Top 50 Most DANGEROUS Toys Ever Made

Introduced in the mid-90s, this doll and its spinoff, Baby Headstand Surprise, had weighted heads that enabled them to do somersaults and headstands. The problem was that those heads were really heavy. It could be pretty painful if you conked yourself on the noggin with it or dropped it on your toe. And of course, some kids couldn’t resist using it as a weapon on their siblings. With that heavy cudgel on one end, the doll was basically a mini-mace that a child could swing around, taking out anything in their path.

This toy comes with a warning not to slash or jab at anyone while wearing it. However, it’s marketed to ages five and up, and we don’t know too many five-year-olds who would obey that warning. After all, they’re battle claws – what else are you supposed to do with them? These seem like a gouged eye waiting to happen. And they aren’t even the only potentially dangerous claws available at your local toy store. In 2009, Hasbro released a new style of Wolverine claws in conjunction with “X-Men Origins.” And of course the “Jurassic World” franchise has all kinds of dinosaur claws kids can terrorize people with. Toy makers are way too eager to put claws on the hands of small children.

Many versions of this bouncy material have existed over the years, but the original was released as a tie-in with 1961’s “The Absent-Minded Professor” and its sequel, “Son of Flubber.” Short for “flying rubber,” the silvery stuff was similar to Silly Putty – with a catch. It apparently caused rashes and dermatitis. Shortly after Flubber hit the shelves, the FDA started getting reports of skin irritation linked to the substance. By the time toy maker Hassenfeld Bros. pulled it from the shelves, the agency had received around 1,600 complaints. They never did confirm whether Flubber itself caused the rashes, or if one of its knock-offs was responsible.

Most parents wouldn’t let small children play with a cigarette lighter, but that’s exactly what was built into this Barbie’s skates. Released in 1991, the “flicker ‘n flash” version of the doll created sparks when you rolled her across a surface. And if that surface happened to be made of flammable materials … you can guess what happened. At least one parent even reported that their child’s pants caught on fire while playing with Rollerblade Barbie. We don’t remember seeing THAT in the movie. You have to wonder what Mattel was thinking with this invention.

Anyone old enough to have had this toy definitely remembers that banger of a jingle. They also remember cracking their siblings in the shins, knocking over anything that wasn’t nailed down, and occasionally tripping and landing face first on concrete. The ball on the Skip-It had to be fairly heavy in order for the physics to work, which meant that it could do a lot of damage. If you were a Skip-It pro, you could get that thing going pretty darn fast. That meant a lot of bruised ankles, scraped knees, and holes in the drywall – if you were foolish enough to try it indoors.

Introduced in 1961, this backyard water slide is just a long sheet of plastic attached to a garden hose. On a hot summer day, there was nothing better than putting on a bathing suit and blasting down it at full speed. However, the Slip ‘N Slide was not safe for adults or teens due to their heavier body weight. There was a strong risk that they would stop abruptly on the slide, leading to major neck injuries. During the years the original Slip ‘N Slide was on the market, multiple people – mostly adults – broke their necks while using it. Some were paralyzed, and at least one died. This resulted in a number of lawsuits against Kransco, the parent company of Wham-O.

One of the goofier toys on our list, this electronic party game was advertised for children ages four and up. It only lasted about six months on the market before it was recalled due to injuries. The cheap plastic parts didn’t fit together correctly, meaning the thing would collapse if you so much as breathed on it. Considering that the whole point of limbo is to keep going until you hit the pole, that meant this toy was constantly falling apart and landing on the players. Milton Bradley received numerous reports of injuries. Most were minor, but the more serious ones included a chipped tooth and a broken foot. Following pressure from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the company recalled the game in February 2006.

This toy from the 60s was so dangerous, it was partly responsible for changing the laws around toy safety in America. In 1969, the Bird of Paradise Slingshot was one of eight toys that the National Commission on Product Safety recommended be taken off the shelves. That was because the projectiles that came with it were razor sharp – and you can imagine what kinds of injuries they could cause. At the time, toys were only considered dangerous under the law if they were made from hazardous materials. The commission called for stronger safety standards and more rigorous testing. This led Congress to pass the Toy Safety Act in late 1969 and to create the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972.

Imagine a Skip-It, but attached to your head. Doesn’t sound like a great idea, does it? Transogram Games introduced the Swing Wing in 1965. Just by watching the commercial, you can probably imagine the head and neck problems this thing could cause. It was rumored to give children vertigo, spinal issues, and even concussions. Of course, there was also the risk of whacking another kid in the face if they got too close. On top of that, it doesn’t look particularly fun to play with. No wonder this terrible invention was short-lived.

Also known as Sock'em Boppers, these inflatable boxing gloves were first manufactured in the 1970s and are still available today. Advertised as “more fun than a pillow fight,” the idea was that kids would blow them up, put them on, and just start wailing on each other. Unfortunately, anyone who’s played with them can tell you that they don’t provide a perfect cushion for your fist. If you punch someone hard enough, you can do some serious damage. And of course, many kids will purposely try to hit their opponent as hard as they possibly can. It’s not hard to find stories online of people who suffered broken noses during childhood Socker Bopper fights.

No, we’re not talking about the flying boards from “Back to the Future” – we wish. We’re referring to the self-balancing scooters that ambitiously call themselves hoverboards. You might think that the biggest risk with these is falling off of them, but it actually gets much worse. The lithium batteries in hoverboards have a tendency to overheat and catch fire or even explode. They’ve caused dozens of house fires around the world, some of which have been deadly. In 2016, federal agencies in the Philippines warned that they’d also received reports of people getting electrocuted while riding them. So instead of buying one of these hoverboards, you might be better off waiting for someone to invent the real thing.

You know what nine-year-olds don’t need to be playing with? An actual cannon. Remco introduced the Johnny Reb Cannon in 1961. It was nearly three feet long and came with hard plastic balls about the size of a baseball. It could fire those cannonballs up to 35 feet, and although they were marketed as “harmless,” they could actually do some damage. They also weren’t easy to aim accurately. Any little aspiring Confederate soldier standing in the wrong place was liable to take a nasty hit. And we can’t imagine how painful it would be at point blank range.

Released by Wham-O in 1970, this toy came with a straw and a tube of soft plastic that could be used to blow bubbles. Usually toys that include straws pose a choking hazard, but that wasn’t the problem with Super Elastic Bubble Plastic. The real danger came from the toxic chemicals the plastic was made with, particularly acetone. Breathing in acetone vapor can make a person extremely sick, and young kids were prone to accidentally inhaling through the straw and getting a big dose of it. The toy was banned in Canada and taken off the market in the U.S. in the 80s. In the 2010s, a new, safer version was released with a straw that you can’t inhale through.

What 90s kid didn’t have one of these? A teacher in Wisconsin created the slap bracelet – also known as the snap bracelet – in 1983, and they were a huge hit. They were so popular, in fact, that a number of brands stole the idea and started making cheap knockoffs. These versions contained thin strips of metal with sharp edges that could easily wear through the fabric. They were sharp enough to draw blood, meaning that slapping them across your wrist could be a risky proposition. Slap bracelets were banned in many schools and have been the subject of numerous recalls over the years, but there are still plenty of dangerous ones floating around.

The first version of this bow was released by Zing in 2014 and was advertised as suitable for kids ages eight and up. Yet even Zing seemed to acknowledge how dangerous they were with the many warnings on the package. Users were advised not to shoot at people or animals and not to play with the bow in complete darkness – even though they lit up. Craziest of all, kids weren’t supposed to draw the bowstring back more than halfway. Why make a toy bow that’s unsafe to use at full strength? Zing must have realized how absurd this was, because the Firetek Bow is now marketed to kids fourteen and older, though we doubt teenagers are any more likely to heed those warnings.

