# Dangerous 70's toys **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 3, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050 "2020-05-03T03:08:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/21 "2020-05-03T12:59:48Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I may have had some of the guns mentioned but I don’t recognize the one you mention that wore down. We owned the lawn darts and never had anybody in the ER for them. > > By clik-claks I think you mean those acrylic balls you whacked together? > > [Family, Parenting, Pet and Lifestyle Tips That Bring Us Closer Together | LittleThings.com](https://www.littlethings.com/banned-toys/1) > > You may also enjoy: > [http://www.feelingretro.com/](http://www.feelingretro.com/) I had a lot of the toys from that first link - I didn’t have my own radioactive lab, but I had chunks of fluffy asbestos in my rock collection. - I certainly played on metal playground stuff, including a very high, straight slide (the type you can fall off of easily and is no longer allowed) that got so hot in the sun it could burn you. - missed the cabbage patch eating doll and the explosive best buckle. - I’m sure I played with jarts once or twice. Who didn’t? - I ADORED candy cigarettes. And I hated smoking. I don’t think those are dangerous at all. - So that’s what happened to sky dancers… That was a great toy. We got some for the kids one year for Christmas, and had a lot of fun with them - Sure, everyone played with slap bracelets, then got bored with them. I’m surprised they hurt people. I wonder how. Like, did people go slapping sensitive body parts or something? - Clackers were fun. We never had any trouble with them. - I missed yoyo water balls. ☹ Other dangerous toys… One of my favorites as a child was liquid mercury. Every so often a thermometer would shatter, and my mom would let us play with the mercury for a while before she cleaned it up. SO COOL. I also had a chemistry set full of toxic stuff. But that, like super-magnets, is perfectly safe if used as directed. We used to play with mouse traps, and similarly “this could hurt you” household stuff. Seriously, slap bracelets? Try playing chicken with a mousetrap. And of course I played with knives (whittling) and with heat sources (wood burning) and the actual stove… But the things that most often hurt kids were cars, bicycles, baseballs, and other kids (wrestling, etc.) I bet they still are. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/22 "2020-05-03T15:25:34Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > you know they still sell 90 percent of those? but ill one up ya the realistic-looking toy guns that you shot plastic bb types of pellets out of funny thing is they were made by one of the gun companies to get around the bb gun laws that popped up in the 80s … i cant remember the name tho … i wanna say viper or something … [http://www.clarksinn.in/Other-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-YELLOW-Vintage-RayLine-Zebra-II-2-Super-Shot-Toy-Pistol-Gun-w-Ammo-NEW-ON-CARD-706317/](http://www.clarksinn.in/Other-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-YELLOW-Vintage-RayLine-Zebra-II-2-Super-Shot-Toy-Pistol-Gun-w-Ammo-NEW-ON-CARD-706317/) Zebra II? I went through plenty of these in the late 70s. All from my local Kmart. Ha! Packaging says not for kids under 3! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/23 "2020-05-03T15:58:21Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Also thought of: > > Water wiggle Water Wiggle was an absolute blast! I was already a teenager when my younger siblings got it. I’d play in the yard for hours with them. It was great fun. I don’t see it as any more dangerous than a common jump rope. Balloons and bicycles probably hurt and killed more kids that the things the OP listed. When I was a kid in the 60’s they had wood burning kits recommended for ages 8 and up. Who the funk thought that was a good idea? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/24 "2020-05-03T15:59:23Z")
3 wheel ATVs were banned in 1987 because a lot of kids died riding them. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/25 "2020-05-03T16:04:36Z")
Wizzzers weren’t lethal but I understand some kids got the very bad idea of revving them up and sticking them in someone’s hair. > **[Wizzzer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizzzer)** > > The Wizzzer or Wiz-z-zer is a gyrostat toy introduced by Mattel Toymakers in 1969, and introduced the spinning top to modern children. The "twist" (innovation) was the use of a super-spinning, high-tech bearing, that allowed the top to spin at very high speed and remain standing for a long period of time. This top did not rely on a string to attain high speed so it was easier to master than tops of old. Wizzers are not sold as scientific instruments, but may be used to demonstrate the conservatio... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/26 "2020-05-03T16:05:59Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > … When I was a kid in the 60’s they had wood burning kits recommended for ages 8 and up. Who the funk thought that was a good idea? :eek: Why not? I spent a lot of time playing with crafts like that. They are designed so you are unlikely to set the bench on fire, and it’s not that hard to avoid burning yourself or your friend. Whitting (where sometimes the knife would stick and then suddenly release) was probably a lot more dangerous, but I never hurt anyone else doing that, either. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/27 "2020-05-03T16:14:57Z")
How about the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper toy that killed a kid in the late 70s and got the missile launching Boba Fett figure cancelled? Probably put an end to spring loaded missile shooting toys altogether. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/28 "2020-05-03T16:26:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Why not? I spent a lot of time playing with crafts like that. They are designed so you are unlikely to set the bench on fire. When you were only 8? It was basically just a soldering iron. Our neighbor almost had his house burned down because of one. Seeing that some kids are too stupid to play with a $3 water toy without drowning themselves do you really want to give them something that gets hotter than blazes to play with unsupervised? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/29 "2020-05-03T16:58:35Z")
