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Thingmaker at Collect-Antiques.Net!
Thingmaker toys
by Mattel
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This memory was added on: August 18, 2009
The good old Mattel toys of the early '60's, where would we have been without them? Creepy Crawlers was one of my favorites, loved pouring the Plastigoop into the mold and then smelling that burning smell, literally of cooking rubber. My favorite molds were the frog and the skeleton. Later came EEEKS and Creeple People, put those voodoo heads on my pencil tops and then act like nothing was going on while writing and the pencil top bobbing at school just to freak everyone out. Still have my Creepy Crawler set and it works! Love talking with my wonderful wife who's the same age and comparing notes about those good old days! Thanks FeelingRetro!
Gary Melari
1957
This memory was added on: November 26, 2008
This was one of my all-time favorite Christmas presents. I would tie up the one bathroom in our house for hours making those bugs.
I loved the sizzle the plates made as you put them in the water to cool them down. I'd take the bugs to school and sell them to
finance more Goop purchases. When I saw the new version a couple of years ago in a toy store, I bought one for my nephew. He's
getting it for Christmas this year (he's been too young to appreciate it until now). I hope he has as much fun as I did.
Denise
This memory was added on: June 20, 2008
I still have it. The whole Creeple People set. Molds, hair, hotplate,
costumes, etc. I just loaned it to a dear friend for her grandkids to use. I
love this set. Back before some yahoo decided Americans had lost their
ability to use common sense, or think for themselves about safety. We had it
good with these toys. Now most things are so idiot proof that no thinking is
required. Bummer. I feel a lot of what's out there today as far as this
stuff goes, doesn't hold a candle to what we had as kids. Anyway. I love it
still, and my kids enjoyed it as well. Finding goop has gotten very
difficult however.
Carrol
This memory was added on: May 18, 2008
I loved by creepy crawler maker. I would put them under Mom's covers and pillow and other places she'd come across them. Then, the edible goop came out and I would drop creepy crawlers into mom spaghetti sauces and other such dishes while she was cooking. More than once the pan lids would fly across the kitchen. Needless to say, my hot plate mysteriously disappeared never to be seen again.
Kathryn
This memory was added on: March 19, 2008
Why do mothers find it so important to get rid of all our stuff? Comic books,
trading cards.....45's....toys. Box that stuff up mothers, and make space for it somewhere, and yes....take it when you move.....please. Those are better memories than baby shoes and spoons and all that other sappy stuff that they expect you to go nuts over when you start your own family. Give me back my creeple people machine! Now thats something to pass down. Just think....if grandpa would have kept your toys and gave them to you...you would have given them to me and I would be giving them to my kids...if I had kids....and they would sell them on ebay.....aah...well....so If you could have kept the 57 chevy ...that would have been good.
The only toy I really remember having and enjoying...was the creepy crawlers and most especially.....the creeple people maker. I remember the exciting part when you picked up the hot mold tray and placed it in the water to cool it....waiting for the steam to clear so you could see your creation and prepare for its arrival into the collection. ....good times. I went to school with heads and feet on all my pencils. I remember removing the feet when I used the pencil but letting the head stay on for the ride. I remember using the little rings that would hold the two half's of the heads together after the pencil was in place. The struggle was all mine. The rewards were spectacular...heads arms and feet. Many. ..each one special...yet... Where are they now? I know I didn't throw them out. ...MoM!#
Consequently I now throw nothing out. Ugh.
Dusty
This memory was added on: March 19, 2008
Wow! What a flash back. I remember this toy, it was my favorite. I think I was 8 or 9 years old at the time. I only played with it for a short time, due to a flood we had in the basement , it must have been thrown out with the damaged items from the flood. I remember the bottles of Goop, they were so cool, I even remember the smell of the Goop. They don’t make toys like this anymore.
Jerry
1962
This memory was added on: March 10, 2008
Great Toy! Right up there with the chemistry sets and biology/microscope kits we used to be able to get with things I'm sure they wouldn't dream of putting in now. The best with the creepy crawlers was the colours you could make the spiders and snakes. Pour some in - cook - pour in a different colour - cook. Hours of fun, then hang them up all over the house! Would love to get a kit now....and I would have no problem at all teaching my kids how to use it.
George
1959
This memory was added on: January 23, 2008
Good God, I remember this toy - it was one of my favorites! My uncle was only a couple of years older than me, and we'd spend hours making things, mixing the goop colors, etc. What amazes me more than anything is that we were CHILDREN (about 7-8 years old) playing (totally unsupervised) with metal hot plates that needed to be plugged in. And no warnings of any kind. Then again, I didn't even own a bike helmet until I was 40 years old. Man, we were tough. Kids today are wimps.
Tracy
This memory was added on: November 18, 2007
I'm 45 years old now and I find it hard to believe that little kids - I must've been 6 or 7 - were encouraged to play
with the hot plates!! But despite the obvious danger, I had lots of fun with my fun flowers and my brother enjoyed his creepy
crawlers. I remember he had a superman mold complete with a cape and coordinating blue liquid for the body and red liquid for the
cape! It is one of the few toys I actually had as a child and I remember it well. Well, that and my baby drowsy doll! I'd love to
have either one today...
Rick
This memory was added on: November 18, 2007
While going down the isle of an old toy store in my area, I came across the kit. Wow, what excuse could I use to but
this thing. I remember the late 60's when I had mine and LOVED it. Made bugs like crazy. Well, for 9.99 I bought the roughed up
box, hoping everything was in there. Invited my nephews and nieces over and we (more like I) went on to have ad awesome time.
