Lawn darts: Who made them and where are those idiots now?

[Derleth]

What company originally made Jarts (I think the trade name of lawn darts was Jarts) and what has happened to them since their product went, er, nosedown? Have any of them given explanations as to why they marketed a product to children that was used in a sport that involved throwing a large, metal-tipped spear at the opposing team? Are they still out there, selling toys that 'seem like a good idea at the time'? Is it true that Jarts are now illegal to own?

[Nessy]

Welcome to The Lawn Darts Home Page (http://www.spu.edu/~mdemaray/lawndart.html)

Following Recent Injury CPSC Reissues Warning: Lawn Darts Are Banned and Should Be Destroyed
May 15, 1997
Release # 97-122 (http://www.kidsource.com/cpsc/lawn.darts.html)

[margorp]

Have not seen any Jarts (or clones) on the market for the last decade. Prior to that I still encountered them on those rare excursions to various sporting goods establishments.

I followed the demise of Jarts with some interest. In 1968 I suffered a nearly fatal accident with the product. (A skull bullseye!) My folks, being somewhat less than informed and none to prone to transfer blame, missed out on the product liability suit of a lifetime.

I recovered fully (at lerst i thumk tho) but have been amazed that a product as such lasted as long as it did. Any other dopers out there with parallels?

[nineiron]

Jarts (at least the ones I own) were made by a company called Regent. Jarts are, hands down, the coolest outdoor game ever made. The fact that they were made illegal is kind of sad; they were never intended for small children, and they shouldn't be illegal any more than regular darts should. (The goal is not to throw them "at" the other team, of course.)

I myself own two sets of them, but they are definitely no longer available in stores (at least not in the U.S., as far as I can tell). I got set #1 about 4 years ago from a guy I knew who happened to still have them in his shed from when they were first popular. They were getting a bit worn, so 2-3 years ago I bought a set off of eBay. Now, if you go to eBay, you will get search results if you type in "Jarts," but you will be told that the items are no longer available. I am glad I got mine when I could, but if and when the ones I have become too cracked to use, I guess I'll have to just duct tape them.

[nineiron]

I forgot to add...

I am not sure if they are illegal to OWN now, just that you can't buy them new (and eBay doesn't carry them any longer either). Pathetic--I can just imagine the cops coming to my house as my wife and I play a nice, leisurely game of Jarts:
"Drop the Jarts! Now!"
(You'll get my Jarts when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.)

[HeyHomie]

ISTR that a more "politically correct" incarnation of Jarts entered the marketplace a few years after the originals were banned. Instead of points, they had rounded, bowl-like, weighted bottoms. Instead of sticking into the ground they would land and not bounce.

Or maybe I'm delusional...

[DougC]

ISTR that a more "politically correct" incarnation of Jarts entered the marketplace a few years after the originals were banned. Instead of points, they had rounded, bowl-like, weighted bottoms. Instead of sticking into the ground they would land and not bounce.
- - - Yea, but they suck. They just don't have that special something that comes with toying with serious injury. (Sorry 'bout yer noggin margorp, but it's a lower-class rite of passage to put a hole in some car's bodywork with a lawn dart) Lawn darts were a great trailer park game because as hazardous as they were, they had absolutely no other reason for existence except for entertainment - you don't get amy more white trash than that. Firearms you could claim were meant for home defense, kiddy bows and arrows you could say were part of our Native American heritage, but Jarts was just a stupid game. A stupid game that could kill you.
~ The unpointed lawn darts are just as bad as those damned plastic-tipped poolroom dart sets, where the tips are long, flexible and break every five minutes, and the target is a plastic honeycombed affair that it seems like the darts should always stick into, but 20 or 25% of the time they don't, bouncing backwards and falling to the floor. And half the time they bounce off, the tip breaks. Whoop-dee-f******-do. They're likely non-toxic plastic in case some idiot eats one, too. They're positively un-tavern-like. - MC

[nineiron]

