Comments | seanan_mcguire: Toys that just don't cut it anymore.

seanan_mcguire

Toys that just don't cut it anymore.

Jan 27, 2010 07:45

When I was a kid growing up below the poverty line in California, I had a lot of toys that were "the hot new thing" about ten years before they wound up in my grasping little hands. This included the glory of the Creepy Crawlers machine, from Thing Maker. (Modern parents, prepare to be completely and utterly appalled.) It consisted of a small, ( Read more... )

my mom is nuts, dangerous games, so the marilyn

Comments 93

ericcoleman January 27 2010, 15:49:07 UTC

And if I had it, there's not a parent I know who'd let their children near my house ever again.

I'd let my kids come over in a minute ...

seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 15:52:36 UTC

To play with my PIT OF MOLTEN PLASTIC?

ericcoleman January 27 2010, 15:55:08 UTC

I LOVED Creepy Crawlies ... and my kids would too ...

seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 15:56:52 UTC

Plus you can bet that one burn experience teaches you about Why We Don't Touch The Molten Plastic, You Moron.

Thread 7

brightlotusmoon January 27 2010, 16:01:14 UTC

she probably figured it was cheaper than eating paste or sniffing markers until they dried out (big hobbies with the other kids on my block).

I remember when the big thing in the '80s (I was born in '79 and went to public grade school in Brooklyn, NY) was sniffing markers, sniffing and eating glue, and sniffing and chewing blue pens. Now its raiding Grandma's medicine cabinet for hydrocodone. Or did they do that too in the '80s

My childhood best friend, Brian, had a Creepy Crawler maker. Alongside our massive collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys. We made the Turtles fight the Creepy Crawlers. With My Little Ponies. It was awesome. I miss my 1980s childhood.

Just wanted to say thanks for the memories.

lapintada January 27 2010, 16:03:11 UTC

Wait! Where's the Easy Bake Oven so they could all eat cake after doing battle?

**grin***
THIS I did have!

seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 16:04:47 UTC

The Easy Bake Oven: teaching us all why we don't want to lick the lightbulb.

brightlotusmoon January 27 2010, 16:19:23 UTC

I never got that, but my mom let me help her bake! I would have LOVED an Easy Bake Oven. I had a Fisher Price record player, though, so I could have a musical score and soundtrack to go along with my battles.

Thread 8

lapintada January 27 2010, 16:02:10 UTC

I would TOTALLY let mine come play!
*I* wanted one of those when I was a kid!!!

seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 16:03:50 UTC

I really miss my Creepy Crawler machine. Now I want to find one and make lots of plastic bugs that I don't need.

lapintada January 27 2010, 16:06:16 UTC

http://cgi.ebay.com/Creepy-Crawler-oven-to-make-bugs-everything-included_W0QQitemZ300390220757QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f0a703d5

seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 22:20:50 UTC

Woo!

Thread 6

saladofdoom January 27 2010, 16:03:26 UTC

That particular toy set was probably the only 'TV toy' set we ever got. One Christmas the parents got the base set for all of us, and one of the expansion sets each.
My favorite of the thingmaker sets was the mini-dragon set, I think that one was either mine or one that was for all of us. (I wasn't 100% clear on the concept of individual ownership until I was much older. My siblings will attest to this.)

seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 16:04:22 UTC

Oh, awesome! I had the bugs, the lizards, and the sea creatures.

I HAD THAT TOY! lastwordy_mcgee January 27 2010, 16:05:41 UTC

I'd completely forgotten about it until just now. Oh my god, I can smell the goop right now. I can feel the hardened plastic, which was so, so smooth except for the little swirl bump near the middle, where the bottle had been lifted. And the damn salamander toes always broke off in the mold ( ... )

Re: I HAD THAT TOY! seanan_mcguire January 27 2010, 22:21:59 UTC

Your friends with children need to embrace the awesome of your childhood. 'Cause dude.

Re: I HAD THAT TOY! melissajm January 27 2010, 23:07:59 UTC

You grated soap too? Cool! Mine was for magic Pixie Dust.

Re: I HAD THAT TOY! lastwordy_mcgee January 28 2010, 01:47:48 UTC

Shampoo. I made shampoo. There is a long story behind that which I might post tomorrow.

I grated a shitload of soap--I lived in a multigenerational household, with relatives who'd lived through the depression. They tended to hoard things in bulk.