The original Joy Buzzer was called the Joke Buzzer (1932 U.S. patent #1845735, Soren Adams) and it replaced the more dangerous Zapper, which is lost to time, more's the pity. Our standard wind-up model is a 1-3/8" dia circle of perennial vibrating fun, with a 7/8" dia finger loop. (Watch for the solar-powered joy buzzer, still under development.)

Imagine a not-unteletubbyish space guy, but with a couple sets of rotors in his head, and the ability to hover. Has sensors on his feet so he knows where the ground (our your hand) is, and he’ll keep hovering. Plus his blue eyes flash on and off, like a short, intergalactic Frank Sinatra. Measures 5” tall with a 5-1/2” rotor-span. Powered by an internal battery, rechargeable via a USB port with the included 10” cord. Run time is 4-5 mins. Ages 6+.

The magic putty with dyspepsia is back. OK, it's fart goop, but you still wouldn't want to go to middle school without it. You'll get about 2-1/4 oz (in a color we'll pick) inside a little round plastic container that's about 2-1/2" tall x 1-1/2" dia--a little bigger than an old film canister, or roughly the size of a shot glass. Put in a thumb; pull out a rude noise.

If Werner Von Braun had used these, London would have just gotten wet. Have some good clean fun with this Hydrotech" Aquazone" rocket set. You get (2) 5- 3/4" tall water rockets and (1) 8- 3/4" rocket, plus (2) filling funnels and a piston pump for power. Includes a 6-page pamphlet on rocketry. For ages 8+, for good clean outside fun.

Before there were stations to play at, when gameboys were just boys who played games, when fun was spelled “wheeee,” there was the Etch A Sketch®, the original small-motor-skills trainer. This classic, legendary design device allowed kids to create perfect right-angles in their pursuit of anything from simple boxes to full Frank Lloyd Wright house designs. Advanced sketchers with mad knob skills could even bend those lines. Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear and try it for yourself, or give it to a kid. Measures approx 9" x 7" x 1", and you still just shake it to erase.

We love NASA and so do you, or someone you love does. And with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing this year (July 20), why not show your support by sticking a bunch of classic NASA “meatball” logos on your stuff? You know the one--the blue sphere and white stars with the NASA name in white, a red chevron slashing through it and a white orbiting swirl wrapping it all together. You’ll get (15) logo stickers in 1” dia ; a 3-1/2” logo sticker; a 3-1/2” window cling logo; and a good, old-fashioned 10" x 2-3/4" white bumper sticker with the logo and the following phrase: “IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! (OH, WAIT, YES IT IS!)”. Hard not to love that aerospace-engineer humor.

Great balls of air! The mighty AIRZOOKA is back--and as cool as ever! Looking like a plastic bucket with a handle and a flip-up gun sight, it blasts a puff of air up to 50 feet. Blow out candles from across the room (and avoid spitting on birthday cakes), spook the cat, disperse bugs, take target practice at styrofoam cups or buy a pair and play air-tag. Measures roughly 11” tall x 11” dia in bright green or ninja-ish black plastic (We'll pick from what's currently available.) and is, frankly, much more fun than you would imagine. Ages 6+.

We just learned that. You’d think we’d have known. Now we do. They’re sort of like round dreidels, with a hollowed-out middle around the stem, which causes them to turn themselves upside down while they’re spinning. Great lesson in center-of-mass instruction for physics teachers. Includes an explanatory booklet with activities and discussion topics. You’ll get (3) wooden tops at 7/8”, 1-1/4” and 1-1/2” dia.

And pop-nose, and pop-ears. Everything pops when you squeeze this guy’s head. It’s true of most of us, actually. This one, however, is a classic, sometimes seen as the Martian Popper but in this incarnation he’s Panic Pete. Don’t let your children grow up without having one to take their frustrations out on.

Us too, but then who doesn’t kazoo? These 5" long classic steel kazoos have 1-1/8” resonators, and come in (16) festive patterns. We’ll pick one because, really, who do you know who’s more festive than we are.

THE American classic novelty item (even ahead of the whoopee cushion and rubber vomit, we think) is a set of chattering choppers. Auto-dentures. Invented by Eddy Goldfarb in 1949, a man who made the Toy Industry Hall of Fame ahead of Milton Bradley, these are, not to put too fine a point on it, the sine qua non of gagdom, the ne plus ultra of spring-driven frivolity. Ours are 2-1/2" dia, with a wind-up key.

If you remember that poster, you’re really old. Today’s generation just grabs the Decide-O-Matic, which lets it decide for them. Like the Magic 8-Ball, but with more options and more fun via a pendulum and magnet. Select a Decision Disc--fortune teller, truth or dare, movie “flix mix,” pizza picker or playlist shuffle--then set the pendulum swinging and watch it lurch from choice to choice before settling on the one that relieves you of the burden of decision-making. Includes a blank disc to add your own custom quandaries.

Very Mad Men-ish, these fuzzy stick-on mustaches, with models on the package so you can see exactly how you'd have looked in 1963. You get (7) 'staches, including the Hollywood, Hero, Bruiser and Weasel in black, the Square and Sheriff in brown, and the gray, handlebar Grampa. Great disguises. Great costumes.

Geology for those with short attention spans? The original Magic Rocks®, of course! Mix the solution in a jar of water, drop in the pebbles, and watch them grow into a forest of multi-color stalagmites. Growth starts in 10 minutes, is impressive in 30 minutes, and complete (up to 4" tall) in 2 hours. Extra credit if you can make it grow stalactites by gluing the pebbles to the bottom of a jar, then pouring the solution in and turning it upside down. Who knows? Maybe it will work. Comes with a set of marine decals to decorate the jar. Definitely not for use with living fish. For ages 10 and up.

These NanoBaja Racers aren't just miniature monster off-road racers, they're the smallest radio-controlled vehicles we've ever seen. they have 1-1/2" x 1-3/4" wheel bases, spring-loaded rear wheel suspensions, and a range of approx. 40 feet! Control units have forward, back, left and right, plus a charge cord. We'll pick one of two colors and 27MHz pick-up trucks or 40 MHz cars, or you can have a pair if them to race. All come with (4) little traffic cones. For ages 8+

It's nice to know that some things don't change. One is the Jacob's Ladder. Still made with (6) slabs of wood, each about 2" x 2" x 1/2", each a bright combination of colors, and all connected by a contrasting ribbon. Hold one end up and let the string of slabs dangle. When you flop the top block end for end, each lower slab in turn will flop end for end. Fascinating. Particularly if you are about 5 to 9 years old.

Start them out right with this (profusely) hand-illustrated, 96-page book: The Story of Inventions. Includes toasters, toilets, television, computers, cars, chocolate bars, dishwashers, pianos, flying machines, bicycles and blue jeans among many others. Includes a timeline, glossary and index. No age recommendations, but we like it for pretty much anyone.

We don't know the folks at TSA, but we're hoping they won't let you on the plane with this remote-controlled rattler, for everyone's sake. Measures approx 16" long with (22) segments and creeps along quite quickly when you push the forward, left or right buttons on the snake-eggish infrared remote. Remote runs on (3) button-cell batteries, included, and the snake is rechargeable via the included USB charge cord. (If you're USB-deviceless, get our 40579 USB-out wall plug.) Range is about 20 feet. We'll pick a snake in serpauthentic speckled gray, speckeld white, or green or orange, all with a nice retractable tongue. Ages 8+.