People are getting serious nostalgia over childhood toy they 'spent hours using' and can 'still immediately smell'

People online have been losing themselves in nostalgia upon seeing a toy from their past, one which was incredibly simple but quite a lot of fun.

To start with, loads of people simply aren’t going to remember these.

You either had one or you didn’t, which – when you actually think about it – applies to just about anything, really.

The design is simple but ingenious, it’s a tiny little hat of rubber, that when you flip it inside out and wait, springs back against itself and jumps off the surface, whatever it may be.

It’s not even clear what you’d call one of these things, but it seems as if loads of people online have not only heard of them but have very deep and meaningful memories around them.

Yes, the time before the internet was strange and bleak reality.

On Reddit’s Casual UK sub, a post read: “Reinforce my sanity, someone else tell me they spent hours and hours launching these off their thumb and tabletops in the 90s.”

Reddit/@Leviad0n

One comment read: “I can immediately smell them.”

And some people had some much stranger stories to tell.

This daredevil is probably the pick of the bunch, saying: “I had a load of them as a kid, I thought it would be hilarious to launch one off my willy. It wasn't.”

No, it certainly wouldn’t be.

“You've unlocked a long lost memory!” read another comment.

Let’s hope it’s not a painful one involving launching a small toy off your penis.

On the subject of what they are actually called – ‘poppers’ and ‘flippers’ are already things – nobody really seems to know.

Some suggest ‘Hopper Popper’ or perhaps ‘Eye Popper’ or ‘Jumping Popper’, but there’s no real concensus.

Believe it or not, there is a patent for this, which shows in great scientific detail how it actually works.

Wikimedia Commons/US Patent Office

It turns out they were invented in 1938 by someone called Davis Jerome – though they seem to have been patented by a person called Nathaniel L Foster.

Some believe that they are the 1990s version of a fidget spinner, although – as we’ve covered – they’ve clearly been around longer.

Whatever their history, they clearly hold a special place in people’s hearts, which is a pretty good thing for a kids toy, you’d have to agree.

As one comment eloquently states: “Oh to have that time back so I could waste it again on something equally stupid!”

We can all agree with that.

Topics: UK News, Reddit, Weird

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim