Question: What was the name of a toy in the 70's that had a volcano playset and dinosaurs crushable into squares?

(Posted by: CaptainInsight on 2010-03-10 03:58:25)

Not sure who made it, but it featured a vice like compacter that squashed the dinos and monsters into a compact square, which you could then reconstitute by placing them on a sort of hot plate/ warmer where they would unfold into their shape. The injection molded volcano feature had four cup like volcanoes and a prehistoric lake, and the hot plate had an acrylic dome and plastic tweezers for handling the monster toys while hot. I vaguely remember a stamp in the compacter, possibly the Mattel logo, but not sure. Anyone remember this toy?

Posted by: Bumble on 2010-03-10, 16:56:24

What you are looking for was called ... " The Strange Change Toy: featuring The Lost World " snowcrest.net/ fox/ SC1.JPG Mattel circa- 1968 snowcrest.net/ fox/ SCs.JPG A hot plated heat machine that was much in the style of the Vacu- form and Thingmaker sets included a molded plastic mountain to hold your Heat Machine/ Compression Chamber Apparatus. The set came with the plastic cubes called " Astropod Capsules ". When you inserted them in the heat chamber, slowly a creature would emerge. After you finished playing with them, you would heat them again and then crush them back into a flat cube with the compacter on the side . " Unfortunately, the child protective agency would have these sets removed from the shelves as the heat machines and discs could {and would} burn little Tommy's hands {a childhood once again foiled by protective parents} snowcrest.net/ fox/ str.html creepyfun.com/ StrangeChange_Main.htm timewarptoys.com/ toptoys.htm#thingmaker See the original commercial.... youtube.com/ watch?v= -vVRyo3ZGcY &feature= related Can be found here as well ... shop.ebay.com/ ?_from= R40 &_trksid= m38 &_nkw= strange+ change &_sacat= See-All-Categories *** Bumble smilez** ***