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50 Shades Of Blue

(11,331 posts)

29. I wasted so much time trying to make a drawing on my Etch a Sketch!

Mon Dec 8, 2025, 09:54 AM

Monday

My biggest toy disappointment though was a set of Wilkins and Wontkins puppets. They were characters (early Muppets tho' not called that) used in commercials and then offered as premiums by Wilkins coffee. My family enjoyed the commercials and parents drank the coffee, and my mom sent away for a set of the puppets. I was so excited, thought they would be like what I saw on tv. But they weren't. Instead of being made of flexible and expressive fabric, they were each just a piece of molded stiff vinyl. They were hollow so you could stick your hands in them, but you couldn't manipulate them in any other way.

Still bitter after over 65 years, LOL!

Here is the real thing.

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debm55

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When you were a kid, what toy did not live up to the commercials on television. My two major fails were Easy Bake oven [View all] debm55 Sunday OP

Keds shoes The Blue Flower Sunday #1

Those were P.F. Flyers. C_U_L8R Sunday #6

Thank you very much C_U_L8R. I like the ring the best. debm55 Monday #34

I stand corrected The Blue Flower Monday #54

We were all going so fast, it was blur C_U_L8R Monday #59

LOL The Blue Flower Monday #68

Thank you very much, The Blue Flower. I had Keds shoes and I never ran faster or jumped higher. debm55 Monday #33

Fly Over Chicane slot cars and track, on the commercials the cars flew thru the air dem4decades Sunday #2

Thank you very much for sharing your Major Fail with us. dem4decades. That must have been very disappointing to you. debm55 Monday #36

I only remember... buzzycrumbhunger Sunday #3

Thank you buzzycrumbhunger. I didn't like the bendables, The skin could not keep up with the day to day play and got debm55 Monday #38

Betsy Wetsy radical noodle Sunday #4

I had a Betsy Wetsy. Mine had the, "milk bottle " where it looked like she was drinking the milk. So no diaper change. debm55 Monday #39

My best friend and I LOVED easy bake oven. Our moms did not because it was messy. My let down mucifer Sunday #5

Was that Chaty Cathy? patphil Sunday #9

Maybe. She was so much better on tv mucifer Monday #69

No, just saw the ads. patphil Monday #72

Thank you mucifer for sharing, My Easy bake over never thoroughly cooked the muffins, cakes, or cookies. I had better debm55 Monday #45

The Hula Hoop. I couldn't do it. surfered Sunday #7

Neither could I. patphil Sunday #10

Thank you surfered. It took a little practice to get it going. debm55 Monday #46

My mom figured that if we were old enough for an Easy Bake Oven... hunter Sunday #8

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. Thank you very much for posting the air gun ad. It was funny. I don't remember that one. debm55 Monday #47

Sea monkeys Marylh Sunday #11

Hahahhahah. That"s a bummer. debm55 Monday #14

Slinky GreatGazoo Sunday #12

The best part of slinky was the song. I set mine up to go down the steps and it tipped over and came sideways down the debm55 Monday #13

Slinky was a fail for me, too. Diamond_Dog Monday #32

Thank you Diamond_Dog. Do you remember when they came with the Slinky dog? debm55 Monday #40

Yes, now that you mention it! Diamond_Dog Monday #50

MOUSE TRAP game Thunderbeast Monday #15

I could never get the Mouse Trap game to work. I loved the ad, but it was a major fail for me. Ty Thunderbeast. debm55 Monday #48

Tudor Electric Football... regnaD kciN Monday #16

Thank you regnaD kciN. I agree. My brother had that game and the players scattered all over the metal field. If I debm55 Monday #49

I had that, too RazorbackExpat Wednesday #83

Etch-a-Sketch was kind of a mix for me.... electric_blue68 Monday #17

Thank you electric_blue 68. It was impossible to make a circle on Etch a Sketch. debm55 Monday #63

😄 indeed! electric_blue68 Tuesday #77

Anything that was called an "action figure" in a commercial was, in fact, the exact opposite AZJonnie Monday #18

