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Remember the days when playtime meant flirting with danger? Growing up in the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s, many of us had dangerous vintage toys that would raise every helicopter parent’s eyebrows today. These were the retro toys that gave us thrills (and sometimes bruises), and looking back, it’s clear they’re toys that would be banned today under modern safety standards. From toys from the 80s that sent kids to the ER, to 90s gadgets that had recall hotlines buzzing, we’ve compiled a nostalgic list of the culprits. Strap in for a trip down memory lane as we count down 15 insanely dangerous toys every kid had – and somehow survived!
Jarts (Lawn Darts) how old you think these are and are they worth anything. Found in a house I bought!
byu/cwalk3r_ innostalgia
1. Lawn Darts (Jarts) – The Backyard Missiles
Vintage “Javelin Darts” (Lawn Darts) set from the 1970s. These weighted darts were pitched as family fun, but they turned many backyards into minefields.
Lawn Darts – also known as Jarts – were essentially weighted spikes you’d fling across the yard toward a plastic ring target. Sound safe? Not at all. Each dart had a heavy metal tip that could embed itself in the ground… or an unlucky playmate’s skull. In the 1970s and 80s, thousands of kids ended up in emergency rooms thanks to these projectiles. Tragically, there were even a few fatalities before regulators stepped in. The U.S. finally banned Lawn Darts in 1988 after roughly 6,000 injuries and at least three deaths were linked to the toy. If you grew up back then, you might recall a parent or neighbor hastily “misplacing” your Jarts set. Today, Lawn Darts are the poster child for toys that would be banned today – because they actually are banned! But for 70s kids, they were just good old-fashioned dangerous fun in the backyard.
Remember 70’s Clackers?
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2. Clackers (Klackers) – Shattering Glass on a String
If you remember a loud “clack-clack-clack” sound at the school playground, you witnessed the Clackers craze. Clackers (a.k.a. Klackers, Ker-Bangers, or Knockers) were two heavy acrylic balls attached by a string that you swung vigorously so they’d smash together above and below your hand. The goal was to get a rapid rhythm going, but the realthrill was the risk involved. Those hard balls could swing out of control and whack you (or a bystander) upside the head if you slipped up. Even worse, early versions had a nasty habit of shattering upon impact, sending sharp plastic shrapnel flying like tiny glass grenades. It didn’t take long for reports of facial injuries and eye injuries to surface. The CPSC yanked Clackers off the market in the ’70s once kids started showing up with cuts and embedded shards. In true retro fashion, many of us kept playing with them until they literally fell apart – we wore our battle scars with pride! Today, safer versions exist, but the original Clackers remain a legendary retro toy hazard.
Super Elastic Bubble Plastic!
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3. Super Elastic Bubble Plastic – Huffing Hazard in a Tube
This one seemed so innocent: a tube of rainbow goo and a little yellow straw, sold under the enticing name “Super Elastic Bubble Plastic.” Kids could squeeze out a dollop of this smelly, sticky plastic and blow into the straw to create huge, rubbery bubbles. The nostalgia factor is high – who could forget that strong chemical solvent smell? (If you’re getting a whiff in your memory right now, you’re not alone!) As fun as it was to make your own balloons, it was basically a chemistry set for huffing. The plastic goop was made of polyvinyl acetate dissolved in acetone with other solvents, meaning it released noxious fumes that could make you dizzy or sick. In fact, inhaling through the straw while inflating a bubble could concentrate the fumes and was downright dangerous. Parents were warned to keep it away from kids under 5 due to poisoning and flammability risks. Eventually, Wham-O quietly discontinued this toy once the hazards became clear. It even got banned in Canada decades later for its toxic contents. Sure, we loved Super Elastic Bubble Plastic as 80s kids – but let’s face it, we were basically blowing benzene balloons and calling it fun!
4. Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker – Cooking Plastic with a 350°F Hot Plate
The Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker was a dream come true for budding mad scientists – a kit where kids could bake their own rubbery insects. You’d pour psychedelic plastic goop (Plasti-Goop) into metal molds of spiders, worms, and bugs, then stick it in an electric hot plate oven. Minutes later: voila, DIY toys! The catch? That metal mold heated up to about 350°F (175°C), and it was blazing hot when you pulled it out. Countless children (and their parents) learned the hard way that touching the Thingmaker could brand you with a painful burn. In the 60s and 70s, first-degree burns from Creepy Crawlers were almost a childhood rite of passage – “no pain, no gain” in its most literal sense. The toxic fumes from melting the liquid plastic were another red flag we all ignored (who could forget that burning chemical smell filling the kitchen?). Surprisingly, the Thingmaker wasn’t recalled in its prime; it sold throughout the late 60s and early 70s, teaching kids important lessons like “hot things burn, so be careful!” Eventually, by the late 70s, safety concerns and changing times led to its demise. (It was later rebooted in the 90s with safer plastics and locked ovens – not nearly as thrilling!). Still, those of us who grew up making Creepy Crawlers wear our minor burn scars proudly – a badge of dangerous toy honor.
5. BB Guns – “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!”
Every Gen X or Boomer kid seemed to either have a BB gun or know a friend who did. Whether it was the classic Daisy Red Ryder air rifle or a pump-action pellet gun, these were marketed as “toys” but were really just low-caliber guns. Parents and the movie A Christmas Story warned “You’ll shoot your eye out!” – and that wasn’t hyperbole. BB guns caused tons of eye injuries and even the occasional fatal accident. In fact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has long reported around 4 deaths per year caused by BB or pellet guns. These non-powder guns can fire BBs at high velocities (350+ fps), easily enough to puncture skin or an eyeball. Kids in the 70s and 80s often treated BB guns like squirt guns, engaging in unsupervised “wars” in the woods – a disaster waiting to happen. Many a backyard battle ended with someone nursing a nasty welt or a chipped tooth. BB guns are still sold today (usually labeled “for ages 16+” and definitely not as casual toys), but modern parents are a lot more aware of the danger. Back then, though? We just put on a flimsy pair of safety goggles (maybe) and pretended to be sharpshooters, blissfully ignorant of how close we came to literally shooting our eyes out.
6. Slip ’N Slide – Summer Fun with a Side of Paralysis
On a hot summer day, nothing looked more enticing than a Slip ’N Slide unfurled on the lawn. Just add a hose and a running start, and you could belly-flop and zoom down a long strip of slick plastic into bliss. For little kids, it was mostly harmless fun (aside from grass burns and the occasional face-plant). But for taller, heavier teens and adults, the experience was more “Slip ’N Spine.” The problem was that older kids would build up too much momentum and come to a jarring stop at the slide’s end, leading to neck injuries and even paralysis. In the 80s and 90s, there were numerous reports of spinal cord injuries when grown teenagers (or daredevil dads) took a turn on the Slip ’N Slide. By 1999, the CPSC had to step in and recall 9 million Slip ’N Slides after at least seven adults and one teenager suffered permanent neck damage or paralysis. The package didwarn that it was for children only, but who read the fine print? We 80s kids certainly didn’t. We’d set these up at barbecues and run full-speed, trying to outdo each other with the longest slide – completely oblivious to the danger. Today, you can still buy Slip ’N Slides, but they come plastered with warnings, and smart parents enforce a strict “no adults allowed” rule. Back in our day, though, it was “you’re not really hurt until you can’t stand up” – a very retro attitude that earned Slip ’N Slide a place in dangerous toy history.
7. Pogo Ball – Bounce at Your Own Risk
The Pogo Ball was an 80s fad that promised kids they could “bounce around like astronauts.” In reality, it was a rubber ball with a plastic platform around the middle – you’d stand on the platform, squeeze the ball between your feet, and jump up and down. Think of it as a weird fusion of a pogo stick and a balance board. If you were skilled, you could hop around for minutes. If not? WHAM! – the thing would shoot out from under your feet and send you crashing to the pavement. The lack of control was what made it exciting and treacherous. Ankle injuries were extremely common; many kids ended up with sprains or even fractures after a hardcore Pogo Ball session (some 80s kids ruefully recall scraped knees, busted elbows, and even a chipped tooth or two). Unlike some toys on this list, the Pogo Ball wasn’t inherently deadly – it didn’t have sharp points or toxic parts – but it was dangerously difficult to master. The marketing showed kids effortlessly bouncing like kangaroos, but real life often showed kids wiping out after two or three hops. If you were lucky, you landed on grass. If you weren’t, you got intimate with the sidewalk. Despite the danger (or because of it), we loved our Pogo Balls. The challenge of trying to beat your high bounce count was irresistible. Helmets and pads? Not in the 80s! We embraced the bumps and bruises as the cost of having fun with this ridiculously unsafe “exercise” toy.
