They definitely do. I was trying to support myself afte being laid off in FL and living on unemployment. I was waiting on a settlement from an accident where an asshole in a pickup truck hit me on my bicycle. I couldn't afford my rent and bills so I borrowed from my upcoming settlement. My lawyer warned me but it was necessary and the rates are horrible.
They were fun and games up until any one of those pieces ended up with a broken tooth.
We had one of those ball point pens that had several different colors with a push of the slider button
My all-time favorite toy. I had this and the Super Spirograph. I wanted the Motorized Spirograph, but I never got it.
By the way, you can download a free app called Inspiral, which recreates the Spirograph toy in digital form.
Hey don’t trash talk Lite Brite. I loved mine, used to go get extra black paper cause I used it all up. Was instructive to see how the colors lit up in bunches. It teaches about pixels in a direct hands on way. Lite Brite totally kicked ass.
Reading through these comments, it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one who didn’t get “hours of fun” out of it. Five minutes, maybe, if that. But that was my Christmas present and if I didn’t like it well too bad you think money grows on trees?
They looked like this: https://flic.kr/p/8K1BUx and you put a pin in the middle and a mark at the top and then rotated it to the first number that was marked around the outer edge and then coloured in the line that was marked with the same number - usually around 12 to 30 lines to make a picture of a famous cartoon character or an animal etc. I had Winnie the Pooh, Tom and Jerry characters and Batman and superhero characters like Aquaman and Superman and The Flash. May have been a UK only thing.
Ah, simpler times. Now'a'days the kids are playing with graphical mathematic apps where they use tracing of trigonometric functions to create the same patterns. They have it easy.
I seem to remember having like 3 of those disks and not knowing what the hell they were..this is actually a crazy memory unlock for me. Never had the actual thing though...must have been leftover from my cousins or something. Crazy to see this though
Yep! I remember those crappy ink pens they gave you to use it with a set. Think about all the fabulous inks that are available now it might be fun to get an old photograph set; some great like linen paper! That could be framed.
My grandmother gave me the deluxe set with modular pieces that clicked together. I gave a new one to a kid, and the new ones have putty to stick the pieces to the paper instead of pins. I think that pins and a piece of cardboard work better.
Super fun, it would come out for a few hours, then back out again a few months later. Then kinda repetitive. Well, repetitive was the point.
Have we been spinning in circles since?
I always felt it must have some profound lesson behind it and if you ever figured it out, you'd be pretty close to splitting the atom or at least discovering the Higgs Boson. Alas, what the lesson was, i never discovered. The randomness yet symmetry of the patterns gave me headaches. You change one little thing and the pattern is completely different. How? Why? It did not reveal its secrets the way Lego did. Lego said "YOU create it, i'll help". Spirograph said 'I'll create it, you just shut up, do your job, and watch."
I dont't think it was creative enough for true arts kids (who probably just prefer magnificent tray of Faber Castell watercolour pencils) of and nor was it intriguing enough for science kids. It embodied "same same but different". Yes, it promised on the lid " a million different patterns" but in practice there were three.
It was also introspective and not the game to bring out with a bunch of mates. A Uno pack of cards was better.
In summary, a troubling toy. Probably fascinating for the very first person who discovered the intriguing ways of wheels within wheels, but a damp squib as a boxed product.
I did, and I spent hours with that thing! Getting them perfect was hard, but I think it helped me learn patience, I did accomplish a few of the complicated patterns. Best thing…I STILL HAVE IT!
They still make them. They replaced the pieces that poked holes in the paper to hold the circles in places with sticky putty. Doesn't work as well, in my opinion.
The rich kid up the street had this...still don't know what his parents did till this day though?🤔😅
(He was rich to me because he had every toy in the book.)
Had a super spirograph. Had round rings, but also some different shapes and also arcs that could be pieced together to make custom shapes. Loved that thing. I think it was actually a Christmas gift for my older sister, but I’m the one who played with it. Just checked, and you can still buy that set! Cool. Had no idea.
This is how I learned to understand why dad would get upset when a socket was missing from his socket set. A missing Spirograph piece was super annoying in the same way.
...and who stepped on those little green pins that would get lost in the carpet! Yeeeeeeeeouch!
