# The unsafe, yet awesome playthings thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2006, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524 "2006-09-13T10:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/21 "2006-09-13T16:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=FlyingRamenMonster] It was rolled to the top of a hill, you got in and the teacher shoved you down whereupon you would roll until you lost momentum (or hit a tree) and fell out. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=slortar] Does it make me…eccentric…that I’m 32 and would probably play with something like this even now? [/QUOTE] You need a [Zorb](http://www.zorb.com/)! ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/22 "2006-09-13T16:17:39Z")
Take two sweaters and a thick pair of sweatpants and grab your bb gun on the way out the door. There was an understood rule that banned head shots. Bike helmets? Don’t get me started. We played tag on bikes, tyres only. We did the same thing when we were older with dirt bikes but mom apparently thought that crossed the line. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/23 "2006-09-13T16:20:20Z")
[QUOTE=Missy2U] [Romper Stompers.](http://search.ebay.com/romper-stomper-toy_W0QQfromZR40) And [Hippity Hops.](http://cadc.auburn.edu/soa/blog/wp-content/upload/images/people/faculty/rusty-smith/news/field-day.jpg) [/QUOTE] What’s so dangerous about these? I remember some kind of “Lab” toy that had a hot aluminum plate on which you cooked “Goo” into various shapes. Creeple-People or something like that. You could get the crap burned out of ya. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/24 "2006-09-13T16:53:24Z")
This thread brings back lots of memories. Like when we used to jump hills in the old ‘Army Barracks’ (National Guard Training Grounds) down the street from the house where the old Nike sites where located. Without Helmets!! And Jarts, oh my! We used to pool the neighborhood sets together so we wouldn’t have to walk back and forth so much. There would be several in the air at one time. Remember when toys actually had _pinch points_? PINCH POINTS! Yeesh, our kids won’t know what they’re missing (unless I go pilfer Grandpa’s Basement, he’s probably got some of that stuff still down there). We used to have Extreme tree climbing where we would compete to see who could climb up the tree the highest and our parents SAW us doing this. Pencil thin branches 50 feet off the ground. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/25 "2006-09-13T16:56:48Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] What’s so dangerous about these? I remember some kind of “Lab” toy that had a hot aluminum plate on which you cooked “Goo” into various shapes. Creeple-People or something like that. You could get the crap burned out of ya. [/QUOTE] Creepy Crawlers? There was also the edible variety, Incredible Edibles. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/26 "2006-09-13T17:11:57Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] And let’s not even mention the demise of see-saws (teeter-totters). [/QUOTE] They’re taking away teeter-totters now? (Of course, my brother used to wait 'til I was on the high side and then he’d jump off, but still.) And obviously you haven’t been to [Berlin](http://www.hudax.com/berlin2004/WebImages/0103.JPG) lately. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/27 "2006-09-13T17:19:41Z")
Genuine Fisher-Price Little People. The junk Fisher-Price makes these days, and the evolution of Little People into hard plastic Cabbage Patch Kids are a crime against kid-hood. If it weren’t so self-indulgent, I’d be scouring eBay for the stuff I remember…Little People Hospital, A-Frame House, Houseboat… To this day I wonder if a REAL tragedy ever happened due to their smallness, or if someone just got afraid that something would and they’d get sued. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/28 "2006-09-13T17:30:53Z")
[QUOTE=Danalan] You need a [Zorb](http://www.zorb.com/)! [/QUOTE] Holy hell, I love the ad writing on that: > [@](#): > > Where all your dreams are realized (as long as you dream of rolling down a hill inside a giant plastic ball). > [@](#): > > Where the chance to mutilate yourself and die a terrible death while screaming your lungs out is replaced by the chance to partake in a totally bizarre and fun experience protected by a MASSIVE cushion of air with no chance of mutilation or death while screaming your lungs out. > > Where mad scientists have combined ancient technology with today’s force of gravity to re-popularize the forgotten wheel. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/29 "2006-09-13T17:44:00Z")
Not particularly awesome or unsafe, but the mention of klackety-klacks (which my wife and I were actually discussing less than a week ago!) reminded me of another toy of similar vintage. Does anyone remember a toy that consisted of a couple of discs threaded on a looped string. You held one end of the string in each hand, twisted up the strings a bit, and then pulled on the ends to make the discs spin. You would alternate between pulling and releasing tension and the discs would keep spinning. The storebought ones had plastic discs with cool psychedelic patterns on them, but I recall making our own versions wioth large buttons and string. I did a little searching and think they may have been called opee-ops or something similar, but couldn’t find a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/30 "2006-09-13T18:00:52Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **AHunter** , one thing that site doesn’t mention is the way Klackers could practically _explode_ if a fracture developed. I saw it happen once – Klacker shrapnel everywhere. That, I think, is what really killed these things – you could be using them safely and responsibly and _still_ get yourself hurt. [/QUOTE] There should have been a warning sign: ACHTUNG! KLACKERSCHRAPNEL! ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/31 "2006-09-13T18:04:45Z")
