• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

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

Home> Community> Weird

Published 17:27 28 Oct 2023 GMT+1

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

These toys don't even have a recognised name, but you'll probably recognise them

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

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.

Advert

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.”

Remember these?
Reddit/@Leviad0n

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

Advert

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.

Advert

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.

Here's the patent document showing how they work.
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.

Advert

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.

Featured Image Credit: Reddit/u/SovietPenguins/Reddit/CasualUK

Topics: UK News, Reddit, Weird

Tom Wood
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]

X

@TPWagwim

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
a day ago
2 days ago
3 days ago
  • 9 hours ago

    Mother who lives with her new husband and ex to save money reveals how she makes bizarre situation work

    Her ex-husband is still around as it's an expensive world

    Community
  • a day ago

    Why seeing a pink flamingo on cruise could mean someone is a swinger

    The more you know

    Community
  • 2 days ago

    Relationship expert reveals what you should never say to a potential partner if you want them to like you

    Apparently it makes you come across as rude

    Community
  • 3 days ago

    Boxer left unconscious after freak electric shock accident in cannabis event

    Ivan Parshikov jumped straight into a swimming pool afterwards.

    Community
  • Man who could never smell gets corrective surgery and has insane realisation after experimenting with scents
  • People warned to immediately get out of the ocean if they spot one sign
  • Royal Mail worker shares what it means when they write 'P' on your letters
  • Doctor explains that they often miss serious condition that one in ten UK women suffer from