It was as incredible as when I was a kid. Now the kids want more molds, goop etc! Luckily I have been able to find some old molds
on ebay and happy to see they are selling goop again. What a great memory. On a similar topic, does anyone remember a toy from back
then where you out a little square (like the size of a starburst) into a dome like thing that heated up and then the square morphed
or expanded into like a dinosaur? Am I nuts?
Anyway, I am hooked and now to search for "Shaker Makers"!
Steve in Philadelphia
This memory was added on: September 25, 2007
I Love Creepy Crawlers. I Remember the smell I used to go over to my Friend's House
after school I am looking 4. 2. Creepy crawlers molds. maybe some 1 haze some creepy crawlers molds in
there closet or in there attic?
PAUL
1959
This memory was added on: May 13, 2007
Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker was one of my prime motivations for halloween decorating. My parents let me clear out the garage as much as possible for a grand open space to set up a stage like scenario. I humg paper skeletons, with rope nooses, and postioned huge cut out figures on a large drape. In the center I covered chairs and open ladders with more drapery, and set decorations on those. The many Creepy Crawlers I made I strung along the open garage door all hanging from one end to the other! Like they were all crawling down on strings. In the background (this is so yesterday), I would play the Disneyland Recording of "Chilling Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House", and small lamps were positioned to give the scene lots of dramatic shadows. I did this for several years, when I was real young and growing up. A lot of the neighbors and passerby's for halloween loved it. My favorite Creepy Crawler bugs were the giant tarantula, putting the plastic wings on the dragonfly, making the snakes, the small bugs, and inserting fastening pins into mold of baking bugs during the soft process to make bug pins for t-shirts. I still liked the big tarantula best, especially pitch black!!! Great fun, and the newer version like gizmo uses lightbulb for heat. I had the process of using warm plate, placing hot molds in cool trays, and then on paper towels like a factory.
ROBERT
august 10, 1956
This memory was added on: May 4, 2007
I remember the "Incredible Edibles" and the fighting man version as well - complete with wire that had to be inserted before cooking. The wire allowed you to pose and bend the figure.
We also took to melting crayons in the heating element for "candles." Dangerous but huge fun to boot!
Curt
1958
This memory was added on: May 2, 2007
We were the envy of all the other kids on the block. My uncle worked in plastics & since goop was so expensive, he & his coworkers experimented & created their own. We had GALLONS of it in odd & unusual colors that lasted forever. Needeless to say, all of the neighbor kids knew where to come & play. Besides Creepy Crawlers & Flower Power, we also had a set where you casted your own set of "paper" dolls. My favorite was the nurse uniform.
Roxanne
1962
This memory was added on: April 12, 2007
I just got an old Creeple Peeple set off of eBay, and OH MY! That smell hit me first thing.
*SIGH*
I got my first set, Creepy Crawlers for Christmas when I was 6. SIX! Using a heating device. My brother was 8 years older and mom made him help me. I made him hold some completed crawlers in the Christmas pics that year, heh heh.
Julie
1960
This memory was added on: March 16, 2007
I remember the edible ones! I can still smell them. They didn't taste "good" but were fun to eat! Those were the days!
Jenny
1962
This memory was added on: March 6, 2007
I have a 6yr old grandson living with me now. We just pulled out of the basement the creepy crawler oven. I did not think the goop would still work after about 15yrs of being around. Well it did and I will be going out to buy new goop that I have found at Meijer Stores. My kids had fun with this and now my grandson will have just as much fun with it too.
Chris
1961
This memory was added on: February 13, 2007
This was my absolute favorite toy! I don't remember ever burning my fingers... but oh do I remember that unique smell of burning goo! :-) What a delight. When the incredible edibles came out, I had lots of fun grossing out the girls at school by eating "bugs" etc. Great memories!
J
1956
This memory was added on: February 11, 2007
FunFlowers... YES.. how I remember these... I think i had "two" of the hotplates/Thingmakers ... a myriad of molds.. Had the creepy crawlers too but didnt like those as well as the flowers.. and DID YOU KNOW? The Plasti-Goop STAINS !!! yes.. rugs and hardwood floors... if you weren't careful...(BUT WE WERE CAREUL!) the stuff stained like CRAZY....Yet I was still allowed to play with it.(unsupervised) with my friend Linda and cousin Barbie in my "playroom".. It's a wonder we made it out alive.. between this and the Minibikes and other assorted danger toys...We never broke a bone nor did the house burn down!!
Mary
1959
This memory was added on: February 4, 2007
One of my absolute favorite childhood toys. Besides the Creepy Crawlers, I also had Fun Flowers and a set features all the Peanuts characters.
A year or two later I got an Incredible Edibles set, but it never was as much fun as the non-edible variety. (And besides, the edible creations didn't taste that great anyway.)
Robin
1959
This memory was added on: February 1, 2007
GROWING UP WITH THE CREEPY CRAWLERS WAS LIKE HEAVEN, MY BROTHER AND I ALWAYS PLAYED WITH THE THINGMAKER FOR HOURS AND HOURS FIRST I HAD THE BUG THINGMAKER THEN I BOUGHT THE MACHINE THAT MADE HEADS. I ALSO REMEMBER GOING SHOPPING AT KORVETTES WITH MY FAMILY AND LOKKING FOR THE GLOOP WHEN WE FOUND THE GLOOP WE COULD NOT MAKE UP OUR MIND WHICH COLOR TO GET THEY HAD SO MANY TO CHOICE FROM. WHEN THE MACHINE ONE DAY WOULDNT GET HOT I VERY SAD . I LOVER THOSE TIMES.
