Wednesday, January 25, 2012

70s TOYS OR TORTURE?

Technically some of these toys are from the early 80s. However, that doesn't make them any less torturous.

SIT ‘N SPIN – The object, twirl yourself around as fast you can. Sorta like your own personal Disney Teacup ride (except you had no operator limiting the speed). Made of sturdy plastic so it pretty much worked on any shag carpet. Doubled as a super safe, spinning sled in the blizzard of ’77.

BLIP – The ancestor to Pong. Wind it up and a red light shoots across the screen. To make the blip return to the other side, all you need to do is push the correct numbered button. Do it again and again, with no food pellet in sight. Made car trips a wee bit more fun than staring out the window at moving trees or bugs dying.


SIMON – 9 volt battery charged game of Simon Says, except with 4 colored lights and Close Encounters-type sounds. No bossy neighborhood kid needed. Not sure of the lasting effects of staring at blinking lights for hours on end.


KER-BANGERS – Remember that weapon David used to smite Goliath? Now imagine that as a toy, Ker-Bangers. Not sure how the manufacturers could guarantee “safe play” when you were swinging and smacking two Lucite balls inches from your nasal cavity. Though it is safe to say I lost my "nose bleed" virginity to this toy.

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29 comments:

  1. Oh man sit-n-spin almost made me vomit once.

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  2. Your descriptions are priceless hahah.

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  3. My daughter and then granddaughters had Sit-N-Spin. It was a great toy. My kids also had the Simon game.

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  4. I have seen more people with mouth and tooth damage after using those KER-BANGERS that anyone should in a lifetime.

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  5. DUDE, you just forced me through the forcemeat strainer of nostalgia road!!

    I mean, holy crap I REMEMBER those sit n' spins! Those were the shiznits~!

    And the original Simon? Shit, even when she was older my little sister (not little anymore, but meh y'know what I mean) couldn't beat me for SHIT with that game. That and Battleship.

    She always beat the unliving hell outta me in Monopoly though. Life and Hotels were usually 50/50.

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  6. Wow...I had all of these when I was a kid. lol

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  7. haha i remember playing with that little skinny set toy was so much fun :)

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  8. Now SIMON was torture and as you said no food pellet....

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  9. The Sit and Spin is such a horrible game, honestly it's a hazard haha, thanks for sharing these photos.

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  10. Simon still exists to this day. I don't know how to feel about that.

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  11. i've never encountered any one of those :p

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  12. I remember those bloody noisy ker-bangers.

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  13. Fuuuuuuck Simon! I used to get so frustrated playing that damn thing. lol.

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  14. Hahaha! The only one I really remember is Simon...it started off easy and ended up frustrating as hell! BTW, It's nice to be able to comment on your blog again! For a while blogger wouldn't allow that, stupid blogger.

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  15. Bought my son a sit-n-spin in 1982. Bought my granddaughters a sit-n-spin in 2003. They are just as fun now as they were back in the day. Simon was a game that I played regularly with my girlfriends husband after we smoked pot. It took a lot of skill and talent I tell ya! Fun post!

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  16. I remember simon says! I loved that game as a kid! Sit and spin just sounds like a rude comment you'd say to a person you hated!

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  17. scary to admit i had all those toys and my favorite was the spinning one

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  18. This type of thing makes me wish I never had a gameboy to play with.

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  19. Oh god, I hate the Sit N' Spin! I love Simon though.

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  20. We have something very similar to the sit-n-spin, though I don't know that it had a brand name. Still enough to make any adult puke. I remember Simon - my aunt had one and as soon as we got in the door, we'd make a beeline to that dang thing. So glad we don't have one now because I'd probably "accidentally" lose the batteries.

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  21. I liked simon says when I was younger...but yeah, these would all be horrific torture devices for kids today.

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  22. I wish I could say I was not old enough to remember any of these.

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  23. I think Simon started a long line of copy-cat blinking buzzing battery operated toys. You might not believe this but my older brother and I had a make your own lead soldier kit. Nothing like the smell of fresh melted lead in the morning.

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  24. I had SIMON, which lasted all of half an hour before I'd taken it apart to see how it worked

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  25. Sit and Spin was self-torture. "I think I'll spin myself until I throw up!"
    Don't laugh, but I still have my Blip game. Doesn't work though...

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  26. There would always be a drunken adult who insisted on riding the Sit and Spin. It usually ended up with them hitting their head on the coffee table...

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  27. Thank you for posting this. It’s exactly what I was looking for!

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