there has to be a compromise thanks to lazy parenting. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+65"None of these are dangerous with parental supervision"
does that "parental supervision" product stop radioactivity? - Psych77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+56Lawn darts were fantastic. I think possibly we tried to play the game once (throw them into the circle a set distance away).
After that, it was throw them as high as you could and see who dared stand still below them the longest before running. - crgnetworks, on 10/12/2007, -5/+57LOL this articles writing style is great!
- UGM2099, on 10/12/2007, -0/+45Most dangerous: Johnny Switchblade or Bag 'o Glass.
- barryq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+35I had #1 lawn darts. It was less dangerous than the bow and arrows I had.
Also had #7 Creepy Crawlers my favorite toy at the time. I loved it. I never burned myself. I did that with the wood burning set I also had. Never thought to eat them.
- jasper976, on 10/12/2007, -0/+33lawn darts were great, i still have them in the attic, but i also have a 1 inch scar and bald spot on the top of my head. throwing heavy pointed objects very high in the air with no attention span wasn't a good combo... "a lawn dart, wheeee!.... oh look a caterpillar... *thud:
- SteveisSuperMan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+37Aw, with kids, anything with movable parts is a dangerous object. What can you do? I miss the good ole' days when I would play with fire crackers all day...
- ChemEng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+32@ CTRaider
I dont think you are using them correctly then... In fact, I was surprise to find out in thie artcile that Lawn Darts was a game. - datastorageguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31"In 2000, the CPSC announced that over 150 children fell prey to Sky Dancer's helicopter-blade arms and erratic "Oh-Jesus-it's-chasing-me!" flying patterns"
That really mad me laugh - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+35Okay, Sir, I wanna correct you, alright. The full name of this product, as it appears in stores all over the county, is Johnny Switchblade: Adventure Punk. I mean, nothing goes wrong. Little girls buy 'em, you know, they play games, they make up stories, nobody gets hurt. I mean, so Barbie takes a knife once in a while, or Ken gets cut. You know, there's no harm in that. I mean, as far as I can see, you know?
As for the "Bag O' Glass" - you know, the average kid, he picks up, you know, broken glass anywhere, you know? The beach, the street, garbage cans, parking lots, all over the place in any big city. We're just packaging what the kids want! I mean, it's a creative toy, you know? If you hold this up, you know, you see colors, every color of the rainbow! I mean, it teaches him about light refraction, you know? Prisms, and that stuff! You know what I mean?
Plus, we put a label on every bag that says, "Kid! Be careful - broken glass!" I mean, we sell a lot of products in the "Bag O'" line.. like Bag O' Glass, Bag O' Nails, Bag O' Bugs, Bag O' Vipers, Bag O' Sulfuric Acid. They're decent toys, you know what I mean? - DenTPuzz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27What about Tonka toys? I'm not talking about the soft plastic things they market now, but the metallic finger nipping sharp edged contraptions of the 70's that, according to the TV commercial of the time, could withstand an elephants weight! Oh happy days...
- mookiemookie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27Johnny Reb cannon, complete with Confederate battle flag?
Yeah just TRY to put that on the market today. - thorn101, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31Ah, the "Atomic Energy Lab" for the little terrorist in the making.
- AMSRay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25I also had a 1961 Robot Commando. It had a wired remote with "voice activation". You had to move the selector to the activity you wanted (fire rocket, throw grenade, forward, reverse, etc. The voice activation was a membrane that you shouted into, and no matter what you said, if you shouted loud enough it would do only task you set the switch to. It was taken from me when I got mad at my mom and instructed it to fire a rocket at her. I guided up to her feet and it fired the rocket right into her face, narrowly missing her eye. That ass-beating was like a scene from Fight Club.
- saska, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24I used to watch my parents play lawn darts while lounging in my Mini Hammock, no lie.
When I see them at Christmas I'm going to ask if it was their intention to KILL me. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25Lawn Darts. What a load of crap that these are banned. FTA:
During their brief (and generally awesome) reign in 1980s suburbia, Jarts racked up 6,700 injuries and four deaths.