8. Slap Bracelets – The Accessory with a Bite
Who knew that a simple fashion accessory could be so hazardous? Slap bracelets were all the rage around 1990 – those neon fabric-covered steel bands that you’d straighten out, then slap against your wrist to curl them into a bracelet. Every cool kid had a collection, and trading slap bracelets at school was practically an economy of its own. But as the fad spread, so did reports of kids getting gashed wrists. The cheap knock-off versions of slap bracelets often used a thin strip of metal that would wear through the fabric covering and expose razor-sharp edges. One over-enthusiastic slap, and that sharp metal could slice your skin. In late 1990, school principals started banning slap bracelets after multiple students suffered cuts that needed stitches. The New York Times even ran a piece about the injuries, and two schools in New York outlawed them entirely. For a while, a full-on moral panic over slap bracelets took hold – suddenly a harmless bit of 90s fashion was “a dangerous weapon.” In reality, most of us just got a mild red mark at worst, but a few unlucky kids did get slashed. If you peeled the fabric off, you discovered the bracelet was literally a piece of metal tape measure – go figure! Today, slap bracelets still exist (usually made with safer materials and better coverings), but they’re more nostalgic novelties. Back then, though, wearing one carried a tiny thrill: it was edgy fashion – literally.
9. Cabbage Patch Snacktime Doll – The Hair-Chomping Doll
In the mid-90s, Cabbage Patch Kids tried to make a comeback with a doll that could really “eat.” The Snacktime Cabbage Patch Kid came with plastic carrots, French fries, and other fake snacks that you could feed into its mouth. Inside, battery-powered rollers would pull the food in, which would then drop into the doll’s backpack. Sounds cute, right? What could go wrong? Well… the doll didn’t have an off switch and its mechanical jaws didn’t discriminate between a plastic carrot and a child’s finger or hair. Kids across the country learned this when Snacktime dolls started “biting” them – little fingers got pinched and, more terrifyingly, long hair got chewed up into the doll’s head, entangling tightly. There were dozens of reports of kids’ hair getting caught; one 7-year-old girl had her hair so entangled that firefighters had to free her from the doll. Panicked parents dubbed them “cannibal dolls” in news interviews. By early 1997, facing mounting bad press, Mattel offered a $40 refund to everyone who bought a Snacktime Kid and pulled the remaining dolls from stores. About half a million of these dolls had sold that holiday season, so that was a lot of refunds! To be fair, the doll wasn’t truly vicious – its mouth wasn’t strong enough to break bones, just enough to painfully tug hair. But for kids, the trauma of having your beloved doll turn into Chucky and latch onto your ponytail was nightmare fuel. Today this doll is a sought-after collector’s item for 90s toy enthusiasts – safely kept behind glass where it can’t eat anyone’s hair.
10. Sky Dancers – Flying Fairies with a Vengeance
In the late 90s, Sky Dancers were the toy every kid begged for after seeing them on TV. These were colorful fairy dolls with foam wings that you launched from a base by pulling a ripcord. The doll would twirl into the air like a helicopter… and then chaotically careen in random directions at high speed. The commercials showed them gracefully soaring, but reality was more like, “duck and cover!” Once launched, a Sky Dancer might just as likely zoom into a sibling’s face as gently land on the coffee table. Over a few years, the injuries piled up: broken teeth, scratched corneas, temporary blindness, facial lacerations, even a broken rib – all caused by rogue Sky Dancers. There were at least 150 reported injuries from these flying dolls. By 2000, the manufacturer (Galoob, which had been bought by Hasbro) finally issued a massive recall of 8.9 million Sky Dancers. It turned out these “harmless” fairy toys were waymore dangerous than they appeared. The story made national news – reporters gleefully showed footage of the dolls knocking down targets to illustrate the hazard. If you had one as a kid, you probably remember launching it a few times and then realizing it was basically a homing missile. (There was even a boys’ version called Dragon Flyz – equally dangerous, just shaped like little action figures.) Sky Dancers perfectly capture the 90s toy ethos: if it was fun, a bit absurd, and mildly injurious, it had to be in our toy box.
