• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

White supremacy is terrorism.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: Toys for Grown-Ups

Late Night Open Thread: Toys for Grown-Ups

by Anne Laurie|  January 26, 20221:19 am| 96 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

FacebookTweetEmail

the ad pictures for the Lego Millennium Falcon ($999) are extremely funny, because they're just not making any pretense that this one is for children. pic.twitter.com/VNlKAdyX1I

— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) January 18, 2022

Back in the day, sf/f con huckster rooms used to be full of guys in t-shirts saying Some people have kids so they can play with their toys — I prefer to cut out the middleman and just buy my own toys…

Lego tardigrade!
by Mitsuru Nikaidohttps://t.co/ARQYIiZv5J pic.twitter.com/zG6YNOwY4R

— Tardigradopedia (@tardigradopedia) December 29, 2021

Ahem: Grown-ups…

Someone is apparently very mad about the figures new Lego snowtrooper battle pack not all being white guys… pic.twitter.com/i3RRIJYjWF

— Maggie_Thotcher?️‍??️‍⚧️ (@TenuredPanda944) January 25, 2022

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Ukraine Starter Kit, Courtesy of Gin & Tonic
Next Post: On The Road – BigJimSlade – Hiking in the Italian Dolomites – 2021 – Day 2, part 2 On The Road - BigJimSlade - Hiking in the Italian Dolomites - 2021 - Day 2, part 2 5»

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  1. 1.

    lollipopguild

    January 26, 2022 at 1:24 am

    Legos have always been designed and sold with the idea of adults as a large part of the customer base.

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    January 26, 2022 at 1:28 am

    Anyone who thinks diversity is a new thing in the Star Wars universe needs to go back and watch the OG movies again. The last time I checked, the voice of Darth Vader was a black man, Princess Leia was a woman, and Chewie wasn’t even human. Why is it only now that it’s a big deal to have prominent characters who aren’t White dudes?

  3. 3.

    HarlequinGnoll

    January 26, 2022 at 1:34 am

    I’d want to yell at that poster the empire was about human supremacy, not white supremacy.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 1:34 am

    Legos were designed by chiropodists.

    //

  5. 5.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 1:37 am

    @Roger Moore:

    don’t forget Lando, Admiral Ackbar, others, many others,

    Lego’s are cool, right up until you step on one on the carpet in the dark.

  6. 6.

    Roger Moore

    January 26, 2022 at 1:39 am

    @Jay:

    I was specifically thinking of the first movie.  Heck, the first important recurring characters we’re introduced to are Vader, Leia, and the droids.  The White dudes didn’t come until later.

  7. 7.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 1:43 am

    Is there room for kids and adults who don’t do Lego?

    I mean, Lincoln Logs were my go-to, they adapted to scenarios from the subjugation of native tribes to breastworks in the Civil War to serving as missiles as your older brothers threw stuff at you.

    Yeah. That.

  8. 8.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 1:50 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Meccanno  for me.

  9. 9.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 1:53 am

    @Roger Moore:

    all the Imperial Fleet officers in the opening scenes, were old white dudes, and evil, spineless and amoral.

  10. 10.

    gene108

    January 26, 2022 at 1:55 am

    IIRC, the traditional color of Lego people was yellow. A skin color not known among humans.

    I’m not sure why the guys mad they went from traditional yellow to brown.

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 1:56 am

    @HumboldtBlue

    Lincoln Logs, yes. The real ones made of redwood. Dim fragments of memory of Silly Putty and Colorforms, also too. My childhood was Lego-free.

  12. 12.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 2:01 am

    @Jay:

    Nice.

  13. 13.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:01 am

    @NotMax:

    Jenga replaced Lincoln Logs//

  14. 14.

    gene108

    January 26, 2022 at 2:02 am

    @Jay:

    all the Imperial Fleet officers in the opening scenes, were old white dudes, and evil, spineless and amoral.

    The crew on the Tantive IV were also white. Hollywood, in 1976, really didn’t think about inclusiveness at all.

    It’s a surprise Princess Leia was such a strong female character.

  15. 15.

