We used to do this all the time when we were kids. If you can say the same, then you're probably over 50 too. And really, it was all perfectly safe, just as long as you didn't accidentally pour the hot molten lead on your hand or foot, in which case all bets were off. If all went well, you ended up with something like this:
But that wasn't the final output, it was just a prerequisite for putting the finished toy soldier into the molten lead and making all manner of screaming noises and sound effects. Great fun!! Sooooo much better than the classic boyhood pasttime of setting objects on fire with a magnifying glass.
If you've grown up a little, you can even cast your own Nativity Set. While you could put the Wise Men into the molten lead, I wouldn't advise it. Do that to the Little Baby Jesus and brother, you're on your own.
What made me take this stroll down Memory Lane was Brian Kane's link to One Man's Blog's summary of Radar magazine's article The 10 Most Dangerous Toys of All Time. Those toys, dangerous? Maybe for girls.
Then you chew on the toy. 30 years later you can sue some random lead producers for any problems, even if it's just emotional stress. Heck, Milwaukee almost got away with it with its lead paint lawsuit.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth | 07/17/2007 at 06:05 PM
We've really progressed. Today kids melt plastic pellets to fill molds.
Posted by: Woody | 07/17/2007 at 08:54 PM
They should call it "Johnny deformed"
Posted by: Dave Munger | 07/18/2007 at 06:36 PM
I don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but what fun is a peuter statue that can't move? :)
Posted by: Lauren Glenn | 08/02/2007 at 10:23 PM
Metal casting is fun because you can make anything you want or maybe because it is a souvenir does look like a toy but i love them even though they don't move. Just a Souvenir lol. I have to admit when you look at them you remember something, don't you?
Posted by: glenn johnson | 03/03/2009 at 10:55 PM
Lauren, it wasn't that they didn't move. It was that you made the castings yourself. And, if you tired of them, you could melt them down and get new molds.
It's a guy thing. Like power tools.
Posted by: TooMuchTime | 01/13/2010 at 01:34 PM