Mattel's Worst Toy Of 1974 - Lady Spinwelder 

Oh, much better choice!

Unless you got a chemistry set of the kind they sell today. Dumbed down to the extreme. Sad to see.

@@fredknox2781 The ones we had in the 1970s looked like the EU's banned substances code. Chromium salts, cadmium salts...

It's unfortunate that safety tends to run counter to fun in chemistry.

Anybody do Sulphur and candlewax? Perhaps I should ask if anyone _didn't._

😁

What an awesome story. It's so important to plant the seeds in young people that they can do more with their lives than just be a consumer of stuff that other people make. If you open your mind to the possibilities of actually creating and building things, your future will be much more fulfilled.

You mean you believe that?@@louisvillaescusa

Right

oh this FOR SURE happened...

That sounds very similar to the theme tune to "Are you being Served" 🙂

This is FASCINATING! Truly, that is so odd. Neat. I’m almost 50 and I had no idea that’s how KMart used to work.

The "SS K" on the price label came from the fact the official name of the company was still S. S. Kresge, even though the first K-Mart opened in 1962. The S. S. Kresge stores from before the launch of K-Mart continued to operate for at least ten more years (I remember them from the 1970s) and S. S. Kresge labeled items would be sold in K-Mart stores so we don't know for certain which store this was sold through. The name of the company officially change in 1977 from S.S. Kresge Company to K Mart Corporation. The fact the price on the original sticker is covered by the new sticker indicates a price increase. We were instructed to let the old price show, if the new price was lower.

@peterholthoffman I seem to remember that Kresge had a "Jupiter" brand as well, but I have no idea what that was.

I knew the shoe department was separately owned, but didn't know all the other departments were too!

fight toys with toys

We are better people because of the toys we had in the 60’s. My Vac-U-Form was amazing then and now!

@@Willam_J Yes. When I was around 12 we had fun in a ship modeling shop, vacuum-forming fiberglass hulls. Sometimes the epoxy bucket overheated and blew all kinds of fumes. Ventilation? what ventilation? My younger brother started paragliding at 14 and quit after a crash while still at high school. This was close.

Ever get the Spinwelder wrapped up in your hair?

@@Willam_J me and my brother had one . first time we used it we burned ourselves on the hot plastic. that was the last time we saw the machine.

Ah, second degree burns, the gift that keeps on giving.

Or “Kresge’s” as we called it.

kresge at the top of the hill in 69th street!

Yup. Exactly.

Agree 100%.

This seems pretty cool for a 50 year old toy.

just fill out the reorder card and get some new stuff.

@@tYNS😂

I reckon that after nearly 50yrs, the "permanent" magnets in the motor will have lost much if their initial strength hence the poor torque?

@@simonstroud2555 More likely all the oil or grease has dried up making the motor sticky. Could even have dead spots on the commutator (mild corrosion) that make the motor spin unevenly. If that's the case and the motor happens to stop in the wrong position (brushes on one of the dead spots) it won't even spin up again. Or the motor is fine and there's just more of a technique to it, like waiting until the motor is at full speed and applying very little pressure.

Yep I agree. =)

yeah it really bothered me to see she making it wrong,and i never used one

Yes, the plasticizers like Bisphenol are also endocrine disrupters, easily liberated from the plastic into solution aided by common alkaline dish soap.

The distinction between thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics is an important aspect of the broader category of materials often referred to as "plastics." While both are types of polymers, they exhibit different behaviors when subjected to heat and pressure. Thermoplastics: These plastics are characterized by their ability to soften and become pliable when heated. They can be molded into different shapes when heated and solidify into the desired form upon cooling. The process of heating and cooling can be repeated without significantly altering the material's properties. Common examples of thermoplastics include polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Thermosetting Plastics: Thermosetting plastics undergo a chemical change when heated and molded, resulting in a permanent and rigid structure. Once set, these plastics cannot be re-melted or re-shaped by heating. The initial heating process typically involves the formation of a three-dimensional network of bonds, making the material hard and stable. Examples of thermosetting plastics include epoxy resins, phenolic resins, and melamine. The term "plastic" is often used broadly to refer to both thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics, contributing to a common misconception. Colloquially, people might use "plastic" to describe a wide range of polymer-based materials, whether they are thermoplastic or thermosetting. The distinction becomes more critical in technical and industrial contexts, especially when selecting materials for specific applications or manufacturing processes. In summary, when people use the term "plastic" informally, they may be referring to a range of polymer materials, including both thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics. The technical distinction becomes more relevant in precise discussions about material properties and applications.

This is probably styrene which is used without plasticisers. But it breaks down over time just from ambient heat like most polymers, becoming brittle due to lost cohesion. The most important additive in this family of plastics is a flame retardant, but rumour has it, it has the propensity to accelerate polymer degradation.

That's expensive. Nowadays you can go online and get a lithium LFP rechargeable kit for $25. That's a much better value.

Connector designed to avoid kids from shorting the terminals and sparks flying and battery bursting. Still risky exposed as a toy.

Yeah this was my thought. I wonder what type of plastic it was?