    Geoduck

    January 26, 2022 at 2:04 am

    I had a small set of a Legos knockoff called Tente, but I did more stuff with Tinker Toys.

  16. 16.

    Tehanu

    January 26, 2022 at 2:06 am

    @NotMax: ​
      Mine too. I loved Lincoln Logs.

  17. 17.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:10 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    we ( me and my brother) each got a Meccano set for Xmas one year, it was a hit.

    That summer, my Dad’s parents shipped out a small trunk of all the Meccano parts my Dad had when he was a kid. Some of the rubber tires were degraded, but other than that, all the parts fit.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 2:13 am

    Ah, so that’s what it was. Dismissed it as transitory bout of gas.

  19. 19.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 26, 2022 at 2:17 am

    OT – Hot! Dog!  1:01AM CST nearby Wunderground station reading is -1°!

  20. 20.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:21 am

    https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixGbIhrGfkChLVNYuQuoy9smMc9F9t6PLa1kdcnBqkwardGuQZ1-y2XFZY7-2-zY7hmZz3Q1pVxjVBMmjcG4b-CmBSMTYWQc3owYLgq9MYxeNFiGl5_ZGNiaI_cdR3yq9ccRF9txT8jvzm84FZGNtzO8mU5svGgB-exdyNN5I-E1zkqX7eU41iAhG1=s495

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    January 26, 2022 at 2:21 am

    My childhood included helping to make molds for Hanna Barbara cartoon character kiddie liquid soap bottles. And Mattel toy molds. I remember working on one toy in particular, Barbie doll molds and trying to figure out why certain physical features were rather out of proportion. It took a while to understand the concept of perverts. Some where I have pictures. Of the toys, not the perverts.

    Legos and I are the same age. But I do not remember seeing them as a kid.

    It was a lot cooler to make kiddie toys than to play with them…..

  22. 22.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 26, 2022 at 2:23 am

    @Jay: You know it’s Balloon Juice After Dark when the links decide to go naked.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 2:29 am

    @Jay

    We didn’t need no es-stinkin’ Jenga. Not when the all wood Booby Trap was around.

    Also too, Pick-Up Sticks.

    ;)

  24. 24.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:30 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    it’s a screenshot on my phone to an image, so it doesn’t translate well, but it get’s you there, ( no innuendo intended),

  25. 25.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:31 am

    @NotMax:

    and with Pickup sticks, you could easily put an eye out,

    +10 power over Lincoln Logs,

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 2:35 am

    @Jay

    Hey, risk comes with the territory. Remember woodburning kits?

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 2:41 am

    @mrmospotato

    Late response to something you mentioned in Mr. Cole’s thread a couple of floors down. Napping and house puttering intervened.

  28. 28.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:44 am

    @NotMax:

    yup,

    also Lawn Darts.

    when we played “war”, we quickly switched out from plastic guns, some which made noise and had a light to flash at the end of the barrel,

    to pellet guns and bb guns because “ow, fu€k, but you missed me”, rang hollow.

  29. 29.

    eclare

    January 26, 2022 at 2:46 am

    @Jay:  Cute!

  30. 30.

    prostratedragon

    January 26, 2022 at 2:49 am

    Uh-oh, I might want one of those Lego sets.

    Sharing Jan. 25 most harmoniously:
    Benny Golson
    Antonio Carlos Jobim

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 2:50 am

    @Jay

    Know a guy who still holds onto an original Pluto Platter, which was a gigantic floppola in the toy market until it was re-introduced under the name Frisbee.

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 26, 2022 at 2:54 am

    @Jay:

    ( no innuendo intended), 

    But innuendo noted! ?

  33. 33.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:56 am

    @Ruckus:

    while the milling machines as a kids toy is pretty cool,

    the child labour, not so much, ; )

  34. 34.

    Danielx

    January 26, 2022 at 2:57 am

    @NotMax:

    Shit, I remember Jarts and they were outlawed.

  35. 35.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 2:58 am

    @NotMax:

    it was a toy, now it’s a sport.

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 26, 2022 at 2:59 am

    @NotMax: “Fire the cannon!”  I mean, “Vent the Instant Pot!”