I STILL don't get the big to-do about Jarts being so dangerous. I have a few other issues here:
1. The appeal of the game of Jarts(sorry, MC) is not that they are dangerous. They're just fun; it's a game of skill and a good way to get some fresh air.
2. How on earth would you possibly put a hole in a car's bodywork with a Jart? (I see how physically, but are people parking their cars right on the playing field? Or are the players that bad?)
3. Far more injuries are incurred by accidents with baseballs, hockey pucks, darts, billiard balls, golf balls, volleyballs, etc., and those aren't outlawed. Harumph.
4. Given the fact that they are indeed pointy metal objects, young children (or anyone not paying attention) should not be in the area. I'm always baffled by the injury reports--care should be taken and children should be watched if there are potentially dangerous items flying around. The area should essentially be cordoned off from everyone else except those playing. I don't throw a baseball when there are children around, nor would I throw a Jart. This is called common sense.
5. Why are people constantly saying phrases like "white trash," "trailer park," and "lower-class" when it comes to Jarts? We are college-educated, suburban folks here.

Damn. Sorry, I just get so emotionally worked up over Jarts. Hee hee.

[KSO]

However, my mom was terrible at them and managed to put more than one dent in the hood of the car. She also once managed to land one on the roof of the house. Needless to say, we quickly learned to GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY when she was playing and common sense said GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY when anyone else was playing also. Perhaps Jart injuries fall under the category of "natural selection." (just kidding)

[chique]

Count me in as one of those who don't understand why Jarts were banned. Horseshoes are still on the market, after all.

[Jetassisted]

People could get easily killed with Jarts. Several kids nearly did, if I remember correctly.

Never count on toy makers of the past for common sense, because certain things were just never considered, like lead in paint, razor edges on pressed metal things like those old gas stations Dads put together for kids, flammable stuffing in stuffed animals, unclean water in teething rings and so on.

You can still buy a pump air gun which, when fully charged, can fire a BB with the velocity of a .22 round for a few yards, or a lead pellet. At close range, those things can penetrate a human skull. BB guns, the one's you cock, are safer.

Those popular lead melting toys were available at the same time, where one filled an electric caldron with lead, melted it, positioned a cast mold underneath, pulled up a pin in a pour hole and led hot lead pour out. I had one that cast Civil War soldiers and I used it to cast fishing weights, wet sand molds and so on. When I ran out of lead, I got more. I burned the crap out of my fingers many a time.

No one considered how dangerous those things were, nor the inherent danger in the lead itself.

Jarts were just a thing of the times.

Heck, they sold kids bows and arrows with pointed metal tips. They stuck in things.

[Fishhead]

Ever since they banned those things, we've been forced to fall back on ringing anvils here in Missouri. (you know, where you stack two anvils on top of the each other with black powder between, and when the fuse burns down, the top anvil goes about 200 feet up, ringing like a banshee.) Only problem is, we have not yet figured out how to do it competitively. I bet it would put a real nice hole in an automobile, though.

[Lance Turbo]

My family had Jarts when I was a young lad. They sat in the garage for years because Jarts is a boring game. One day, when I was about thirteen, my older brother figured out a way to make Jarts interesting. We then proceeded to play catch with Jarts. I took this game with me to college where it was modified slightly and turned into a drinking game. Now that is exciting.

In retrospect, this probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world. In fact, everything I did from the age of thirteen until the age of twenty three was probably a bad idea.

[bashere]

I have nothing useful to add on the subject of jarts (I played with them when I was a kid, and it was one of the safer things I did ), but I wanted to say 1) this thread is one of the funnier things I've read today, and 2) Fishhead, can I come over? I'll bring the beer, and we can try to figure out the rules to ringing anvils....

[elmwood]

I wonder if you fan still get Jarts in Mexico. Everything's allowed in Mexico ... it's the American way!

[nineiron]

Oh, for crying out loud...

People could get killed with steak knives. Let's outlaw steak knives! Oh, what's that you say? Let's keep the steak knives out of the reach of children? And in the hands of those who can responsibly handle them? What a brilliant concept!

Outlawing toys, for Christ's sake. Because some freaking parents can't control their kids enough to keep them from getting a jart in the skull. Yes, I KNOW they are dangerous, but EVERYTHING is dangerous if not used properly. A pencil? I could poke your eye out with it. A shoe? I could throw it at you.