Yet another dangerous toy to come out of the 1960s, the Vac-U-Form involved melting a sheet of thin plastic to create a mold of anything small enough to fit in it. It even came with paints, so that budding young creators could design their own cars, planes, merit badges, and more. The problem was that the metal plate used to melt the plastic was totally exposed. Anyone who wasn’t careful – or maybe just wasn’t smart – could put their hand on it. We don’t know exactly how hot it got, but the melting point of most plastics is at least 90 degrees Celsius, or almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot enough to cause third degree burns in seconds.

The manufacturing defect in this toy is the stuff of nightmares. Shortly after its release in 1999, Fisher-Price had to recall more than 200,000 of the little motorcycles because the accelerators would get stuck in the “on” position. That would result in the rider being unable to stop the toy and running into things. In fairness, the mini Harley-Davidson’s maximum speed was only 5 miles per hour. But if a parent wasn’t paying close attention, their toddler could be blocks away by the time they realized there was a problem. Even worse, it seems Fisher-Price didn’t learn its lesson. In 2019, the company had to recall 44,000 Barbie Dream Campers for a similar issue.

We’re not going to lie, these look super fun … until you see one of them fly 30 or 40 feet in the air and violently crash back down. In 2006, Kite Tube manufacturer Wego was forced to take them off the market after users suffered broken necks, punctured lungs, and two people died. The issue was that they were pretty much impossible to control. You never knew when the Kite Tube was going to catch a gust of wind, shoot up dozens of feet in the air, or throw the rider off at high speed. The package included an absolutely wild warning: "Never kite higher than you are willing to fall." Unsurprisingly, Wego has since gone out of business.

You heard that right – a tiny crossbow that fires toothpicks. These little weapons became all the rage in Chinese schools in 2017. Parents, understandably, were not happy about this. The crossbows are powerful enough to pierce a soda can at close range. Kids were also caught using them to shoot nails and needles, making them even more dangerous. It was only a matter of time before someone lost an eye. Since then, several provinces in China have banned toothpick crossbows, and multiple online retailers, including ebay and Amazon, don’t allow them on their platforms.

Powerful magnets and small children can be a deadly combination. This construction set included a variety of colorful pieces and strong ball magnets to connect them together. It was marketed to kids aged six and older, and was probably perfectly safe for that demographic. However, if kids left the magnets lying around where a toddler could get ahold of them, it was a recipe for disaster. The magnets were so strong that if a child swallowed more than one, they could attract inside their body, causing intestinal perforations. Recalls were issued on Magnetix in 2006 and 2007 after multiple children required emergency surgery to remove them and one boy died. Mega Brands was later forced to pay a civil penalty of over $1 million.

Sometimes, the simplest trinkets are the ones most likely to leave a mark. There isn’t much to clackers – they’re two balls on a string, that the user could smash together as slow or fast as they’d like. While they seem like a good time, they quickly get out of hand. They’re hard to control once it gets moving at high speeds, making it easy for someone to hit themselves or others. Taking hard plastic to the face already doesn’t sound like a good time, and the risk of the spheres shattering upon impact made things even more perilous. They picked up such a bad reputation that the U.S. government had tens of thousands of them destroyed in the 1970s – forever cementing their infamous legacy.

For years, water based activities have been the go-to on a hot day. What better way to have fun in the sun than to set off an H2O-powered projectile with your friends? What should’ve led to instant memories instead resulted in unwanted stress. To get the Splash Off Water Rocket to work, it first had to be filled using a classic garden hose. However, when liquid was added, the pressure proved to be too much, causing some of them to completely fall apart. This, of course, led to the possibility of people getting hit and injured. Getting splashed is one thing, but no one wants to spend their summer vacation recovering from being hit with a piece of rocket.