  37. 37.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 3:01 am

    Reading threads.

    And this is why we listen to jazz.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 3:01 am

    @Jay

    What, you want the tykes to learn about molding plastic breasts in the gutter?

    //

  39. 39.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 26, 2022 at 3:03 am

    @Danielx: Good ol’ finned, metal spears flying through the air.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 3:05 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    “Deploy the pump-up water rockets to take ’em out!”

  41. 41.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 3:06 am

    @NotMax:

    BTW, “Pluto Platter” sounds like a Kid’s Special at a marginal chain restaurant sued out of existence by the Evil Mouse Corp,

    branding people, branding.

  42. 42.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 3:08 am

    @NotMax:

    naw, they should learn the process at a reputable plastic surgeons office,…..

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 3:10 am

    And now the kiddies are marketed stuff like this. The entropy of civilization continues apace.

    ;)

  44. 44.

    Origuy

    January 26, 2022 at 3:11 am

    There’s a Dutch artist who calls himself Ego Leonard, probably a pseudonym like Banksy (L, Ego, get it?), who makes giant Lego minifigs and leaves them on beaches around the world. From Wikipedia:

    The sculptures are in the form of “minifigures”, but are constructed from fibreglass enlarged to two and a half metres in height, and have the message “Shut up man” in capital letters written on their torsos. The appearance of an “Ego Leonard” giant figure on Siesta Beach, Florida, became number two on the Time list of the “Top 10 Oddball-News Stories of 2011.”

    Google Images

  45. 45.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 3:14 am

    @Origuy:

    why not,…..

  46. 46.

    opiejeanne

    January 26, 2022 at 3:27 am

    @NotMax: There was a Lego set in the Sunday School nursery when I was about 10, so 1960? It was a house, white with a red roof, and it wasn’t put together quite right, and I tried to fix it but pieces had gotten lost. I noticed it when the adults were having a meeting and someone had brought a tv so we could watch Godzilla, and we all got herded into the nursery

    For our birthdays last year (we’re 4 days apart) our middle child sent us two Harry Potter kits that were fairly challenging. 3-D puzzles, basically, and I had acquired some form of dyslexia so that when I was assembling them, parts of them were mirror images of what the instructions showed.

  47. 47.

    opiejeanne

    January 26, 2022 at 3:33 am

    @Geoduck: I had a knock-off of Tinker Toys. Can’t remember what they were called but they came in the same sort of cardboard tube as Lincoln Logs and oatmeal.

  48. 48.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 3:35 am

    @opiejeanne:

    I noticed it when the adults were having a meeting and someone had brought a tv so we could watch Godzilla, and we all got herded into the nursery.

    If that doesn’t sum up an experience, nothing will.

    I bet there was a high-ball involved.

  49. 49.

    JWR

    January 26, 2022 at 3:36 am

    Does anyone remember these?

    Vntge 1940’s HALSAM American Bricks 500+ Red/White Wood Pre-Lego Building Blocks

    I’d looked for them once before, but only back to the 1950’s. Our large, extended family had a bunch of them, and we’d build little red brick houses and school buildings and whatever. We also had the real Lincoln Logs. I think all that stuff ended up with my older sisters kids.

    Oh, and we also had a bunch of Lionel model trains, along with a sh*tload of track. They were built of cast metal, and I think they were S Gauge American Flyers. Fun setting up track throughout the living and dining rooms, turning off the lights, and watching the trains headlight going round and round.

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 3:40 am

    Topical. Lenny Bruce.

    :)

  51. 51.

    opiejeanne

    January 26, 2022 at 3:44 am

    @Danielx: The little kid that died in the Lawn Darts incident lived in my town. I think my in-laws gave our son a set right about then, and our first reaction was, “Oh, HELL no!”

  52. 52.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 3:47 am

    @JWR:

    Lionel’s are cool, and collector’s items, even if not historically accurate and detailed.

    Dad was a serious HO Scale hobbiest.

  53. 53.

    opiejeanne

    January 26, 2022 at 3:52 am

    @HumboldtBlue: Puh-leeze! We were Methodists.

