Topic: Oddest/Most Memorable Toys From Your Childhood

[aldousburbank]

I'm curious to see what this topic might dredge up.

For no particular reason I was remembering being the proud owner of one of these. For a minute I thought I might be having a false memory because it seems so phallic ludicrous.

[Morgus]

For no particular reason I was remembering being the proud owner of one of these. For a minute I thought I might be having a false memory because it seems so phallic ludicrous.

Haha - I remember that thing when I was a little kid now that you brought it up.

[username]

I'm curious to see what this topic might dredge up.

For no particular reason I was remembering being the proud owner of one of these. For a minute I thought I might be having a false memory because it seems so phallic ludicrous.

It all makes sense now.

[username]

Haha - I remember that thing when I was a little kid now that you brought it up.

It all Makes more sense now.

[Morgus]

Here is the TV commercial for SixFinger:

[brig]

The more you know about people...

[Uncle Duke]

I'm curious to see what this topic might dredge up.

For no particular reason I was remembering being the proud owner of one of these. For a minute I thought I might be having a false memory because it seems so phallic ludicrous.

There were a shitload of spy toys from the early to mid 60s, they corresponded to the number of spy movies and TV shows of the period.  The ones I remember most were a series of "ordinary" items (movie camera, radio, etc) that converted into guns.  Kurt Russell, maybe 12 years old, was featured in some of the TV commercials.



I got this for Christmas when I was in 4th grade.

[Dr. MD MD]

Anyone old enough to remember cap guns? Hell, sometimes we’d just grab a hammer and bang out whole rolls at a time. I also remember having a lot of fun with these guys too:

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

These little puppies were fun.



http://www.retroland.com/water-rockets/


I think the directions mentioned 50-60 pumps max, so of course, I regularly put in 100-200. 

[aldousburbank]

These little puppies were fun.



http://www.retroland.com/water-rockets/


I think the directions mentioned 50-60 pumps max, so of course, I regularly put in 100-200. 

Best toy ever!

[whoozit]

I always had the most fun with a full can of gunpowder.  Whenever I had one of those the day was full of possibilities;  gunpowder trails, explosive rocket payloads, pipe bombs.  To think now I would be labeled a terrorist.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Best toy ever!

You bet you ass ! 

I checked into the new ones, and they are nothing but flimsy, cheap Chinese knock-offs that will never hold the pressure we used to put to the originals. These things would launch so high, they would disappear from your field of vision.
The old ones were built tough.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

I always had the most fun with a full can of gunpowder.  Whenever I had one of those the day was full of possibilities;  gunpowder trails, explosive rocket payloads, pipe bombs.  To think now I would be labeled a terrorist.

Gunpowder was fun, but remember the old chemistry sets ?
I got one when I was around 7 y.o. .
It came in a metal box and had all the goodies; acids in liquid and powder form, chlorates (make your own white powder w/ a little table sugar), nitrates, and nitrites, sulfer and flowers of sulfer, a balance scale, and quite the assortment of reagent grade chemicals. I don't remember the manufacturer, but I had the deluxe kit, which was quite expensive at the time.
I do believe there was even some white phosphorus in the kit I had.
Oodles of fun.
Kids just don't know what they're missing, today.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

'Member this ?
The little plastic pokey pegs hurt like bitch when you stepped on them.   
(They would disappear into the heavy shag carpeting like little land-mines.)




http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2049243_2048656_2049112,00.html

[albrecht]

You bet you ass ! 

I checked into the new ones, and they are nothing but flimsy, cheap Chinese knock-offs that will never hold the pressure we used to put to the originals. These things would launch so high, they would disappear from your field of vision.
The old ones were built tough.

Still not good to leave outside in the hot summer sun. And so many 'lost' landing on neighbor's roof or somewhere in the woods. My only other complaint is the rubber o-ring gasket deal would get brittle, or lost, rendering the rocket unable to pressurize. But an awesome toy! And you learn some basic science also!
Regular model rockets were awesome also but, being adventurous kids, we would always "modify" our toys to make better- that is more dangerous. So add some bottle-rockets or ground-up sparklers in the payload nose cone. Like a home made MRV!

