Son of My 50 Year Junk Obsession 16 16

[Robot Man]

Yeah, if we are talking Marx trains, I fully agree. Very cheap with plastic engines. I still see them usually unsold, often boxed out in the wild. I am not a train guy. Other than a nice pre war Bing set, I have almost always screwed up. I just leave them for the train guys now.

We had an Erector set when I was young. I never had the focus or patience and my mom eventually got rid of it due to jamming her vacuum cleaner with little screws and such. 

[Robot Man]

My grandaughter after Fridays Dodger/Padres playoff game. She was so excited. 

[adamstrange]

On 10/12/2024 at 10:14 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

My greatest toy score was a 1940's era Erector Set for $2 or $3. I had to really press my Dad for that as I didn't have the scratch but he relented because it was a high quality toy. I still own it today and recall how much fun I had building large rotating contraptions that I liked more when they were out of balance and would wobble dangerously as the big motor drove on despite the wobble!!!

My Dad had a set, but we were only allowed to play with it on special occasions.  I think that was a mistake, as I did enjoy it and I do think it's good for kids.  I do remember my little fingers hurting like heck from the building process.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 10/13/2024 at 10:58 AM, adamstrange said:

My Dad had a set, but we were only allowed to play with it on special occasions.  I think that was a mistake, as I did enjoy it and I do think it's good for kids.  I do remember my little fingers hurting like heck from the building process.

Yeah, you needed a lot of patience and had to really want to build some as those tiny nuts and bolts were tough to deal with and covered in machine grease for some reason. I seem to recall building something on the living room floor and being in trouble for the mark I left behind on the rug due to that light coat of machine grease. Pretty crazy. Another great Gilbert toy we picked up was a chemistry set which we mainly liked as you could make explosive concoctions and crazy expanding foam. I don't think it was the set with the Uranium. Can you imagine the lawsuits today?? Somewhere I have an irradiated dime picked up at the New York World's Fair. It would be fun to get a geiger counter on that to see if it still emits any radiation.

[Robot Man]

On 10/13/2024 at 12:32 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Yeah, you needed a lot of patience and had to really want to build some as those tiny nuts and bolts were tough to deal with and covered in machine grease for some reason. I seem to recall building something on the living room floor and being in trouble for the mark I left behind on the rug due to that light coat of machine grease. Pretty crazy. Another great Gilbert toy we picked up was a chemistry set which we mainly liked as you could make explosive concoctions and crazy expanding foam. I don't think it was the set with the Uranium. Can you imagine the lawsuits today?? Somewhere I have an irradiated dime picked up at the New York World's Fair. It would be fun to get a geiger counter on that to see if it still emits any radiation.

I have one of those irridiated dimes as well. It comes in a plastic case. I’m sure it is still slightly radioactive.

I also have quite a few radio premium rings, badges ect that still glow well in the dark. A cool, spooky feature that kids must have loved in the day. Amazing they still work.

My wife has had a lot of that green Vaseline glass. Although most antique glass has lost much of its appeal and value these days. This stuff is still very popular among collectors. 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 10/14/2024 at 7:51 AM, Robot Man said:

I have one of those irridiated dimes as well. It comes in a plastic case. I’m sure it is still slightly radioactive.

I also have quite a few radio premium rings, badges ect that still glow well in the dark. A cool, spooky feature that kids must have loved in the day. Amazing they still work.

My wife has had a lot of that green Vaseline glass. Although most antique glass has lost much of its appeal and value these days. This stuff is still very popular among collectors. 

Those glow for a long time because of half-life. That's where the emissions only get cut in half over a really long period of time (measured in years and maybe hundreds or thousands of years.) It's why it's so hard to deal with nuclear waste; think the Yucca Mountain repository which I'd love to read more about. So, your glowing toys will be glowing for a really long time!!

I'll try to see if I can find my dime which is also in the plastic case and post a picture. I just looked up Geiger counters and you can actually buy one for about $50. and a kit for about $40. That might be fun to get one day and then we can measure your toy's radioactive emissions!!