# Weird toys you vaguely remember **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231 "2003-06-20T18:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/61 "2003-06-21T05:07:06Z")
_[Madballs](http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0678/)! [MADBALLS](http://www.oksoda.com/blogs/ph33rsum/archives/000298.html)! Freaky fun for everyone!_ Probably one of the pioneer “grossout” toys. One of them was named Crackhead! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/62 "2003-06-21T05:14:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*No one remembers the fine, if limited, selection of [Mad Scientist](http://www.bigredtoybox.com/articles/madscientistindex.shtml) toys? \*\* I still have mine. Tho, the monster flesh in my Monster Lab is green not pink. Further there were IIRC 6 other products in the line. These came on blister cards with (depending on product) either Living Ice or Monster Flesh and a mold. I’ve got a Living Ice monster whose name escapes me at the moment. I also used the mold to cast him in wax. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/63 "2003-06-21T05:45:12Z")
Day. Yum. Many many memories come bubblin’ up as I read this thread. The Mighty Men & Monster Maker did, indeed, rock. This toy, and a super 8 home video camera (with frame by frame advance) allowed my cousin and I to create some of the worst stop motion films ever conceived. What else, lessee here… Anyone remember a battery powerede spaceship toy, looked like a sort of prototype Y-Wing? The bridge was a wedge shaped thing that detached, and the vertical fins on the wings also detached to make little grey “fighters.” When you could find four (or six) working D-Cells at one time, it made “climbing and diving” engine sounds depending on which way you tilted it, and the button on the bridge section made weapon firing noises. It had the ability to both send and receive an infrared signal from the four little lights on the nose, so that if you had two of them, and fired one at the nose of a second, the second one would make “faltering engine” noises for a minute, to simulate battle damage… or something like that. There was a “bad guy” version as well, much smaller, just the bridge and tailfins, all done in black and dark grey. (the original was white and light grey) Oh yeah… > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **BizarroRonJeremy** _: > **Though it’s not a toy, no one hear has had anything to say about Garanimals.** Actually, they’re still being sold. Mrs. Skeezix found some for our little one, not too long ago. [sub]BTW, would you happen to be completely hairless, and stunningly good looking? Just, y’know, the Bizarro thing made the thought ran through my head.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![flat\_pitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/90ced4/32.png) [@flat\_pitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flat_pitch)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/64 "2003-06-21T05:54:00Z")
[QUOTE] Anyone remember a battery powerede spaceship toy, looked like a sort of prototype Y-Wing? The bridge was a wedge shaped thing that detached, and the vertical fins on the wings also detached to make little grey “fighters.” When you could find four (or six) working D-Cells at one time, it made “climbing and diving” engine sounds depending on which way you tilted it, and the button on the bridge section made weapon firing noises. It had the ability to both send and receive an infrared signal from the four little lights on the nose, so that if you had two of them, and fired one at the nose of a second, the second one would make “faltering engine” noises for a minute, to simulate battle damage… or something like that. There was a “bad guy” version as well, much smaller, just the bridge and tailfins, all done in black and dark grey. (the original was white and light grey) [QUOTE] I had that!! Supremely annoying to the parental units! Yeah man! Flat… ---
**Author:** ![digitalskeeza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@digitalskeeza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digitalskeeza)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/65 "2003-06-21T06:39:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*The Mighty Men & Monster Maker. You would choose from a variety of plastic plates, one each for head, torso, and legs. Put paper over it, rub with a crayon … > [@](#): > > BEST TOY EVER! There was also a fashion one for “girls”…\*\* The girls’ version was called Fashion Plates, I think. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KRC \* > \*\*One thing I recall was not really a toy involved getting plastic container lids from the butcher’s department at the store, drawing a design with magic markers, punching a hole in the lids, and baking them in the oven until they shrank and hardened, at which point you put a string through the hole and wore the plastic disks around your neck. I think a company eventually made a do-it-yourself kit for this activity. > B] [Shrinky Dinks](http://www.shrinkydinks.com/)?!?LOVED 'em! Forgot all about em! Does anyone remember Sit 'N Spin? I could literally spend hours making myself dizzy on that stupid thing…always have been easily amused, I guess. :rolleyes: OOH OOH and that giant rubber ball with the handle that you bounced around on? What was that called? ---
**Author:** ![GenWoundwort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f14d63/32.png) [@GenWoundwort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GenWoundwort)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/66 "2003-06-21T13:22:55Z")
DON’T TIP THE WAITER DON’T SPILL THE BEANS DON’T BREAK THE ICE…Also Ants in the pants and Battling tops ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/67 "2003-06-21T13:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skeezix \* > \*\*Anyone remember a battery powerede spaceship toy, looked like a