The toys of our youth.

Bought a bunch of those throwing stars from a place called "Mountaineer Outfitters". They sold all kinds of ninja/mil stuff. The stars were dull and you had to throw them at mach **** to get them to stick into wood. They looked cool though.

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Vivid_Huckleberry814@reddit

Haha, I totally remember finally being allowed to get a set of these "when you're old enough" at 12.

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Complex_Wafer6909@reddit

We had all Those

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lordhumongous40@reddit

I'd buy my throwing stars from the shady guy at the flea market. That and butterfly knives.

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kperry1270@reddit

And our parents bought them for us! What could possibly go wrong

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Corpsey_Clownshoes@reddit

We'd use ball bearings in slishots. Those things could go through a Stop sign.

Shooting each other with underripe blueberries in air rifles was fun too.

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Mikethemechanic00@reddit

As teens in the early 90s. We would drive around and use slingshots with shooter marbles. We shot everything in sight..

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mattwb72@reddit

Had all of those things except the sling shot because “those are dangerous”.

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everyday95269@reddit

Had 5/6, parents weren’t keen on BB guns but the rest 🤣

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drone-on-and-on@reddit

I went to HS with a guy who still buys these and thinks he will be able to use them in a fight. He posts photos of them on facebook. He's 57...

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

That's fantastic hahahah

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WileyCoyote7@reddit

The amount of things I blew up with M-80’s without blowing my hand off is truly amazing.

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CrustyBus77@reddit

Did anyone else have a Rambo knife?

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thedarkforest_theory@reddit

Yes! Ordered from the back page of a magazine.

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itsmellslikefish@reddit

Yes, bought at a dingy flea market from a guy who said "you're old enough to buy this, right?" What a time to be alive.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

I always wanted this style but it was EXPENSIVE!

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schmearcampain@reddit

Haha yes.

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deephurting66@reddit

I bought one for my tackle box, cheap ass thing broke scaling a bass!

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TheHandsOfFate@reddit

"Welcome to the 1980s, here's your Rambo knife."

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

Sure did. Had a compass on the end. The handle unscrewed and it had matches and fishing line and some metal line you could use as a saw. perfect toy for a 10 year old.

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CrustyBus77@reddit

Had one just like that. Got it at a flea market.

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Reboot-Glitchspark@reddit

I had the empty handle of a survival knife like that.

Mounted it on a wooden dowel (which fit perfectly in the handle) about 3 feet long, and strapped three throwing knives onto it. Made kind of a javelin trident, that actually threw pretty decently due to the weight of the knives and handle at the end. Kind of a dumb but fun weapon.

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Fluid-Confusion-1451@reddit

I remember having competitions with the other kids regarding who has the most tools on their Swiss Army Knife.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

Now you can rule them all.

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local_weather@reddit

I still have my 8th grade Swiss Army knife, it’s a black Huntsman model. The small blade is broken but I heard they’ll replace it.

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thedarkforest_theory@reddit

Step 1: throw stars inside Step 2: cover holes with Metallica poster

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

That would be pretty obvious on the side of my parents garage. lol.

Yep I had to repaint the garage.

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Electronic-Key-2522@reddit

gif

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

I love this movie but I never did or haven't yet!

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

The only one I DON'T have anymore is 5. If I did I am sure they wouldn't work anymore.

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boulevardpaleale@reddit

Jarts! Nice…

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ThermiteSnake@reddit

Ninja Stars are looking a little soft.

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CarnibusCareo@reddit

Where my DIY nunchucks peeps at?
Sometimes, when the weather changes my nose still itches from that one time I tried to bruce lee these things.

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No-Inspector449@reddit

My arsenal: Wrist rocket, homemade nunchucks (rope and cut broomstick) throwing stars, whip, Crossman pellet pistol that looked like a .45, improvised fireworks, bmx bike mounted bottle rocket launcher, hairspray flamethrower. flaming tennis ball launcher (drop of gasoline in the bottom of the tennis ball container. Switchblade.

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oldgreen52@reddit

I still have my wrist rocket I just put new rubbers on it

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charliechickenhouse@reddit

I could probably provide pictures of scars to go with each of these. 😆

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zoeybeattheraccoon@reddit

I got my first pocket knife when I was 5 and a bb gun at 7. When I was 10 I was shooting the .22 rifle out back with my buddy, unsupervised. And we had alllll of that other shit. Stars, nunchuku, tonfas, blowguns, archery stuff, machetes.

And this was in the outskirts of Denver.

Pretty surprised that no serious damage ever happened.

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PilotKnob@reddit

By age 10 at the very latest I was carrying a single shot bolt action .22 around while hunting on four square miles of woodlands, all by myself. If I'm being honest it was probably more like 9 or so.

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pagit@reddit

Grew up in a rural area

We were 11 and had a friend whose dad owned a ranch took horses and a couple od .22's semis and .410's camping for a weekend several times and all our parents knew about it.

Five kids riding horses for about 3-4 hours to a lake in the middle of nowhere. One of hte other kid's parents had a cabin at a lake and one of our parents would drive us out there for the weekend.

Our parents just wanted us out their hair so they could go party.