One "interesting" idea we came up once was to take used CO2 cartridges from air rifles and put powder from rocket engine (and in another case from broken firecrackers) into it. "Light fuse and get away." We made long fuse, or used cannon fuse, not just regular firecracker fuse so had time to "get away." And get away you should! With no fins you have a deadly steel missile whizzing around with no direction except caroming off trees! Pretty awesome. Kids, do not do this at home! Looking back it was actually pretty scary.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

LOL - Yup. 
I had the same problem with the O-Ring.

CO2 canisters were great for fishing.     

[WOTR]

Wood burning kits and good old fashioned lawn darts. I think I would buy a set if I could find them...

[albrecht]

Wood burning kits and good old fashioned lawn darts. I think I would buy a set if I could find them...

Im banned from Ebay-Paypal but I think the govt banned lawn darts n Ebay has banned resale of them? Best bet is estate sales or garage sales. Cash only. Maybe dark web? What a fun game! Especially when it usually resulted in throwing as high up as you can and all kids run away and avoid the deadly ballistic incoming! Fun for whole family!


Ps: I always thought wood burning kits were just old soldering irons getting a second use for kids or 'artists.'

[Norm]

Gunpowder was fun, but remember the old chemistry sets ?
I got one when I was around 7 y.o. .
It came in a metal box and had all the goodies; acids in liquid and powder form, chlorates (make your own white powder w/ a little table sugar), nitrates, and nitrites, sulfer and flowers of sulfer, a balance scale, and quite the assortment of reagent grade chemicals. I don't remember the manufacturer, but I had the deluxe kit, which was quite expensive at the time.
I do believe there was even some white phosphorus in the kit I had.
Oodles of fun.
Kids just don't know what they're missing, today.

Gilbert Chemistry set. 58 years ago I learned to make explosives, smoke bombs, stink bombs, developed basic mind altering drugs before LSD was even known among the hip crowd.  At the tender age of  nine or so I was making a lot of money selling my 'products' at my local school. I owned 3 Schwinn bikes, even bought a nice Pontiac car but could only drive it at night to avoid being stopped by the cops. Life was very good, eventually launched my own business and sold it to Dupont when they made me an offer I could not refuse. (wink, wink)

[Uncle Duke]

LOL - Yup. 
I had the same problem with the O-Ring.

CO2 canisters were great for fishing.     

Would you explain CO2 canisters (cartridges?) and fishing?

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Wood burning kits and good old fashioned lawn darts. I think I would buy a set if I could find them...

Jarts were great. 
They were outlawed because some asshole on the catching team wasn't paying attention, got injured,  sued the manufacturer, and lobbied Congress.   

Seriously though, they were fun.

[whoozit]

Jarts were great. 
They were outlawed because some asshole on the catching team wasn't paying attention, got injured,  sued the manufacturer, and lobbied Congress.   

Seriously though, they were fun.

Natural selection of the inattentive.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Gilbert Chemistry set. 58 years ago I learned to make explosives, smoke bombs, stink bombs, developed basic mind altering drugs before LSD was even known among the hip crowd.  At the tender age of  nine or so I was making a lot of money selling my 'products' at my local school. I owned 3 Schwinn bikes, even bought a nice Pontiac car but could only drive it at night to avoid being stopped by the cops. Life was very good, eventually launched my own business and sold it to Dupont when they made me an offer I could not refuse. (wink, wink)

[Uncle Duke]

Jarts were great. 
They were outlawed because some asshole on the catching team wasn't paying attention, got injured,  sued the manufacturer, and lobbied Congress.   

Same reason javelin catching was done away with on my high school track and field team.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Would you explain CO2 canisters (cartridges?) and fishing?