The “Star Wars” franchise has spawned several lines of toys over the decades, allowing kids to play as their favorite heroes and villains from the series. Some of the most popular were the lightsabers, modeled after the ones used by the characters. While many appeared to be innocent, some had more danger lurking beneath the surface. The Darth Maul and Qui-Gon versions seemed to be an instant hit – particularly the former’s iconic double-sided weapon. While they were beloved, they didn’t last long on the shelves. An internal issue with the batteries shifting and overheating eventually led to them being considered burn hazards. While the negative effects were realistic to the movies, they definitely weren’t ideal in a real-life setting.

Fake firearms are one thing – but one that can be hidden in an article of clothing takes things to a whole new level. In the 1950s, Mattel introduced a new phenomenon – a tiny pistol embedded within a belt buckle. The mini artillery would pop out and shoot a pellet whenever a small switch was activated, usually while the wearer moved their hips. They were so realistic that they could shoot several feet, making them a risk to anyone in the vicinity. The fact that it was a cap gun added another precarious layer to the product. While the bullets weren’t real, the friction from the chamber being activated spelled out disaster – especially considering how close they were to sensitive areas of the body.

While bouncing from place to place seems ideal for any child, the risks usually outweigh the rewards. Pogo sticks have been one of the most unique items on the market since their inception, as they utilize springs to give users hours of fun and potential pain. Some variations have been taken off the market due to the mechanisms backfiring, causing people to fall mid-use. However, what makes them truly unsafe is how hard they can be to control. Even if someone isn’t attempting sick tricks, the stick can easily slip out from underneath them, causing them to fall or even be hit. What’s even more dangerous are the stunts some people attempt while using them – with failed ones usually ending in immediate injury.

A bouncy ball never hurt anyone, right? Just be careful if they start to mutate. Be Amazing! Toys ran into some trouble when they produced “colossal water balls,” little polymer orbs that expanded in size when combined with a special “growth powder.” The problem started with the colorful trinkets resembling candy. The toys also ballooned up in any sort of water … something that unfortunately makes up more than 50% of the human body. The fear was that kids would ingest the product and that its growth in diameter would present a serious choking hazard or, if swallowed, cause fatal obstructions in the intestines. Though no direct incidents involving the “Monster Science” miniatures were reported, occurrences involving similar polymer products prompted a recall of Jelly BeadZ Jumbo BeadZ and Magic Growing Fruity Fun Toys in 2013. It’s a helpful reminder that unexpected dangers sometimes come in small packages.

In retrospect, a toy centered around slamming two objects together as hard as possible might not have been the best idea. The concept behind Super Blast Balls was straightforward. People would hit them together, simulating the sound of a cap gun going off. They would have to hold the small balls in their palms for maximum effect – causing a loud noise and even sparks in the process. The latter posed a burn threat, especially to those who were hitting them with all their strength. Before they were finally investigated and recalled, several people had reported being injured by the tiny ballistics. What could’ve been a great early lesson in friction ended up teaching more people how to treat singe wounds.

Some playthings are a mess from top to bottom – even something as small and seemingly inconsequential as this. A yo-yo and a ball combined seems like it should result in hours of fun. Instead, they ended with trips to the hospital. Every component of it posed a threat, from the cord nearly strangling kids to the balls striking them in the head. Even the liquid inside was scrutinized for its potential toxicity and flammability. While there thankfully weren’t any fatalities, there were far too many close calls. This led to them being recalled – though by the time they were, millions had already been sold across the country. These just go to show that even the smallest objects can have the largest drawbacks.