I had some of the OP’s list. Tracer (disc) guns Spark guns- never had one, but I sparked the hell out of the ones in the Woolworth’s! Cap guns bow and arrow sets suction cup dart guns Clik-claks Creepy crawlies - I had two complete Thingmaker sets and some extra molds. Best toy I ever had! It was fun to spit on the cooker and watch it sizzle away! I also had Incredible Edibles, which cooked “candy” critters from an artificially sweetened starch slurry. Imagine Twizzlers sweetened with saccharin. I also had a Pretzel Jetzel that used a 100 W light bulb to cook pretzels! I had all these before I was ten. I never hurt myself. How could my parents allow this? My dad said he had a toy soldier foundry set when he was a kid. It included a stove, molds, and lead to melt to make the soldiers! Perhaps the neatest one was the Derringer belt buckle. It was a cowboy style buckle with a gun inlaid within it. When I stuck out my tummy, the gun would flip out, shoot a plastic bullet, and pop a cap! Ah, good times. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/30 "2020-05-03T16:59:01Z")
I think when I was about 11 or 12, I got a nice 3-wood for my birthday, which I promptly used to break my best friend’s tooth because he happened to be standing in my follow-through. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/31 "2020-05-03T17:55:54Z")
When I was ten I had a chemistry set that had little containers of all kinds of stuff that was poison and a microscope set that came with a piercing needle and exacto knife. We used it to see what was inside a slug (looks like eggs if you were wondering). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/32 "2020-05-03T18:15:40Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ecks](#): > > How about the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper toy that killed a kid in the late 70s and got the missile launching Boba Fett figure cancelled? Probably put an end to spring loaded missile shooting toys altogether. [Newspaper article](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LDEoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W78EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6859,239852&dq=galactica+toy+death+1979&hl=en) about the death. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/33 "2020-05-03T18:37:09Z")
When I was a kid, one of my favorite “toys” was a yardstick made like a slap bracelet, but that was intended as a tool, not a toy. And Mom started teaching us to use the power tools in the basement when we were about 5. Yes, it’s potentially dangerous, which means it’s a really good idea to learn how to use it properly. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/34 "2020-05-03T19:00:54Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > …Creepy crawlies - I had two complete Thingmaker sets and some extra molds. Best toy I ever had! It was fun to spit on the cooker and watch it sizzle away! > I also had Incredible Edibles, which cooked “candy” critters from an artificially sweetened starch slurry. Imagine Twizzlers sweetened with saccharin. > … I had those. I don’t think they were especially dangerous. I mean, sure, you might have burnt a finger, and it would have hurt, but that’s about as bad as it was likely to get. They were a lot of fun, although the incredible edibles were disgusting. (Yes, I ate them.) I had a great time playing with creepy crawlies. Also with some plastic film you could draw on, cut up, and then put in the oven, where it retracted into a much smaller and thicker thing. > [@pkbites](#): > > When you were only 8? It was basically just a soldering iron. Our neighbor almost had his house burned down because of one. Seeing that some kids are too stupid to play with a $3 water toy without drowning themselves do you really want to give them something that gets hotter than blazes to play with unsupervised? I’d guess I was around 8? I think parental discretion was advised as to whether YOUR kid was responsible enough to play with stuff like that. > [@Chronos](#): > > When I was a kid, one of my favorite “toys” was a yardstick made like a slap bracelet, but that was intended as a tool, not a toy… Yeah. I used to like playing with one of those. My dad also had a folding yardstick, with joints, that I liked to play with. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/35 "2020-05-03T19:10:29Z")
When I was a little kid I had a Hot Wheels Factory, which would heat up little rectangles of plastic to the point that they melted & could be injected into a mold that had two wheel sets across it, and you could use that to make cars. that thing got so blisteringly hot that I burned myself more than once. And, it made crappy cars. And it had weird fumes, though I’m assuming they weren’t toxic. Much. It looks like they still have a version of that, but the heated section is in some sort of protective cover. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/36 "2020-05-03T19:30:15Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > [http://www.clarksinn.in/Other-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-YELLOW-Vintage-RayLine-Zebra-II-2-Super-Shot-Toy-Pistol-Gun-w-Ammo-NEW-ON-CARD-706317/](http://www.clarksinn.in/Other-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-Vintage-&-Antique-Toys-YELLOW-Vintage-RayLine-Zebra-II-2-Super-Shot-Toy-Pistol-Gun-w-Ammo-NEW-ON-CARD-706317/) > > Zebra II? I went through plenty of these in the late 70s. All from my local Kmart. > > Ha! Packaging says not for kids under 3! that was the brand but the guns looked more realistic in the 8s … ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/37 "2020-05-03T20:40:17Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > So what others did you all own? There was a carving toy I cant remember the name of. It was a cylinder of soft plastic you carve away to reveal the hard plastic under neath and it makes it look like you carved it. I remember two of these - the one you’re describing, I think was called Whittle Away, and you whittled off pieces of a small plastic log; the other one, I can’t remember the name, but it resembled a block of stone that you “carved” to reveal a statue. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/38 "2020-05-03T20:40:29Z")
I lived on a dead end country road, a lot of kids had 3 wheelers. We had detailed replica cap guns that looked like everything from revolvers to Uzis. BB/pellet guns were pretty standard by the time you hit double digits. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/39 "2020-05-03T21:01:18Z")
Just remembered common sling shots were a thing also. I can’t remember the last time I saw a kid with a sling shot. Boomerangs too, though a kid was lucky if he could get a boomerang to come back half way, never mind downing anything. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050/40 "2020-05-03T21:01:38Z")
Did anyone else take an entire box of caps and hit it with a hammer? I did, a most satisfactory display! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-70s-toys/853050.md?page=3)