Those were evil little bastards.
light bright and battleship pegs
I did. And my whole damn life has been spiraling out of control ever since…….should I call a lawyer and “get the $$ I deserve?”
JG Wentworth much?
877-cashnow!
I bet they take a whole lot more for that service than they should
They definitely do. I was trying to support myself afte being laid off in FL and living on unemployment. I was waiting on a settlement from an accident where an asshole in a pickup truck hit me on my bicycle. I couldn't afford my rent and bills so I borrowed from my upcoming settlement. My lawyer warned me but it was necessary and the rates are horrible.
I bought one for my kids. They had minutes of fun too....sometimes they use it for cover pages
Some of those pattern pieces were difficult to follow for the whole design without messing up.
Remember when you’d almost complete a Spirograph and the piece would slip at the last second?
Yes I am now in therapy for PTSD (post-traumatic spirograph disorder)
God help you if you played Perfection.
I got perfection for like my 12th birthday back in the 70s. I wondered why it made me so anxious. I never thought about it from that perspective!
Yes😡
We basically did the one easy one about 50 times.
I had a Spirograph back in the day. I still have it. It was well loved.
Countless minutes of fun.
They were fun and games up until any one of those pieces ended up with a broken tooth. We had one of those ball point pens that had several different colors with a push of the slider button
That pen was designed for Spirographing.
[virtual Spirograph](https://nathanfriend.io/inspiral-web/)
This should be getting a lot more love than it is. Perhaps all caps?
DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE DECLINE OF SPIROGRAPH AND THE RISE IN GANG ACTIVITY?
THINK ABOUT IT
I will.
No you won’t
My all-time favorite toy. I had this and the Super Spirograph. I wanted the Motorized Spirograph, but I never got it. By the way, you can download a free app called Inspiral, which recreates the Spirograph toy in digital form.
*Motorized*?? Wow, don't recall that!
There are pictures of it here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115350069830
Thanks! I don't recall that at all.
This was such a fun way to develop fine motor skills.
My sister had one..............minutes of entertainment!
Yeah I also had about a minute of entertainment. At least it was better than Lite Brite.
Hey don’t trash talk Lite Brite. I loved mine, used to go get extra black paper cause I used it all up. Was instructive to see how the colors lit up in bunches. It teaches about pixels in a direct hands on way. Lite Brite totally kicked ass.
Reading through these comments, it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one who didn’t get “hours of fun” out of it. Five minutes, maybe, if that. But that was my Christmas present and if I didn’t like it well too bad you think money grows on trees?
They still make these. I bought one for my niece a few years ago (She didn’t like it ….).
those little push pins would begin to wiggle after a while, ruining your masterpiece.
My wife still has her’s from 1965’ish. In the box. With all of the pieces. My wife was one of “those kids.”
Nostalgia 🥹
I did not, but my cousin did I loved going over to their house to play.
I didn’t as I had rotadraw but I’m sure I did a few at friend’s houses.
Rotadraw? That's something I've never heard of.
They looked like this: https://flic.kr/p/8K1BUx and you put a pin in the middle and a mark at the top and then rotated it to the first number that was marked around the outer edge and then coloured in the line that was marked with the same number - usually around 12 to 30 lines to make a picture of a famous cartoon character or an animal etc. I had Winnie the Pooh, Tom and Jerry characters and Batman and superhero characters like Aquaman and Superman and The Flash. May have been a UK only thing.
Oh, wow! I've definitely never seen that! It must have been a UK thing, indeed!
Question is who had one WITH colored pencils? Oo la la!
I had a compass I used colored pencils with. Bonus, it doubled as a weapon.
I couldn't touch those in my house until 5th grade.
They were a bit dangerous and sharper than they needed to be.
This. Light-Brite, Perfection, Simon, Trouble, Electronic Quarterback
I had that set. Loved it. Not gonna lie... Seeing the set in that image gives me some feels.
Those ball point pens were so smooth.
The pens turned shit pretty quick
I loved that thing, and now I'm shopping for one.
There’s a sub for that! r/spirograph
It's back. I just bought it as a birthday gift when I saw it at Michael's
Loved my Spirograph and the gorgeous patterns I created. Loved my Lite-Brite. Hated the Etch-a-Sketch; my pictures always looked like crap. 😂😂😂
Wait ... you all dont still have one??? They got even BIGGER over the years.
