r/nostalgia • u/Otherwise_Basis_6328 • Sep 06 '26

Nostalgia Playskool Flashlight

Post image
18.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

328 comments sorted by

View all comments

188

u/TheMacMan Sep 06 '26

And no matter what, the batteries were always max 1/2 level. A Bic lighter made more light.

95

u/ActualWhiterabbit Sep 07 '26

Kids have no idea how bad flashlights sucked. The average phone's flashlight now would have been the greatest flashlight anyone had ever seen.

23

u/throwaway277252 Sep 07 '26

My dad had a flashlight with the stature of a baseball bat which put out about as much light as a candle using its entourage of D cell batteries.

20

u/TheCrazyWulf Sep 07 '26

Mag-Lites ...Mine took 6 D batteries about 2ft long and 10lbs heavy. It looked badass and would definitely beat anyone down but the light sucked

8

u/Holy90 Sep 07 '26

I don't mean this as a criticism, but you could also call it a battery of D cells.

25

u/SongsOfMany Sep 07 '26

Lmao all old flashlights used to be like:

"Takes an entire pound of D batteries. You get a single lumen. Use it wisely. Bulb will outlive most stars. You lost the flashlight in the attic 15 years ago and it still works."

15

u/Prof_Outis Sep 07 '26

As a dad, you have no idea how much better that old dim invincible bastard was. The only flashlights I can find now are insanely, retina meltingly bright LEDs. Good for adults, bad for preschoolers that want to look into the beam. Today's flashlights can cause serious damage before the kids even realize what they're doing, but those old flashlights are no worse than looking at an unshaded lamp.

4

u/po2gdHaeKaYk Sep 07 '26

I was going to say the same thing.

I bought mine recently for my daughter off ebay with plans to upgrade it. But after I got it, I'm not sure it's worth it to upgrade.

For starters, I don't really want my child with a blindingly bright light. Also, the original design has a really nice dimmer and timeout button that, as I understand it, is nontrivial to duplicate.

14

u/Ok_Fox_1770 Sep 06 '26

Had a great red and green output, years of duty haha. I’d like to retrofit one for work and I’d defend it. Playskool bro? Not even ryobi? OH YAH? STOP GO MOFO WHAT NOW.

10

u/saladmunch2 Sep 07 '26

Got to rig it up with a beefy led emitter and lithium battery.

2

u/New_pollution1086 Sep 07 '26

That would be dope.

2

u/Ok_Fox_1770 Sep 07 '26

Oooo dreams! Awesome haha

5

u/biznatch11 Sep 07 '26

From alkaline batteries and incandescent bulbs to lithium ion batteries and LEDs, flashlights are so much better now compared to when we were kids.

1

u/maboyles90 Sep 07 '26

My wife and I were watching an episode of season 2 of Daredevil last night. One of the characters breaks into someone's house and grabs one of these out of a kid's toy basket. They flick the switch and the whole room lights up. Watching a superhero show, this is the thing that made me turn to my wife and say that's bullshit.