Monday, July 05, 2004
I just saw today that Jem is out on DVD. Is there really enough nostalgia for that cartoon to warrant a Jem DVD? Or do enough current kids even know about it? Now I understand G.I. Joe cartoon coming out on DVD. That had huge toy tie-in, a running story line and is probably one of the top cartoons for boys in my lifetime. But Jem? And I’m not being sexist here, either. I would also question the Rambo cartoon coming out on DVD? And I wouldn’t question Care Bears or My Little Pony coming out on DVD. Especially since I’ve seen an increase in the Care Bears merchandising in the store recently. Did Jem make any long term impact? I do admit that I watched a few episodes of it. (I had no cable and I wanted to watch cartoons on weekend afternoons. That left channel 22 (and possible channel 53 if I wanted to fuss with the antenna) as the only source of cartoons.
Speaking of dangerous things from my youth, I saw safety lawn darts in a toy store last weekend. For those that don’t know about lawn darts (or Jarts as the most famous brand was called), they were little metal-tipped colored-plastic-winged javelins that you threw like horseshoes only instead of a post on each side, you had a plastic loop that you tried to get the Jart to stick into the ground within. They got discontinued when a few kids apparently ran underneath them and got skewered. So, since some people couldn’t play safely, they got labeled a dangerous toy and discontinued. Of course, horseshoes are played the same way and can also do major damage if someone walks underneath them, but, maybe because they lacked bright colors, they were considered adult toys. Occasionally, old Jarts will come up on eBay and get taken down because dangerous stuff isn’t allowed to be sold. (Dangerous is subjective, I guess. I could probably find old New Kids on the Block cds on eBay.) The safety lawn darts were also available back then, but seemed to disappear along with the regular ones. Instead of a point, they had a rounded cup on the end of them. The set we had had a tulip them because they (vaguely) looked like tulips (if the petals grew facing down). They were waited in front to allow the same type of flying, but you couldn’t get them to stick in the ground. So they were just like horseshoes with more altitude. Which just reminded me of one of the reasons why they were seen as more dangerous than horseshoes. They were lighter than horse shoes so they could get more altitude and since they were lighter (and more brightly colored) kids tended to play with them more. And there was always that one kid who went to throw it and didn’t leave go in time and threw it straight up, causing everyone around to run for their lives. I should dig out my parents’ Jarts next time I’m invited to a picnic. I believe they still have a set.
Speaking of dangerous things from my youth, I saw safety lawn darts in a toy store last weekend. For those that don’t know about lawn darts (or Jarts as the most famous brand was called), they were little metal-tipped colored-plastic-winged javelins that you threw like horseshoes only instead of a post on each side, you had a plastic loop that you tried to get the Jart to stick into the ground within. They got discontinued when a few kids apparently ran underneath them and got skewered. So, since some people couldn’t play safely, they got labeled a dangerous toy and discontinued. Of course, horseshoes are played the same way and can also do major damage if someone walks underneath them, but, maybe because they lacked bright colors, they were considered adult toys. Occasionally, old Jarts will come up on eBay and get taken down because dangerous stuff isn’t allowed to be sold. (Dangerous is subjective, I guess. I could probably find old New Kids on the Block cds on eBay.) The safety lawn darts were also available back then, but seemed to disappear along with the regular ones. Instead of a point, they had a rounded cup on the end of them. The set we had had a tulip them because they (vaguely) looked like tulips (if the petals grew facing down). They were waited in front to allow the same type of flying, but you couldn’t get them to stick in the ground. So they were just like horseshoes with more altitude. Which just reminded me of one of the reasons why they were seen as more dangerous than horseshoes. They were lighter than horse shoes so they could get more altitude and since they were lighter (and more brightly colored) kids tended to play with them more. And there was always that one kid who went to throw it and didn’t leave go in time and threw it straight up, causing everyone around to run for their lives. I should dig out my parents’ Jarts next time I’m invited to a picnic. I believe they still have a set.
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