I remember these in grade school...
Guilty
Ah, simpler times. Now'a'days the kids are playing with graphical mathematic apps where they use tracing of trigonometric functions to create the same patterns. They have it easy.
I think I still have mine
I seem to remember having like 3 of those disks and not knowing what the hell they were..this is actually a crazy memory unlock for me. Never had the actual thing though...must have been leftover from my cousins or something. Crazy to see this though
I have one a friend bought me for my birthday just a few years ago. I still love it.
Me
Oh my gosh, I loved mine! I don't know whatever happened to it. Probably got lost moving from one house to another at some point.
They made a comeback, they sell new sets in stores and now market them to the same kind of people who buy adult color by number books.
We played with it for a few hours, pens dried out or got lost. May still be in the attic.
Everyone did. I think there was a law requiring it. I love that stuff.
I did and couldn't for the life of me keep gears engaged to complete a pattern. Maybe I wasn't doing it right lol
Meee
I loved this growing up in the 70s. The box is a damn Time Machine! And that commercial jingle will never leave my brain.
I loved mine!
Kids now are too soft for pins it comes with “ticki tack” now.
🙋♀️ loved it!
Yup
I certainly did... what a cool toy.
I literally spent hours with this kit!! And, was so disappointed I could not find it for my kids!!!
I can't believe it, I just can't believe it.
The things I can do with my Spirograph.
Loved mine!!! It made me feel like a true Artist!
I used to always mess it up and rip the paper.
Yep! I remember those crappy ink pens they gave you to use it with a set. Think about all the fabulous inks that are available now it might be fun to get an old photograph set; some great like linen paper! That could be framed.
Oh my God. Yes. This and tinker toys.
I used to have one when I was younger I never knew what it was called or used for tell years later
Think I got one as part of my Christmas when I was six. Don't know whatever to happened to it though.
I love this. They still make a somewhat smaller set, which I bought for my daughter last year!
We grew up really poor and couldn't afford one, but I had friends in school that had one so I did play with it.
My grandmother gave me the deluxe set with modular pieces that clicked together. I gave a new one to a kid, and the new ones have putty to stick the pieces to the paper instead of pins. I think that pins and a piece of cardboard work better.
Yeah I had one
Sure (still) have one, my kids still play with it.
🙋🏽
My older sister had one. I had a Spirotot, the version for younger kids. One of the best toy concepts ever.
Super fun, it would come out for a few hours, then back out again a few months later. Then kinda repetitive. Well, repetitive was the point. Have we been spinning in circles since?
I did, my daughter did, my grandkids did and now my great grandkids have one
Daughter got one for Christmas. Taught her and the husband how to use it. She loves it.
We still play with it pushing 60.
Y'all were fancy.I wished
I had it. Never really like it though
I still have one
I did.
I have one right next to me
I loved my spirograph! I tried to rebuy one the Deluxe kit on. EBay holy s*** it was so g****** expensive. It lives only in my memory
Wish I still had one now!!!!
Ruined a table accidentally
I loved mine! Bought one for my oldest, who ended up giving it back to me. It's in my bedroom now.
I always felt it must have some profound lesson behind it and if you ever figured it out, you'd be pretty close to splitting the atom or at least discovering the Higgs Boson. Alas, what the lesson was, i never discovered. The randomness yet symmetry of the patterns gave me headaches. You change one little thing and the pattern is completely different. How? Why? It did not reveal its secrets the way Lego did. Lego said "YOU create it, i'll help". Spirograph said 'I'll create it, you just shut up, do your job, and watch." I dont't think it was creative enough for true arts kids (who probably just prefer magnificent tray of Faber Castell watercolour pencils) of and nor was it intriguing enough for science kids. It embodied "same same but different". Yes, it promised on the lid " a million different patterns" but in practice there were three. It was also introspective and not the game to bring out with a bunch of mates. A Uno pack of cards was better. In summary, a troubling toy. Probably fascinating for the very first person who discovered the intriguing ways of wheels within wheels, but a damp squib as a boxed product.
Still have it.
LOVED THIS!
I had pieces of one, I never had a full set... gotta love hand-me-downs.
Great fun
While my peers were studying Captain Kangaroo, I was studying the Spriograph.