We had non-motorized go-carts made of scrap wood with casters slapped on. You rode them down a hill and didn’t wear a helmet. It was also fun to ride shopping carts down hills. Tire swings and rope swings were fun, though you could bash yourself against the tree or the rope could break or you could even strangle yourself if the rope got around your neck. Someone mentioned “swordfighting” with kitchen knives. We did that too–we got the idea from “Romeo and Juliet.” ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/32 "2006-09-13T18:23:25Z")
[QUOTE=KRC] Someone mentioned “swordfighting” with kitchen knives. We did that too–we got the idea from “Romeo and Juliet.” [/QUOTE] Thus proving yet again the importance of banning children from reading Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/33 "2006-09-13T18:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=KRC] We had non-motorized go-carts made of scrap wood with casters slapped on. You rode them down a hill and didn’t wear a helmet. It was also fun to ride shopping carts down hills. [/QUOTE] When I was a kid we kids of the neighborhood once spent two days cutting and decorating cardboard boxes to make “cars” out of our wagons (think Radio Flyer style) in preparation to ride them down a street that had a nice downhill grade to it. Sucks to figure out after you get going that wagons aren’t really known for their handling, steering, braking or shock absorbing qualities. They are known (at least to us) to crash and flip over like all get out. God that was fun. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/34 "2006-09-13T18:35:32Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] When I was a kid we kids of the neighborhood once spent two days cutting and decorating cardboard boxes to make “cars” out of our wagons (think Radio Flyer style) in preparation to ride them down a street that had a nice downhill grade to it. Sucks to figure out after you get going that wagons aren’t really known for their handling, steering, braking or shock absorbing qualities. They are known (at least to us) to crash and flip over like all get out. [/QUOTE] I was always a big fan of tear-assing full spead down any steep grade as a kid. We used to have races using bikes, wagons, bigwheels, scooters, whatever people had. They usually ended…badly. My elementary school had this junglegym thing consisting of a geodesic dome of metal bars about three times the height of a typical fifth grader. It looked like something out of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (the “something” being the Thuderdome.) ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/35 "2006-09-13T18:50:46Z")
There was nothing better than those big steel Tonka trucks with the sharp metal edges. Except when you left the trucks out in the sandbox all summer, and they developed a nice layer of rust on those edges. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/36 "2006-09-13T18:58:50Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned those Wrist Rocket slingshots! ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/37 "2006-09-13T19:05:51Z")
One summer, my friend and I built fencing swords out of sharpened dowels and her carpenter dad’s assorted wood scraps, and we would fight with them in the backyard. Not quite as bad as real butcher knives, but I’m still amazed nobody had their eye put out or got impaled. There was a see-saw built out of a giant log in a playground my class used to go to. One day, the kid on the bottom of the see-saw got bored and got off the see-saw, sending the kid on the top crashing down to the ground, with the log smashing his foot and ankle. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/38 "2006-09-13T19:12:25Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] My elementary school had this junglegym thing consisting of a geodesic dome of metal bars about three times the height of a typical fifth grader. [/QUOTE] By any chance, did you grow up near Steilacoom, Washington? ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/39 "2006-09-13T19:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=Greenback] Take two sweaters and a thick pair of sweatpants and grab your bb gun on the way out the door. There was an understood rule that banned head shots. [/QUOTE] Oh hell yeah. BB tag. I still have the scar on the inside of my right elbow from the day it got too hot for my “armor” and my friend Tony thought it would be funny to load up a pellet. Although he swears he didn’t, I know he violated the 10-pump rule. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524/40 "2006-09-13T19:29:05Z")
Man, by the time I was growing up they had already gotten rid of most of the dangerous toys so we had to be creative and make up our own ways of nearly killing ourselves. We had a great sledding hill in our back yard (good enough that people we knew from 30-60 minutes away would come to use it) and we would build thick ice obstacles and jumps all over it which would be nearly invisible against the snow. Imagine going down a steep hill standing up on a sled (and this was before snowboarding became popular, we were cutting edge dammit!) and suddenly having the sled disappear from under you as you go flying 15-20 ft horizontally and smashing face first into the ground (or another ice block). God that was fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unsafe-yet-awesome-playthings-thread/372524.md?page=3)