I recently threw away one of my son's toys -- and let me tell you: he was none too thrilled. It was a set of colored plastic triangles that connected to each other magnetically. It also came with six shiny metal balls, about twice the size of a pea, which my son saw fit to put into his mouth and let them crash against his teeth. I trashed it because my cooking is enough of a choking hazard and I frankly don't need the competition. ("I know it looks like white Jello, honey, but trust me: it's chicken.")
The modern class of dangerous toys pales in comparison to the stuff we had when I was little. Choking hazards were a dime a dozen back then, but what really got kids of the 70s excited were the toys that shot stuff and hurt people. In particular, I remember having a bitchin' Battlestar Galactica space ship that fired red plastic missiles out of its wings. My sister might still have welts from when I fired those missiles at her.
Radar Magazine has published a list of the 10 Most Dangerous Toys Of All-Time, and I think I had about half of them. Shockingly, the list does not include M-80s. These were quarter-sticks of dynamite that my friend Mark got from his dad, who was a cop. We used to light them and drop them into the manhole covers in the street outside my house.
Mark is in prison now.
