Remember when you were a kid and you were so excited to find a new Furby or Barbie Princess under your Christmas tree? Unfortunately in the 20th century, some toys were all fun and games until someone lost an eye...literally. Your parents may have bought you one or two of these toys without realizing just how dangerous they are, but surely they didn’t last long in your household.
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Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kid Dolls
The makers of this doll certainly thought snack-eating dolls would be a big hit, but they didn’t think that small children’s hair and fingers may get caught in the vicious doll’s mouths along with the plastic “food.” They didn’t even have an off switch! -
Moon Shoes
Lashing miniature trampolines to clumsy children’s feet would still be fun for them and would save you from having to buy a full-scale trampoline! The countless faceplants and broken ankles might be a bummer, though. -
Creepy Crawlers
Kids, especially boys, love playing with bugs, so why not provide them with plastic granules they can bake into fake bugs? Kids baking anything is going to be a bad idea since their fine motor skills aren’t quite up to par yet. Plus, why not just buy some plastic bugs to begin with? -
Slip ‘N Slide
Homemade versions of these are still pretty popular today, but allowing children to play on them is a recipe for disaster. Don’t we usually try to make things as un-slippery as possible for kids instead of making a toy out of it? -
Skip-It
The idea is great: give kids something fun to do that also provides exercise. But maybe skip toys that have heavy weights on the end that will inevitably smack into their fragile ankles. -
Pogo Balls
Not pogo sticks. Pogo balls. Where you literally try to balance yourself on a ball and jump around. These actually caught on for a while before the casualty list started growing exponentially. -
Sky Dancers
Broken vases, poked eyes, the hit list goes on and on for these little devils. Even if kids only played outside with these toys, there was still a pretty good chance of getting swatted in the face by the wings. -
Slap Bracelets
These little bracelets were addicting for some unknown reason, and if the covering never came off, you weren’t likely to become seriously injured. Yet, if the metal underneath was exposed, you could end up with some serious gashes. -
Socker Boppers
Teaching children violence from a young age with oversized punching gloves. Their slogan was “More Fun than a Pillow Fight,” but at least pillows were soft. And free. -
CSI Fingerprint Examination Kits
Science kits can be great learning tools, but this one sucks for one huge reason: asbestos. These contained up to 7% asbestos in the fingerprinting powder, and just one exposure to this toxic substance can lead to lung cancer years down the road.
