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The Strange Change Toy by Mattel is one of the coolest toysever created. An oven and a press that allow one to transform"time capsule" plastic cubes into strange creatures, then tocrush them back into cube form. The press that crushes thecreatures actually embosses the Mattel logo into the cube. Cool.I did not have one of these as a kid but played with one manytimes at a friend's house.
There were two versions of the toy produced by Mattel in thelate sixties: The Time Machine, and the Strange Change Machine.Both are Stock No. 4581, Copyright 1967. The only real differenceis the decals on the machine and wording on the box, though thevery first time machine version had a different type of plasticcover over the crusher. Displayed for your enjoyment are bothtypes of Mattel Strange Change toys, both of the known accessorypacks of cubes, plus a later version of the Strange Changeproduced by Toymax.
Above is the older, original Time Machine version of the Strange Change toy. Included were the timemachine oven itself, 16 creature cubes (actually, 14 cubes and two in creature form), a green vac-u-formedbase, a paper landscape map / instruction sheet, and a blue pair of tongs. Mine is missing four of thecreatures, has numerous cracks in the vac-u-formed base, and a box with much damage.
This is the newer Strange Change Machine version of the Strange Change toy. My version of the toy onlyhas two creatures and they suffer from 2nd degree burns, something that happened to many a creature whenan overzealous kid would leave them in the machine much too long. The vac-u-formed base for this versionis a bit thicker than for previous versions but still prone to cracking (which mine is).
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| Astropods Accessory Pack. One of the two accessory packs ofcreatures released by Mattel. Includes the creatures (top tobottom): Raspagator, Crabosaurus, Flyadon, and Slunkapod. StockNo. 4586, Copyright 1967. Later versions of this accessory camewith one of the creatures in finished form, three creatures incubes. This one came with all four creatures in cube format. | Creaturelings Accessory Pack. The other accessory pack ofcreatures released by Mattel. Includes the creatures (top tobottom): Snaggle Fanged Oculus, Antosaurus, HoodedSkullkaronamus, and Beetleontodon. Stock No. 4587, Copyright1967. Later versions of this accessory came with one of thecreatures in finished form, three creatures in cubes. This onecame with all four creatures in cube format. |
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| This is the newer Strange Change made by Toymax, Item No. 8188, Copyright1995. Toymax has done an excellent job of obtaining the rights tosome very cool toys and re-issuing them. This version uses asmall light bulb to provide heat, has the unit mostly enclosed inplastic to prevent burns, and features glow-in-the-darkcreatures. The biggest drawback to this kit is that due to havingless heat available, the creatures had to be smaller (andflatter), and that Toymax cut corners and only created four typesof creatures of which you got many copies. The box says that thetoy comes with 12 cubes, but mine has 21 loose creatures plus asealed bag that appears to contain 15 more. I am not sure wherethe blue creatures came from, they were with the toy when Ibought it. | |
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| This photo shows the creatures I have. Twelve ofthe original Mattel sixteen creatures plus the fourglow-in-the-dark Toymax creatures, plus the blue Minotaur fromtoy unknown. | |
| Name: | Strange Change Machine |
| Manufacturer: | Mattel |
| Vintage: | The late 1960s |
| Obtained: | All came from
eBay (#Ad) |
| Other Links: |
Virtual Vicki's Strange Change Page - explains how it works Feeling Retro's Strange Change Page - people's memories of the toy Boing Boing Article - great article of why its the best toy ever |
| Look for it: |
Search for Strange Change on eBay (#Ad) Search for Strange Change on Amazon (#Ad) |
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Contact me: Sam Cancilla, sam@samstoybox.com.
Last Modified: December 25, 2008
Copyright © 1999-2024 Sam Cancilla.All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