11. Mini Hammocks – Death Traps for Daydreamers
What could be dangerous about a mini-hammock? It’s just a comfy mesh hammock for one, perfect for lazy afternoons… until you try to get out. In the 90s, mini hammocks without spreader bars (the wooden bars that keep a hammock’s net open) became popular. They were cheap and portable – and astonishingly deadly. The loose netting could twist and entangle a child’s neck as they climbed in or out, essentially becoming a noose. Horrifically, between 1984 and 1995, this simple toy caused 12 children to strangle to death in the U.S.. The children would get tangled in the mesh and be unable to free themselves. After these tragedies, the CPSC in 1996 ordered a recall of 3 million mini hammocks from various brands. Those of us who owned one remember how easy it was to flip over or get wrapped up if you didn’t position yourself just right. Often, one end would collapse and dump us on the ground (cue laughs), but the real danger was if your head got snagged. It’s a chilling example of a seemingly peaceful toy turning lethal. The recall led to new design standards – modern hammocks for kids now include spreader bars or breakaway sections to prevent entanglement. Back in the day, though, a mini hammock was an inviting backyard hangout spot that, unbeknownst to us, had a serious dark side.
12. Moon Shoes – Trampolines for Your Feet (and Broken Ankles)
Moon Shoes were like strapping mini-trampolines to your feet, promising “anti-gravity” bounces for kids. The 90s Nickelodeon version had plastic foot platforms and heavy-duty rubber bands that let you jump and feel a bit like Neil Armstrong on the moon. In theory, it was great exercise and coordination practice. In practice, it was more like, “how quickly can I twist my ankle?” The awkward design made it easy to land wrong. Kids would eagerly start hopping, only to have their Moon Shoe slip sideways mid-jump, sending them tumbling. There were countless complaints of sprained or fractured ankles and injured legs from Moon Shoes misuse. In fact, the injuries got so common that the original Nickelodeon Moon Shoes were apparently banned (though never formally recalled) due to all the customer reports of broken bones. Essentially, they were deemed too dangerous to continue selling in some markets, and they quietly disappeared from stores. Of course, that didn’t stop determined kids (and some adults) from buying them online or secondhand. If you had Moon Shoes, you quickly learned to bounce carefully – maybe on grass, and maybe while holding someone’s hand for balance. The marketing made it look like you’d bounce a foot high; the reality was more of a clumsy shuffle jump. But hey, it was still pretty fun until someone got hurt. Moon Shoes taught us a valuable lesson: sometimes being “anti-gravity” comes with a crash landing.
13. Power Wheels Cars – Battery-Powered Fire Hazards
Having a Power Wheels ride-on car in the 90s was the ultimate status symbol for kids. These electric mini vehicles (little Jeeps, motorcycles, Barbie convertibles, etc.) let young children drive around the driveway at a thrilling 5 mph. What the commercials didn’t mention was that early 90s models had a tendency to overheat and even burst into flames. Yes, you read that right – some Power Wheels cars literally caught fire with kids in them. The issue was faulty wiring and batteries. By 1998, the CPSC had logged 700+ reports of overheating incidents, with around 150 fires and even a few children suffering burns from their Power Wheels. That led to one of the largest recalls of the decade, as Fisher-Price (the maker of Power Wheels) had to repair millions of units. Even when they weren’t igniting, these ride-ons had other safety issues: weak brakes (some would roll downhill unexpectedly) and flimsy plastic parts that could snap. Many parents of the era remember the news stories and deciding maybe the old-fashioned pedal car was safer after all. Still, if you managed to have a Power Wheels that didn’t catch fire, you probably have fond memories of cruising around pretending to be a “big kid.” There’s no denying the cool factor – just the burn factor. Today’s models are much improved, but the 90s taught us that sometimes even a slow kid’s car can be a hot ride in all the wrong ways.
