Mattel's Strange Change Machine - Time Machine

Mattel's Strange Change Machine

This was one of my favorite childhood toys. It's amazing how memory works. So many years ago, yet I recall sitting on the little sidewalk which led away from our front porch and to the driveway. There I was a small boy using this dangerous hot plate to heat up memory plastic characters.

I'd crush them into little squares, and then bring them back into form using the hot plate.



No toy like this could be sold today, but it was one of my favorite toys.

The colors and shapes of the little creatures in the photo above bring back instant memories of chewing on those toys - and of third degree burns on my little fingers as I'd skip using the little blue tongs and grab the molten plastic characters right out of the enclosed time machine hot plate.

It was a very tough toy, and was around years after I stopped playing with it. Eventually I just threw it away to make space in my closet. They come up for sale every once in awhile on Ebay, and there are several websites dedicated to this toy.

Ah the memories.

Quisp Again

Still Working On Quisp

I'm just grooming the image I found.

Isn't done yet.

Quisp & Quake

Quisp

My father was a sales representative, and then a purchaser for Bunn Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. His position came with a neat perk. Every time a new food product was released we'd end up with lots of free samples long before the product would ever hit the store shelves.


Quake

I was asked many times to "test out" products for my dad. He just wanted to know what us kids thought. I definitely liked Quisp and Quake. They pretty much tasted the same, but were pitched differently. Quisp won out in a contest between the two cereals, and continued being sold long after Quake. In fact Quisp can still be purchased in several cities, and can even be purchased over the Internet! Quaker also sells Quisp as a bargain cereal, and I've eaten it several times that way. Quake on the other hand has been relegated to food lore history.


Video: Quisp and Quake Are Introduced

Introducing two products which seemingly compete against one another sounds a little odd, but it increased shelf space, which is all important. I'm fairly sure that me, and my brother used to fight it out as Quisp and Quake - both of us high on sugar.


Video: Quisp and Quake Commercial Featuring Quake

As you can see these commercials are really quite hilarious. I wish someone could get some better copies out on the Internet. I often wonder what happened to all of the neat commercials which most of us watched as kids during Saturday morning cartoons. Back then cartoons were only aired on Saturdays, and Saturday morning was the best thing ever. It meant eating the sugar cereals long before your parents would awaken, and watching cartoons!


Video: Quisp and Quake Commercial Featuring Quisp

Most kids liked the wild sugar induced quazzy Quisp better than Quake. I wonder if Quaker knew that it would work out that way before launching the products?


Video: Quake Gets His Short Lived Remake

As Quake sales dropped an attempt was made to save the product, but it failed in the end. An official vote was taken, and kids voted Quake into non-existence.

Here's a nifty place to buy Quisp, and to learn more about the product's history!