LOL - I was going to post this before, but didn't.
Okay...
Empty CO2 canisters work great for fishing.
Use a side cutting pliers to chop up a lead sinker in small enough pieces to shove inside the canister.
Fill the canister 2/3 to 3/4 full of black, or white powder. Don't fill it totally full, you want some space so  the powder can expand before the metal reaches its stress fracturing point, and the gas has somewhere to expand to. Douse the cannon fuse with superglue as you are inserting it. Crimp the neck of the canister tightly shut with a pliers or channel lock, but don't pinch it so tightly that you pinch the fuse off. Apply a little more superglue.

Light it, toss it, and collect your dinner.   

1. Cannon fuse burns underwater
2. Make sure there is no powder in the neck where you crimp - you only get one mistake.
     This is especially important with white powder - it's very friction and impact sensitive.
3. Only do this if the water is at least 8' deep, unless you want to dodge shrapnel.
4. The lead shot in the bottom keeps the canister from floating

[Uncle Duke]

LOL - I was going to post this before, but didn't.
Okay...
Empty CO2 canisters work great for fishing.
Use a side cutting pliers to chop up a lead sinker in small enough pieces to shove inside the canister.
Fill the canister 2/3 to 3/4 full of black, or white powder. Don't fill it totally full, you want some space so  the powder can expand before the metal reaches its stress fracturing point, and the gas has somewhere to expand to. Douse the cannon fuse with superglue as you are inserting it. Crimp the neck of the canister tightly shut with a pliers or channel lock, but don't pinch it so tightly that you pinch the fuse off. Apply a little more superglue.

Light it, toss it, and collect your dinner.   

1. Cannon fuse burns underwater
2. Make sure there is no powder in the neck where you crimp - you only get one mistake.
     This is especially important with white powder - it's very friction and impact sensitive.
3. Only do this if the water is at least 8' deep, unless you want to dodge shrapnel.
4. The lead shot in the bottom keeps the canister from floating

We did something similar, but with a bit more brute force approach.  We poured a couple tubes of Daisy BBs into a mayonnaise  jar, deposited a lit M-80, screwed on the lid, and chucked it into a small farm pond. The resulting blast looked like the stock film of depth charges going off shown in WWII movies.  Within fifteen seconds, up came a number of fish, mostly bluegill, but also a huge carp. Most appeared to have been killed by the shockwave created by the blast, but a few, including the carp, had BB wounds.

We only did this once.  I consider it to be the stupidest thing I've ever done.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Heh, yeah, it works.
A short fat container gives you more bang for your buck, than a long narrow one - more surface area for the powder to burn.
Water doesn't compress, so yeah, if the blast is too powerful, you'll kill the ecosystem in the blast area, not to mention the fish.
You guys must have been quite surprised at the power of just an M-80. Imagine if you'd have used a 1/4 stick. 
I've done some pretty stupid shit in my time too, I think we all have. 

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

These were pretty cool too.
We just called them rip racers.



https://www.diecastxmagazine.com/rip-roaring-fun-kenners-ssp-cars/

https://www.antiquetoycollectiblescom1878.info/antique-toy/kenner-ssp.html

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

I used to have one of these - wish I still did.
The rockets and the capsule could be removed and combined.
It was actually pretty neat at about 2 1/2 feet long.



https://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2012/07/collectible-of-week-space1999-eagle-1.html

[Uncle Duke]

Heh, yeah, it works.
A short fat container gives you more bang for your buck, than a long narrow one - more surface area for the powder to burn.
Water doesn't compress, so yeah, if the blast is too powerful, you'll kill the ecosystem in the blast area, not to mention the fish.
You guys must have been quite surprised at the power of just an M-80. Imagine if you'd have used a 1/4 stick. 
I've done some pretty stupid shit in my time too, I think we all have. 

We always had a good selection of fireworks. One of our neighbors was a trucker who went back and forth from Ohio to Florida and would stop at the fireworks stands in Tennessee for us.  In hindsight, he probably wasn't the most responsible parent, he'd bring back M-80s, Cherry Bombs, Silver Salutes  etc.  We're lucky none of us lost a hand, or worse.