KEITH STRASSER
1958
This memory was added on: January 30, 2007
I remember being so ecstatic about getting a Fright Factory Thingmaker set for Christmas that I got up at 3:30 that morning and ripped opened that present. I knew exactly which one it was by the size and shape. I then proceded to immediately start making the shrunken head. If you remember this was on of the larger molds so consiquently it took quite a bit longer to heat up and cure. As the goop was cooking and setting up, I fell back asleep at the kitchen counter. Well my Father woke up around 4:30 to the smell of burning Plasti-goop and Formica. We didn't have smoke alarms in those days just screaming parents. The kitchen counter survived with just a large burnt bubble and I wasted alot of goop on a useless Shrunken head. Those molds were hard to clean once they were charred like that. I love all the thingmaker sets, so much so that I puchased them all again off of ebay. This time I stayed awake thru the whole process.
Richard B
1956
This memory was added on: January 1, 2007
I will never forget the wonderful smell of creepy crawlers cooking...we had hours of fun playing with this thing. I loved making all of the bugs...I remember how sometimes it was not so easy to get them out of the mold...and you would break off a leg or other important body part. If they did not cook long enough they would stay sticky...ick...and if you spilled the goop on the Styrofoam container...it melted the Styrofoam...very cool to watch...I would love to have been able to introduce my kids and grandson to the original set...what a great way to learn that hot things will leave burns on your fingers...and spilled goop...is VERY hard to clean out of shag carpet...I have seen it said on here...and I agree...what a wonderful time it was to grow up in the 60's...we had the best toys and best TV shows...and safe neighborhoods to play in...love this site!...THANKS
Wendy
1955
This memory was added on: December 27, 2006
This is by far probably one of the biggest classics of which I have many fond memories of playing with my older brother. I loved the way the goop smelled when it was cooking and all the bugs we made. Then carefully exuming the plastic bugs from there molds being careful not to dismember the legs of the spiders, cockroaches. I had plastic sandwhich bags full of em. Then I recall takin them to school and chasing all the girls around the classroom with the bugs, putting them down there shirts and watching the girls scream and squall. Those were the days the teacher could still hit kids in school. I got my fanny warmed by the teacher and sent to the corner but it was worth the ruckus I caused. I was an absolute terrror, h**l raiser as a youngin.
Does anybody remember the "edible" version. They all tasted the same even though they were different flavors and colors.
How in the world all us youngins survived with all the dangerous toys of the time is beyond me but we did. It's a shame the era we grew up is gone forever with all the wonderful toys we had.
JD
1963
This memory was added on: December 20, 2006
I remember getting all of the additional molds, like the giant cockroach, which you also made a little "bubble" thing you put on the back of the bug while it was cooking, and when it was done it was a squirting cockroach!! Way too cool!! And who didn't burn themselves with this thing? My god, kids are way too protected nowadays!!
Rex Jacobsen
1962
This memory was added on: December 13, 2006
My parents went nuts over these things...I can still remember the smell of the "Plasti-goo" which came in all colors, including "Glow-in-the -dark". We had this one, also "Fighting Men" Flower Power (for girls) and the best "incredible edibles"
They never let us cook the stuff.
Rich
1961
This memory was added on: December 3, 2006
My broither had this one and I remember how much I liked it even more than he did. It was one of the last things Daddy gave us before he left for good, tho now that I'm grown up I suspect "she" picked out our toys that year since "she" had 3 of her own that she left behind, too. She came back, tho, daddy never did.
Anyhow, I remember making spiders and other things with this and mom telling us you couldn't buy the stuff to make more so that was that on Creepy Crawlers
Cajunlady Marie
1960
This memory was added on: November 22, 2006
I got a Creepy Crawler set for Christmas. Had fun with it until I got bored making the same bugs over and over. The neat thing was, my cousin, 3 years older than me, borrowed the thing and bought lots of goop, then made a ba-zillion ants which she used for her school science fair. She made a "nest" of black ants with red ants attacking the colony. It looked GOOD! She won the fair that year. I loved the smell it created when you cooked the critters
Dave
1955
This memory was added on: October 7, 2006
My sister got the Fun Flowers set for Christmas one year. She let me use it with her. One of the best toys we ever had! (It's amazing this toy was even allowed to be sold to kids, though - considering the danger there was in getting burned by the heating element!)Grandma thought it was great, too - she asked my sister to make her some flower pins! (Grandma was big on large, flowery costume jewelry! :) My sister and I were still making things with it when she was in Jr. High. One night she surprised me with a huge bag of Fun Flowers and related accessories on my pillow!
In the late '70's or early '80's, a new version came out. My sister was working at a toy store at that time, and brought it home as a surprise for me, for nostalgia's sake. However, we were both really disappointed with it - the texture of the baked "goop" flowers was really hard and plasticy - not soft and rubbery like the old version! :( So, we took it back to the store...
I still see the original version quite a bit at thrift stores. Too bad the goop is probably so dried up now, you couldn't use - even if the heating element were still intact.
Diane
1964
This memory was added on: September 19, 2006
Ah, the toys of the 60's...the greatest! Plastic toys really came of age in the 60's and "Creepy Crawlers" allowed you to make your own! I had the original Creepy Crawlers and Fright Factory (loved the skeleton) and spent hours at the oven. Can you imagine this, or many of the 60's toys, being sold today? My fondest memory of CC is asking my father to bring a shoe box full of them to work and sell them to coworkers for money to buy more goop. He would come home with a pocket full of change with the shoe box less many creatures. My dad has long since passed away so I can't ask him, but looking back, I bet those coins came from his own pocket and he just gave them away. I mean, how embarrassing selling rubber creatures to your adult coworkers? Not like it was Girl Scout cookies or anything. The 60's were a great time to grow up as a kid...the toys, the wacky TV shows, the space program, etc. It all seems so innocent now. PS: I still have my molds and the "Thingmaker" though the box is long gone.