    That summer was all kinds of fun. Potluck in the church basement every Saturday, and there were some awesome cooks who brought fried chicken and wonderful cakes, and then the kids played hide-and-seek on the park-like church grounds until dusk when they got tired of us running around and making noise, and herded us into the nursery. I think we saw six horror films in that room, things my parents wouldn’t let us watch but I don’t think they knew

  54. 54.

    divF

    January 26, 2022 at 3:58 am

    53 comments, and still no love for Erector Sets ?

    (now there is).

    ETA: Yes, I remember Lincoln Logs as well. I also got a set about 20 years ago to have around for the kids I babysat.

  55. 55.

    opiejeanne

    January 26, 2022 at 4:02 am

    @JWR:  We had a set of Krazy Ikes. Came in the same cardboard tube packaging as the Lincoln Logs.

  56. 56.

    divF

    January 26, 2022 at 4:02 am

    @Jay: My Dad got hooked on Marklin trains when he / we were stationed in Germany in the late 50s.

  57. 57.

    opiejeanne

    January 26, 2022 at 4:03 am

    @divF: I got to play with my dad’s Erector set, until my mom decided that we were too old for it and gave it to my cousins in San Diego.

  58. 58.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 4:04 am

    @divF:

    Erector was bought by Meccano in the 2000’s.

    They were similar, but different in dimensions.

  59. 59.

    JWR

    January 26, 2022 at 4:08 am

    @divF:

    53 comments, and still no love for Erector Sets ?

    Ooo, you just reminded me that I still have my uncle’s Erector set! Not in the original box or packaging. They’re in a nice wooden case. So here’s some Erector set love! ;)

  60. 60.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 4:14 am

    Fucking erector sets?

    Hated’em.

    Fucking Wrenchy bastards.

  61. 61.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 4:15 am

    @divF:

    Marklin and Lionel were considered “kids toys”,  by the hobbiests. Tracks wern’t accurate, detail wasn’t often there.

    My Dad had 14 different brass models of CPR Class “Pacific” class engines, ( 38 in total) because the fine details on each model covered the evolution of the Pacific Class in  CPR service. He had no CN versions.

    And of course, some were in freight livery, some passenger, and the engine serials/markers, had to match an actual historic engine in West Coast service. Couldn’t have an Ontario engine on the track.

    Dad modeled the CPR from the Spiral Tunnels down to Vancouver only.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 4:15 am

    @Jay

    but different in dimensions

    “This set can travel through time.”

    :)

  63. 63.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 4:16 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    these days erector sets are a variety of male pills,…..

  64. 64.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 4:17 am

    @HumboldtBlue

    Skinned some knuckles, didn’t ya?

    ;)

  65. 65.

    Jay

    January 26, 2022 at 4:22 am

    @NotMax:

    you couldn’t mix erector set pieces with meccano,

    early kinda exposure to metric vs imperial.

    my Cousins got my Uncle’s Meccano set. It was bigger than My Dads . Being a young A-hole, I bought an Erector set and scattered the parts into their Meccano set.

  66. 66.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 4:26 am

    @Jay: @NotMax:

    I had all sorts of links, linked, quotes quoted, and I fucked ’em all up for few minutes talking with my pop.

    I love that man.

    We still sing.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 4:34 am

    Told the story several years ago of the basement of a kid with whom I attended high school.

    His father was employed by Parker Brothers (looking back, probably in the legal department) and his job consisted of ferreting out any board games being brought to market which too closely resembled Monopoly, and serve cease and desist orders or take other action.

    Anyway, in that basement must have been dozens, if not over a hundred, boxes of such games which either never made it to the toy shelves or were pulled from them, which we were permitted to play.

    Different story – was at one time given a prototype of a board game involving U.S. elections which had been developed by the business of the father of another friend solely to demonstrate the dad’s factory’s innovative ability to laminate the game boards, such that they still folded in half for storage in the box. Far as I know the process never caught on.

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 4:48 am

    @HumboldtBlue

    Ah, vintage Miller, with Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton (Betty’s sister) and the Modernaires.

  69. 69.

    sab

    January 26, 2022 at 4:49 am

    I want one of those tardigrades.

