Most Dangerous Toys and Products Ever Made
these days most toys are meticulously designed to be as safe as possible for kids to play with but this hasn't always been the case from toys so dangerous they had to be banned to some that make you wonder if their creators just hated children it's time to take a look at some of the most dangerous toys and popular products ever [Music] made easy break oven I always loved cooking with my parents when I was young but when you didn't want parents interference with your culinary Creations the Easy Bake Oven was the best way around first released in 1963 it allowed kids to cook food all by themselves however before 2011 the ovens included 100 watt light bulbs which is what cooked the food for comparison most standard light bulbs at home are less bright and still incredibly hot to the touch at 60 watts but in the 2006 Hasbro toy kids could also get their hands trapped and fingers stuck in the door the heat from the light bulbs could then cause injuries as severe as second and third degree burns over 240 reports of injury were recorded before the model was recalled in 2007 after one poor 5-year-old even needed their finger partially amputated after a severe burn even though it can reach temperatures of a standard oven at 375° F these newer versions now include a heating chamber this chamber is used to direct and control the flow of gas and liquid letting the hot air cool before exiting the top through ventilation they also ensured that the internal chamber can't be easily accessed by children thank God which just begs the question how did an oven ever become a toy Flubber fiasco if you're a film fan and science nerd or just a '90s kid you've probably seen the 1997 movie flubber with Robin Williams this was the story of a scientist's gooey invention suddenly coming to life well the movie itself was a remake of the absent-minded Professor released in 1961 to plug the hype of the sequel Son of Flubber in 1963 Hasbro decided to create their own real Flubber toy that's right Flubber was actually real well it didn't exactly come alive it was made from butadon a synthetic rubber mineral oil and green dye but the result was a fun squishy toy which could bounce stretch and imprint and it sold millions of units soon however reports of reactions to Flubber arose in the United States taking the form of sore throats skin irritation and whole body rashes a poll later revealed that 35% of the kids who own the toy developed a rash at first Hasbro outright denied that flber was making people ill but after 1,600 reports of rashes and dermatitis were received then came the lawsuits with one woman claiming that the Flubber induced rash was so bad she had to rush her 3-year-old and herself to the hospital they then quickly recalled it in May 1963 and with that Flubber officially became a flop dangerous dolls today Trends come and go so quickly I can barely keep up whatever's viral on Tik Tok at the moment will have everyone captivated but back in 1983 there was no Toy Craze bigger than Cabbage Patch Kids these incredibly ugly dolls were the target of international adoration for some reason in 1994 toy company Mattel took over their Manufacturing and in 1996 their snacktime Cabbage Patch Kid was released this doll was designed to eat the plastic food that you gave it through metal rollers in its mouth the food would then end up in a backpack on the doll's back however it didn't differentiate between plastic chips and human fingers thankfully no serious injuries were reported but at least 35 incidents occurred where children's hair and fingers were caught in its mouth by 1997 Mattel had sold approximately 500,000 units all of which they had to recall yep take it back take it all the way back to hell where it belongs but before you go all the way down to hell why not stop off at those Li and subscribe buttons I promise they're safe to hit and contain no harmful chemicals or hazards that I know of done all right let's keep going fear of flying with the invention of Barbie in 1959 Girls Dolls became some of the most popular toys ever made they were soon manufactured in different sizes costumes and occasionally came with their own houses so of course the Natural Evolution of the doll was to make them fly Sky Dancer dolls were launched quite literally in 1994 their launchers were attached to a cord which would spin so fast the doll would shoot through the air when you let go but it was difficult to predict where it would fly and land this video of a doll flying into a fireplace never fails to crack me up but what could be worse well instead of flying into a fire what if it flew into your eyes despite the fact their wings were made of foam they rotated at high speeds causing them to be painfully hard on impact some reports claim that the dolls produced scratched corneas broken teeth temporary blindness and even broken ribs after 100 injuries were reported 9 million Sky Dancers were recalled in June 2000 well better than being accidentally hit in the face I guess serious swinging was there ever a toy you wanted so desperately but your parents never got it for you well this toy should never have been a consideration let alone a choice as a competition to the hula hoop which captivated kids in the 1950s toy company transogram created the swing wi in 1965 this consisted of a cap and three long tendrils that flew around your head when you swung your neck transogram believed it would be the biggest toy sensation since the hula hoop but boy were they [Music] wrong God the commercial alone is enough to make my head spin not to mention they all look a little crazy waving their heads about I mean this kid is Swing wiing upside down now this toy was rumored to have caused serious injuries ranging from concussions to neck and head damage and that it was recalled from the market however I've done some digging and I can't find any reports of these injuries unlike many of the other toys we've covered and the swing wi itself