Remember Air Trix? You got a Styrofoam ball, and had to keep it suspended in an “airstream” that came from your battery-operated air gun. You maneuvered your way through an exciting and challenging obstacle course and then you went out and got a bowl cut. Good times!
There was also the Balancing Clown, “the game of high wire action.” The spinner would tell you which way to move the clown (why so many options with only two directions? I was never sure either). It was your job to navigate Mr. Creepy Clown on his journey from one end of the wire to the other, then to knock down your opponent’s flag. But I’m assuming you and your opponent both had sticks, no? That’s how we played it, and we didn’t exactly take turns; it was more of a free-for-all stickfest. Either way, the clown was so spooky I rarely had the guts to play this game unless an adult was around. This starry-eyed big-smiler and his plaid pants still haunt some of my worst dreams.
I simply adored Crossfire, the fastest rapid-fire action game ever. You used a gun to fire ball bearings at pucks, thereby scoring goals. But who ever bothered aiming at the pucks? Not me! Basically, this was our parents’ way of giving us carte blanche to shoot little guns at each other, and we needed no further encouragement. I’m going to have to find another one of these, because I’m getting all misty-eyed remembering the hours of fun and bruises we got out of this.
One of many peoples’ favorites (not mine, though) was the Famous Flying Floogle in his whip flying plane. Boy, you could really hurt someone with this, that’s all I can say. I still sport a rather large-ish Floogle scar on my right temple. The person who put it there knows who she is and should still be on guard, because one of these days I will have my revenge, and it will be sweet. Maybe after I find a replacement Crossfire game…