Giving children unfettered access to glass and fire – what could possibly go wrong? The A.C. Gilbert Company was all about releasing products that had some real world application, whether it be a chemistry set or a glass-blowing kit. The latter came with several glass tubes, an alcohol lamp, and even a small blow torch that kids could use to make their own creations. When left unsupervised, these materials had the potential to end in serious injuries and even house fires. Glass blowing isn’t the safest hobby, even for adults. To do it correctly, you have to bring the temperature up to several hundred degrees. Giving a youngster access to that level of flame, no matter the reason, is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Who could’ve thought that such fashionable fairies would bring so much emotional distress? Sky Dancers were the perfect whimsical doll for kids of all ages, with a pull-string activated base that caused each one to fly. Unfortunately, the results were anything but magical. They spun at such high speeds that the flimsily covered foam wings were harming anyone in their path. The injuries were severe, and ranged from scratched corneas to broken bones. After nearly 200 reports from consumers, the company had to pay a $400,000 fine and over ten million toys were recalled across the country. A new generation of Sky Dancers was eventually introduced in the 2000s – this time, with softer, more padded wings.

If history has taught us nothing else, it’s that magnets and young kids really don’t mix. Imagine an entire apartment, shrunk down to fit into a pocket-sized folding dollhouse, styled as a makeup compact. Add the male equivalent playsets, Mighty Max, and this line of choking hazards had kids in the 90s eating out of the palm of their hand. These toys were already dangerous enough to warrant teaching your kid the Heimlich maneuver, but the Polly Pocket magnetic playsets, with their magnetic clothing, warranted a full recall in 2006. These dolls were too large to swallow, but the small magnets often fell out, wreaking life-threatening havoc on digestive systems if multiple were ingested.

There’s nothing scarier than a potentially lethal baby product. Parents always need to be extra careful with infants around water, but you can understand how one might let their guard down when placing a child in an inflatable device specifically designed for that purpose. Sadly, a number of baby flotation products have ripped, resulting in the child sinking or being smothered. In 2009, some 4 million units, consisting of various models of the Aqua-Leisure Baby Floats, were recalled after 31 incidences of seat strap ripping occurred, allowing the baby to fall into the water. In 2015, Otteroo floats were recalled after some 50 cases of deflation were reported. Thankfully, neither specific case resulted in death.

If the word “burning” is in the name of your product, maybe don’t market it to kids. Admittedly, the various companies manufacturing this product have always targeted the outdoorsy, do-it-yourself, “Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America” kind of kid. They’re the types who generally don’t need their toys bubble-wrapped. Sets from the 1950s were notorious for burns and for trusting in the fact that kids would learn responsibility. Modern kits, like those made by educational toy companies like T.S. Shure and NSI, are more safety-minded. But no amount of safety recommendations can mitigate the potential for burns, or worse, fires. If it can burn a pattern into wood, it can burn plenty of other stuff too.

It might not exactly be playing with fire, but this creation station still involves high temperatures, and in early models, toxic fumes. Mattel first began producing Creepy Crawlers in 1964. Sets included die-cast creature molds, a liquid chemical that kids poured into the mold, and a small oven or hot plate to heat the “plastigoop” into hardened rubbery shapes. Creepy Crawlers got a lot safer in the 1990s, but the early versions consisted of an open-face hot plate that rose to 390 degrees Fahrenheit. It might not be liquid magma, but that’s still blisteringly hot, especially if you touched the creature before it solidified. Although marketed as “non-toxic” at the time, that was before we knew the dangers of PVC fumes.

Doesn’t it suck that all the most dangerous toys are also the coolest? This toy gun actually uses combustion – flames shoot out of it! It’s made of metal and totally looks like a ray gun from early sci-fi! While the Austin Magic Pistol might make for a wicked awesome vintage toy when you’re in your twenties or older, this circa 1950s “toy gun” is absurdly dangerous. Its “magic crystals” are composed of a mixture of calcium carbide and water, which, with a little help from the sparking trigger, combusts violently. Even in the wild and crazy 50s, it quickly became apparent that this was no toy – resulting in a number of bans.

Listed in the “Top 10 Unsafe Toys of 2014” list from parental safety group W.A.T.C.H., this kit gives children everything they need to have a bottle rocket party! It includes the rockets themselves, stoppers, and fun “caution” tape so you feel like you’re at a real rocket launch. What the kit doesn’t include are the safety goggles they recommend on the packaging. The baking soda and vinegar-propelled rockets aren’t going to explode, but the projectiles still present a significant risk of eye or facial injury. The kit is labeled “8 and up,” but you’d be hard-pressed to find any eight-year-old that’s going to wait until they can track down safety goggles before playing with something this cool.