was never pulled from Market in relation to this it's likely transogram quietly discontinued them when they didn't prove as popular as they'd hoped so that's hula hoops one urban legend concussion hat zero clacker catastrophe when kids get bored these days they reach for their phone but kids of the' 60s and70s reached for their clackers these consisted of two balls on a string which children would whip around and bang together to make loud clacking sounds hence the name now this is the entertainment however the glass tempered versions could shatter explosively if banged together too hard I'm sure you know as well as I do that shards of glass can end up everywhere especially when they're flying at high speeds pieces can easily Lodge themselves in skin piercing the hands face and even eyes but the acrylic plastic clackers could be just as dangerous a brand of clackers called kerbangers were recalled in 1985 with over 4600 seized by the US state of Arizona alone despite claims that the kerbangers were shatterproof they fell apart in tests along with the plastic handles holding them at least your smartphone is less breakable right no wait guns a blaze did you ever play with toy guns as a kid ever annoy your parents when a pellet accidentally hit some ornament in the house if you did don't worry it could have been much worse the Austin magic pistol was sold in the late 1940s designed to shoot pingpong balls oh okay that doesn't sound dangerous however when the trigger was pulled it released actual fire I wish I was kidding the gun was powered by explosive chemicals specifically calcium carbide a chemical compound composed of calcium and carbon to fire the gun you needed to place a magic Crystal of calcium carbide inside then you would add water or even use your own spit inside the barrel this allowed the chemical reaction between calcium carbide and water to take place when mixed it expands into acetylene gas a hot flammable fuel gas that produces a flame Once you pull the trigger and voila you have a pingpong explosion whizzing through the air despite the advertisement boldly claiming that it was harmless by 1949 the US had classified it as a hazard it's no surprise these Flames extended from the pistol muzzle for as long as 8 in damn selling literal Firearms to kids is well not that surprising in this day and age death by darts some of my best memories from when I was a kid are playing in the the backyard or the park anywhere with wide open space Garden variety games are still popular but back in the 1950s lawn darts littered the green the aim of the game was simply to throw darts into the Hoops laid out on the ground fun for the whole family right well not quite these weapons were 12 in long and had sharp metal tips on the ends the nature of the game being throw these pointed objects all around the yard hard soon caused some serious problems in 1970 the FDA classed them as a hazard which prohibited their sale unless manufacturers put warning signs on the packaging that should have been the red flag itself but darts continued to be bought until the US eventually banned them in 1988 by then it was too late over 6,000 Americans in the 8 years prior to the ban had been hospitalized in Dart related accidents at least 80% % of the cases were children younger than 15 suffering from lacerations punctures and even fractures to the face and head nowadays a safer version of the game can be bought making the darts rounded instead of sharp if only they'd have thought of that to begin with not so Huggy wuggy as a kid there was always that one teddy bear that was your ride or die don't try and deny it you took that thing everywhere with you no matter what what well I'm having a hard time wondering what possesses a child to want this one it looks evil this gruesome toy Huggy wuggy became popular after featuring as a character in a horror video game called poppy playtime released in 2021 many parents were concerned about the nature of the game and the character itself since the content wasn't exactly uh child friendly considering Huggy wuggy chases and attacks the player throughout gameplay aside from generally looking horrific in 2022 more than 400 Huggy wuggies had to be recalled from the whole Toy Fair in England this was due to bad craftsmanship it had loose stitching which could cause its stuffing to come out and its eyes and arms to fall apart this creates a huge choking hazard yeah I don't think there's anything Huggy wuggy about this toy battery Burns I'm a massive fidgeter I can't help it I'm forever tapping my fingers or bouncing my knees so when fidget Spinners became popular it was a godsend although first released in 1993 fidget Spinners became a huge Obsession in 2017 but if you weren't too careful the toy could break and small parts could be swallowed lodging in the throat which happened to more than five kids the most dangerous however were light up spinners these contained lithium batteries inside them which if ingested could cause internal burns when these batteries touch wet surfaces like the inside of your mouth they release their remaining energy which produces costic soda also known as sodium hydroxide this white solid compound is highly corrosive and can burn human tissue some fidget Spinners have been subject to recalls due to fears over choking hazards and internal bleeding ever since it's uh probably for the best no one wants a spinner in their stomach fighting the kite whenever I went to the beach as a kid I loved going on a boat I'd always whiz across the waves super fast and the faster the better right well in 2005 manufacturer sports stuff released a speedy watercraft of their own the wgo kite tubes were designed to be pulled behind boats like a Paras lifting you up and letting you soar above the water with one crucial difference there were no safety straps or harness just a cord to hold on to and holes to plant your feet in at $5 to $600 sports stuff were essentially selling an expensive death trap one