Electric Trains and You

A song of the season. This word might come in handy: paraphilia.

Paraphilia is the experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals.[1][2] It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than a consenting human partner.[

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 14, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Toys, Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails, 1960s, Love & Romance

A system for climbing vertical surfaces

The French patent office granted Raymond Saulnier a patent in 1951 for "a system for climbing vertical surfaces." A British patent followed in 1952.

Saulnier had come up with a way to allow vehicles, or even people, to climb vertical surfaces without the aid of ropes. His insight was that climbing any slope is essentially a problem of adhesion. If a force stronger than gravity is pushing you against the slope, then you won't slide down. And that adhesive force could be supplied by the downward pressure of propellors or jet nozzles.



Of course, powering propellors or jet nozzles requires a lot of energy. So Saulnier imagined powering them with compressed air supplied by a tube from the ground. He suggested that firefighters, among others, might find his system useful for scaling the sides of buildings.

I've never seen a prototype of Saulnier's invention in action. But when I was in Target the other day, I noticed a Sharper Image-branded toy named the "Gravity Rover" that "climbs from floor to wall to ceiling." It occurred to me that this was Saulnier's invention transformed into a toy.

It's a pretty cool toy, but based on videos of it, extremely loud.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 26, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Technology, Toys, Patents

Tri-Ang Bolo Game

The Tri-Ang Toy company in the UK seems to have been a conventional and successful business. But then, in some fit of madness, they chose to release "Bolo--The New Game."

Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 11, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Inventions, Really Bad Ideas, Success & Failure, Toys, 1940s, United Kingdom

GI Joe Does “2001:  A Space Odyssey”

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 13, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Movies, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Toys, 1970s

Potato Fish, Potato Bug, Potato Bird

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 17, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Food, Toys, Advertising, 1970s

GI Joe Astronaut

As humanity ventures further into space, surely Hasbro could revive this toy.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 01, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Toys, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, 1960s

Maco Toys Firefly Safety Helmet

What do you think? Would this have earned envy or disdain from fellow kids? Cool or uncool?

The maker's Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 27, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Geeks, Nerds and Pointdexters, Toys, Self-protection, Defenses, and Safeguards, Twentieth Century

Weebles

Certainly one of the weirder toys that ever became popular. No distinguishing attraction other than wobbliness.



"You Jane, me Weeble!"

Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 11, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Television, Toys, Advertising, 1970s

The Littlechaps

Read an extensive history at the link, with many scary pictures.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 22, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Enlargements, Miniatures, and Other Matters of Scale, Family, Horror, Jobs and Occupations, Toys, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, 1960s

Fire Chief Speaker Hat

No longer just $3.98.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 11, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Toys, Firefighting, Arson, Wildfires, Infernos and Other Conflagrations, Fossil Fuels, Carbon Footprint, and Climate Change, 1960s