14. Rollerblade Barbie – Doll or Incendiary Device?
Barbie has had many careers, and in 1991 she briefly moonlit as a pyrotechnician. The Rollerblade Barbie came with a set of roller skates that had a striking mechanism – when you rolled them on a hard surface, they would shoot out real sparks! The idea was to look “cool” like inline skates throwing off flashes. In reality, Barbie’s skates were basically a pocket-sized cigarette lighter strapped to her feet. Kids would roll Barbie across the floor and be delighted by the shower of sparks. But those sparks could easily ignite something flammable – and they did. Carpet, dried leaves, even a girl’s dress reportedly caught a spark. It didn’t help that kids tried rolling her extra fast to get a bigger light show. Concerns grew that Rollerblade Barbie could start a house fire. The sparks were created by flint in the skates, just like a lighter, so it wasn’t an exaggeration. After enough warnings (and presumably some minor fires), Mattel quietly pulled the product. By then, however, plenty of these dolls were already in circulation. If you had one, you essentially owned a doll that could double as a sparkler. The cultural significance? It’s a prime example of how even the girliest toy in the aisle wasn’t immune to the extreme toy trends of the early 90s. Rollerblade Barbie is remembered less for being a Barbie and more for being “that doll that literally lit things on fire”. Talk about playing with fire – we did, and it was named Barbie.
Summer Vacation in the mid 1990s – Trampoline and a sprinkler
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15. Backyard Trampolines – High-Flying Fractures
Last but not least, let’s talk about the OG culprit of countless childhood injuries: the backyard trampoline. These started becoming common in the 80s and absolutely boomed in the 90s. We’re not talking about the padded, net-enclosed trampolines of today – no, 80s/90s trampolines were often just a bare black bounce mat on exposed springs with maybe a thin cover (if that). We would launch ourselves sky-high, attempt flips without supervision, and play “crack the egg” (one kid curls up, others bounce them violently) – pure chaos. The result? Broken bones, concussions, sprained necks, and countless bruises. It was so bad that by the 90s, statistics showed around 90,000 trampoline-related injuries per year sending people to the hospital. Homeowners’ insurance started classifying trampolines as an attractive nuisance – some policies wouldn’t even cover homes that had one because they were considered that dangerous. The American Academy of Pediatrics eventually advised against recreational trampolines altogether. Of course, that didn’t stop us kids. If you or a neighbor had a trampoline, it was party central. Sure, a friend might leave with a cast on their arm, but we figured that was the price of aerial fun. Many 90s trampolines also had the notorious tendency of launching smaller kids off the side if multiple people were bouncing (double-bounce someone just right and they’d go flying off like a missile). It’s no wonder safety nets became standard in later years. Our takeaway from trampoline-filled childhoods? We truly were built different, and maybe a little bit crazy, to survive those high-flying afternoons.
Have we learned anything?
They just don’t make ’em like they used to – and in many cases, that’s a good thing! From toys from the 80s that could set your house ablaze to retro toys that sent kids to the ER in droves, these 15 playthings highlight how lax safety standards once were. Yet, despite the bumps, burns, and bruises, we can’t help but feel nostalgic. After all, surviving these dangerous vintage toys is a shared badge of honor for those of us who grew up in freer (and riskier) times. Today, toy aisles are filled with safe, soft, and thoroughly tested products – fun in their own way, but perhaps missing that tiny spark of danger that made our childhood toys so thrilling. Looking back, we laugh and shudder in equal measure. These were truly toys that would be banned today, but they gave us memories (and maybe a scar or two) that we wouldn’t trade for anything. Here’s to the era when playtime was an extreme sport, and every toy unboxing was an adventure in survival!
What horrifying plaything did we forget? Let us now in the comments!
