Hobby Thread - December 14, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread.

We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it landed on a theme of toys and games for this week. Apparently the Wheel is interested in fun and games.

This theme is a mix of nostalgia, hobbying, silliness, and honoring the 8 year old that still laughs at fart jokes. Warning: the content is going to be a bit more random than usual.

Are you wise in the ways of juggling? Did you play with jacks or jarts? Did you walk the dog with your yo yo? Did you play with action figures from television, movies or comics? Did you have a Red Ryder BB gun? If so, did you avoid shooting your eye out? We have covered Matchbox cars before, but seems rude to leave them out. What about other toys of metal and tin? Did you etch a sketch? Did you play tabletop hockey games with the knobs and spindles? Was silly putty in your world? Lincoln logs and tinker toys? View Master? Fisher Price? Marbles? Catch it cup and ball? Jenga? Pick up sticks?

The Hobby Thread has covered Legos, Hot Wheels, and Matchbox cars previously, so they will be out of scope for this thread. Trains and model trains are also in the Hobby Thread queue for their own dedicated thread, so we can leave them aside for now. Same for video games (including Pong).

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Even though it is arguably religion, college football is fair game. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

This is a remarkable video for many different reasons, including a brush with Etch a Sketch royalty:

I am Princess Etch. I am a full time etch a sketch artist. For a small etch a sketch drawing, my prices start at around $120. For a large etch a sketch drawing, at least around $2000.

Princess Etch also explains how to permanently save an etch a sketch drawing.

What does the inside of an etch a sketch look like? How does it work?

There HAS to be jugglers among the Horde (other than juggling professional and personal obligations and emotional baggage). Juggling is not a collector hobby, but it qualifies as a hobby activity (unless you are a professional). Do you juggle tennis balls, bowling pins, chainsaws, etc.? Did you learn from others or did you teach yourself? Do you have a personal record for how many items you could keep in the air?

There are many videos on Youtube about learning to juggle. It is a great little case study of seeing how so many different people explanations the same or similar concepts. Anyway, here is one:

Idaho man juggles for more than 13 hours to break world record

The most balls juggled is 11 and was achieved by Alex Barron (UK), who managed 23 consecutive catches

The most consecutive chainsaw juggling catches is 105, and was achieved by Ian Stewart (Canada) in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Doubt that anyone collects silly putty but seems like it should be included here:

Given these short arms, TRex is not wise in the ways of the yo yo. Are you?

Lurker Grendel is wise in the ways of the yo yo. How wise? Wise enough to have a collection and a BRIEFCASE for the collection!

Lawn darts (or the commercial name of Jarts) were banned in the US in December 1988. They were first banned in 1970, but manufacturers got a leave of execution as long as the items were not sold as toys or in toy stores and included prominent personal injury warnings:

Even today, it is not legal to sell Jarts in the US or Canada. Interweb chatter suggests that some sellers market the box and quietly throw in the darts but looks like they are mostly legal kryptonite. Sites like ebay will purge listings.

Slinky!

Mechanical engineer Richard James invented the Slinky by accident. In 1943, he was working to devise springs that could keep sensitive ship equipment steady at sea. After accidentally knocking some samples off a shelf, he watched in amazement as they gracefully walked down instead of falling. Along with his wife Betty, James developed a plan to turn his invention into the next big novelty toy. Betty combed the dictionary for an appropriate name and came up with Slinky. James designed a machine to coil 80 feet of wire into a two-inch spiral. The couple borrowed $500 to manufacture the first Slinkys. Initial sales proved sluggish but soared after Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia allowed demonstrations for Christmas 1945. The first 400 Slinkys sold within minutes. Museum of Play

Does anyone collect marbles on pure aesthetic grounds?

The Cabbage Patch Riots of 1983:

Horde Trading Post:

A member of the Horde sent word of an intriguing collection of toys looking for a new home. A close family friend died a month ago and left his daughter with a room full of boxes and boxes of... robots. Toy robots of every size and function. Some are huge and RF controlled, others are tiny and intricate. Most are generic but there are quite a few famous ones like R2D2, Robby, an so on.

The gent started collecting robots as a kid and accumulated a robot horde of about 200 robots. All are around 40 years old or older. Most are new or nearly new and many are in boxes.

The collection has value for someone that appreciates robots, toys, or popular culture memorabilia. It would be a shame to unload them as individual toys via a generic estate sale.

If any amongst the Horde are personally interested or know someone who might be interested, shoot me a note and I will make an email introduction. TRex is not in the business of negotiating terms or logistics, so would leave it to you once the introduction is made. The collection is currently in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Public Service Announcement: The Hobby Thread theme next week will be Christmas crafting, so come prepared. Gifts, cards, decorations, nativities, food, etc. Anything you make or fashion for Christmas will be in scope. The mailbox is open if you want to send anything in advance.

Follow-up on the license plate game from last week. Remember this photo of Nebraska license plates?

ICYMI, this late comment on the thread last week is on point:

TRex now appreciates the novelty of the high two digit numbers in that photo.

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week with a theme of road trips? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If toys and games are not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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