Jarts are a great game, but a few negligent folks had to spoil the fun for the rest of us. Oh well.

[porcupine]

We played jarts all the time when I was a kid and no one had a jart-related injury. Maybe because my parents actually supervised the kids. What a concept.

[mblackwell]

Wasn't the most well-known fatality caused by a dumbass father throwing one over a house and hitting his son?

Nineiron is right, irresponsible people ruined the fun for everyone else. Same thing happened with fireworks in Ohio.

[Fishhead]

Bashere - You bring the beer, we've got the black powder and anvils. Only rules we have so far are run like hell and watch the sky.

Now fireworks, there's another good one. You get another perspective after spending a few years in Central America. The grand finale of a fireworks show in Costa Rica consists of a 6 foot wicker ball loaded with rockets. Some of the rockets are attached to the ball in such a way as to make the ball roll or spin (depending on the orientation of the ball when they go off). The smaller rockets are set to shoot out of the ball in random directions at random intervals. All of these are wired to one fuse. You set the thing loose in soccer field and everyone in front of the ball runs away and everyone behind it runs after it. If you are really macho, you get close enough to kick the ball and send it in a new direction - sometimes there are even teams within the crowd that try to move it toward opposite goals, although this is not mandatory. It looks like a bizarre nighttime rugby match, but has the feel of the running of the bulls. Afterward, the lucky show off their burns. I was never too crazy to actually take part in one of these, but I've watched a few, same as bull running or mass amateur bullfights (another costa rica specialty). Makes lawn darts seem so tame you wonder why we ever outlawed them.

[Dinsdale]

Just wanted to add another responsible pparent of young chilluns who possesses 2 sets of Jarts. You'll get my Jarts when you pry them from my cold dead fingers.

Of course, I've played mumblety peg with mu kids since they were 6 or so, and the 11 year old has had air rifle and bow and arrow for quite a few years.

Jarts are a useful device for thinning the herd.

[minty green]

Darwin doesn't work so well with lawn darts. Unfortunately, it's the innocent babe behind the fence who's going to get his skull crushed, not the dumbass who flings the jart into the air without looking where it's going. Hence, the stupid survive and reproduce. :(

[Pudgy Dog]

After reading this thread, I went to Ebay and found Item #532497338, which is a mint condition set of Jarts. (Get them quick before some whiner gets them pulled.)

The banning of Jarts is just one more attempt of some prick to micro-manage my life and try to get me to live forever. (I guess I'm weird, I don't desire immortallity.)

If someone throws a jart over a fence and kills a little kid, then the thrower is to blame and should be sent to prison or punished, not the manufacturer, the item was not used in it's intended fashion.

How many people commit suicide by jumping from bridges and high buildings every year? Should we outlaw those too? How many people die from electrocution every year? Maybe electricity should be outlawed! How many people die because they were born? Should birth become a felony?

[Phobos]

Originally posted by minty green
Darwin doesn't work so well with lawn darts.

Sure it does (natural selection that is - - Darwin himself is probably a bit out of shape to toss a lawn dart). It just means that stupidity would be a successful trait. It's an eliminating-the-competition kinda thing.

[Edward The Head]

Originally posted by Dinsdale
Of course, I've played mumblety peg with mu kids


Please explain this game to me. I've heard about/read about it so many times yet NO ONE will explain it to me. either it's "You're too young", that was 15+ years ago in scouts, or "No one plays it any more so why care" I don't really want to play I just wnat to know what you're supposed to do. Please Please Please tell me about it!

[minty green]

If someone throws a jart over a fence and kills a little kid, then the thrower is to blame and should be sent to prison or punished, not the manufacturer, the item was not used in it's intended fashion.

Products liability law in this country doesn't work this way, Pudgy Dog. Manufacturers and sellers can be (and often should) be held responsible for foreseeable misuse of their products.

As an example, take the basic power saw. It's not intended that the user slice his hand off while cutting a 2x4. But it's perfectly foreseeable that Bubba won't be paying attention 100% of the time, so the manufacturer has included safety guards to save his hand and a few million dollars in liability. Lawn darts couldn't be made safer without also being made totally lame, so they were removed from the marketplace.