@@alexandralamberton5615Probably something that, years later, was discovered to be very toxic. 😂

@@alexandralamberton5615 Maybe PVC or ABS? The 50s were when plastic really started to take off. Earlier materials were mostly toxic, flammable, or both. The plasticizers added half a century ago would certainly have started breaking down or evaporating by now.

@@01chippe If Fran doesn't post for a few weeks, we will know why!

​@@stickyfoxNot ABS it was and still expensive. All my toys back then were mostly Styrene. The cheapest ones were LDPE. The few that survived past my childhood; The Styrene ones virtually unchanged though it's possible they were a poor grade of Styrene and changed over the decades. The LDPE ones "hardened" "shrunk or warped " and fractured from age I guess.

For what it's worth, $1.50 in 1974 would be equal to $9.34 in 2023. Obviously, still a cheap price.

The price for replacement parts indicates it was probably around $10, perhaps a little less, before being marked down several times.

@@SianaGearz And adjusted for inflation that makes a lot more sense. It's not like this was a high-tech item, just loads of injection-moulded plastics, cheap to produce in high volumes, and a small motor.

5:12 Exactly, toss in a $5.00 bill in the order and indicate this is payment for 1,000 tips.

Does it chafe your wrist?

Agreed and Thank You!

Yes. A Barbie crossover toy, and Mattel missed the boat. What was the marketing department thinking?

They were probably repurposing unsold ones so they were already green.

@@listerdave1240 That does seem more likely, although Mattel went to the expense of getting all the new boxes and instructions printing lines set up, along with the injection-moulding dies for the studs and the black tool/chuck, none of which would have been as cheap as just land-filling the unsold spin guns.

Yeah this gender stuff is so over rated , the first thing I bought my wife when I met her was a Bench Grinder . She was so happy about that.

I'm surprised there was no pink anywhere.

I thought maybe Kathy Coleman from "The Land of the Lost" but I do recognize her.

Nany and the Professor too...

Plaster seems safe?

I had one, made all sorts of cowboys and Indians in those molds.

@@wayneessar7489 correction, plastic

Look at Lego. In the 1970s it was mainly basic sets that both girls and boys could enjoy. Interestingly the company founder refused to produce green bricks as he didn't want Lego to be used to make military vehicles. Now it is nearly all themed with Lego "Friends" for the girls and Lego "Enemies" also known as Star Wars or Ninjago for the boys.

Ah plasticizers, we meet again. It's always annoying when migratory plasticizers ruin something. Often it occurs when you accidentally lay something silicone on something plastic, and the plastic melts. I ran into someone on a homebrewing channel that was wondering what the heck was happening when his plastic airlocks drooped over like a wilting flowers, then pulled apart like string cheese. My guess was plasticizer migration from the rubber bungs.

I was expecting a 9v battery

I would end up melting the girders making it worthless to build any of the vehicles.

what surface would you put the studs on - a tablecloth ?

ABSOLUTELY!! We had the tools! The 70's American Culture was different, by gosh we were encouraged to smoke(?)! My Mom taught us how to sew, and I learned the physics of a Singer Sewing machine, while the "Non-Testosterone poisoned" members of our family made creative stylistic clothes from sewing patterns ordered from Sears and advanced sewing skills! Compare a Singer Sewing Machine to a Lathe with a Taper attachment! We "uglified" many cloth based garments. @@highpath4776

Hey Peter! Thanks a ton for the support and best to you as well!

Lantern batteries are often built with D cells, and D cells are often built with AA batteries these days. I wouldn't doubt that huge thing is the equivalent to 4 AA batteries in series. I remember when Duracell and Energizer batteries were at their peak in the late 90s/early 2000s and went downhill from there. They were practically guaranteed to not leak, and they lasted. These days, they leak like sieves. I just buy the cheap batteries, anymore. They might actually be less likely to leak probably because they are weaker.

​@@robertgaines-tulsaI haven't come across a modern D cell that is just a tarted up AA, they are still heavy full batteries. Now I haven't taken apart a lantern battery in many years, but I would doubt that they use the big tall cells anymore, they probably aren't even manufactured... Probably just D cells in a plastic case.

@volvo09 AAs masquerading as Cs and Ds are common in rechargeables. It's too bad this toy didn't ask for the larger lantern battery, the one about the size of a recipe card box with threaded terminals on the top. The battery may be giving 6v and change, but that connector looks loose and lossy under load.

She stated in the video that she checked it and it was fresh and at 6.5V.

@@tactileslut yes, that is where I have seen them, but I've never seen it with an alkaline battery.

Groucho was a genius.

More tea, Lady Spinwelder?

Hahahahahahaaa 😂

Sinatra didn't make his $millions by busking 🙂When the vinyl revival started I put some prices through an inflation calculator and realised that, adjusted for inflation LPs, were about the same price as they had been in the 1970s.

They don't. At least, not the one I 'anti-assembled' a few years ago. Four unclad zinc-carbon 'C' batteries inside. Was making a Li-Ion 'replacement' version of a lantern battery, complete with built-in regulator and charge controller. Was NOT as successful as I'd hoped...