The Little Lady Empire Stove, with its metal frame and up to 600 degrees of heat, might’ve been the more deadly children’s stove, but the Easy-Bake Oven has had a much more significant impact since Kenner launched the product in 1963. Over 25 million units have been sold since, meaning that the average kid likely interacted with one at some point. Most of the 11 models have been totally safe, but one or two got the recipe wrong. The 2006 version was recalled after 29 reports surfaced of kids getting their fingers caught in the front-loading oven door. Despite the recall, another 249 incidents were reported, one of which ended with a little girl needing a partial finger amputation.

Anything that goes up must come down, and the higher you launch a child into the air, the greater the risk for injury. This specific trampoline might be mini, but it packs a huge risk factor. Marketed to children six and up, it has some serious bounce to it. No safety, no padded handlebar. The likelihood of your child losing control and flying into furniture is high. On the packaging you find the following warning: "Landing on the head or neck can cause serious injury, paralysis, or death...” If, as a manufacturer, you feel the need to put that on a product you’re selling to six-year-olds, you might’ve missed the point of age restrictions.

Inflatable baby boats might be prone to malfunction, but mini hammocks seem as if they were designed specifically to endanger young children. Made from a fine nylon mesh, and lacking any sort of spreader bar, these child-sized hammocks were prone to entangling their young users. Most often, this would occur when the child was attempting to get in or out of the hammock. In 1996, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall and safety warning on ten different mini hammock brands and models, most notably the EZ Sales hammock brand, deemed unsafe for use due to a lack of spreader bar. Between 1984 and 1995, there were twelve separate cases of kids becoming trapped in the hammock and dying from asphyxiation.

Aqua Dots are small colorful balls that you arrange into patterns or images. Spray the design with water and they solidify together into a single piece of art to show off to mom or dad. But as we’ve learned, anything a kid can swallow – they will swallow. These small toy beads, when ingested, caused vomiting, respiratory failure, seizures and comas. Why? Aqua Dots contained a compound that when consumed, breaks down into GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy. The product was pulled from shelves after three separate toddlers fell into comas. The parents of one toddler, who suffered permanent brain damage, won their court case against the manufacturers, distributors, and toy designers, each company being assigned partial blame for the tragedy.

Before she became the controversial pop star we all know and love today, Miley Cyrus was America’s sweetheart and role model, Hannah Montana. Little girls around the world wanted anything and everything with her name on it, including this awesome card game. Parents trusted that smiling face, making it a huge surprise that the carrying case contained over 75 times the level of lead legally permitted in consumer goods. Hannah Montana ... slowly poisoning children? Even scarier, the card game avoided a recall thanks to a legal loophole (since the lead was found in its vinyl and not its paint), meaning it stayed on shelves, and in the hands of kids.

Step aside Hungry Hungry Hippos, here come the cannibal Cabbage Patch Kids. “Snacktime” dolls were a must-have gift for Christmas 1996. They could bite and swallow plastic food! In the eyes of children, they were as good as human pets, but with no mess on the other end. Unfortunately the dolls couldn’t differentiate between plastic food, fingers, and ponytails. Over 100 reports were filed claiming the jaws clamped down on fingers and hair, slowly pulling them in. In one case, a girl’s hair was allegedly ripped down to the scalp. Mattel offered a $40 refund and took these little monsters off the shelves.

Let’s be honest – remote control planes are dangerous even when functioning properly. There’s always a risk of them crashing into a window, car, or innocent bystander. Forget “with great power” ... with REMOTE CONTROL AIRPLANES comes great responsibility. Well, apparently no one told Estes-Cox Corp., the makers of the Sky Rangers, who upped the ante by releasing a toy airplane that was prone to spontaneously combusting during take-off, mid flight, and while landing. Anytime, really. Oh, and did we mention you have to throw the plane on take-off? Burns, temporary hearing loss, wounded eyes, facial lacerations, and a mandatory recall ensued.

