I miss insanely dangerous Christmas toys.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Ovens=danger
Guns=nothing bad could possibly happen

[Saab2000]

I got my first really good racing bike, a Gitane Tour de France model with Spidel components and Mavic tubular rims, for Christmas. It was a gateway toy/drug that has led to many injuries and broken bones and I've never looked back since!

30 years ago this Christmas!

Very dangerous toys, these bicycles!

[Scott G.]

For all you Lawn Dart fans, Ed's Redeeming Qualities famousest song.

[David Tollefson]

Ah. to grow up on a hunting and outdoorsy family. Pocket knives, pocket saws, ammo... I think I was 12 when my first hunting rifle appeared under the tree (a .308 semi-auto that I still have). Of course those weren't toys.

I got a leather tooling kit when I was 8 I think. The good old wood-burning kit was even before that. Those little rubber-cooking things where you poured liquid into a mold and then heated it up (pretty darn hot) for several minutes, then cooled it in water. Yep, all kinds of glow-in-the-dark bugs and skulls and crap made with that thing. I'm surprised my skin isn't a maze of scars from all the dangerous stuff we played with growing up. Amazing that we've survived as a species through all this.

[dgaddis]

Sometime before 4th grade (don't remember my age, but it was in our first house), I got a "toy" bow and arrow kit from Santa. I found it Christmas morning, heard my parents waking up, so to show it off to them I stood at the end of the hallway opposite their door and drew the bow and waited...

There was no arrow in it, but my dad about had a heart attack LOL.

[David Tollefson]

Oh man, I completely forgot about the bow and arrows! Yeah, probably 5th grade on that one (10?). 25lb pull could launch an arrow well into the neighbor's 5 acres (from the dead center of our 5 acres).

[bigbill]

I had a bow and about two dozen arrows. There was a big tree behind the house. My best friend and I would take turns shooting arrows over the tree and try to make them land in a circle on the other side. If you could block the arrow as it was coming down, the points didn't count.

[Jonathan]

I think Stretch Armstrong is the only thing I miss.

[RickM]

Many memories reading thru these posts....it's like you guys grew up in my hometown. Pipe bombs...Yes. we used to break about 300 Ohio Bluetip matchheads and the powder contents of a box of .22LR rounds into a length of 1/2" copper pipe. Pack both ends with putty, insert fuse...and let the fun begin.

That was tame compared to spending summers out at my uncle's farm in Ligonier, Pa. while he and some other locals went dynamite fishing. They were also the best deer poachers I ever saw. Homemade one-shot silencer for a .22 pistol? Baby bottle nipple fitted over the muzzle. Has to be a pistol, though, (closed/locked breach) revolver would still make noise, (cylinder/barrel gap) and plunk that deer right in the spine at the base of the neck....deer drops like a sack of flour, paralyzed. Ballpeen hammer to finish, and make sure to comp the Game Warden a few venison steaks.

Different world, for sure.

[RickM]

Almost forgot...another Insanely Dangerous Christmas Toy; Wrist Rockets. The things are actually illegal in many states now, aren't they?

[happycampyer]

I was trying to remember the name of a toy that we played with a lot (and burned ourselves a lot with) when we were kids, and after some web searching I figured out that it was Mattel's Creepy Crawlers, and in particular the Mini Dragons. I also discovered that there is an entire forum dedicated to Creepy Crawlers:

Creepy Crawlers Forum

I wonder if there is a spin-off Velocicreepycrawlers Salon?

[joosttx]

The battle star galactic fighter space ship which shot out red missiles. Several years later they released a version where the missiles could not be launched. The design change probably happen because a missile went down a kids throat or something. Same thing happened the Boba Fett.

[joosttx]

One more.... Chinese throwing stars.

[Jonathan]

Almost forgot...another Insanely Dangerous Christmas Toy; Wrist Rockets. The things are actually illegal in many states now, aren't they?

I can still get them 300 years from here at the town hardware store. I'd gladly act as a conduit.

[RickM]

I can still get them 300 years from here at the town hardware store. I'd gladly act as a conduit.

Now you're reminding me of that uncle I mentioned above...

[Jonathan]

Oops 30 yards.

[Honus]

I was a total pyro when I was a kid. I loved building rockets and quickly discovered I could make my own igniters from nichrome wire and plastic roof cement. My parents gave me a bow and arrow (no BB guns or pellet rifles were allowed) and I found the arrows they gave me were too tame so I made my own brazed steel arrow heads.

I recommend this book- 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do): Gever Tulley, Julie Spiegler: 9780451234193: Amazon.com: Books

There are plenty of awesome dangerous toys available today- just look at the number of quadrotors available. Those things are flying blenders...

Just wait until my three boys figure out how to use my desktop laser cutter. I know it's just a matter of time before one of them puts an action figure in there and I hear the words "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

[bigbill]

Almost forgot...another Insanely Dangerous Christmas Toy; Wrist Rockets. The things are actually illegal in many states now, aren't they?

My kid has one along with a bag of ball bearings.

[xjoex]

Maybe less bat shit dangerous toys, but plenty of awesome learning toys. I got my nephews Erector Sets last year and Snap Circuits this year. They probably hate me.

But with a subscription to Make Magazine and some creativity kids can make awesome shit. Although I did notice that most RC cars are sold these days fully assembled, that was half the fun! I see Tamiya released the Fox and Hornet... is it weird if I get one?

-Joe

[bigbill]

Many memories reading thru these posts....it's like you guys grew up in my hometown. Pipe bombs...Yes. we used to break about 300 Ohio Bluetip matchheads and the powder contents of a box of .22LR rounds into a length of 1/2" copper pipe. Pack both ends with putty, insert fuse...and let the fun begin.

That was tame compared to spending summers out at my uncle's farm in Ligonier, Pa. while he and some other locals went dynamite fishing. They were also the best deer poachers I ever saw. Homemade one-shot silencer for a .22 pistol? Baby bottle nipple fitted over the muzzle. Has to be a pistol, though, (closed/locked breach) revolver would still make noise, (cylinder/barrel gap) and plunk that deer right in the spine at the base of the neck....deer drops like a sack of flour, paralyzed. Ballpeen hammer to finish, and make sure to comp the Game Warden a few venison steaks.

Different world, for sure.

My cousin and I made a machine gun out of a Mossburg semiauto 22 rifle. Pull the trigger and it would shoot until the clip was empty, couldn't stop it once it started. A police officer told me to put it back like it was. Rapid fire attracts the wrong kind of attention.