# Looking for a Wham-O toy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938 "2023-01-09T20:00:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [January 9, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/21 "2023-01-09T21:17:23Z")
Did they whistle? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/22 "2023-01-09T21:23:58Z")
Not that I recall. If they whistled, that would mean there was drag somewhere in the design it didn’t need to be. We used to make our own versions out of folded notebook paper. Just made one in class and sailed it across the room. The students were less than impressed. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/23 "2023-01-09T21:28:59Z")
I always thought the most dangerous playground item was the seesaw. I hated getting on and off those – you really had to trust the other kid not to do something stupid. I’m amazed how quickly people here found that toy. I should start a thread for this toy I used to have – one of those wheels that you spun up using a zip tie thing. I think it was made by Samsonite for some reason. I played with it all the time, until it got run over by a truck. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/24 "2023-01-09T21:31:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > We used to make our own versions out of folded notebook paper. Just made one in class and sailed it across the room. The students were less than impressed. Still my favorite paper airplane! > **[The Incredible Flying Paper Tube](https://www.instructables.com/The-Incredible-Flying-Paper-Tube/)** > > The Incredible Flying Paper Tube: Do you stink at making a decent paper airplane? I do. So break the mold and follow this Instructable to make an awesome flying tube! This design was supposedly created by world-record paper airplane thrower John... ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/25 "2023-01-09T21:32:33Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I’m amazed how quickly people here found that toy. I should start a thread for this toy I used to have – one of those wheels that you spun up using a zip tie thing. I think it was made by Samsonite for some reason. I played with it all the time, until it got run over by a truck. - Something like this? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ujm8U2Z_x6o/hqdefault.jpg "Best Toys of the 70s SSP Racers Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujm8U2Z_x6o) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/26 "2023-01-09T21:37:48Z")
That’s awesome, but it was just the wheel, maybe three inches across, soft, hollow rubber. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/27 "2023-01-09T21:38:12Z")
I remember them being called a TooBee [https://www.toobee.com/](https://www.toobee.com/) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/28 "2023-01-09T21:40:44Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > We used to make our own versions out of folded notebook paper. Just made one in class and sailed it across the room. The students were less than impressed. > > Still my favorite paper airplane! We used to do a version that started with the paper folded diagonally at the start … ended up looking vaguely like a pope’s mitre. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FNhtg0WWEpo/maxresdefault.jpg "How to fold a Ring Wing Glider") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhtg0WWEpo) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/29 "2023-01-09T21:41:02Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > … you really had to trust the other kid not to do something stupid. There’s a sentence you don’t see often. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/30 "2023-01-09T21:41:51Z")
Haha! Yeah, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/31 "2023-01-09T21:47:44Z")
I know what you are talking about but I forget the name of it… ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/32 "2023-01-09T21:52:37Z")
I cannot figure out search terms that will find it. Grrr! ETA: It was basically this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hMjVL6C2zqg/maxresdefault.jpg "Launch into fun with the Fly Wheels collection from Jakks Pacific! | A Toy Insider Play by Play") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMjVL6C2zqg) But, back in the 70s and, I think, made by Samsonite. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/33 "2023-01-09T21:53:34Z")
The one I had was more like this, but I could never get it to go as far as they do in this video. It did need the side arm motion to make it fly. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9U3xFu0MIdo/maxresdefault.jpg "Throw the X-Zylo 600+ feet!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U3xFu0MIdo) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/34 "2023-01-09T22:28:01Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I always thought the most dangerous playground item was the seesaw. I hated getting on and off those – you really had to trust the other kid not to do something stupid. The see-saw: “The fat kid’s revenge.” ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/35 "2023-01-09T22:35:00Z")
Hahaha! Unfortunately, I was a twig. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/36 "2023-01-09T23:37:59Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > It did need the side arm motion to make it fly. That, and gorilla strength apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/37 "2023-01-09T23:49:56Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I remember them being called a TooBee That’s a different toy. The Turbo-Tube was made in the 60s and it was a flop, and quickly forgotten. (Except by Czarcasm, apparently.) The Toobee was an attempt to recreate it in the 80s. > **[TUBES THAT FLY WAIT FOR SALES TO SOAR](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1987/08/22/tubes-that-fly-wait-for-sales-to-soar/)** > > Wham-O, the company that begat the Frisbee, also gave the world the Turbo Tube — a plastic flying cylinder that fizzled so completely that nobody presently employed by Wham-O Manufacturing re… Another attempt to recreate it was the “Zoom Tube” around the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/38 "2023-01-10T02:35:29Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > We used to do a version that started with the paper folded diagonally at the start … ended up looking vaguely like a pope’s mitre. That’s the one I used to make. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/39 "2023-01-10T22:52:14Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I remember them being called a TooBee > > [https://www.toobee.com/](https://www.toobee.com/) That’s what I was thinking of; like ½ of a topless aluminum can. I _may_ still have one (or two) in the basement ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938/40 "2023-01-10T23:05:14Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That’s a different toy. The Turbo-Tube was made in the 60s and it was a flop, and quickly forgotten. (Except by Czarcasm, apparently.) > > The Toobee was an attempt to recreate it in the 80s. Given what I believe to be Czarcasm’s approximate age and that he remembered it being metal, I bet he’s remembering the Toobee. I had a few of those as a kid too. The metal was so light that it was pretty much impossible to hurt someone with them. Of course, being cheap, we’d also make our own by cutting soda cans. Those worked just as well, but you definitely could (and did) hurt yourself on the cut edge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wham-o-toy/977938.md?page=3)