CREEPY CRAWLERS

THE FRYING GAME Horse around with the Thingmaker and you’ll get the third degree

Nothing says safety like an open hot plate. And nothing says fun like using that open hot plate to create molten, rubbery insects you can throw at your sister while narrowly avoiding setting the house ablaze. The 1964 Creepy Crawler Thingmaker from Mattel, a distant cousin of today’s Creepy Crawler toys, came with a series of molds, tubes of “plastigoop,” and an open-faced frier, which could heat up to a nerve-searing 310 degrees.

FLESH DIRECT The molds came in many different varieties, but rarely in the shape of your little brother’s hand

The plastigoop was poured over an extremely hot surface and then cast into the molds of various multi-colored critters. The results? Fingerprint removal. At least those who dodged serious injury or disfigurement could safely eat their creation. Oh wait, the critters were toxic, too. But this was the ’60s, and though there was an outcry from the singed and sickened masses, Mattel went right on marketing their electric ovens to children.

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