Saturday, February 16, 2013

Vintage Kids Stuff! Can You Imagine Children Having The Patience To Play With Something Like These Anymore? Status: In Working Order.

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I've had the Kenner projector for ages. Picked it up at an estate sale early on in our days of hunting and gathering.  The Gaf View Master projector came later but I've also had it quite a while.  Too bad it don't project in 3D...I mean, that's the whole point of a View Master, right?!


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Vew Masters are amazing bits of vintage technology that have somehow fallen by the wayside.  I LOVE... 

LOVE!!! View Masters.  Looking through one at a reel of the Grand Canyon or the Florida Everglades

in REAL 3D is just absolutely fascinating.  But the problem is, it's not a shared experience.  It's just you

and you alone.  Like Campbell's "Soup For One", it's just so....lonely.  That's why these Gaf projectors

exist.  They fit the bill and do the job...but you lose the best part: 3D!

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This Kenner Easy Show loses nothing in translation...well, except the sound.  To make up for the loss

of audio you have the option of speeding up the playback or showing the reel in super slow motion...or

even Backwards!  And just like your kids do with the VHS and DVD, the films are a loop so they

can watch them over and over ad infinitum.  "Head Ache, party of one...your table is ready."

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This particular unit was complete with all packaging.  Only one of the movies had been removed.  It

probably hadn't been used more than once.  Unfortunately, as happens with most toys, the children put

it all neatly back in the box...with the batteries still in it.  Yup, the batteries leaked and corroded the metals

in the battery box.  I removed what I could (some had become one with the plastic casing!) and replaced

it with wiring and a spring from a flashlight and brought the projector back to life!  So, no...it is not MIB

(Mint in box) but it does work and it is complete.  Cool, huh?!

3 comments:

  1. It is cool. Toys are great! My favorite motto: You never outgrow your need for toys!!! *giggle*

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  2. So very cool. I love the old 60's toys. I love your blog. But it "pains" (not panes) me when I see the wrong word used. "Pain" is what you feel when you cut your finger on a "pane" of glass. "Patients" are the people found in a hospital. "Patience" is what you need when you're playing with a toy like this. Love your blog, really. :)

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    Replies
    1. Crap. I see where I went wrong. I DID look it up because I know I can't spell...but I didn't do a thorough job of it.

      http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=patient

      I just saw that "patient" was the root and added an "s".

      Will fix it. Thanks!

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