Thank you AZJonnie,, My brother had GI JJoe. and it was made out of such hard plastic it was very difficult to move let debm55 Monday #62

Not major fails, but PikaBlue Monday #19

Thank you PikaBlue. I liked my Silly Putty. I would put it on the Sunday colored comics and pick up the image of the debm55 Monday #44

click-clacks surrealAmerican Monday #20

I think I still have a knot on my head from those darned things. catbyte Monday #22

Thank you catbyte. Same thing happened to me--hit in face. I never told anyone. I slipped them in the can. debm55 Monday #43

Thank you surrealAmerican. They were dangerous. debm55 Monday #65

Barbie's Dream House catbyte Monday #21

My Barbie's Dream house was cardboard too. It was like a studio apartment. Yes. did not last. Easy Bake Oven was a major debm55 Monday #25

My sister had the Easy Bake Oven, that was a joke. Lawn Darts Emile Monday #23

Thank you very much Emile , the Easy bake oven and Lawn darts were two major fails for kids. debm55 Monday #24

I don't remember being disappointed with any toy I got. MIButterfly Monday #26

Thank you very much for sharing with us, MIButterfly. debm55 Monday #42

Clackers Abstractartist Monday #27

I had the banana seat bike and high handle bars to my bike. Then I painted it silver. I did it myself. Loved it. With debm55 Monday #41

Oh yeah Abstractartist Monday #70

Thank you very much Abstractartist. It was the way to go . Riding my bike made me feel free. debm55 Monday #71

🤙🏻 Abstractartist Tuesday #81

Snow Cone Maker get the red out Monday #28

Oh wow. I remember the snow cone maker. That was dangerous. Thank you for posting your major fail, get the red out, debm55 Monday #30

Yes! I forgot about that one! woodsprite Monday #76

I wasted so much time trying to make a drawing on my Etch a Sketch! 50 Shades Of Blue Monday #29

Thank you very much for sharing with us 50 Shades of Blue. They do look like the Muppets and the ads are very funny. debm55 Monday #31

Shopping Sheryl intheflow Monday #35

Thank you very much for sharing your Major Fail, intheflow. I like the cart too. Did she walk on her own to the can debm55 Monday #37

Flintstone Building Blocks Freddie Monday #51

HAHAHAHAHhAHAHA, Thank you very much, Freddie. debm55 Monday #61

Slinky, no question, gab13by13 Monday #52

Thank you gab13by13. You did better then me. It looked so easy in the ads. Loved the song. debm55 Monday #58

Fire eating kit. Sneederbunk Monday #53

Sneederbunk, thank you, But why would your ask Santa for that? debm55 Monday #57

The Erector Set. It was fine, but I never got to play with it. Dad, on the other hand, had a blast with it. Now I can Dorothy V Monday #55

Thank you sweet Dorothy V. I loved playing with cars. Never had an Erector Set. May the memories of your father be a debm55 Monday #56

Wow. Didn't have that, but I had/loved Tinker Toys! electric_blue68 Tuesday #78

Pac-Man on Atari 2600 UT_democrat Monday #60

Thank you , UT_democrat. I agree with you on the Pac-Man game on Atari 2600. bummer debm55 Monday #64

I begged for a boomerang one Christmas. LudwigPastorius Monday #66

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHH. That is so funny, Thank you LudwigPastorius. debm55 Monday #67

Bwaaahahahaaaaa! electric_blue68 Tuesday #79

I loved the Easy Bake, the Etch-a-Sketch, AND the hula hoop .. oh, and a chemistry set lostnfound Monday #73

Oh my, Thank you for your selections, lostnfound. I thought they took chemistry sets off of the market? debm55 Monday #74

These days there are fake chemistry sets. I am lucky to be old. Nt lostnfound Tuesday #82

Kellogg's Cereal Frogmen...what a bust!! GP6971 Monday #75

Thank you very much GP6971, Was it in the box or did you have to pay for it? debm55 Tuesday #80