  70. 70.

    JWR

    January 26, 2022 at 4:56 am

    @opiejeanne: “Krazy Ikes”

    I know I’ve heard of Krazy Ikes, but don’t think we ever had any of those. Do you know if they were interchangeable with Lincoln Logs? Eh, probably not. (But gimme a vertical mill and I’ll make ’em interchangeable! ;) )

    I’m still waiting to hear if anyone had any HALSAM American Bricks and whether or not they were as fun for others as they were for me.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    January 26, 2022 at 4:59 am

    @Jay:

    It wasn’t child labor. I mean I was a kid but it was my father’s business that I was learning and getting paid. I went to school, A average, later on I owned and ran the business for longer than my dad did.

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 4:59 am

    @JWR

    I *think* I may have seen them but am certain never owned them.

  73. 73.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 26, 2022 at 5:10 am

    @NotMax:

    It’s always Betty, isn’t it?

  74. 74.

    JWR

    January 26, 2022 at 5:13 am

    @NotMax: Oh, you’re talking about the Halsam American Bricks, right? Well, at least you know they existed, even if you never owned any, which is close enough for me.

  75. 75.

    NotMax

    January 26, 2022 at 5:16 am

    @HumboldtBlue

    Betty had enough energy to light a metropolis.

    ;)

  76. 76.

    Evap

    January 26, 2022 at 5:21 am

    I’m having flashbacks to Shrinky Dinks, cooked in the oven and they turned 3d.  My brother had the set where you make plastic soldiers with a mini oven and I had the version which made plastic flowers.  Hard to believe they made toys for kids that involved mini ovens, what could possibly go wrong….

  77. 77.

    JWR

    January 26, 2022 at 6:32 am

    @Evap: Sounds like a version of Incredible Edibles. My sister had one. You’d pour goop into the little oven monster, which was like squeezing toothpaste into a mold, like a waffle iron, and you’d close the little oven monsters face, which began to heat itself until it was time to cool.

    Tasty, monsters, too!   ;)

  78. 78.

    different-church-lady

    January 26, 2022 at 6:54 am

    Want some endless amusement? Read the comments on that baseball hall of fame vote over at LGM.

  79. 79.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 26, 2022 at 6:57 am

    @JWR: Krazy Ikes were completely different–they snapped together to make toys with hinged joints. Pretty cool; I think I encountered them when I was a kid though I never had any.

  80. 80.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 26, 2022 at 6:59 am

    @HumboldtBlue: I had an Erector set but the problem I had with it was that, as a dutiful follower of rules, I insisted on using the ridiculous sheet-metal tools that came with the set, instead of real tools. That combined with the questionable tolerances on the nuts and bolts made it pretty difficult to handle.

  81. 81.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 26, 2022 at 7:02 am

    @Roger Moore: I saw a review of The Empire Strikes Back from 1980 that was bellyaching about how they stuck Lando in as affirmative action.

  82. 82.

    different-church-lady

    January 26, 2022 at 7:02 am

    @Jay: what’s all this fuss i hear about…

  83. 83.

    JR

    January 26, 2022 at 7:11 am

    My kid is super into Legos. We put that Millennium Falcon together. It was a gift, and while it costs a lot, it’s more like $200.

  84. 84.

    evodevo

    January 26, 2022 at 7:14 am

    @JWR:  Yep…had all those, along with a tin Marx western town w/ plastic cowboy figures…1950’s to ’60…

  85. 85.

    Uncle Cosmo

    January 26, 2022 at 7:15 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Just FTR, innuendo is Italian for “suppository.”

  86. 86.

    Argiope

    January 26, 2022 at 7:31 am

    @Evap: I’ll see your Shrinky Dinks and raise you an Easy Bake oven.  Those light bulbs were hot as hell. Good for melting off-brand Barbie sidekicks.

  87. 87.

    RepubAnon

    January 26, 2022 at 7:36 am

    @Roger Moore: Plus, it’s odd that the whiners want all the baddies to be exclusively white guys.

  88. 88.

    Kay

    January 26, 2022 at 7:50 am

    @JR:

    My kid is super into Legos. We put that Millennium Falcon together.

