Infomercials have long promised you cutting-edge fun, but some of the most memorable toys sold through TV spots were also among the most hazardous. The seven toys below were heavily promoted in commercials that highlighted excitement and downplayed risk, turning living rooms into mini laboratories, battlefields, and racetracks. Each one shows how persuasive marketing could put dangerous products directly into your hands.
1) The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab
The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab, released in 1950, invited you to play scientist with actual radioactive materials. The kit contained real uranium ore, polonium, and other isotopes so children could perform experiments with real radiation, all for $49.50, a premium price at the time. Commercials framed it as a cutting-edge educational tool, encouraging you to explore atomic energy as if it were just another chemistry set, rather than a source of ionizing radiation.
According to reporting on dangerous toys from decades past, the lab’s contents were marketed as safe and scientific, not as substances that could pose long-term health risks. That disconnect between the serious nature of uranium and its casual presentation as a toy highlights how infomercial-style pitches often prioritized novelty over safety. For parents and regulators, it became an early warning about what can happen when complex technology is simplified for children without adequate safeguards.
2) The Johnny Reb Cannon
The Johnny Reb Cannon brought Civil War reenactments into your backyard by using real black gunpowder to fire half-inch wooden cannonballs. Sold in the 1960s, this replica artillery piece was promoted in explosive commercials that showed kids loading, lighting, and launching projectiles at high speeds toward cardboard forts and toy soldiers. The pitch focused on realism and power, encouraging you to treat a miniature cannon like an ordinary plaything.
Because the Johnny Reb Cannon relied on black powder charges, it effectively turned children into amateur artillerists, with all the blast and impact risks that implies. The combination of combustible material and solid wooden shot made misfires, accidental aim at people, and property damage very real possibilities. Its popularity in TV spots underscored how historical themes and patriotic imagery could be used to normalize weapons-grade play, raising serious questions for families about where imaginative reenactment ends and unacceptable danger begins.
3) Jarts Lawn Darts
Jarts lawn darts were marketed in the 1970s as a wholesome backyard game, inviting you to toss 12-inch darts toward plastic rings on the grass. Each dart weighed nearly half a pound and featured a sharp metal tip designed to stick into the ground after being thrown from about 40 feet away. Commercials showed smiling families lobbing the darts in slow arcs, with little attention paid to what would happen if a throw went off target.
In reality, those heavy, pointed Jarts became deadly when they struck people instead of turf, and by 1978 they had been linked to at least three child deaths. The eventual ban highlighted how a product could meet basic design goals yet still be fundamentally unsafe for home use. For you as a consumer, Jarts illustrate how infomercial-style advertising can frame a high-risk object as a simple leisure accessory, masking the severe consequences of a single misjudged throw.
4) Aurora Building Sets
Aurora Building Sets from the 1960s invited you to construct intricate models using sharp metal rods, nuts, and other hardware-style components. Commercials emphasized creativity and engineering skill, showing kids assembling towers, bridges, and vehicles without any visible safety gear or warnings. The parts were small, rigid, and often pointed, making them very different from the rounded plastic bricks that would later dominate the market.
Reports to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission documented numerous impalement and laceration injuries tied to these Aurora sets, as children fell on upright rods or sliced fingers while tightening metal pieces. The injuries revealed how a toy that looks like a scaled-down tool kit can carry the same hazards as real workshop equipment. For parents, the sets became a case study in why you must look beyond educational claims and examine whether a product’s basic materials are appropriate for unsupervised play.
5) Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker
Creepy Crawlers from the Thingmaker kit, launched in 1964, turned your kitchen table into a miniature factory for rubbery bugs. To use it, you poured liquid plastic into metal molds and heated them in a small “Hot Surface” oven that reached about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Commercials highlighted the thrill of creating your own creatures, focusing on the colorful results rather than the scalding temperatures involved.
When that compact oven tipped over, the superheated molds and liquid plastic caused severe burns to hands, arms, and even faces. The risk was built into the core mechanic, since you were encouraged to handle trays and molds while they were still dangerously hot. For families, Creepy Crawlers showed how a do-it-yourself craft toy could blur the line between child-friendly activity and industrial process, forcing regulators to reconsider how much heat and chemical exposure is acceptable in a product aimed at kids.
6) Slack Stix
Slack Stix, sold in the 1970s, were rhythm toys that asked you to clap two glass tubes together in time with music. Each tube was filled with colored liquid, and commercials framed them as stylish, almost hypnotic accessories that made satisfying clacking sounds when struck. The visual appeal of swirling liquid and the promise of easy musical fun made them a natural fit for flashy TV promotion.
However, those same glass tubes were prone to shattering on impact, spraying sharp shards and liquid in every direction when they broke. Children swinging Slack Stix near their faces or friends risked deep cuts and eye injuries. The product’s failure mode, catastrophic breakage during normal use, underscored how fragile materials can turn a simple rhythm toy into a serious hazard. For you as a buyer, Slack Stix are a reminder that durability is as important as novelty when evaluating infomercial products.
7) Aurora AFX Slot Car
Aurora AFX Slot Car sets from the 1970s promised you high-speed racing action on plastic tracks laid out across the floor. Commercials boasted that the miniature cars could reach speeds up to 15 mph, zipping around tight curves and over jumps in dramatic slow-motion shots. The message was clear: you could experience real racing thrills without leaving your living room.
In practice, those lightweight cars often detached from the track at high speed, flying off and striking children who were crouched nearby to watch the action. Hospital reports of impact injuries eventually prompted recalls of certain sets, as regulators recognized that projectiles traveling at 15 mph were not acceptable in a toy environment. For consumers, the Aurora AFX saga illustrates how performance claims in infomercials can overshadow basic safety, turning a family game into a source of unexpected emergency room visits.
More from Vinyl and Velvet:
Leave a Reply