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I_deleted@reddit

Single shot .410 here. If you didn’t pop the shell out instantly, it would swell and you’d never get it out til it cooled off.

Also a serious lack of butterfly knives and nunchucks in this list

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PilotKnob@reddit

Alex, is that you? ;)

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hairylegz@reddit

And blow darts!

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Quirky-Pie9661@reddit

I got most of that stuff at the Valley Indoor Swap Meet in Northridge. The shamwow guy was there before he made it big and lost his money on drugs and hookers

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NeverEverMaybe0_0@reddit

We had 2 - 5.

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JohnnyRelentless@reddit

All those things are still available except the lawn darts, which, let's face it were a bad idea.

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141bpm@reddit

Still a dead-eye with a slingshot. One of my very few natural skills.

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SassyCatLady442@reddit

Ah, I still have scars from lawn darts.

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MaybeOnFire2025@reddit

These were our water guns, JFC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UPQEFSGVQ

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schmearcampain@reddit

They still make guns like that. Obviously not black and molded to look like a Mac-10 though.

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phillymjs@reddit

I don't think it's worked since the late 80s, but I still have one of those in my house.

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

Shit man I totally forgot about those. I definitely had those guns. I wish I still had all my old stuff.

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Malarkey5150@reddit

I was a middleman for throwing stars and other ninja gear back in jr. high. I had the catalog from Asian World of Martial Arts and kids would pick what they wanted. I'd change them an extra dollar and order for them. When I got them, I brought them to school and delivered them. Imagine doing that today, I'd be in jail.

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

I used to get my ninja stuff out of Black Belt magazine.

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schmearcampain@reddit

Good lord, sending a check in the mail with an order form and praying you’d actually get something back… I don’t miss that.

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redbanner1@reddit

Same. I think I only bought those magazines when I wanted to order something from them.

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AggressiveBuzzword@reddit

All of it. Still have the Swiss army knife.

You missed the butterfly knife..

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schmearcampain@reddit

Only managed to procure one of those in college. I’d never seen one before. Still have it.

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CptBronzeBalls@reddit

Yeah, but you had to use your dad’s bench grinder on those throwing stars to get them REALLY sharp.

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

My dad worked in a saw sharpening shop. That's all he did all day was sharpen different kinds of blades and he absolutely took my start to his shop and sharpened them for me. He brought them home with the tips dipped in wax I had to peel off.

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CptBronzeBalls@reddit

I bet you were never accosted by a gang of evil ninjas.

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schmearcampain@reddit

He was once, and never again….

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schmearcampain@reddit

I just scraped mine on the curb.

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HappyAsianCat@reddit

The only ninja stars I remember were the paper ones.

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LonelyMachines@reddit

I used to have the old Brigade Quartermaster's catalog that had all those, along with all sorts of "tactical" variations on the simple shovel.

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IamSwoop@reddit

I didn't have the lawn darts but had everything else.

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Ok_Common_1355@reddit

Still have my Daisy 880 but my buddies Crossman 766 seemed like it would send the .177” pellet down range with more velocity.

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LASER_Dude_PEW@reddit

You had me at ninja stars. 🥷

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kevbayer@reddit

I never had a slingshot or bb gun, but all the others yep

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MangorTX@reddit

Do not get together with your friends and throw them into your parent's dining room drywall and think you could fill in with toothpaste and match the color with Liquid Paper. It won't work and you will not get away with it.

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jbg926@reddit

Yeah I did the closet door.

And after a short bit of fun, my mother took away my stars.

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sherlockjr1@reddit

“Give me that knife young man!” Shtunk

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Big_Criticism_8335@reddit

No seatbelts, no helmets. We should ve called the "TBI Gen"

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Cocaine_Ewok@reddit

I had every one of the those growing up. Shit I’m old.

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Ophukk@reddit

Mine was a 1907 Winchester, but otherwise, yes.

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Juicetang33@reddit

Did anyone else have a water balloon launcher? Hours of fun/mischief! Hahaha

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warrenao@reddit

Meanwhile, kids today are playing with toys that expose them to relentless peer bullying until they're driven to suicide, and advised on how to do it by an "AI" chatbot.

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Jamhay@reddit

I still have that exact pocket knife

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Ok_Industry3016@reddit

Me too, swiss army!

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Ok_Industry3016@reddit

Hanging on the walls at that.

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Particular_Spirit_75@reddit

Had all three of these and probably more…..I had them as far back as elementary school……ended up having to buy a new door for my college dorm at the end of freshman year because we had one too many star throwing contests.

also had a bunch of knives switchblade, stilleto, and best one of all: the butterfly knife

Nunchucks too

I wanted to be a ninja when I grew up but now that dream is dead because my knees creak too much

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RedPeril@reddit

As someone with an older brother...I had all of these thrown at me

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adrock-diggity@reddit

What about the water ballon slingshots that took 3 people to use and could bomb down on people hundreds of yards away 😂

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

Didn't you have to hold one part of it down with your foot? If so I remember those.

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Vandilbg@reddit

Two people held it and one pulled it back practically laid on the ground. Let me tell you, it would put a golf ball right through a windshield.

