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Today I want to talk about 5 toys that were so dangerous (or at least some were) that they were yanked from the market!
The first is also one of the most famous, Yard Jarts.
I loved playing with these as a kid and no one I knew ever got hurt but maybe we were the lucky ones!
If you don’t know what they were, well then you missed out, but they were giant darts you tossed across a yard and tried to stick in the ground in a ring. I can see how it might have been dangerous in hindsight, especially if you were throwing them at one another.
Here’s the thing, In October 1970, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that R. B. Jarts, Inc. add labels to its line of lawn darts noting that they were for use by adults only. That should have worked, but in 1987 a little girl was killed when another kid threw one and hit her, and another kid was hit and actually ended up in a coma.
That was all it took. In 1988 the originals were banned and a new design, without the tips, was created and released.
Sky Dancers, by Galoob 1994
Sky Dancers were dolls that came with a massive wingspan and a pull-string base that you would place the doll on, rip the cord, and send it Helicoptering into the air!
Once launched they were… unpredictable at best. Sure, they had foam wings, but they were hard foam and it did little to help when one of these winged creatures came launching at you at Mach 5!
There were facial lacerations, scratched corneas, temporary blindness, and even chipped teeth! What we're saying here is that a fun day of play with a Sky Dancer might land you in the ER!
After receiving over 170 reports of the doll wreaking havoc on unsuspecting children the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the toy in 2000. Yes, there was an updated and redesigned version released by Play Along Toys in 2005, and yes, I am aware of Dragon Flyz, also by Galoob in 1996. They were just the boy version and offered similar, trauma causing, properties.
The Snack time Kids Cabbage Patch Kid! 1996 Mattel
Do you have a fear of dolls? Well if you don't, you might after hearing about this one.
Mattel had been passed the Cabbage Patch torch and they wanted to update the line. They tried a swimming doll and one you could cut its hair, but those weren’t enough. No, Mattel wanted a doll that could eat, chew and swallow!
Enter Snack time Cabbage Patch! They had a battery-powered mechanized jaw that would, well chew. It was creepy enough to watch, think a lizard sucking down a frog or something, but that wasn’t the worst part. No, the worst part was that they had no problem sucking down kids’ hair, maybe the cord of a sweatshirt… a finger. They really didn’t discern between what they were attempting to digest, and the mechanism was strong enough to do damage.
Ok, in full disclosure Mattel and the CPSC said they found no serious safety hazard associated with the toy, and no one died, like Yard Jarts, Mattel decided its best bet was to offer a $40 refund and entered into a voluntary recall in 1997. A number of these are still out there though… waiting… and eating…
Next up we have one of the most famous ladies in history, still famous today because she kept up with the changing world and never missed a trend… even one that might KILL ALL THE CHILDREN!
Maybe that’s a little dramatic, especially since, as far as I could find, nothing ever really happened, Still, in 1991 Mattel had to pull their Rollerblade Barbie from the stores when parents began to freak out. You see the skates lit up because of small LED lights, but, when you dragged them across a hard, flat surface they would spark a little. Honestly there have been a lot of toys that spark over the years, I remember having a clear plastic red ray gun that belched out sparks.
Anyway, parents got scared and thought they were a fire hazard and so they were recalled and in the end, no one was hurt and no Dream houses burned down.
And now for my favorite! The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab. Ok, so maybe you’ve heard of this, probably you haven’t but ole Alfred Carlton Gilbert, who was an athlete, magician, toy-maker, business man, and inventor, he was also the guy who gave the world the Erector Set, released this one in 1950. This thing looks awesome, and to be fair he was just trying to teach the kiddies about science, but there was a slight problem. Let’s let the warning label fill in some of the gaps for us.
“Users should not take ore samples out of their jars, for they tend to flake, and crumble and you would run the risk of having radioactive ore spread out in your laboratory.”
Yep… it had actual, radioactive material included! Hey Al, why not just crack open a few thermometers and push around the Mercury?
I can’t make this stuff up, the kit included four small jars of actual uranium so you could measure the samples’ radioactivity, observe radioactive decay, and go prospecting for radioactive ores. It also included a comic book called Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom to help explain atomic energy so of course it was safe for the whole family!
It should have also come with a bottle of Rogaine and a skin burn kit!
In 2006, the pop culture publication Radar Magazine called the lab set one of "the 10 most dangerous toys of all time! Also on that list… Lawn Jarts! Go figure.
So there you have it! Toys you could play with and mutilate friends with as well, or you know, build your own bomb or whatever.
Hey! Thank you guys for checking out the blog. As I mentioned earlier you should be over at Facebook, and make sure to check out the podcast!
Until next we speak, remember when it comes to Rewind Toys, the hunt is half the fun.
I’m Jason Emmitt, signing off.