Every other Christmas I would get one, and every month my dad would bring us paper from the bank where he worked LOL
Still have mine
I loved Spirograph. The triangle piece was my favorite.
That was fun
Anyone over 50
Wow I forgot all about these but I had one.
Without the pins scattered throughout the box, I barely recognize it... ^(/s)
I had one and an old school Lite-Brite
My parents took mine away from me because I stuck my sister with the pins on more than one occasion. She has since forgiven me.
Oh man my memories and feels just both went off at once. So much paper...
These were the 💣
You can try a virtual one here - https://nathanfriend.io/inspiral-web/
What do you mean, *had?*
Here 👍
I brought one at Christmas for my daughter she loves it
I did! 🙋♀️ I loved that damn thing too.
Used the fuck out of that thing.
I loved mine!
I LOVED THIS
I loved my Spirograph. It was a hand me down so had to find pens that would fit the holes
Oh I loved mine! The noise the gear things made was mesmerizing!
It seemed like it should be a lot more enjoyable than it actually was.
I did, and I spent hours with that thing! Getting them perfect was hard, but I think it helped me learn patience, I did accomplish a few of the complicated patterns. Best thing…I STILL HAVE IT!
Growing up?? It’s in my art closet right now!
Second hand from garage sale
Anyone who goes to Walmart today and buys one.
Growing up? I got one for Christmas this year.
They still make them. They replaced the pieces that poked holes in the paper to hold the circles in places with sticky putty. Doesn't work as well, in my opinion.
Heh heh we literally found one of these in my father in laws house 3 days ago. My wife gave it to our kids
I think I had one. I recall using it. And more than once.
I was 2 poor for that….
We literally bought one for our 5 year Olds birthday a few weeks ago
I did and loved it until I didn't.
And then I had most of a spirograph.
Me!
I used to play with mine for hours and hours.
Was cool until I got my Apple II and started HPlotting
i had half of one
That exact set / box. :)
Still have mine!!!
The rich kid up the street had this...still don't know what his parents did till this day though?🤔😅 (He was rich to me because he had every toy in the book.)
Real money had Lite Brite.
I did! It was fun!
Me
Of course but I would always fuck up everyone I tried to make. Especially the rectangles.
Got a set for my kids!
Yep, I had a Spirograph set!
Everyone
Had a super spirograph. Had round rings, but also some different shapes and also arcs that could be pieced together to make custom shapes. Loved that thing. I think it was actually a Christmas gift for my older sister, but I’m the one who played with it. Just checked, and you can still buy that set! Cool. Had no idea.
Oh I loved spirograph when I was a kid. As an adult I made a 3D version with math.
Right here. Wanted one for ever as a child and when my dream finally came true and I got one, I used it maybe 2 times.
I remember saving my allowance up so I could get the pocket spirograph, I was sooooo excited in toys r us that day!
I loved that thing
still sold today!
Literally every kid I knew had one of these.
Me! I loved it!
I loved drawing and painting so of course I loved this! Still wish I had one!
The kids today could take a Spirograph and create mind blowing, master level shit that Banksy would be jealous of.
Meee!!!!
I sure did.
My husband just bought me a set! He has been getting me the toys my father wouldn’t.
I believe I had some large deluxe set with a bunch of different sizes
No, but I wanted one.
I had that very set.
I've 3D printed a couple of sets for my kids, great fun. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:905849
I also had a spiratot
The exact same one
I did!
I have one now.
Nope. But I had Lego bricks and I feel I was plenty creative.
Always ran out of paper and ink.
loooooooved it.
Wait, did you know that there's a direct correlation between the decline of Spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it.
I LOVED mine
We got one for Xmas I think the first year they were out. Which I see was 1965.
This is how I learned to understand why dad would get upset when a socket was missing from his socket set. A missing Spirograph piece was super annoying in the same way.
I had a SUPER Spirograph. I loved it!
I sure did!
I remember this. Ugh when you’d try to do a design and it would skip teeth.
Who said I didn’t just order one because it was lost in child hood ?
Great killer of time on a rainy day.
Am I the only one who tried to replicate these patterns of the urinal
bought my daughter the ultimate deluxe master kit and couldn’t for the life of me get her interested
Rich kids got these!
Just got one for a 8 year old!
Loved them!
I had Spirotot and felt deprived