Play at Your Own Risk: These Once Popular Toys Were Not the Safest

Toys are supposed to be child’s play, but not all of them are as safe as they look. Over the years, we’ve had a handful of scary toys with life-threatening features. 

What could be cooler than solving a crime like a real-life detective? For many kids, the CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit and the CSI: Investigation Forensics Lab Kit were a dream come true. However, these kits were a curse in disguise as they had several harmful chemicals.

Aqua Dots, also known as Bindeez, was a popular craft toy that allowed children to create designs using small, colorful beads. These cool beads were fun because they stuck together permanently when you added water.

Since atomic energy was a trendy topic in the 50s, the inventor of this toy wanted to keep up with the times. In his excitement, he created the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab for aspiring young scientists. 

The Snacktime Cabbage Patch Doll was another toy fad because it could eat snacks. This doll looked like a cute and harmless toy, yet it was a nightmare waiting to happen.

Trampolines are a backyard staple for many families; however, they’re also one of the most dangerous toys out there. While bouncing is a lot of fun, it can also cause severe injuries, including broken bones.

If you were a child of the 90s, chances are you begged your parents for a Rollerblade Barbie, the ultimate combination of fashion and extreme sports. Sure, it looked harmless, but it was a recipe for disaster. 

The name alone brings a thousand questions to mind. The Creepy Crawlers Oven allowed kids to create their own rubber insects, but it was so dangerous we wonder why kids were even allowed near it. 

The Austin Magic Pistol might be one of the riskiest toys of all time, firing ping pong balls with highly flammable “magic crystals” that caused small explosions. Even though it was dangerous, it was a popular gift for kids – before it was banned, of course. 

The Gilbert Glass Blowing Set, a cherished relic from our parents’ and grandparents’ childhood, was the ultimate DIY kit for young scientists and artists alike. As we look back on it now, we flinch at the thought of this once-popular toy. 

Sounds extraordinary, doesn’t it? Sky Dancers, the airborne ballerinas that enchanted children in the ’90s, were toys that seemed innocent enough at first glance but proved to be pretty high-risk.

The Slide and Glide Toy is a popular water toy that has been around for decades. It’s known for its simple design – just a long plastic sheet with water running down it and endless summer fun. 

Risky Metal Toys were once a staple in parks and schools, but they came with their fair share of risks. These play structures were notorious for causing burns, Tetanus, split lips, and even concussions. 

Gilbert’s Kaster Kits were a popular toy set in the 1930s that allowed children to cast their toy soldiers out of molten lead. As fun as that may sound, these kits were potentially lethal. 

The Belt Buckle Pistol was a small plastic gun launched in 1959 that fired a brass bullet up to 15 feet in a random direction. 

Model Dockyard was a toy locomotive made in the mid-1800s when child safety standards weren’t a thing. This toy was a miniature train that moved, powered by a steam engine fueled by kerosene or alcohol. 

The mini hammock, which gained popularity in the early 90s, turned out to be an unsafe toy, especially the “Hang Ten” model from EZ Sales. Children would get entangled in it, leading to severe head and brain injuries. It was difficult, if not impossible, for them to escape. 

The moon shoes were all the rage in the 90s and were called trampolines for the feet. Although they may have looked cool, they did pose a significant danger to children wearing them. 

Imagine a child playing with a toy airplane, and suddenly it goes up in flames! Terrifying, isn’t it? That’s precisely what happened with the Sky Rangers toys back in 2007.   

The Bird of Paradise slingshot wasn’t just any ordinary toy – it was so dangerous that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) wanted it banned. 

Magnetix was a toy set that allowed children to build structures from magnetic balls and plastic pieces with magnets. A recall began after children who were too young to play with them swallowed the magnets, choked, or had surgery to remove the balls from their stomachs. 

Back in the 1960s, miniature versions of adult metal power tools were released, stirring mixed feelings. While it was dangerous to give children access to such tools, dexterous kids could use them to build useful items, such as decks.

Children could have hours of fun with Super Blast Balls! When you smash these two balls together in your hands, you create a spark, it’s like holding a real toy gun cap in your hand except it’s safer. 

Toys R Us once recalled a writing set designed for children in 1988 because it had a small razor blade. We don’t need to tell you that’s extremely dangerous.  

Aqua-Leisure was well aware of the hazards of its baby boat toys. The toy was launched in 2002, and although no infants perished while playing with the boats, there were still high risks of babies getting hurt. 

In the 50s, lawn darts, javelin darts, or J Darts were popular toys —- possibly because there was no safety testing yet. These darts, which were sharp and weighted, were pretty much weapons, and tragically, a little girl was killed by one in 1987. 

Hasbro, the creator of the famous Easy-Bake Oven, was forced to recall this particular toy not once but twice, and with good reason. What was meant to allow little girls to fulfill their baking desires turned sour when there were many cases of singed fingertips and also the amputation of a fraction of a girl’s finger.

Brought to you by Hasbro, the Black Panther Wakanda Battle Claws was one of the most anticipated toys, especially after the movie gained so much popularity worldwide. While the Black Panther is an awesome superhero, these battle claws are what we can describe as another ill-conceived toy from Hasbro.

Don’t be fooled by the innocent facade of Clackers. It was a toy from the ’70s and was all the rage for years until its dangerous side was revealed.

Projectile launchers have always been dangerous toys, especially when it comes to those ones that involve sharp pointy toothpicks or spear-like parts. Although toothpick crossbows may seem small and harmless, those things can pierce a tin can placed over 60 feet away. 

Water beads are glistening and perfectly round orbs that have become very versatile in many homes. However, while children might find it fun to watch them swell as they absorb water, they can be dangerous.