Deadly toys

Elsewhere

Whatever happened to to good-ol-days when you had to pay attention to where you threw your lawn darts so that you wouldn't kill anyone?

When I was in first grade my family had a set of lawn darts... not the plastic kind... the kind with the heavy steel spike prodruding from the tip. I loved to go outside and play with them. Yes, I would try to land them in the round targets like they were ment to be used... but I also liked to put sheets of plywood on the ground and throw the dart as high in the air as I could so that the dart would stick through the wood.

I even managed to talk my sister into playing a... err... "game". She was supposed to stand still while I tossed the darts high in the air trying to land them as close to her without actually hitting her. She only played that once and suddenly got "scared".

Not to worry... later I got her to play another game where we raced our bikes. The finish line consisted of a rope that was ment to go under the front tire as it was passed... unfortunatly my sister did it wrong and ended up flat on her back with a rope mark across her neck. She didn't want to play that game anymore either. Hell, the rope thing worked for me! It always went under my tire... never over.

Lets see... then there were the little "propeller guns". They had little plastic propellers (about 3 inches across) that were attached to the front of the gun and when you pulled the trigger the propeller would spin around quickly and fly forward... chopping up everything in its path.

Ahhh yes... then the BB Guns! After a bit of experimentation I discovered that I could have a "sure shot" by forgoing the ineffecent BB's for Kitty Litter! I just pumped up the gun, pored a bit of kitty litter down the barrel and next thing I knew I had my little brother "treed". Victory at last!

I can't go without mentioning my "tree house". It had a unique "design feature" in it. Anytime an invading force managed to enter, all I had to do was jump up and down causing the entire structure to wobble around. This always caused the cowardly evil forces to drop to the floor and hold on tight until they managed to crawl back out. Wimps.

These days everything is "safety tested" by the government and all sorts of organizations. Hell, even the toy guns have the barrels colored red so that the cops won't shoot you anymore. I just don't see how any seven-year-old could possibly have any fun playing with a toy gun that can't be mistaken for the real thing.

What about you? What deadly toys did you play with when growing up?

Dustin

Me and my brother used to play with cans of Raid bug killer. That was our favorite toy. My mom used to always have a garden so there was lots of hornets around. It was fun to kill them!!! We also had alot of spiders around. Ever cook one in the microwave? Good times. My brother was the deadly weapon though. He's 5 years older than me, bigger and stronger. We used to play football together, and if I didn't have a breakaway touchdown I was dead. He would hit me as hard as he could, and then beg me not to tell my mom. He always used the "If you don't tell I'll be your best friend" line. Stupid brother!!!(just kiddin)

Dustin

VM44

Ahhh yes... then the BB Guns!

You'll shoot your eye out!

--VM44 (who has viewed a certain movie too many times!)

heart2heart

You'll shoot your eye out!
--VM44 (who has viewed a certain movie too many times!)

lol I was thinking the same thing! Has anyone else seen that movie (A Christmas Story)? If you haven't , you should, it's hilarious!

Heart2Heart

heart2heart

hehehe... this one is for Kwin...

He told me that whenever he got new running shoes he would test them out to see how fast they were... by racing cars!

Oh, I'm going to be in trouble for telling that one.... oh well!

lol

Heart2Heart

pennycandy

Ah, yes. I remember those days. You always had to enter Elsewhere's house with trepidation and a healthy respect for preteen boys. I don't quite remember, did you have anything to do with your older sister's broken leg?

Billygoat

I remember riding my bike with a helmet! *gasp* And skateboarding without knee and elbow pads. *gasp*

I remember being older and "surfing" on my friends pickup truck. That really was stupid and dangerous, but when you're 14 nothing seems to scare you.

el jarocho mayor

playing with the mercury from thermometers was always a personal favorite

pennycandy

My dad always had piles of lumber, usually with rusty nails sticking out of them, ladders, wobbly saw horses, all sorts of neat things to make the most wonderful obstacle courses out of. We would then invite the neighborhood kids over to see who could make it through the entire course without injury. Good times.

undercover

I'm showing my age here, but when I was about 4-5 years old the city I lived in had big city trucks drive slowly through the city streets blowing some kind of fog/smoke to kill mosquitos. This stuff was loaded with DDT. The smoke trailed behind the trucks like the smokescreen from James Bond's car.

I remember when the big trucks came by once every few weeks, all of us neighborhood kids would come out and run behind the truck in the smoke for fun. We'd follow that truck all the way to the end of the street.

This stuff was full of chemicals for killing bugs. Surely it had to have some ill effect on people who breathed it directly. Also at the age of 4 or 5 I'm running around in the street. In a fog no less, where drivers of other vehicles would never see small children.

What the hell were our parents thinking letting us do that?

(I know, I know...that may be what's wrong with me today )

Deadly toys

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