anecdote from an internet user recalls their tube going 20 mph and up to 40 ft high before they were thrown off and crashed into the Waves by July 2006 19,000 wgo kites had to been recalled after Serious injury reports surpassed 30 among them were cases of broken necks punctured lungs body and face injuries and even two fatalities I mean there were no tests no safety features thought of now the wo kite only exists as a terrible memory as it should be pulling teeth anyone else ever have man ated family game night as a kid although at times it felt a lot like forced fun there was one game I loved to play Crocodile dentist first released in 1990 the aim is to remove teeth from a crocodile without disturbing it originally a pair of tweezers was used to take out the teeth but they removed these hazardous loose parts and now all you do is press down if you're too slow the crocodile will lunge at you and trap your fingers in its grip when the toy was first made there were fears that this lunge could cause injuries so the toy manufacturers changed the speed and length of the lunging motion but when tested it took all the fun out of the game so before release they switched it back however there are such fools out there that take games to even riskier levels I'm calling it folks this is completely insane who would willingly stand the chance of damaging their fingers with razor sharp teeth like this ouch count me out for this round guys magnet Mayhem there was always something entertaining about playing with magnets there still is give me two magnets anytime and I'll be occupied for a while but put too many of them in a kids's toy and you've got some trouble on your hands magnetics was a colorful construction set with Magnetic balls on the end of each stick which could connect to each other to create various shapes when they were released in 2003 they proved extremely popular the problem was those steel ball bearings could come loose and be swallowed then they could actually attract each other inside your body and when they link together they form holes and get trapped inside the intestines which require major surgery it was first recommended that magnetic sets be recalled into 2005 but they never were big mistake huge in 2006 4 million units were recalled by 2007 1,500 incidents of magnets coming loose were reported to date they've caused 27 intestinal injuries one aspiration and one death yep classic case of money hungry manufacturers wanting to make a buck instead of taking safety seriously frightening Furby if you were lucky enough to get a Furby in Christmas of 98 you were the Envy of every kid on the Block I mean 14 million of these talking furballs were sold by 1999 the toys were programmed to speak their own language called Furbish as well as phrases in English over the years Furby has been programmed to speak 24 languages but a false fear soon arose that it could record and repeat speech which became a concern for the National Security Agency in the US they thought it could be used to repeat classified information yep they accused Furby of being the perfect undercover spy as absurd as it sounds it's nowhere near as absurd as evil Furby you could actually turn Furby evil yourself by putting your finger in its mouth when you did it was liable to snap at you and act grumpy but some Furby owners reported that it started to speak in a demonic voice or awaken without being switched [Music] on one parent even recounted that a Furby was speaking in a man's voice saying things like oh baby to her 4-year-old daughter resetting the toy wouldn't always work leaving it permanently cursed on paper Furby was the dream toy but in reality it could be a nightmare playtime Panic one of the most popular water toys in the world is Aqua Beads you might have even heard of Brands like Orbeez well unfortunately they can be easily ingested due to their squishy texture and colorful appearance I mean come on who wouldn't find it tempting to put these in their mouth especially a child who has no idea those water beads contain absorbent polymers like sodium polyacrylate this is material made from the reaction between acrylic acid a corrosive liquid and sodium salt when you put these beads in water they can grow up to 100 times their size now imagine that inside your body if they're ingested the liquid inside can cause them to grow resulting in severe internal blockages with such huge health risks it's surprising that they can still be bought around 7,000 emergency injuries were reported from 2018 to 2022 alone but make no mistake brands of water beads have been recalled in the past 52,000 units of Buffalo Games Aqua Bead kits were taken off the shelves in 2023 moral of the story here be careful with your water beads kids playing with fire the closest I ever get to making my own science experiment as a kid was making mud potions in the backyard but in the early 20th century kids could conduct real experiments to real in the 1920s the AC Gilbert company released their glass blowing set which gave children a blowtorch to melt glass and make their own test tubes it came with a special guide called experimental glass blowing for boys which not only taught them that glass blowing was somehow only a male activity but also how to breathe into a blowpipe over a flame to create glass bubbles it even contains instructions on how to make tubes with the flame of a burning alcohol lamp and advises that it's perfectly safe to use kosene in it A flammable liquid used as a fuel glass has to become incredibly hot to melt typically around 2,000 de F so children must have been working with temperatures of at least 1,000° F just to soften it this heat could cause third degree burns and much worse a kid handling alcohol and kerosene near a flame could damn near cause an explosion not to mention the nause and vomiting that could occur through breathing in or ingesting these substances Gilbert's chemistry sets were eventually discontinued in 1967 but unbelievably not