And without even getting into the risk/benefit analysis of bridges, skyscrapers, and lawn darts, you may also notice that lots of bridges and buildings these days have rails, fences, and other safety features designed specifically to prevent people from jumping.

And BTW, let me just say that I liked lawn darts as a kid, and would play with them again if I ever got the chance. But I agree with the OP that it was not very smart to give children a game that consisted of throwing sharp, heavy objects high into the air. If Milton Bradley's new toy features lots of small, easily swallowed pieces, surely we're not going to let the company walk away from responsibility when Junior, not using the toy in its intended fashion, chokes to death.

Oh, and Phobos, you're absolutely right, of course. I was just (lamely) responding to the implication of a number of posters that only idiots got hurt by lawn darts.

[Nixon]

Loved Jarts as a kid...

Also loved Mainway's Bag '0 Glass too!

Oh yeah, and tossing 45 caliber bullets against a boulder.

And making home-made mololtov cocktails...

And standin so close to a freight train that you get spun by the train's back draft...

And runnin like hell when the cops said freeze...

Best fun ever!

[Dr.Pinky]

2 summers ago my friend and I found a set of Jarts at the local St. Vinnies. After a small scuffle, we got them up to the counter. The lady behind the desk threatened to call the police (these are ILLEGAL!). “Look, lady, you can take the 3(!) dollars or not, we’re out of here.” Another tussle in the parkinglot. Eventually, he got to keep them; I get to sleep with his next 3 girlfriends.

Ah, those summer afternoons with my cousins, tossing Jarts over my grandmother’s sister’s garage!

(Darwin obviously failed to take into consideration LUCK. Statistically, I should have been culled decades ago.)

[nineiron]

Pudgy Dog, I'm with you.

Did you actually try to purchase these Jarts, or just see the listing? As I said before, I was looking for a spare set a while back, and every entry came back (when I tried to view them) with "Item is unavailable." I took this to mean that eBay had taken them off their market after being pressured by negligent parents or something.

I was fairly fortunate; I think I only paid $20 or so, including shipping, for mine. (Sadly, the seller had left the $2 tag-sale price tag on it; I guess the value went up.)

[minty green]

From the CPSC web site, http://www.cpsc.gov:

An estimated 6,100 people have been treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries involving lawn darts from 1978 through 1936. At least 80 percent of the victims were younger than 15 years old, and more than 50 percent were ten years old or younger. More than half of the victims had injuries to the head, eye, ear or face. Investigations indicated that severe injuries included punctures, lacerations and fractures to the head and skull, Although victims were often bystanders, in many cases those playing the game were children.

I assume they mean 1986 (the year before this report was written), not 1936.

Also, although the CPSC had the power to ban the sale of lawn darts, any criminal penalties for their posession and use would surely have to be created by Congress or your state legislature. Unless somebody can point me to a statute, it's probably a safe assumption that nobody's going to jail for playing with them.

[Dinsdale]

Originally posted by Edward The Head
Originally posted by Dinsdale
Of course, I've played mumblety peg with mu kids


Please explain this game to me.

You'll put your eye out, kid.

Actually, I think I made it clear from my original post that I only play with Mu kids.

AFAIK, MP is simply tossing a knife into the ground so that it sticks. Fun by yourself or with others (kinda like drinking that way!)

It is kind of like HORSE. If I toss the knife in a certain way and it sticks, you have to try to. I guess there are 2 basic kinds of tosses. In the first, you hold the knife handle in your primary hand, balance the knife point on a body part and then flip it so that it sticks. With the second kind, you balance the entire knife on your hand a certain way, and toss it a certain way so that it sticks. Say, the knife is lying flat on your palm, point away from you, and you flip it so it comes back towards you. I have to assume the variations are essentially endless.

If you wish, you can have a target, and the winner is the one whose knife sticks closest to the target. Gets more fun if you introduce feet near the target, preferably with shoes off!

Sometimes we go through a series of throws, with the first person done the winner. Say, you have to flip it off the fingertips and knuckes of each finger on your left hand, then your elbow, your knee, and your chin.

