Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/05/these-sparking-wheels-were-hours-of-fun.html
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when i was 6 i got a “ray gun” for a christmas present that had one of those wheels inside and “shot” sparks out the translucent, blue plastic barrel. tragically, i ruined it within a week because i heard someone talking about a blast of “cold fire” from a wand in a story and i put the gun in the freezer. never worked again.
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We had jarts, sparking wheels, slingshots, a slip-n-slide, all the best stuff. Somehow I survived to adulthood.
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I vaguely remember having a clockwork tank that shot sparks.
I still have a flint lighter for my camp stove. I don’t think the design changed in generations.
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FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
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Also, the smell, I always remember that flinty smell.
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livin’ that jart life
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I had one very much like this
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that may be exactly the model i had 50+ years ago. neat!
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no BB guns? (ironically, at least in my experience, BB guns were the least likely to injure as the parents’ perception that they were dangerous resulted in more rules and supervision)
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I put a new flint in my kids “ Inspector gadget“ toy we got a garage sale and it worked, but finding a flint that fit was difficult- almost as difficult as taking apart the chest with its tamperproof triangular screw heads and putting it back together.
I am pretty sure most of these toy have a ruff sand paper like material or ruff metal wheel plus a round lighter like flint and engages via gravity (like the Inspector Gadget toy) or are fed by spring.
I had a robot that shot out sparks as a kid. It was a treasured gift, as I asked my mother for it at a store and tops he agreed. It was fly wheel driven, with wheels on the base.
I have fond memories of buying one of thee things when we went to Olvera St. Or China Town as a kid. We would spend our pocket money on sparkers like the one shown in the article, translucent plastic warbling water filled “bird” whistles, and paper yo-yos (the kind that were wound paper).
Image source: IncredibleScience.com see below
Edit to add:
This got me to want to share these with my kids. They are sold out most places I checked. The price for new ones seems to be about $2-$3 with $2.50 being the median. I found some for sale at Incredible Science.com (simple non affiliate link), for $2.22 . I know nothing about the company. BoingBoing should have them in the BoingBoing store.
Last edit: Wow “vintage” versions start at $25.00 U.S. some of them aren’t the old all metal ones. I won’t link but they even made sparking wheels to add to one’s bicycle!
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No, oddly enough. Mom had a strict rule about realistic gun toys. Could be a fake piece of plastic that shot a projectile, but anything remotely realistic-gun was verboten. Had slingshots and made lots of bows/2x4 crossbows though.
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I grew up in the era before orange barrel inserts…many toy guns were very realistic in those days, could have been a problem I guess . Not really a thing for me, but, as you say, slingshots, that’s another matter 
I know people always respond to the “I survived to adulthood” as survivor bias
but I really don’t recall any of the kids I grew up with being injured by toys. Bicycles, ya, horses, ya, but not toys
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That thing seems like it should come from the 1950s, doesn’t it? Rather than the 1980s where it was probably from. When did they decide that sparks weren’t a good toy for kids?
I got mine in the early 70s in the cheap toy section of our local J. J. Newberry’s.
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Clearly they existed before that but I’m also sure that my little brother had wind-up spark-breathing gojira toys well into the 1990s.
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[Takes a long deep hit of nostalgia]
[Passes to the left]
[Slow exhale]
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I preferred the pull-back cars that shot sparks when you let them go. Basically, the sparking wheel turned on it’s side and given four wheels and a flame paint job. 
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