Who remembers "Creepy Crawlers"?  It was a fun toy we got when I was (probably) around 7 or 8.  It was fun - I remember we had a house full of multi colored rubber spiders!  ;D

I don't know the whole story, but I presume it went away (at least for a while) because somebody considered it dangerous  :-\\

What about other favorite toys from "way back when" that were fun, but considered dangerous, and were either removed or vastly modified to make them safe?  I specifically remember my brother having a "cap pistol" when we were young, which was pretty fun - those don't exist anymore, either.  Another example is the "Easy Bake" oven - when that one returned to the market, it was vastly changed from the original.

Everyone knows kids love bubble gum, right?  But the problem is that the bubbles don't last forever.  And after a few minutes, the gum is only one color.

What if we used liquid plastic?  You know, a solution of polyvinyl acetate in acetone?  So you'd have to skip out on the chewing part, big deal, it's not like anyone chews bubblegum for the taste, right?  And so what if it gives off fumes of pure acetone as the plastic cured.  Just give the kid a straw and tell him not to inhale while blowing the bubble!

And call it Super Elastic Bubble Plastic.

Nobody got sued.  Nobody got hurt.  Everyone had fun.  And then the lawyers and chemophobes came along.

Don't even get me started on the state of modern chemistry sets.  The whole point of a chemistry set is to give a kid a chance to discover that science is a way to make things go "boom", or stink up the house, or change color (back and forth every ten seconds), or do something else that's interesting, and to discover this fact before the educational system tells him that learning shouldn't be fun, but should be a chore.

Klick-Klacks
Clackers
Kerbangers

Or whatever you call them, they were dangerous.

http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/images_pop/klack.gif

There were many reports of the balls shattering.  I spent an entire summer getting big bruises on my arm.  ;D



The Easy Bake Oven that's on the market now has been recalled.  Many kids are still getting burned.

About 6 months ago, Carlos & I were at an auction. He was looking at a box of things made out of metal and had no idea what they were. I took a look at them and knew right away-they were Thingmaker molds (Creepy Crawlers, Creeple People, & Fun Flowers). I called my sister on our cell phone-she was telling me to keep my voice down because she didn't want other people around to try to outbid us.  :D ;D ;D She looked up on ebay and sure enough, the molds were going quite high. We did win the auction and put all 3 sets up on ebay. The Creepy Crawlers sold but not as much as some of them went for, and the other didn't sell.  :\'( :\'( :\'(  Oh well. We are going to try to sell the other two again.

The funny thing about the Fun Flowers, that was the one we had as a kid and I keep looking at these molds and that sense of familiarity is so strong and all those memories of playing with it as a kid just comes flooding back. 



Cat

The Easy Bake Oven that's on the market now has been recalled.  Many kids are still getting burned.


It's those darn manufacturers.  Can't they come up with a way to make an oven that doesn't get hot??  :o

Or better still - how about we tell parents to stop giving these toys to their Three Year Olds!    ::)

The whole idea of the slinky is berserk.  I always thought it curious that my mother had no problem letting me chase a metal spring down our loooong flight of stairs.

Lawn darts probably tops the list of most dangerous toys from the 60s and 70s. We had a set but luckily none of us ever got stabbed with one. I wonder what brain came up with that idea.  We had creepy crawlers and looking back it's pretty crazy letting kids plug in a hot electrical device in their bedroom with no supervision, but we did and we lived through it.  :D  Then there were slingshots, pick up sticks, sharp metal dollhouses. Geez the list goes on and on.

Who remembers "Creepy Crawlers"?  It was a fun toy we got when I was (probably) around 7 or 8.  It was fun - I remember we had a house full of multi colored rubber spiders!   ;D

I don't know the whole story, but I presume it went away (at least for a while) because somebody considered it dangerous  :-\\

What about other favorite toys from "way back when" that were fun, but considered dangerous, and were either removed or vastly modified to make them safe?  I specifically remember my brother having a "cap pistol" when we were young, which was pretty fun - those don't exist anymore, either.  Another example is the "Easy Bake" oven - when that one returned to the market, it was vastly changed from the original.
I didn't realize cap guns didn't exist anymore.Havoing a big fat ream of caps was pretty cool way back then.

That got me thinking..i think that creepy crawlers were made by the same company that put out dolly makers...But dolly makers oven thingy was purple and pink...does anyone remember that?

That got me thinking..i think that creepy crawlers were made by the same company that put out dolly makers...But dolly makers oven thingy was purple and pink...does anyone remember that?




Creepy Crawlers were made by Mattel (the same people who make Barbie). I don't know if they did the dolly makers because I'm not familiar with them.



Cat