More often we just have fun messing around with knives in the dirt.

Not aware of any governing, rule-issuing organization.

Need I say Mrs D is not a big fan of this game?

[Lance Turbo]

minty green quoted this article (http://www.cpsc.gov:/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml87/87042.html) earlier. It includes the statistic that an estimated 6100 injuries were caused by lawn darts over a nine year period. Big deal! There were about 2000 people struck by lightning during that same peiod. So, in the early eigthies you were three times as likely to get struck by a lawn jart as lightning, but neither event was terribly likely.

Also in that article is this little fact:
In addition to the death of the seven year old girl in April, the Commission is aware of one other lawn dart death. This involved a four year old boy and occurred in 1970.

Am I reading this correctly? Does this say that there have only been two lawn dart fatalities ever?

Lawn darts just don't seem that dangerous. I'll try to look up how many bicycle injuries and fatalities there were during that same time frame. I'll bet that bicycles cause a lot more injuries.

[John Corrado]

Originally posted by Dinsdale
Originally posted by Edward The Head
Originally posted by Dinsdale
Of course, I've played mumblety peg with mu kids


Please explain this game to me.

You'll put your eye out, kid.

Actually, I think I made it clear from my original post that I only play with Mu kids.

AFAIK, MP is simply tossing a knife into the ground so that it sticks. Fun by yourself or with others (kinda like drinking that way!)


Huh. Not to hijack this completely, but my belief was that mumblety peg was played as follows:

Stretch your left hand out over a surface you don't care about damaging. With your right hand, pick up a knife (preferably, a switchblade for atmosphere) and stab it just to the left of your pinkie. Then pull the knife out and stab it between your pinkie and ring finger. Then between ring finger and middle finger. So on and so forth until you stab just to the right of your thumb, then do it in reverse, going back and forth, increasing speed until you finally slip/misjudge and actually cut or impale a finger.

Whomever can do this the longest and/or fastest is considered "cool". And occasionally called "Righty".

[minty green]

Lance, my only point in posting the data was that lawn darts were far from harmless. I never claimed they were threatening the Republic. We can debate the social utility of toys versus bicycles all you want in another forum. Again, I like lawn darts. But I also like a lot of other things that ought not to be in the hands of children.

[mblackwell]

Stretch your left hand out over a surface you don't care about damaging. With your right hand, pick up a knife (preferably, a switchblade for atmosphere) and stab it just to the left of your pinkie. Then pull the knife out and stab it between your pinkie and ring finger. Then between ring finger and middle finger. So on and so forth until you stab just to the right of your thumb, then do it in reverse, going back and forth, increasing speed until you finally slip/misjudge and actually cut or impale a finger.

Whomever can do this the longest and/or fastest is considered "cool". And occasionally called "Righty".

The only name I ever heard for this game is Chop Suey.

[Dinsdale]

Originally posted by John Corrado
Not to hijack this completely, but my belief was that mumblety peg was played as follows:

Stretch your left hand out over a surface you don't care about damaging. With your right hand, pick up a knife (preferably, a switchblade for atmosphere) and stab it just to the left of your pinkie. Then pull the knife out and stab it between your pinkie and ring finger. Then between ring finger and middle finger. So on and so forth until you stab just to the right of your thumb, then do it in reverse, going back and forth, increasing speed until you finally slip/misjudge and actually cut or impale a finger.


Much as it pains me to express anything but the utmost respect for our esteemed mods, You're so wrong, boy! (But damned good looking, I must add.)

We played that (ahem) game you describe as youths, but it definitely is NOT mumblety peg. Got it? Do I have to dig up a cite and smack you upside the head wit it?

Ah, brings back memories of halcyon days combining darts and ping pong in the basement. Run around the ping pong table, throwing darts at each other and trying to catch them on the paddles. Or put one dart in the middle of the table, one person has to grab it, while the others throw darts at his hand. Or more simple, play straight darts, but the person who isn't throwing stands next to the dart board and grabs the incoming darts out of the air. Good clean fun. Nothing that a tetanus shot can't cure.

