Comments on: Imaginary sand?

Question: Imaginary sand?

simonemarie — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:39:11 -0800

I was a little, little kid so the memory is a bit patchy, but does anybody remember this toy sand? Or am I just making it up?

It came in a few different colors, blue and red and yellow, and it was in these bottles a little like the ones normal glue comes in, but maybe shaped a little like pointy snowmen. You basically squirted the sand into a cup of water, and as long as it was under the water you could mold it into different shapes. I think it might have lost form when you drained it. I remember it being really fun. Did this stuff exist? Does it exist now?

By: maniactown

maniactown — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:45:02 -0800

Heck yeah - Magic Sand!! That stuff rocks.

By: stefanie

stefanie — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:46:06 -0800

Yeah, it's still around. They call it magic sand or space sand. I've even seen it at Target, but I can't recall how long ago. It's available online and at educational/science toy stores.

By: numinous

numinous — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:49:41 -0800

Wow, maniactown, that stuff is awesome! The wiki article mentions that it was marketed by Nickelodeon and Mattel (what's "Squand?"), but it is still commercially available? I'd love to get some of this for my (much) younger siblings for the holidays.

(...and maybe some for myself, too!)

By: toxic

toxic — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:50:03 -0800

That sounds like Magic Sand. It's still sold here, and here and here.

By: maniactown

maniactown — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:53:05 -0800

To continue your trip down memory lane, here's what the bottle you're describing looked like:

="http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9366/images1ju0.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" />

Man, did I have hours and hours of fun building drip castles with this stuff... we had a big Plexiglas tub that was really fun to play Magic Sand in.

By: maniactown

maniactown — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:55:04 -0800

Er, sorry, here's that pic

By: simonemarie

simonemarie — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:25:05 -0800

Wow. Even down to the picture of the pointy snowman. You guys rock!

By: salvia

salvia — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:36 -0800

Oh my gosh. I always wondered if I dreamed that stuff!

By: sentient

sentient — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:14:33 -0800

I broke my Squand. Don't try to boil it -- this might allow you to recover every last particle that would otherwise be left in the water (it's impossible to get all of it back out just by grabbing it), but the Squand also loses its magic properties and becomes ordinary sand.

(BTW, Squand was Nik/Mattel's name for the stuff. I don't think it's sold as Squand anymore.)

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:21:07 -0800

Very interesting. I had something as a kid that this reminds me of. But you didn't squirt it underwater. It was colored sand mixed with water, and you dribbled it out of the bottle onto a platform provided (a roll of paper, for absorbency). The water drained out mostly, leaving the dripped figure. I can't remember what it was called. This would have been the mid 60's.

By: Gungho

Gungho — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:02:20 -0800

That was Ohio Art's Silly Sand. Which is different than Magic Sand

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:36:07 -0800

I always wanted Silly Sand as a kid, but I think it passed my Mom's threshold for potentially messy toys. Cool stuff.

By: chickaboo

chickaboo — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:15:59 -0800

Oh my god thanks for the walk down memory lane. Loved that stuff!!