Many toys these days have "spring loaded" features. For exapmle,
action figures sometimes feature
spring loaded
arms and/or
legs to
simulate a
punch or
kick, such as the
X-Men figures.
Push a
button, and
Wolverine's arm will will
slash down.
Other toys, such as
GI Joe and
Voltron, will feature spring loaded
missles that you can shoot when pressing a button.
But twenty years ago, it wasn't all fun and games; spring loaded toys were the cause of some concern.
In the 1970s, many robot toys from
Japan such as
Mazinger,
Gigantor, and them guys had spring loaded
rockets and fists (some of those
robot dudes made it here as part of the
Shogun Warriors toy line).
But in
1979, a
child choked on a
Battlestar Galactica spaceship missle when another child
shot it into his
mouth. The parents sued Matel, the makers of the toys. This forced other toy companies to examine the safety of spring loaded mechanisms in toys.
After that, the
Battlestar Gallactica toys had the rockets glued into the ship.
Shogun Warriors dissapeared off the shelves. And Kenner, the makers of the
Star Wars toys, who had advertised their mail-away
Boba Fett figure as "rocket-firing", had a quick change of heart and glued the
missle into the
bounty hunter's backpack. Interestingly, they even mailed a letter with each Boba Fett figure, explaining why they decided to revoke Boba's rocket firing ability.
But I don't think this is because these toys were
unsafe; rather, I think it's because most of these companies were afraid that
parents thought they were unsafe, which is why they followed suit.
In the 1980s, spring loaded toys were few and far between. Sure, the
He-Man figures would "punch" when you twised their waists, and some of them could "chop" (i.e.
Fisto and
Jitsu). And some of the DC
Super Powers figures could too. But alas, no rocket-firing toys.
Actually, in the 1980s, Voltron could shoot his fists, and some
Transformers like
Perceptor could shoot missles, but the srping strength was so weak that the projectile would land a few inches from where the toy stood.
But in the early 1990s, GI Joe toys started to feature spring loaded firing mechanisms on their toys. And Kenner's line of
Aliens action figures sometimes features spring loaded weapons. Since then, many toys these days, form
Star Wars, to
GI Joe, to
Beast Wars Transformers, feature spring loaded firing mechanisms that can actually shoot with enough
force to knock another toy down.