sort of prototype Y-Wing? The bridge was a wedge shaped thing that detached, and the vertical fins on the wings also detached to make little grey “fighters.” When you could find four (or six) working D-Cells at one time, it made “climbing and diving” engine sounds depending on which way you tilted it, and the button on the bridge section made weapon firing noises. It had the ability to both send and receive an infrared signal from the four little lights on the nose, so that if you had two of them, and fired one at the nose of a second, the second one would make “faltering engine” noises for a minute, to simulate battle damage… or something like that. > > There was a “bad guy” version as well, much smaller, just the bridge and tailfins, all done in black and dark grey. (the original was white and light grey) That was the Starbird. The “good guys” ship was the Avenger and the “bad guys” was the Intruder. There was also a cardboard “base” you could get to use as a landing pad. Trivia for free. The original toy was simply called the Starbird and had the rising/falling engine sound but didn’t have the infrared beam. Later they came out with the “Avenger” version (with the beam) and the Intruder so you could have space battles with each other. I still have my Starbird (original, no IR beam) and an Intruder. 🙂 OK, anyone remember Big Trak? A futuristic looking “tank” with a keypad on the back. You “programmed” it by entering moves (Forward 5, turn left Forward 3, Turn Right, Fire) and then sent it out to run on its own. It also had a trailer that you could attach and program to dump at a certain point in the program. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/68 "2003-06-21T13:52:37Z")
[Starbird Avenger, Intruder and Command Base](http://www.bugeyedmonster.com/toys/starbird/) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/69 "2003-06-21T14:04:23Z")
Wow! I go away for a few hours (sleep), and look what you guys have done… Cool! Though not an obscure toy, anyone else here remember getting Legos from Velveeta cheese? I got so many Legos, I started making semi-permanent Lego toys. I also had a Lego train set. It had a battery powered electric motor so it would actually run on the track. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/70 "2003-06-21T16:27:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BizarroRonJeremy \* > \*\*Though it’s not a toy, no one hear has had anything to say about Garanimals. > > It was a animal-themed clothing line where you can match tops and bottom. IE: A tiger top went with a tiger bottom. > > \*\* For some reason I’m thinking these were sold exclusively at Kmart, but I could be wrong. And in addition to being animal coded, I think they were also color coded? Like there was a red monkey tag, and a blue monkey tag and a yellow monkey tag. You could either match a monkey to a monkey or match a blue monkey to a blue tiger. Now that I think about it that seems absurdly complicated, so I could be wrong. Another weird thing I had…it might’ve been made by View-Master. It was a little hand-held thing that sorta looked like a Super-8 camera, but was actually a viewer that you held up to your eye and put a film cartrige in and it had a little light and actually spun the film through it. I only had the cartrige it came with, which was a Spiderman/Green Goblin adventure. Sorta lame because it didn’t have sound or anything, but I loved that rachety clickety clack the film made when it was running. Also weird idea for a toy: Cootie! I don’t think we ever actually played the game, we just assembled the bugs and played with them like toys. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/71 "2003-06-21T17:08:00Z")
**Ice Bird** (early 70s) It was some plastic bird that you used to shave ice, then pour flavoring into it. **Sticky Finger** (mid 60s) It was a giant (about a foot long) finger that had a suction cup at the end of it, opposite the “nail.” I think it had a trigger release at the bottom, so you could throw it back and forth to other Sticky Fingers. **Sherlock** It was a toy dog that would walk whenever you shone a light onto him. The light was shaped like a bone. **Crumpet** She was a doll. Her specialty was that she could pour tea. **Running Wild**. I think that was the name, but I’m not sure. It was a plastic cube (3 or 4 inches) with BBs in it. There were three or four alternating “slanted flat areas” inside it, so that when you turned it upside down, the BBs would go racing one way, drop the the next level, go racing back the other, etc, until they hit the bottom. The toy mentioned something like “Although the total drop is only 4 (or however many) inches, if you dropped these same BBs from the top of the ESB, they would reach the ground before the ones in the cube. That’s because these BBs are alternating between a state of motion and a state of rest.” If I think of more, I’ll post, but there was one other: It went _zzzzzip!_ when it moved, and _bop!_ when it stopped and _whirrrrr_ when it stood still. I never knew just what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/72 "2003-06-21T17:22:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hampshire \* > \*\*I had the coolest toy when I was probably 8-10 yrs. old. Late 70’s. It was a Spiderman Webshooter that they dare not make these days. It consisted of the mechanism like a suction cup dart gun but it strapped around your wrist. There was also a string attached to the dart and a spool on the mechanism. When you shot the dart off your wrist it would shoot across the room, stick to the window, and leave a nice line between the dart and your wrist. Sooooo Coooool! > Unfortunately the same day I got it I shot it at my older sister. It hit her, she faked an eye injury, started bawling, and Dad got angry and snapped it in half. What I wouldn’t give to get another one. \*\* I had that too! And strangely enough, mine also broke within the first 24 hours. My dad didn’t do it though, I managed to do it myself. I ‘web-slung’ onto the ceiling, and when I yanked at it to bring the dart back down, it snapped in two. It was a very cool toy, for the brief time that it actually remained unbroken! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/73 "2003-06-21T17:26:45Z")
Does anyone remember the Sleeping Dragon game or something similar? You had penguins who carried eggs (on their heads?), around a little track with 4 things meant to simulate icebergs, and if you landed on a dragon square you had to press a button and it shook all of them, and if you fell off you had to get and get a new egg. Great game… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/74 "2003-06-21T17:28:58Z")
