2947 Commit To The Bite.

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When I was little they had these toys that you filled with water and then used a button to manipulate balls, rings, or what have you, with a jet of water inside the reservoir. Originally they were made by Tomy and examples that survive from that original run bear their branding. Which is how you can easily spot a genuine one, in good condition, in the wild. There were several versions of these toys and they were collectively called Waterfuls. Tomy was a generally successful Japanese company but when they fell upon hard times at one point they merged with another Japanese toy company named Takara to for Takara Tomy. This is unrelated, but Hasbro has been partnered with Takara Tomy to produce Transformers figures for many years now. Apparently while trying to survive their financial troubles Tomy sold off some of their older intellectual properties. Milton Bradley produced them for a time, but has since lost the trademark. A company named Playmonster acquired the rights to use the Waterfuls trademark and, at some point, begane producing faithful recreations of the original product. Many companies copied Waterfuls right from the start, so the style of toy never really left stores for long, but the quality for other brands was generally quite poor. The devices tended to leak and the mechanisms would fail. Since they are glued together it’s extremely difficult to repair them without destroying them. Many of them have survived to modern times, so the prices generally hover around $30, but rare examples can go much higher.
The Playmonster version of the original game runs about 11$ and can be purchased through various online stores and in some retail locations. I bring all of this up because my grandparents had some of them at one point, so I remember them from when I was young. In actual fact it may have been that they were the actual possessions of one, or all, of my uncles, but when I was little I didn’t fully understand the distinction between their stuff and my grandparent’s container of old toys. My uncles had generally turned to adult interests by the time I was old enough to form memories of more specific items. it might be more accurate to say that my grandparents just had some of their old abandoned toys around for the grandchildren to play with. I remember encountering various versions of the toys in other places as well. Ring toss, basketball, triangles, and others I don’t know how to describe briefly. I don’t recall ever actually owning one. Anyway, I tell you all of this just to say that I bought a Playmonster classic Waterful because I always found them soothing and I thought my nephew might get a kick out of it for a couple of minutes the next time he visits. This modern reproduction is well made and functions as well as any of the originals I ever encountered. It even came with a few backing screens to play various versions of essentially the same game. I stuck the pinball gel in it because I like the aesthetic of a pinball table.
I doubt that they will ever make the many variations of the original Waterfuls. My suspision is that these are just a way for a new company to did their toes in the new toy marketplace with an established brand that allows a little nostalgia farming. Much like how they keep making the Etch-A-Sketch in spite of them being objectively shitty and not fun at all. People remember them and buy them as a cheap gift for someone else.
I very much doubt that my review of the product is going to result in sales. I just wanted to indulge in a little nostalgia and have an excuse to research the history of the item. They would be fun to collect but I don’t have the means, or the space, to buy and display them. I’m not sure what sort of relevance these kinds of old toys have in the world now. In 30 years most of the people who remember the heyday of them will be dead and I don’t feel like a large market of kids with nostalgia for them is going to follow after. Unlike Monopoly humanity won’t be doggedly pursued into the future by them. I suspect they will fade into being an odd collection of relics from a simpler time.
I will say, however, that I think Waterfuls have at least some educational value in that you can learn a sense of how water moves. It may not seem like a very important skill but having an understanding of something like that can be useful to some people. Getting a feel for how much force it takes to move something in water may come in handy at some point. Skillfully and purposefully manipulating something that seems random at first glance can be useful. At least I think it can be.

Anyway, that’s what I happened to be thinking about. I hope this page finds you well. If you appreciate my efforts please make note of the various support links above and about the site. I will return on Wednesday with more . I hope you will come to see it. Until then, be like water.