because they were dangerous it was simply because another company Gabriel toys bought Gilbert Co out and decided to stop making them I just want to know who was in the meeting when they thought ah yes a child an open flame and some hot glass what could possibly go wrong Hot Wheels I was never much of a skateboard person as a kid but I admit the thought of tearing around on a hoverboard always thrilled me kids dreaming of becoming Marty McFly on his pink hoverboard were finally going to experience it for themselves in 2015 turns out it was a huge disappointment for one thing the hoverboard never lifted from the ground second it proved to be more trouble than it was worth I personally don't know how anyone managed to stay standing for more than 3 seconds injuries to the body were inevitable over 26,000 children visited Hospital in hoverboard related accidents from 2015 to 16 and 40% of them included fractures but did you know it's also a fire hazard yep hoverboards can catch fire due to their lithium ion batteries when batteries short circuit and overheat they can cause smoke and fire numerous recalls have been undertaken with one of the most recent in 2022 withdrawing 53,000 units after a house fire when you say you've got some Hot Wheels it shouldn't mean that they're literally hot chemical chaos the terrible Legacy of chemistry sets continues with another horrendous toy you're probably thinking how could it get much worse if you thought glass blowing was bad the Gilbert toy company also released the atomic energy lab in 1950 this set taught kids how to conduct up to 150 chemical reaction experiments and one particularly terrible ingredient it contained was drum roll everyone uranium yep it included not one not two but four samples of uranium ores these were Tonite torbanite uraninite and carnotite all solid minerals composed of uranium and all radioactive uranium is dangerous because it eventually decays into radium which then decays to release a radioactive gas called radon when this decay occurs energy is released in the form of radi ingesting samples allows radiation to cause tissue and kidney damage as well as increase risks of cancer either it wasn't popular enough or parents actually drew the line at giving children radioactive materials because fewer than 5,000 kits were sold perhaps it was the price point too coming in at 50 bucks that's uh 650 bucks today imagine paying hundreds of dollars for a toy just for your kid to succumb to radiation poisoning Tumblr trouble social media is a great way to find the best products there are a few things I've discovered that have improved my life for the better for example the Stanley Cup went viral after a woman shared a video of her burned out car after a fire surprising viewers when the cup was found completely intact since then over 10 million have been sold to customers including me but in January 2024 it was revealed that the creator of the stand ly was being sued over the product containing lead this is a toxic metal that can poison you in children it can cause brain damage slow developmental growth and even linked to learning and behavioral problems it was discovered that Stanley Cups actually contain a lead pellet at the bottom and the manufacturers never warned customers although it's concealed behind a steel barrier at the base the smallest exposure to lead can cause serious defects but Stanley isn't the only case around 33,000 neutral branded tumblers were recalled in Canada in 2024 trapped between the inner walls of the tumbler was a solution containing sulfuric and phosphoric acid which could contaminate liquids when the cup is filled these harmful chemicals can cause tissue damage Burns vomiting and abdominal pain God this isn't even a toy it's nothing safe anymore forensic fail you'd think modern toy kits would be pretty safe to use right we know so much more about harmful chemicals and materials nowadays huh well say hello to the CSI fingerprint kit the set was based off of the crime drama show CSI allowing kids the chance to become their own forensic investigators by dusting for fingerprints however it contained five % of an obscenely dangerous ingredient called asbestos in fact it was a rare type called tremolite This is a mineral made up of small invisible fibers that when breathed in can increase risks of lung disease and cancer despite the fact its use is widely discouraged even banned in 55 countries it somehow found its way into the 2007 fingerprint kit via the dusting powder itself the toy Manu ufacturers were forced to stop production and sales immediately thankfully no children or adults were harmed by the asbest due to the quick recall that took place still how do you put asbest in a toy just how fun with a gun now Mattel is practically synonymous with the Barbie doll but did you know the company have also made toy guns surprised so was I the Tommy burst rifle was released in 1961 but it wasn't just a toy it was practically a replica this ultra realistic model was an imitation of Dick Tracy's Tommy Gun this was a police detective character in a comic strip first released in 1931 which was very popular with kids from the 30s to the 60s the gun worked by pulling back the bolt on the side and squeezing the trigger so shots would fire from Roll caps stored in the clip right here these caps are pieces of pap composed of aluminum powder and pottassium percolate a salt together they create Sparks and a loud noise when fired or fire single shots like a rifle but Tommy breast alone is $3 this real firing sound made the gun all more scarily true to life kids running around with this thing in their arms could have been mistaken for carrying a real gun quite easily which if that went as well back in those days as it does today probably didn't end well well for the kids well let's be thankful most of these products have been left in the past do you have any stories of a toy product gone rug let me know down in the comments and thanks for watching [Music]