Bruce
1958
This memory was added on: September 14, 2006
For some reason, I started thinking about my Creepy Crawlers recently; I was telling my 6-year-old son about them, because I know that he would LOVE this if it still existed. I also had the Creeple People and somebody else in the neighbourhood had the Incredible Edibles. I remember how much I loved making the bugs (I was probably about 8 when I got this - maybe Xmas of 1969?) and it's true, the smell of burning Goop is both indescribable and unforgettable. Since I grew up in a military family that was always on the move, I have no idea when these toys disappeared from my life. My friends and I never had much superivsion whilst using them, but I don't remember getting burned and as far as I know, nothing in the surrounding area ever got destroyed. Our childhoods were a lot simpler and IMHO more fun. That's one reason I allow my son a lot of creative licence to make all kinds of messes - that's what builds great childhood memories.
Georgia
1961
This memory was added on: August 21, 2006
OMG!!! Fun flowers was my most favorite non-doll toy in the late 60's. I got mine for Christmas, and spent hours and hours making all of those fabulous mod looking flowers. I wish I still had it today. I can still remember the way that they smelled. (king of rubbery) I also remember burning my finger pretty bad, and it hurt like hell, but I still loved to make them. My brother had Creepy Crawlers, and my sister had Pic a Doodles. They just don't make stuff like that anymore.
Miss C
1961
This memory was added on: July 20,2006
i love creepy crewlwers in mexico the name was horripicosas,i remember the sound of the water when you put the hot mold inthe water tray shshshsh! i want to buy one martha
martha
1961
This memory was added on: June 16, 2006
Howdy folks,
Ok, here's the s'goop (Hah! I KILL me!) on reviving your Thingmakers, molds, and Plasti-Goop. I inherited a maker and several molds from my older brothers in the mid 70's and glommed onto various molds and Vacuu-Forms from rummage sales and such during that time. During intermittent use I would painstakingly conserve every drop of goop after seeing the last actual bottle in the stores about 1971 or so. After they all ran out I tried several facsimiles like fishing worms, plastic milk bottle caps and re-melting bubblegum machine bugs, all to more or less spectacular failure. Like my mom, I'm a packrat and wouldn't have dreamt about getting rid of my molds though.
There was a brief resurgence when my kids were young in the 90's with the Toymax goop, but even that's a rarity now. And there must be some self destruct mechanism in ThingMakers cause none of mine work now. I suspect aging wire shorts and breakage in the cords. No matter, I went out and bought a cheap toaster oven at Wally-mart, which actually heats the molds more evenly and you can do 3 or 4 at a time. But is that a moot point because of lack of goop?
Fear not, for necessity is the mother of Creepy Crawlers! There is plenty of goop available! And here's where it is! Go to any fishing supply website (I went to Jannsnetcraft.com) and look under lure making supplies. Under various names like Plastisol, they sell what is essentially unrefined PLASTI-GOOP™!!
I ordered worm making liquid and hardener (I suggest both, without the hardener everything will be fragile as a fishing worm) and 5 dye bottles, black and white plus 3 basic colors, red, blue and yellow that you can combine to make any other color. For the 2 quart bottles of liquid and hardener and the dye bottles (highly concentrated)plus shipping it ran me about 40 bucks. Much less than what some people are charging for equivalent quantity of original goop bottles on eBay.
Just last night I experimented with it all, combining equal amounts liquid and hardener, adding a drop or two of dye to match what little Toymax goop I had left, shaking 'er up and refilling several bottles. Works perfectly! I also introduced my lady friend to the experience, inhaling the heady aroma of cooking goop, the satisfying sizzle of molds hitting water and the joys of assembling Mini-Dragons.
Well that's how I have my goop flowing. Geez, 2 quarts should keep me in rubber toys for years.
One thing I haven't done yet is make my own molds. I've been toying around with creating clay and plaster molds which could be heat resistant at least for a time. Has anyone else attempted this?
Cheers!
Graf
Grafikman
1962
This memory was added on: June 8, 2006
What a riot! The neighborhood gang, about 3-4 girls and about 3 little brothers, would spend hours in someone's basement, (unsupervised, of course), cooking up flowers and all that other crazy stuff. New bottles of goop were a real treasure. I'm so glad to see other people having fun sharing their personal memories. Thank you!
Linda
1962
This memory was added on: June 2, 2006
I do remember getting burned quite a bit. Hell, I was only six. I remember my mom yelling at me for smelling up the living room. She told me to go play with it upstairs in my bedroom.
Don Buzzard
1962
This memory was added on: May 25,2006
Xmas of '65, when I was in 5th grade, Daddy sent me the CreepyCrawler Set. Who cared about occasional mini-burns? Small price 2 pay 4 endless hours of sheer bliss---& healed in no time flat! I loved putting a wire "spine" in the lizard, tho it didn't always work, so sometimes he'd have "shrapnel" breaking thru his skin, LOL!
4 the guy who asked about the durability of the critters: a few years back, my mother still had the giant crab I made her in orange. It was just as pliable as at its creation.
Forced 2 part with my Thingmaker only 18 months after it arrived in the mail, I never quite got enough of the process. With my 51st birthday coming up in a week (& my enduring love 4 lizards), I'm hankering for another round of "gooping." Eagerly scouring the net for a used original kit.
Sheila
1955
This memory was added on: May 24, 2006
I had forgotten all about my Creepy Crawlers set I had as a kid until recently, while driving, I had caught a scent in the air which immediately reminded me of the smell of the goop as it cooked. There is no other description for that scent.
Cary
1959
This memory was added on: May 20, 2006
I was maybe eight or nine years old when I got my first Thingmaker toy: Creeple Peeple. My sister got a Fun Flowers set. We added Mini Dragons to our collection the next year. It quickly became my favorite toy.