From the DOT: Total bicyclist deaths in 2005: 784 (Up 26% from 2003) - freff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+239. Battlestar Galactica Missile Launcher:
A spokesperson from the CPSC explained that "the barrel shape of the toy seemed to invite children to put it in their mouths." Something you could apparently say in 1979 without too much snickering.
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OMG....can't stop....laughing.... - tulpe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21"But between the years of 1984–1995 the EZ Sales mini-hammock, oft marketed under the name "Hang Ten," managed to hang 12."
ROFL... make it stop.. it hurts!! *tearsineyes* - DArangio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20When I was younger my friend taught me how to make M-80's after the ones his dad gave us ran out. We also played with butane torches, bows and arrows, bb guns, and the occasional molotov. One time my friend's father got drunk and lit an assload of magnesium off in the house, and burned a hole through the kitchen table. When we were ten he helped us build a potato gun with pvc pipe and duct tape.
Looking back, my friend's parents were insanely irresponsible and would have been better off giving us jarts and creepy crawlers. It's a miracle i still have all my fingers. - danglerman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23The good old days of fire crackers? You must be talking about squibs or something because the good old days of fire crackers are still here for me pal.
- GALILEE77, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Am I the only person who looked at this list and wanted at least half the stuff on there?
- luma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18U-238 Atomic Energy Lab? Working cloud chamber and spinthariscope included? ARE YOU ***** ***** ME! I soooo want one of these - what a kick-ass toy! And hey, if you can't take a little alpha radiation you are no friend of mine, fella.
- Flannigan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21I was just waiting for Doom or other violent video games to appear as I scrolled down... Thankfully this article wasn't written by Jack Thompson.
- LostOnion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Being an old digger, I had one of those creepy crawler thing makers from Mattel back in 1965. I loved it but I never burned myself because I was not a dumbass 10 year old. My little kid fingers could sense heat. The creepy crawler maker was cool because you could mix the colors of the plastigoo and make all kinds of psychedelic bugs, which were all the rage in the 60's. And I am alive 40 years later so apparently the toxins in that goo weren't too toxic. I am living proof that a dangerous toy is only in the eye of the beholder or is that a lawn dart in your eye?
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15man, i loved to play with my sister's sky dancer... fire it straight at her or straight at the cat and see if they flinch or not... fun game...
- agent888, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Favorite part in article: "Oh-Jesus-it's-chasing-me!" flying patterns.
Cant think of how many toys and fireworks i had that followed that flight plan~ - Cruelapollo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Well, one emits alpha particles, which are easily stopped by a piece of paper or dead skin. The other is a fun game in which you find out who has the most balls.
- Pottersquash, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15this is hilarous. I love that Ive owned half of them. I remember when the the Cabbage Snack Time catatropshe came, me, my mom and my lil sis spent hours trying to get it to eat hair. LIARS!!! the damn thing was perfectly safe!!!
"And will all be gay when Johnny comes walking home" - madrox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13what about rocks? I seem to remember my brother and I exchanging many many many volleys of them as kids... i dont see anyone banning those. :)~
- GeneralAntilles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14"At one point, he or she would face choices unthinkable except in an Evel Knievel meets Knightrider crossover episode: Do I jump? Or do I ride it out and see if I can clear the gully? Is it sentient? Can it be reasoned with?"
That cracked me up, too. - repins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13I too had lawn darts and creepy crawlers, and there where no injuries from either of those toys, they where fun and safe if you followed the directions.
- floorman56, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13What? No Clackers balls?
- xtrememotion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12the possiblity of injury is what makes lawn darts fun
- AMSRay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Lawn Darts were awesome. When the limited altitude of throwing them by hand wasn't thrilling enough we started shooting target arrows into the air and trying to catch them before they stuck in the ground. It's hard to believe looking back that the worst injury we had was some small cuts from the cheap plastic feathers going through our fingers if we grabbed them too late!
- diecastbeatdown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12ah yea, i had many tonka trucks. don't forget that if you left them outside they would get rusted! rusty sharp jagged metal toy trucks.
i used to take the tonka car carrier up to the top of the hill in my neighborhood, lay down on it with my face inches from the ground and go full speed down the hill. i was 7 at the time and probably came up to the center of a hubcap on a car, if that. there is no way someone would have seen me while backing out of their driveway. damn that was some of the best fun ever. - Handyyz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Presumably, the child on the motorcycle was then taken on a hellish, intestine-twisting scream ride. At one point, he or she would face choices unthinkable except in an Evel Knievel meets Knightrider crossover episode: Do I jump? Or do I ride it out and see if I can clear the gully? Is it sentient? Can it be reasoned with?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - Kbennett, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Reading that brought back some great memories. :)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11It's a miracle I survived my childhood.
