Whatever happened to the Lite-Brite?

[Femme Folle]

I used to have one. I wonder if they're still around. Probably not, since what you did with it is very easily done on an iPad or phone. Technology, bah humbug.

[ursus arctos]

They made a retro-inspired comeback recently.

I think the hope was that they might appeal to boomers for the same reason that colouring books have. I have no idea how successful that was.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Lite-Brite is a toy that was originally marketed in 1967. It consists of a light box with small colored plastic pegs that fit into a panel and illuminate to create a lit picture, by either using one of the included templates or creating a "freeform" image on a blank sheet of black paper.

It's as old as me.

[3 Colours Red]

The answer for old toys and games is eBay. Always eBay.

[Jah Womble]

I found my old Viewmaster the other day. Over half a century old, still works like a dream.

As you were.

[WOM]

Indeed. I love Viewmaster. I have a Thunderbirds set.

In colouring toys, Doodle Art was the bomb when I was 10. It was a black and white poster in a cardboard tube that came with a set of colour markers. I'd colour those til my eyes went blurry.

[WOM]

It's as old as me.

But only half as much fun.

[caja-dglh]

They have them in children's museums.

[Incandenza]

My kids don't have one, but our twins were recently given a big Spirograph kit. They had no idea what it was and got really frustrated because they couldn't get the inner wheel to be locked in to the bigger wheel to make the design, so I tried it. Haven't done it for over 30 years but it all came back to me and I impressed them with the designs.

[WOM]

I got a mini spirograph kit in my stocking at Christmas. It's in a small metal tin like those school math sets. I fucking loved them as a kid, but yeah...they take patience and practice. Perfect for young twins...

[Heliotrope]

I saw someone buying a Lite-Brite at A.C. Moore last year, even before the going-out-of-business sale. I think they had a retro toy section. Target definitely does--I bought a Simon there recently to use for memory exercise.

[3 Colours Red]

I had a Rubik's Triamid when I was about eight and decided to buy a new one a year or two back (the manchild in me couldn't help it).

It seems less robust than the old one - memories playing tricks or built to a price?

[Hot Pepsi]

Last I checked, Etch-a-Sketch's are still being made. They were made in Ohio where my uncle, aunt, and cousin live, but now I think they're made in China (of course) because Ohio Art sold the toy business and now just focuses on metal lithography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Art_Company

[Jah Womble]

My best buddy (now a fairly-renowned screenwriter) received an Etch-a-Sketch for Christmas when he was little. The story goes that he drew with it just once, then shook the thing so violently to clear the picture that he caught himself on the head - breaking said brand-new gadget, showering himself in aluminium powder and cutting his head open in one movement, thereby necessitating a trip to A&E on Christmas Day.

[Hot Pepsi]

That was a very vigorous shake.

[Incandenza]

Last I checked, Etch-a-Sketch's are still being made. They were made in Ohio where my uncle, aunt, and cousin live, but now I think they're made in China (of course) because Ohio Art sold the toy business and now just focuses on metal lithography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Art_Company

There's a restaurant we like to go to that has Etch-a-Sketches for the kids to play with. I think they have about 4 or 5, so they sometimes run out, but it's still a more fun thing than a the usual crappy coloring page and crayons.