Growing up, no one ever thought this was a dangerous toy. Kids deserve a little credit for knowing that a hot plate will burn you. We probably got more "hurts" from our roller skates and bikes (which we rode with no safety helmet in those days). I don't ever remember getting burned by my Thingmaker.
I miss that thing! If I had only know then - I would have stashed it away somewhere.
Mel
1959
This memory was added on: May 11, 2006
Remember sneeking the rubber "bugs" into school to impress your friends? Some of the creatures gave me nightmares they were so ugly looking! Yes, I remember the uncooked damp part of the bug that was frustrating! Why couldn't they work the "bugs" out of that problem? It was so much fun devising different styles of creatures. I also remember some toy where you melted wax into the shape of Army men and all the kids getting burnt at some time. Such wimpiness nowadays with school busses stopping every 50 feet and no hot plate from your Thingmaker cooking your fingers!
Gary Melari
1957
This memory was added on: May 1, 2006
Oh my gosh, this was the best thing ever....thinking about how incredibly dangerous it was to use and there we were happily cooking away on it. Then setting those incredible hot metal plates in the "cooling" tray CHTZZZZZ! Many many burnt fingers. My brother and I made so many things with that kit. And we forever be saving our measly allowance for more goop! THE GLOW IN THE DARK GOOP! Let's get that next! Then the big fight over who gets to make the first creepy crawler with the new goop. We could hardly stand the ride home! Also, the tarantula spider body was so huge that thing would never "cook" all the way thru. It was always "raw" in the middle and the poor legs overcooked to a crisp! I will never ever forget this toy!
Mary
1961
This memory was added on: April 24, 2006
yeah... best ever. Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth my parents gave me an original Creepy Crawler "set", or whatever you call it. My dad read the instructions and helped me make my first batch, I remember a red snake was one of them. The smell... physical psychologists say smell is by far the strongest memory trigger there is, and I believe it.
Of course along came spinoff sets, like the Peanuts comic strip characters, mix-and-match dragon-things, build-your-own bug-things, loads of different colours, glow-in-the-dark goop, water-squirting gigantic cockroaches, I'm getting dizzy just thinking about all that stuff. For a kid struggling to survive in an alcholic family, it was a wonderful creative escape. I kept a bag of all my creations, and counted them regularly: about 1,587 separate Creepy Crawlers at the peak. Many years later, my father threw them all in the garbage, along with the plates and everything else, when he was cleaning house. Just... all completely gone. But what a wonderful memory, and for me a wonderful gift from the creative people who thought this up and made it happen for kids like me.
SC
1961
This memory was added on: April 12, 2006
This was one of the best toys I ever had. First of all, what the hell kind of twisted mind came up with this thing? LOL think about it...an open hot plate with NO OFF SWITCH, used in close proximity to a bowl of water! Not to mention metal tongs, and needed a straight pin to get the bugs out of the molds. Even better was the 1001 uses it had AFTER all the molds and goop were gone and/or lost. The funniest thing I remember was my cousinns and I putting the little gteen army men on it and watching them slowly melt as if they had just gotten nuked. Hysterical! I dont even think the metal tongs would get past the Consumer Product Safety Commission today. It was a more innocent age to be sure.
David
1958
This memory was added on: February 27, 2006
Oh the memories! I had Creeple People and Creepy Crawlers and Fun Flowers! I would sit at the dining room table and spend hours making my creations. My parents and grandparents were always getting lots of my great "gifts"! Of course they loved them! It was a great toy in a day when we didn't worry so much and life was much simpler.
Sue
1957
This memory was added on: February 22, 2006
My brother was six years old in 1969 when he was given for his birthday a Creepy Crawler set. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed as having Juvenile Diabetes. As a six-year-old it is difficult the grasp the difficulties one will face in life as a diabetic, but his first and most lasting memory of that time was the trauma that resulted when my parents took the Creepy Crawler set away from him. He was devastated. Now, 37 years later, my brother just received a pancreas transplant and he is no longer diabetic. He wants his set back...
Sara Sherman
1964
This memory was added on: February 19, 2006
Does anyone remember the plasti good dress up dolls? It came with molds for the dolls and the clothes. The clothes actually had little buttons and button holes so you could dress the dolls.
I have read the comments about Creepy People, but I do not recall that this was the name of the set I remember playing with for hours and months at a time. And yes, many burns from the hot plate and yes, the smell of the goop cooking and cooling is permenantly etched in my senses.
Cindy
1959
This memory was added on: January 14, 2006
I got this for Christmas. It was a great toy! My most vivid memory of the Thingmaker was that I put a penny on the heating area and it melted to the point that it could not be removed.
Mike
1958
This memory was added on: January 3, 2006
Was at a party and got to talking about the Thing Maker! When we ran out of Goop we used to try crayons, wax or even pan cake dough. My sister ruined our oven by filling it with crayons, melting them directly on the hot surface without the mold. Does anyone still have their original creations? I am curious as to how the rubber holds up over 30 years.
Timmy
1961
This memory was added on: December 16, 2005
I Remeber going to my Friends house to make creepy crawlers. I loved the smell I am looking 4. 2 .of the crppy crawlers molds.