- krakkinem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11My pick: giant trampolines. One person jumping on them is okay, but two or more? Deadly!
I've heard many first-hand stories of broken bones, torn ligaments, and even a fractured skull and coma. I've also personally had someone land on my head, and lost control of a jump and landed on the hard, hard ground.
I'm sure a lot of you here have had your own bad experiences on them. Very dangerous, but very fun. - Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I remember when kids used top play with toys. We'd take off chunks of our skin, but our parents yelled at us for being idiots.
Toys now, unless if your playing a video game, play literally with themselves (Tickle Me Elmo Extreme I'm looking at you.). We live in a society where its always the other person's fault so toy are never safe. Never mind that your five year old lacerated himself when he and his friends thought it was a good idea to throw the lawn darts at each other when you told them not to. I find that the best lessons in life are often the ones that usually end up with a severed artery. No, we live in a day when the toy stores are stocked with baby eistien videos instead of Lego's and easy bake ovens (What boy was not jealous over one of those.) and everything must be plush or or with solid round edges and can weigh no less than a few ounces.
If I have a son, I buying him lots and lots of legos. If I have a girl then I'm getting her a raggedy Ann doll even if I have to sew the ***** myself. - dan_s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Ahh... the "No Warning, Not Dangerous" culture in action. Still, some great toys there.
- Monk1932, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11That's my new phrase of the week
"Oh-Jesus-it's-chasing-me!" - astrotrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Where's the original Megatron (Transformers) G1 who transformed into a realistic P-38 Magnum with all sniper accessories?
http://mykooltoyz.tripod.com/images/16-s_meg_cweap.JPG
If that didn't get some eyebrows raises (especially by law enforcement). - bryclark21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Trampolines are awesome!! You put 3-4 boys up there with 4-6 foot sticks and you have Jedi Training. (I know we were dorks as children). Unfortunately the neighbors always got hurt and ruined our fun.
This of course was a distant 2nd to when we tied a rope across the alley and saw who could bail off a bike best when close lined. - lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Anyone remember Click-Clacks?
Two GLASS balls on the ends of a string. You hold the middle and wave your arm up and down trying to get the glass balls to bounce off each other.
Some kids got so good at it, they were able to get the balls to smash into each other and exploding into little glass fragments that went into eyes and skin, etc. - general13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Which is better:
1) Some kids got their fingers or hair painfully stuck in the mouth.
or
2) Then they chomped your child's finger off. It was only a matter of time before some cherub's long blonde hair got caught in the doll's rabid jaws. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Mattel made all kinds of products like the Creepy Crawlers. I had one in the 70's with a metal skeleton that you could outfit with different monster heads and bodies that you cooked up in the little hotplate thingee. I burned myself on that thing constantly.
Reading this, I remembered those water-filled rockets that you launched from a little pump. Those things could be nasty, too. You filled up the rocket with water, put it on the launch pad and then pumped away until the water was under a lot of pressure. Then you released the launch clamp and the rocket took off spraying pressurized water out of its exhaust. They'd go 50 feet or so into the air. I had one of those pads tip over while I was pumping it, though, and a heavy, water-filled rocket shot across the yard and nearly knocked my grandmother out. Her nose and one eye were purple by the end of the day.
The Evel Knievel stunt cycle was another one. It had that friction wheel that you cranked up and it really had a lot of torque. I remember one of my friends jumping his over two of us laying "end-to-end" and the cycle landed on my head and ripped out a bunch of my hair. I ran downstairs with that thing stuck in my hair and blood pouring out of my scalp where it had ripped clumps loose. Sweet. ;-) - kb9vgr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10they intentionally left out guns and other objects intended to do damage
- Elfman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Absolutely! I even had the hydraulic dump truck. Digits were just waiting to be snipped off with that one.
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