    I had one who loved them too. It was fun putting them together with him – he got better at it so much faster than I did. He’s 31 and he still buys the sets and puts them together.

  89. 89.

    sab

    January 26, 2022 at 8:19 am

    @sab: Next grandchild is getting a plush tardigrade.

    If meantime anyone wants a practice tardigrade I will try. Might not be plush. Might only be knitware.

    Will have all eight tiny feet.

  90. 90.

    Wapiti

    January 26, 2022 at 8:29 am

    @Ruckus: That’s pretty cool, doing that as a youngster.

  91. 91.

    Anne Laurie

    January 26, 2022 at 8:55 am

    @Evap: I’m having flashbacks to Shrinky Dinks…

    They’re a ‘grown up’ craft form, now!

    I remember a revival back in the late 90s, when rubber stamp artists discovered they were perfect for turning fragile paper cut-outs into (relatively) durable jewelry pieces.

    In those days, most papercrafters had cheap ‘heat guns’ that got warm enough to shrink the plastic, so we didn’t have to worry about ‘toxins’ in our home ovens.  (Unlike the polyclay beaders, who were advised to buy a separate toaster oven to avoid contaminating future dinners.)

  92. 92.

    Jerzy Russian

    January 26, 2022 at 10:54 am

     

    @JWR:   I think I had a set of those as a kid, 45+ years ago.  I built lots of houses and bridges with them.

  93. 93.

    TerryC

    January 26, 2022 at 11:55 am

    @NotMax: “Know a guy who still holds onto an original Pluto Platter, which was a gigantic floppola in the toy market until it was re-introduced under the name Frisbee.”

    Golf discs (and early other kinds of discs) are now collectibles with some selling for thousands of dollars. To be expected, given that disc golf now has millionaire professional athletes and a thousand new courses being built annually worldwide.

  94. 94.

    J R in WV

    January 26, 2022 at 12:46 pm

    @Ruckus: ​
     

    I had a little plug-in furnace to melt and cast little metal toy soldiers. Probably mostly lead and tin, like typecasting metal. Wouldn’t have been strange to my family, we all worked at the family newspaper with giant furnaces full of molten lead for the hot type printing process.

    It took the tiny furnace forever to get hot enough to cast the little soldiers. I have no idea where the tools and toy men went, probably to the town dump after I left for college. Was buried in the back of my closet for quite a while.

    Perhaps a childhood spent in a hot type printing plant awash in lead ingots, shavings, and fumes… hmmm — that could explain things!

  95. 95.

    J R in WV

    January 26, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    @NotMax: ​
     

    “Deploy the pump-up water rockets to take ’em out!”

    Those were so cool, we loved ours!! Can’t believe there was no pressure relief valve…

  96. 96.

    J R in WV

    January 26, 2022 at 1:22 pm

    @Jay:

    Lionel’s are cool, and collector’s items, even if not historically accurate and detailed.

    Dad was a serious HO Scale hobbiest.

    My Uncle Everett was great at building stuff  back before you could buy kits. He built an airplane with a gas motor, but best of all was the huge train set in their basement.

    He could have 6 or 8 trains running at once, switches, individual controls in a big bank of levers, tiny trees, farms, bridges and tunnels. This was in the late ’50s. He helped build the WV Turnpike, then moved to Ohio and worked in insurance. Died young…  Played stand up jazz bass, also too.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Winter Wren - North of Quebec City (part 2 of 3) - Cap Tourmente and on the way to Tadoussac 4
Image by Winter Wren (5/16/25)

Recent Comments

  • oklahomo on Open Thread: Oh, Really? (May 17, 2025 @ 4:07am)
  • m.j. on Totally Out of the Loop Open Thread (May 17, 2025 @ 4:01am)
  • Splitting Image on Open Thread: Oh, Really? (May 17, 2025 @ 3:55am)
  • RoseWeiss on Open Thread: Oh, Really? (May 17, 2025 @ 3:53am)
  • Jeffg166 on Open Thread: Oh, Really? (May 17, 2025 @ 3:49am)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!