When it comes to toys, the phrase “Choking Hazard” holds the title as the biggest buzzword in child safety. But toys from the 1930s through to the 1960s seem like they were designed to weed out and kill all but the smartest kids before they reached adulthood. The Zulu Blow Gun from the Zulu Blowing Game was no exception. These toys essentially streamlined asphyxiation. A number of versions were sold between 1920 and 1960, but they all consisted of a long straw and small, sharp darts. Put a dart in the straw, inhale, put it to your lips and blow! You guessed it… Tons of kids got that order wrong, and inhaled the darts. Ouch.

Remember a simpler time, when companies didn’t have to cover their products in warnings? The people at Mattel sure do. In the late 70s, there were three reported cases of children accidentally shooting themselves in the face with the spring-loaded missile of the Colonial Viper, inhaling or swallowing the missile and choking. One of these incidents sadly resulted in the death of a four-year-old child. Following a recall, Mattel began to place “choking hazard” stickers on all of their toys with small parts, a precaution that would go on to become mandatory for all toy manufacturers.

Before we get into what makes this toy dangerous, let’s just acknowledge the fact that toys for children should’ve never been made based on the CSI television franchise considering the grisly subject matter. Kids ... should not be fans of this series. Period. Turns out this toy set was not only inappropriate, but also poisonous. The powder used for fingerprinting was proven to contain asbestos, which when inhaled can cause deadly respiratory issues and even cancer later on in life. This resulted in a class action lawsuit against CBS, the network that licensed the toy. In the wake of the public relations nightmare, the manufacturer, Planet Toys, filed for bankruptcy.

Swings, trampolines ... it seems like childhood is all about trying to launch your body as high as possible. The first generation of moon shoes was released in the 1950s. Made of a type of metal, these shoes locked your feet in like roller skates and used springs to help you reach the stars! They were also incredibly heavy, resulting in a lot of property damage when kids landed on household items, and injuries when kids botched a landing, rolled an ankle, or broke mom and dad’s toes. Nickelodeon released a much safer plastic version in the 90s, but sprained and broken ankles continued, minus the fun.

Between 1910 and 1950, the A.C. Gilbert Company was a big name in toys. Their 1913 Erector Set was one of the best-selling toys the world had ever seen, and over the next 40 years the company continued to put out a wide variety of scientific play sets that were quite dangerous by modern standards. The chemistry set taught young kids to make explosives. The glass-blowing kit involved temperatures close to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. But the Atomic Energy Lab wins for the most absurd, with multiple kinds of uranium, a Geiger counter to measure radioactivity, and a cloud chamber to observe alpha particles in action!

Guns! It doesn’t matter if kids are raised by registered NRA members or in strictly anti-gun households; they love playing with toy guns. Maybe it’s the speed of the projectiles, the loud noises, the influence of popular TV characters or all of the above. BB and airsoft guns can take an eye out, paintballs leave a serious bruise, and cap guns often lead to burns. There are over 200 incidents of toy guns being mistaken for real firearms per year in the States. While many toy guns are not inherently dangerous, they often look like the real deal and can lead to serious injury or death.

A cross between horseshoes and darts, these oversized projectiles have plastic fins and big rounded, weighted metal (or sometimes plastic) tips that ensure they fly true and land point first. Simple, outdoor fun for the whole family … until someone gets seriously or fatally wounded by a stray dart. Also known as Jarts or yard darts, they were popular in the 1950s but were later banned because of injuries. The ban was lifted in the 1970s under the condition they never be marketed to kids. When a seven-year-old girl was killed by one, it proved that the regulation couldn’t keep them out of the hands of kids, so this led to a strict ban in the States.

Which of these toys do you think would be worth the risk? Let us know in the comments below.