The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title was **[Hugo, Master of Disguise](http://www.bigredtoybox.com/cgi-bin/toynfo.pl?hugoindex)**. That little thing creeped me out as a kid… Also, **[Milky the Cow](http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2/cooltoys/)** and Gobbles the Goat. I can remember the disappointment I felt when the best I could get out of that damn cow was some weakly chalky water. ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/75 "2003-06-21T18:04:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IUHomer \* > \*\* > Someone mentioned electric football…LOVED it. A great pre-video game era football game. Never did really figure out how to pass and kick. The guys had a little dial on the bottom that you had to trun to get them to run straight. My brother and I would race the guys to determine which one would be the ball carrier. Very loud and would vibrate a whole lot. Such a crude game, but lots of fun. > \*\* Electric football games are still being made, and I am tempted to buy one! I wish I still had the one I got, either for my birthday or Christmas, in the early 70s. The old electric football game sets came with the two teams from the previous season’s Super Bowl. The one I had came with the Baltimore Colts (yes, Baltimore not Indianapolis!!!) in their white jerseys and the Dallas Cowboys in their blue jerseys (which they do not actually wear very often). This was the 1970 (January 1971) Super Bowl matchup, so it must have been my b-day or xmas of 1971 that I got it. You could also order any of the other NFL team player sets, in colored or white jerseys. Since I am a Green Bay fan, I ordered the Packers in their green jerseys, and I think I also got their Central Division rivals Detroit, Chicago, and Minnesota in white jerseys. Yes, it was very hard to get the little plastic players to run in the right direction! Oftentimes they would just run around in circles. I am pretty sure I tried to get my little plastic Packers to run the Lombardi Power Sweep, but they did not do it quite as well as Fuzzy Thurston, Jerry Kramer, Paul Hornung and the rest of the actual 60s Green Bay offense! ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/76 "2003-06-21T19:35:44Z")
I never actually had any of the toys that I really, really wanted. In hindsight, in some cases, it is just as well. I really wanted some sort of “whacky” ball that in the ads did crazy stuff like roll up walls, and across ceilings etc, but in actuality I think was just a ball with an off center weight in it. I would have been madly dissapointed. There was a bike, I believe by Raleigh, that was marketed as a computer-bike, I think the name began with a T and it had cream plastic over the frame in “futuristic” shapes. I would have killed for one, and I am very curious now to know what the “computer” aspect actually was. I suspect something crap like sound-effects and maybe a digital speedometer. Anyone know what I am talking about? There was also some sort of “magic sand” that you could pour into water to make underwater sculptures and towns, and when you took it out again, the sand was still dry! I still have no idea what that was or why/how it would have worked. Was it as cool as it looked? ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/77 "2003-06-21T19:50:06Z")
Talking out my arse as per usual, the Raleigh Vektar is what I was referring to. [http://www.yodathewise.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vektar.htm](http://www.yodathewise.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vektar.htm) ---
**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:** [June 21, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/78 "2003-06-21T21:12:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by digitalskeeza \* > \*\*… > > OOH OOH and that giant rubber ball with the handle that you bounced around on? What was that called? \*\* Hippity Hop! ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/79 "2003-06-21T22:15:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flat pitch \* > \*\*My favorite ever was called a “VertiBird”. It was a battery powered helicopter that flew around in circles from a base in the center, and you sat on the outside working the controls. It came with a man or two that you could pick up. But the fun really began when I surrounded the LZ with my moms house plants to make a jungle to fly through while trying to evade charlie. I cut the shit outta those plants and got my ass whooped good for it but it was worth it!! > > Flat… \*\* THAT was a great toy! We had one and just had a total blast with it. Thanks for the memories! ---
**Author:** ![Ironic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9dc877/32.png) [@Ironic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ironic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231/80 "2003-06-21T22:25:19Z")
POPPLES!! Little stuffed toys that were marsupial like in that they had pockets over their cute bums with which you could flip the popple into a fluffy little ball. They were cute. (I am _such_ an 80’s child.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-toys-you-vaguely-remember/183231.md?page=5)