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Low Tech Toys?
hypertex asks: "Remember those cardboard tubes you used to look through and see all patterns the crystals produced? I've been looking for a kaleidoscope (for my 3-yr old) and no brick and mortar retailer seems to carry them. Even finding an knowledgeable employee was difficult. Walmart, Toys R Us, Kay Bee, Discovery and Disney stores are just a few to 'just say no' or 'it's too low tech' How can something so simple fade into obscurity? What else is gone?" What are some of the toys that have such a universal appeal that they should never be removed from the shelves? What toys surprised you when they fell into obscurity and what items have shocked you by their ability to stay on the shelves?
I bet most people who read slashdot regularly have heard of Go. But when I was in New York over the summer, none of the big huge retail stores carried a board! Grrrr.
Crackpot theory:
The reason stores don't carry kaleidescopes anymore is that they're not under patent or copyright, and so no one can overprice them. If one company started selling it, another company would sell them for less, until you approached the cost of production. If toys started selling for $1 or $2 for something fun and lasting, stores would cannibalize their own sales. (And profit percentages.)
End crackpot theory.
it's low-tech, but enjoyable!
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Not everything .. like used underwear, where am I supposed to buy used underwear? Seriously, the list of prohibited items is lengthy and at times somewhat disturbing. (I'd link to it but they javascripted their help -- look to eBay policy if interested.)
Why not make your own kaleidoscope? Get an empty toilet roll tube, tape up one end, fill it with pieces of coloured broken glass. Job done.
Make sure your kid looks down into it though rather than holding it up to the light.
I think they still sell that child-torture toy where you squeeze a dab of multicolored rubbery goo out of a toothpaste tube and put it on the end of a short red straw and are supposed to blow it up into a bubble.
Whenever I tried doing that as a kid, I would blow on that straw so hard, I'd get an earache, headache and feel dizzy from breathing in the fumes.
I never did get a bubble.
Goddamn, I still hate that friggin' toy.
Jesus saves....And takes 1/2 damage.
I typed in "erector set" in Google and naturally got dozens of hits for sexual dysfunction.
Check out Erector World. And for nostalgic toy types generally, there's Yesterday Land.
Dude, it's /usr/lib/xscreensaver/kaleidescope.
.c to draw them in.
(Perhaps your locate.db is corrupt?) I give kudos to your low tech tastes; kaleidescope doesn't even -lgl --- a real antique! They don't make toys like they used to, do they?
I'm not sure I got what you meant about a paper tube and bits of crystal, but it's all OSS so I'm sure you can hack the
- undoware.ca
Lawn darts (way before congress banned them). Now that I think of the games we played, it was probably good that those went...
Hey, I remember those. The people down the street used to have a set. There's something satisfying about the unpredictability of throwing heavy, sharp metal things into the air to see where they land -- much like throwing your standard wall darts, only better. There was this one time when my friend tossed one up and I caught it -- in my back. Mom really loved that one.
Man, those things were fun!
hat's nuts. If your three year old can't close just one eye, it's probably because no one has shown them how. If you make a game of it I'll bet they'll have it down in a week.
In other news, I managed to keep my kids busy for quite some time by betting them that they couldn't lick their elbow.