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Here’s a nice obscure one for you. So obscure in fact that I ended up having to create my own image to go with this post!
The Trick Stick was a rod of yellow plastic, about 3 feet long, with a big red ball of plastic on each end. Attached to the middle of the rod was a length of thin plastic cord, which had a ring on the other end. Sound exciting, doesn’t it? You slipped the ring on your finger and voila, you became a master magician, able to make a plastic stick seemingly float in the air around you!
The idea was obviously based on the floating wand tricks performed by many stage magicians over the years, but being made of primary coloured plastic it never looked quite as cool as a magicians black cane. Couple that with the fact that getting the stick to do anything that looked remotely realistic was near impossible, and you end up with a toy that severely failed to deliver on the promises of the TV advert.
Yep, on TV the person demonstrating it could do more than just spin it round their arm. This guy made it float between his hands and whizz around his head, things which were really not a good idea to attempt in the comfort of your own home, unless you liked having a lot of broken ornaments and a smashed TV set, which is what you wanted to do with the Trick Stick the next time the advert came on.
In the end, after trying to look all mystical with it and failing miserably, my Trick Stick normally ended up being held in the middle and spun round and round as fast as I could get it to go, like a majorette twirling her baton in a carnival procession. It wasn’t even very good at that though, as you had to watch that you didn’t get whipped in the eye by the plastic cord and ring.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:29 pm
thanks for this post. i remember the trick stick and had some cool moves back in the days (well so i thought!). Your pic is just as i remember it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Glad I’m not the only one who remembers this. It wasn’t exactly the most popular toy in the world!
March 27th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
I remember these well however I never did any tricks with them as my brother and I used them as swords and battered each other with them. It was great fun.
October 25th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I remember having lots of fun with it. I wish I could get one now for my kids.
December 18th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I had one! I’ve described it to lots of people, and they’ve all thought I’m mad!
February 24th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
ive been trying to remember what this was called for years!! i loved it!! im hoping hawkind bazaar will sell it sometime!!
March 15th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
I’ve been looking for a photo of one of these for years… then today… I stumble across your post and then this..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amazing-Trick-Stick-Harbutts-Limited-/110606529470?pt=UK_Toys_Games_Games&hash=item19c0a9b3be#ht_500wt_922
£4.99 including P&P.
I just bought 2 – one to try and play with again (after nearly 30 years) and the other to hang on the wall.
Can’t wait to get my knuckles and shins bruised all over again..
March 16th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Wow, what a good find Mat. I’m surprised after all these years somebody still has some of these new and unused!
If you want one better hurry up! 12 out of 32 have already been sold!
March 25th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Ha ha I was just talking about these to a workpal, and I bought one off the ebay site too, so excited! I just know I’ll be a natural even after 30-ahem years
March 26th, 2011 at 7:29 am
Hope the tricks come flooding back, just be careful of all your breakable items around the house Lisa!
December 26th, 2011 at 12:24 am
Thank you so so much all day ive tried to rember this. I won a talent show with mine on a camping holiday. Now i just need to find out were to buy one. Any ideas????