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phillymjs@reddit

My high school had a class restricted to upperclassmen that was simply called "China." Each semester they'd take a class trip to the local Chinatown, absorb the local color, eat in one of the restaurants there, etc. There was also a store there called Asian World of Martial Arts (which still exists online today).

You'd always know who was in that class in a given semester, because the morning after that trip happened they'd all be on the bus sneakily showing off their new throwing stars, butterfly knives, nunchucks, etc. Some guys even made a few bucks by taking orders and making purchases for dudes who weren't in the class.

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Rahawk02@reddit

We used to put marbles in those slingshots and drive by hitting random people in their keisters. Then I got hit with one and quickly realized why they were so upset.

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2019_Stealth@reddit

I thought I was the only one who used marbles as wrist rocket ammo. Cheap and effective.

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Rahawk02@reddit

We bought the slingshot and the marbles at the dollar store. That was a lot of fun and chaos for 2 bucks.

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

I used to load mine with kumquats from my neighbor's tree and blast them at things I definitely was not supposed to be hitting.

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Rahawk02@reddit

lol one time we were putting little crab apples in them and shooting them at cars. One dude got out and started running towards us and we all unloaded on him.

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X-Bones_21@reddit

Let’s fighting love!

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JDPdawg@reddit

Man, all the exact same ones. Lolz. Even have that knife with one of the sides missing still.

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Laramie_2500@reddit

Don’t forget mercury droplets

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redbanner1@reddit

Suspended from school for at least 3 of these. Arrested for at least 2. Zero injuries from 3. Still have 2 that I use regularly.

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Sawyer2025@reddit

TOn plastic or rubber and would stick well in a Tree, side of a barn, boards, etc. Of course the TV series and movies of the time didn't encourage it at all.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086756/

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CaptTr1pz@reddit

I was expecting a picture of a tub of spackle near the end. I had many holes in my walls from most of these "toys".

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accidentallyHelpful@reddit

Brother's older friend used tin snips on the lids of Hi-C juice cans to make stars after we saw ... Enter The Dragon

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idlefritz@reddit

Don’t forget the whip which was everywhere after Indiana Jones. We used to buy ours at the local amusement park.

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219_Infinity@reddit

Where’s the nunchakus

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root_fifth_octave@reddit

You'll shoot your eye out, kid

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Equus-007@reddit

Missing butterfly knives and switchblades

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wazmoe@reddit

Maybe this is why 125 out of 600 of my classmates are no longer with us, and I just passed my 40 year reunion

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schmearcampain@reddit

How many were killed by lawn darts?

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impeesa75@reddit

I currently have all of these in my house except for the gun and explosive.

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TheGreat_Powerful_Oz@reddit

My kids have all of these except the ninja stars but I’ve taken them to an axe house so they’ve gotten the chance to throw them

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Active_Unit_9498@reddit

You can have my shuriken when you pry them from my cold, dead, lacerated fingers.

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SeasonReasonable4282@reddit

We used to make the throwing stars in metalwork at school in the early 70s, I think this was due to watching David Carradine in a tv program called "KUNG FU"

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BlastTyrantKM@reddit

"Youth"

I still have my Wrist Rocket. And just bought another SAK a few months ago

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gener4@reddit

That’s a fancy ass sling shot. Musta been nice growing up rich. Oof

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Chicagoj1563@reddit

I remember another sling shot that had metal with foam over it that went over your wrist. Those things were painful. The one in the pic was the good kind.

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AbbreviationsGlad833@reddit

Those stars were foam and hella fun to throw. I had everything in these photos leading up until I was about 14 years old.

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

The one's in the pic might be foam but the ones I had were definitely not. They were legit and sharp.

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threedogdad@reddit

Right! I never saw foam versions back then

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Chicagoj1563@reddit

I remember all of those. So many memories from each item. I still have my cub scout knife from the 70s.

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Flat_6_Theory@reddit

Went after a tree roach in the house with that BB gun. The BBs just bounced off its back. Had to flip it with the end of the barrel and shoot the underside.

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SimilarBonitus@reddit

I am always glad, and surprised I never got seriously injured playing with all these.

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flyingfish_roe@reddit

Remember when playgrounds were blanketed with concrete or rocks?

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

Yes. And metal railings all over the damn thing. Now they are like rubbermade.

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MaximumJones@reddit

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North-Bit-7411@reddit

lol.. I was going through some stuff in my garage and found a bag of M80’s I believe are from the late 80’s or early 90’s

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LawDogSavy@reddit

I made a secret trade in 4th grade with my friend for the throwing star just like the top right one. My mom didn't want me to have one. I get home from school with it and just need to throw it at something. So I throw it at a cardboard box laying flat on the bed and it bounces off hits me in the leg. The thing was so damn dull but I had a throwing star so I was bad ass.

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Stompya@reddit

Bicycle helmets were for wimps.

We know better now and I wear one, but I still internally rebel against wearing it.

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-Granby-@reddit (OP)

No helmet and pedals that were steel and spiky and they would fuck you up of it hit your shin.

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cerealandcorgies@reddit

cap guns. They were so loud, and got so hot!