# Would you buy a "gag" toaster that shot toast high into the air? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271 "2012-09-20T15:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/1 "2012-09-20T15:22:29Z")
Imagine a fully-functional good quality toaster that could shoot toast a few feet into the air and be angled to shoot outwards so the toast would land in the general vicinity of the table/plate. Height and angle would be adjustable. A loud bell would go off (DING!) and out flies toast. You could disable the shooting function and the bell for the conventional (albeit safer) pop-up toast. Assuming this was $50 (give or take $10) and you needed a new toaster would you buy it? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/2 "2012-09-20T15:27:18Z")
That’s the only reason I would buy a toaster. Note: I’ve already done the flaming pop-tart thing, so it’s the only\* remaining \*reason I’d buy a toaster. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/3 "2012-09-20T15:43:03Z")
I voted no, because it seems like killing a flea with a cannon as far as gags go. How many opportunities does one have to prank somebody with this? The subject has to be in or near the kitchen at a time when making toast seems a reasonable, or more likely an expected, thing to do. And you can only get each person once. Very limited joke potential. Now, if someone wants this just to use as a toy, fine, but I suspect it would grow old very quickly. If a toaster had all the features I wanted at the right price, and had this feature to boot, I might consider it, but I find that unlikely. The projection mechanism would surely add bulk and cost, as well as additional potential for malfunction. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/4 "2012-09-20T15:57:28Z")
My toaster isn’t even in the same room as my eating area. Similarly, even though they have a open format kitchen/eating area, my parents keep theirs on the kitchen island, where its blocked from the table area by a wall. That’s where the outlets are. Is having your toaster virtually next to your eating area common? And if so, why is reaching over for toast a terrible burden that must be eliminated? What problem is this device trying to solve? (I mean, other than the problem of how to comically assault friends with toast). Color me confused. ---
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/5 "2012-09-20T16:04:37Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > What problem is this device trying to solve? (I mean, other than the problem of how to comically assault friends with toast). Color me confused. Gag gift, there is no problem. Flying toast is just one of those cartoonish things that could be very real. It turns out there is [this](http://www.digitaltrends.com/lifestyle/trebuchet-toaster-sends-toasts-launching-onto-your-plate/), although I think it could be vastly improved upon. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/6 "2012-09-20T16:11:13Z")
> [@ecoaster](#): > > Gag gift, there is no problem. Flying toast is just one of those cartoonish things that could be very real. It turns out there is [this](http://www.digitaltrends.com/lifestyle/trebuchet-toaster-sends-toasts-launching-onto-your-plate/), although I think it could be vastly improved upon. Hm. Just not seeing it the merit as a gag gift. It does what it does, once. After that, its just a toaster. And almost everyone already has a toaster, and would be confused to receive a new one from a close friend (It’s the definition of an impersonal gift.) Thus, it would be close to impossible to gag a friend without them being like “what the fuck, I don’t need a toaster” and returning it. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/7 "2012-09-20T17:09:30Z")
I’m with TriPolar. If you want a toaster for “serious” reasons, you get a toaster oven. The only reason to get the kind with slots is to act out your childish cartoon fantasies, and for that you need a projectile toaster. Either that, or to use it as a component in a Rube Goldberg/Pee Wee Herman type machine. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/8 "2012-09-20T17:17:51Z")
In a New York second. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/9 "2012-09-20T17:49:23Z")
No but it does sound like it might make a good screensaver. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/10 "2012-09-20T17:51:26Z")
I can’t handle that much jocularity in the morning, but I’m sure lots of people would like it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/11 "2012-09-20T17:56:49Z")
Heck yes and I’d put right next to my Spaghetti Slinger. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/12 "2012-09-20T17:58:35Z")
Toaster oven. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/13 "2012-09-20T18:49:25Z")
I put bread in and leave until I hear it pop, not much of a joke there. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/14 "2012-09-20T19:04:41Z")
I have no interest in picking toast bits up off the floor. No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/15 "2012-09-20T19:29:31Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > No but it does sound like it might make a good screensaver. I miss that screensaver. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/16 "2012-09-20T20:32:15Z")
Yeah, I would buy one. I bought a car with hubcaps that were molded to look like lug nuts, which were sized to fit the wrench that came with the spare tire kit. And I’ve bought a few PCs over the years that had Windows on them. So, I seem to have the capacity to buy unimaginably dumb products. I wouldn’t buy one if I knew that that’s what it was. That’s never how these things work. In fact this thread has just tossed another abstract worry onto the pile, for future reference (as soon as I forget). ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/17 "2012-09-20T20:55:27Z")
My novelty toaster needs have been amply fulfilled by my Hello Kitty toasters. (Yeah, I have two of them.) They toast Hello Kitty’s face onto bread, and don’t make a mess in the process. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/18 "2012-09-20T21:08:13Z")
I doubt I’d buy a novelty toaster, but when I was little we had an old toaster that would shoot the toast high in the air. It only did it sometimes, so it was pretty exciting to wait on tenterhooks while the timer was going, wondering if you would have to retrieve the toast from the counter or floor or if it would be a dud. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/19 "2012-09-20T21:26:53Z")
No. Nor would I buy a squirting blender, a joy-buzzer frying pan, or a whoopie coffeemaker. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271/20 "2012-09-21T02:00:30Z")
It’s unlikely I would actually spend $50 on such a thing, but dammit I want one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-buy-a-gag-toaster-that-shot-toast-high-into-the-air/635271.md?page=2)