PAUL
1959
This memory was added on: December 5, 2005
I GOT A CREEPY CRAWLER THING MAKER FOR CHRISTMAS ONE YEAR, LONG, LONG AGO...AND THAT THING WAS THE BEST TOY EVER!!! I REMEMBER I WOULDNT LET ANY OF MY SISTERS TOUCH IT. DON'T TOUCH MY TOY, AND DONT TOUCH MY GOOP!!!! I MADE ALL KINDS OF COOL STUF TILL ONE DAY, WHILE I WAS MAKE SOME BUGS, MY YOUNGEST SISTER, WHO WASNT MORE THAN 3 FELL ON THE OPEN OVEN AND BURNED HER TUMMY PRETTY GOOD. SO MOM TOOK IT AWAY FROM ME...I WAS SOOOOO MA D AT MY SISTER!!! I ALSO HAD THE FLOWERE MAKER THING. I REMEMBER IT CAME WITH SOME FILMY LIQUID STUFF TO MAKE THE FLOWERS. THE COLORS WERE MAGENTA AND YELLOW I THINK, AND WIRE STEMS AND THE GREEN TAPE STUFF TO WRAP THE WIRE. I LOVED THAT TOO. WHY WONT THEY MAKE TOYS LIKE THAT THESE DAYS.
GALE
1959
This memory was added on: November 15, 2005
My sisters and I had Creepy Crawler molds and Fun Flower molds. I remember the flowers the best. The funniest thing now is that my oldest son has the modern version of the Creepy Crawler oven, and they are still a hit. He used to sell them at school, and a friend who used to be his best customer told me that he should set up shop again - both of them are 19 now, and still into Creepy Crawlers!
Joanne
1962
This memory was added on: November 6, 2005
still have the metal molds and all...Yes it was dangerous.They must have wanted to punish kids back then....
brenda
1960
This memory was added on: October 7, 2005
Creepy Crawlers were one of the greatest toys (along with SSPs, Smash-up Derby, and the game "Careful!"). As a little kid, I wasn't allowed to play with them myself, but my older brothers had this toy and the three of us had a ball making bugs, skeletons, and all sorts of cool stuff. It was just the coolest toys you could own. Can you imagine kids having anything like this today? Yeah right.
Funny story...my father, who turns 80 next year, tells the story about being a little kid in the 1930s and having a similar toy to Creepy Crawlers, expect you poured hot metal into molds to make tin soldiers!
John
1965
This memory was added on: October 1, 2005
My friend had this, I remember going to her house after school and making bugs. She had the Incredible-Edibles too. I think kids our "our" generation were alot smarter than todays kids, we had all these dangerous (by todays standards)toys and we never burned down the house or our selves...too badly. And if we did WE got yelled at for being stupid, and no one got sued! Funny how things have changed.
Kathryn Smith
1957
This memory was added on: September 27, 2005
I was in the 4th got the Creeple Peeple set for Christmas one year. and my sister got a woodburning set. were our parents crazy? No supervision ever..why we were the trusted generation! I had a blast making the people, and selling them to my classmates for $.25 cents each- I will NEVER forget their smell cooking and cooling off! what fun...and great memories.when the days were fun and carefree
Diana
1957
This memory was added on: September 14, 2005
I loved this dangerous toy. It reminded me of my sister's Easy Bake Oven because she would run out of batter to bake and I'd run out of goo for the Creepy Crawlers.
Roberto
1962
This memory was added on: September 9, 2005
I have two younger sisters, and we all have fond memories of this toy. During my pre-teen years, a friend of our dad's got divorced & got custody of his son. The two of them spent an enormous amount of time hanging out at our house (when we weren't all going to Disneyland for the day, that is. Admission was like two bucks! Amazing to recall how easy & cheap it was to spend the day wandering around the Magic Kingdom) The divorced buddy used to bring gifts for us every single time he came over and this toy was one of his most inspired choices. The dads set up a space on the workbench in the garage for us to use the Thingmaker and we spent hours and hours and hours pouring goop into the molds and burning our fingers prying Creeple People, bugs and other weird stuff out of the molds once they were cooked. Even more than the smell of the baking goop, I remember the sound & smell of the hot mold hitting the water bath. Was the water bath included with the set, or was this an inspiration of our engineer dad?
Leah
1958
This memory was added on: July 21, 2005
Wasn't it great to have toys that could injure you so badly? After school we would crank this thing up and dare other kids to touch the hot plate..... what fun..!!!
Billy
1956
This memory was added on: July 20, 2005
My parents never let me have a thing maker when I was a kid, because they thought I would get burned. I think my carer choice was a result of this. I am now a professional ceramic sculptor of humorous figures. I went back a few years ago and bought all of the creepy crawlers playset, I think I have six different ones. We had a party once and played with them all night long. http://www.tonynatsoulas.com
Tony
1959
This memory was added on: June 26, 2005
Wow! This was one of my favorite toys. While clearing my mom's attic I have just refound my old set. What a treasure. The box is a wreck but everything else is fine. I am so tempted to start burning goop again. I was just getting into arts and crafts and my parents got me the Creepy Crawlers Set to add to my interests. Still working with arts and crafts, but have expanded into clay and ceramics, I just might have to burn a little more goop for special effects. Gee, I'm glad I found it again.
Ken
1952
This memory was added on: May 30, 2005
I love creepy crawlers - had them when I was twelve. Had a little board to act as the thingmaker table on the bedroom floor. I spent hours making these things. One year I had over 100 pennies to buy a giant size bottle of blue plastigoop at Ben Franklin's - the "dime" store. I bought a ton of old sets on Ebay and to this day I'm using up the old mattel goop to make more creepy crawlers. I have almost all the thingmaker sets.
Lucy
1965
This memory was added on: April 22, 2005
I was just cleaning out my mother's house, where she has lived for 50 years and I found my creeple peeple on a shelf in her closet, I can't believe it!! I opened one of the plastigoop bottles and its still liquid!! I loved that thing and am so happy I found it.