[Gravity]

Originally posted by Dinsdale Much as it pains me to express anything but the utmost respect for our esteemed mods, You're so wrong, boy! (But damned good looking, I must add.)[/B]

Dinsdale, you're right. I didn't think so, but you are. I thought that the game that John Corrado described was it. I wonder what that's called, then...

From the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=mumblety-peg):

Main Entry: mum·ble·ty-peg
Pronunciation: 'm&m-b&l-(tE-)"peg, -blE-"peg
Variant(s): also mum·ble-the-peg /-b&l-([th]&-)"peg, -blE-"peg/; or mumble peg /-b&l-"peg, -blE-/
Function: noun
Etymology: from the phrase mumble the peg; from the loser's originally having to pull out with his teeth a peg driven into the ground
Date: 1627
: a game in which the players try to flip a knife from various positions so that the blade will stick into the ground

[Anachronism]

I thought in mumblety peg you threw the knife between your feet (to stick in the ground) then move whatever foot was father away so that the knife was centered. Keep playing until you chicken out or hit your foot, not sure what the ultimate goal of this game was though.

[Pudgy Dog]

nineiron:

No, I didn't put in a bid on them. I just did a quick search to see what would pop up. (I think my mom still has a set of lawn darts in the storage shed so I don't really need any.)

minty green:

One of the things one of my friends did when we were kids was to take a can of spray paint and use it as a flame throwers to melt some plastic army men. Since this stuff is flamable (known to the manufacturer and seller), should they have been held responsible if the can had exploded in his had? The answer is no. The item was not used for its labled purpose.

Being a heavy and pointed object meant to be thrown, lawn darts are not a childrens toy. A person using them should take precautions to make sure that no one is in the general area of the flight path of the object.

I wonder how many of the 4880 children injured by these items were unsupervised by mature adults. Like anything that could be construed as dangerous, it should only be used by people who are willing to take the extra effort to make sure no one will get hurt.

How many people are injured a year from bicycle accidents? How many are killed? Bicycles, roller skates, skate boards, and the scooters are dangerous, but the CPSC hasn't worked to ban them. (I will have to find some statistics on those injuries.)

The saftey guards on a saw are a joke to begin with too. When using a saw, you need to pay 100% attention 100% of the time, whether the saftey gear is on or not. My boss almost lost two fingers and a thumb using a table saw because he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. Yes, he had the saftey equipment in place and it didn't work. Did he go out and get a lawyer to make a quick buck? No he didn't, he made sure that everyone in the company learned form his experience so that it would minimize risk to others.

The idea that manufacturers and sellers should be held responsible for forseeable missuse of the items they sell is just a sign that the American people are only too happy to sue someone to get some money instead of working for it.

[minty green]

I bow to your superior opinion, Pudgy Dog. I now realize that lawn darts are perfectly harmless. Thank you for clearing things up. :rolleyes:

[Pudgy Dog]

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/toy99.pdf
In 1999:

Riding toys continue to be associated with omore injuries than any other type of you, accounting for 26,100 estimated injuries in 1999. Of the riding toys, wagons and tricycles were once again associated with the highest number of injuries, with about 7,700 and 6,000 injuries respectively.


Tricycles and Riding toys were involved in 4 deaths in 1999.


http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/344.pdf

500,000 emergency room treated bicycle related injuries every year and as many as 1,000 bicycle-related fatalities annually.

It is apparent that bicycles and riding toys cause more injuries and deaths every year than lawn darts did from their creation to their banning. Why do we allow children to play with such dangerous items? Should they be banned also?

[minty green]

If you'd care to start a GD thread, I'd be happy to contribute. The OP asked about the marketing and withdrawal from the market of lawn darts, which I attempted to shed some light on. This forum does not seem me to be the place to argue about the regulatory role of the federal government.

[Johnny L.A.]

Gee, I wonder who finally wound up with that pristine set of Jarts that was on e-bay? :D

[Necronom]

For everyone who is baffled over the banning of lawn darts, here is an article from The Onion. Hopefully you will find this as amusing as I did...

http://www.theonion.com/onion3628/fun_toy_banned.html