Imaginary sand?

December 6, 2006 10:39 PM

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?

posted by simonemarie to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (13 answers total)

Best answer: Heck yeah - Magic Sand!! That stuff rocks.
posted by maniactown at 10:45 PM on December 6, 2006

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.
posted by stefanie at 10:46 PM on December 6, 2006

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!)
posted by numinous at 10:49 PM on December 6, 2006

Best answer: That sounds like Magic Sand. It's still sold here, and here and here.
posted by toxic at 10:50 PM on December 6, 2006 [2 favorites]

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.
posted by maniactown at 10:53 PM on December 6, 2006

Er, sorry, here's that pic
posted by maniactown at 10:55 PM on December 6, 2006

Response by poster: Wow. Even down to the picture of the pointy snowman. You guys rock!
posted by simonemarie at 11:25 PM on December 6, 2006

Oh my gosh. I always wondered if I dreamed that stuff!
posted by salvia at 12:00 AM on December 7, 2006

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.)
posted by sentient at 12:14 AM on December 7, 2006

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.
posted by Goofyy at 4:21 AM on December 7, 2006

That was Ohio Art's Silly Sand. Which is different than Magic Sand
posted by Gungho at 8:02 AM on December 7, 2006

I always wanted Silly Sand as a kid, but I think it passed my Mom's threshold for potentially messy toys. Cool stuff.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:36 AM on December 7, 2006

Oh my god thanks for the walk down memory lane. Loved that stuff!!
posted by chickaboo at 12:15 PM on December 7, 2006