Lori
1956
This memory was added on: April 9, 2005
My brother had the Creepy Crawlers set and I had the one where you could make people and clothes. I have so many memories of playing with that thing, I would always invite my friends over and we'd squeeze gel into molds and cook them for hours! I was always so careful to make them perfect. I dont know what happened to that toy, my mom probably threw it away when we moved. I really miss it and wish they still made them.
Kristin
1990
This memory was added on: March 8, 2005
On a pizza box tonite, there were questions my kids were supposed to ask me. One was "my favorite toy". I thought about it a little, then came up with "Creeple People". I'll never forget the smell of the cooking goop.
I had so much fun with that, got burned so many times (but not seriously).
Brad Butcher
1955
This memory was added on: February 6, 2005
We had this and it was GREAT! I remember especially making a lot of the worms and roaches...go figure! I had the flower molds too which I loved making...we talk at work about our old toys we used to play with which would be considered hazardous to kids nowadays, but somehow all survived them!
Mary
September 1960
This memory was added on: February 5, 2005
Is this crazy or what? How could our parents purchased these things? Love it.
We had everyone of the toys labeled under miscellaneous.
My brother put model airplane glue in three of my mom's pumkin pies before they went in the oven. The smell, and the oven door almost blew off. Poor mom asked "Why in God's name would you do that?" He was doing tests so he could create his own kind of toy like these.
Man, we were so lucky. My brother also fed Charlie McArthy the dummy baked beans, and candy hearts. Needless to say that dummy was smelling in a day or two.
Noelle
1960
This memory was added on: December 9, 2004
My sister and I were together recently and we were talking about the fun we used to have with our "Thing makers". We had several sets of molds, including the fun flowers and the grids of squares, dots, and x's that you could make letters or numbers or any other simple design in one color then add a second, background color. I had both cookers (we had to have two, because we both loved it so much) and more than 20 molds. We decided she must have a couple of the molds, 'cause we couldn't find the shrunken head or the skeleton ones we had. Did have a partial skeleton already made, though. I shared with her, let her take some molds back home to MD with her. All the way from ID.
Gina
1958
This memory was added on: November 16, 2004
Wasn't that a great toy? We had "Super Thingmaker"...which, I think had the flowers and crawlers...too much fun!
Sally B
1963
This memory was added on: November 12, 2004
I remeber using the hot-plate for my other "dangerous" toy -- my chemistry set. Great for heating up stinky stuff and filling the house with sulphorous fumes. Amazing -- I probably wouldn't allow my kids to use a "Thingmaker" without some adult supervision.
Wayne
1959
This memory was added on: October 4, 2004
They remade this about five years ago... nothing's ever as good as the original, though. :)
Although those years are way behind me, I feel like I've lived through them. I know everything about them anyway... Child of the Sixties... that's what mother calls me!
Mary
1990
This memory was added on: October 3, 2004
I remember an older kid had one in the early 70's. his mom took it away after he burned himseldf
mark shogren
1969
This memory was added on: October 1, 2004
I could never remember what this toy was called until I saw this website. My older brother had it and it facinated me! Especially the fact that it required "cooking" and heat..it seemed very serious and cool!I wasn't allowed to use it because I was too young, and, of course because it was my brother's toy. I'll never forget the smell of the plastic burning..There would never be such a toy today. Glad I hadn't just imagined it..no one seems to know what I'm talking about when I've described it!
victoria
1967
This memory was added on: September 26, 2004
Omigod! This is perhaps the most dangerous toy EVER! I used to use this "cooker" on my shag rug, then run the metal mold into the bathroom to douse it with water before I burned my little fingers off. My brother and I used to make "glow in the dark dots" on the sides of the molds, then at night, throw them in the air and see who could collect the most. There was a blue one worth 10 points. He always won, of course, because he cheated.
Liz
1964
This memory was added on: September 21, 2004
I forgot about Creeple People! I had that one, and the Dragon Maker too. Also, a "Peanuts Cartoon Maker" that made Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, & Lucy.
rick
1960
This memory was added on: August 23, 2004
I can still remember the smell from my brother`s machine when he made the Creeple Peeple and the Creepy Crawlers. The bugs always scared the crap out of me, and the "peeple" were so hideous that I had nightmares about them.I miss them and the smell so much now!
Lisa
1968
This memory was added on: August 10, 2004
The best Christmas toy of my childhood. Recently I purchased one on e-bay and I love the emotions it evokes. The artwork on the box still impresses me.
Jack Fisher
1953
This memory was added on: July 13, 2004
David Serrano
1960
This memory was added on: July 13, 2004
Next to the original redline Hot Wheels that came out in 1968, this toy rocked. I remember the starfish, crab, worm and wasn't there a bat? Anyway, I was quite lucky my brother and I never got burned. Just lots of fond memories my brother and I had. I remember bringing them to elementary school and annoying girls with them. Growing up back then doesn't quite compare with today. We had all the cool toys didn't we?
David Serrano
1960
This memory was added on: June 21, 2004
My older brother had it and we used to spend hours making bugs after school. Last year I bought the new version of it at Toys R Us for my sons, but it doesn't seem to be as good as the one we had back then.
Tony
1967
This memory was added on: June 1, 2004
I have no idea what Ma was thinking of when she got me this -- she knew I was scared to death of bugs. I liked making the worm, though -- he was cool, especially when you swirled a bunch of colors together. But the spider scared me so bad I took the mold and dropped it down a crack in the floor behind my dresser so I wouldn't ever have to see it again...
Lizzie
1963
This memory was added on: May 31, 2004
When I was ten creepy crawlers was my life!Me and my friends would spend hours makeing them.I remember going to school with pockets full of them to trade, or just scare the girls.I just bought a 1965 set on ebay.I cant wait to smell the cooking goop again!!
Steve
1955
This memory was added on: May 8, 2004
I LOVED my Creeple People set! I was however afraid of getting burned, when the little metal 'retreiver' didn't go in just so, and it would flip out on you. I used to sell them at school for 25 cents a set....to be put on pencils. until one day, Mrs Johnson banned them! I remember the smell it made while cooking. We also had incredible edibles....they were nasty tasting....but, we ate them anyway! haha
Diana
1957
This memory was added on: March 25, 2004
we wondered how well the goop would cook on the kitchen range. we left the mold on the burner too long and when we peeled the figurine out of the mold it was burnt to a near-crisp. my brother said it looked like a black Tarzan. he called it a "Black Nazrat".
TJay
1953
This memory was added on: February 13, 2004
Oh man, my brother & I spent so many hours with our Thingmaker- and I'm sure we've got the burns to show for it! I got the newer version in the 90's, and there was no comparison, so I shopped around & got a set of the original molds on eBay. Hurray for recapturing your childhood! I loved the mini-dragons, and I can't wait to make more!
Jen
1962
This memory was added on: February 9, 2004
THIS WAS my dads favorite toy! I remember the smell coming from the garage! Ill never forget it... we had a peace sign painting in the window of the garage where my dad would make these and stained glass windows.
april
1967
This memory was added on: November 19, 2003
It boggles my mind, too, when I think how dangerous this thing probably was -- but my sister and I LOVED it. My favorite part was taking the hot mold out with the tweezer things and dropping it in the water SSSSSSS!!!! We had the flowers, the bugs, and also one where you poured in colored sandy stuff and it made hard plastic "jewels". Oh, I can imagine the smell of it now... The Plasti-Goop eventually ate through the bottles and ate through the styrofoam box. What a mess.
xmelinda
1969
This memory was added on: September 27, 2003
Ohhhh...not so fond of a memory here for me. I jumped on my cousin's back who was playing with Creepy Crawlers (I was too young to play with it). He flipped me over and the back of my arm landed on the heat thing. Well, I received 3rd degree burns. I remember looking down at my arm and there was no skin left! My cousin tried to shut me up with some candy. Nice try. 25 years later and I still have the scars.I can't believe that they used to sell these 'ovens' to kids! My cousin said it was his favorite toy.
Trudy
1972
This memory was added on: September 2, 2003
My mom worked for Peats Mfg in Norwalk CA and they made the molds for Matel. We had em all!!! Too cool!!
Cheryl Tracy
1961
This memory was added on: August 5, 2003
I was on an interesting web site called "toyadz" that shows old print ads for toys (I found the Mattel Western Town Injector that I mention above). The site showed a Thingmaker set I'd never seen before called "Fighting Men", which makes toy soldiers. I don't see how I could have missed it as a kid; maybe it wasn't available in Canada. Anyone remember it?
BJF
1959
This memory was added on: July 12, 2003
BJF......I had all of those too, and the "Strange Change Machine". Were those the coolest things, or what? I'd pay 20 million dollars to go back in a time machine to experience a mere fifteen minutes out of 1970-71 again.
HeyJoe
1964
This memory was added on: June 13, 2003
I had almost all the Plasti-Goop sets; Creepy Crawlers, Fright Factory, Creeple People and the mini-sets with Batman or Tarzan figures. If water got in the mold (after you cooled it) and you didn't dry it properly, the next thing you made came out all bubbly and weird. My kids have one of the new "safer" versions. Pathetic! The Goop cooks over a light bulb and takes half an hour! The old oven heated up like an S.O.B. and was always good for a burn or two.
Does anyone remember the Mattel "Injector" where you heated up a plastic pellet and pumped it into a mold? I had a cowboy set which came with a western town. Very cool but soon all the coloured plastic got mixed up in the pump and everything came out mottled grey.
BJF
1959
This memory was added on: June 7, 2003
I rec'd a set of Creepy Crawlers for Christmas. This was one of the best toys I had ever received next to My Schwinn Orange Peel 10 Speed Bike. I have never received another gift to date that has given me great memories of christmas and a fantastic childhood. I,m 43years old and I still have both of thease gifts, The 10 speed schwinn is in perfect working condition it has had new tires put on three times and the Creepy Crawlers is in the Original Box and in Mint Condition. Both have been used carefully and prized.
Richard
1959
This memory was added on: June 3, 2003
Totally cool toy. Kids used to buy and sell them in the bathroom at school. The hot ones were the Horned toads and the spider. The non-Mattel plasti-goop wasn't nearly as good as the original stuff.
steve
1957
This memory was added on: May 22, 2003
This was perhaps the greatest toy we had, because it let you create other toys. We had the Creepy Crawlers, the G.I.Joe set (where you embedded wires in the molds to make your own "bendees"), Fright Factory (Hallowe'en prosthetics), Creeple People (pencil toppers with arms & feet), and whatever the flower one was. After the fad had passed, we regularly bought bottles of Plasti-Goop whenever we found them remaindered, because the molds had their applications even as we entered high school. The skeleton from Fright Factory became, with colored goop in appropriate places, a superhero called the Bony Avenger. We also loved to drop water into the hot Thingmaker and watch droplets dance and sizzle.
Chris
1955
This memory was added on: May 3, 2003
I remember spending hours making "Fun Flowers" while my sister made creepy crawlers. It was one of the few toys we could play with for any length of time without fighting. I think we even had a some of the dragon maker molds, but the fun flowers were my favorite.
Donna
1960
This memory was added on: May 2, 2003
My sister and I loved making "Creepy Crawlers" and then throwing them on people to scare them or leave them around the house to see if anyone would think they were real. It provided hours of fun.
Aileen
1957
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