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[lazy_placeholder][227_large-600x480]

The Mattel Spinwelder Was the Coolest Christmas Gift of the 1970s

4 years ago * News
Posted by Craig Fitzgerald

[lazy_placeholder][227_large]

Flash back to 1974. I was six years old, and Santa Claus arrived at
my house with a sack full of socks, long underpants and pajamas. But
in the far back corner was a rectangular box that rattled when you
shook it, indicating goodness inside. It was a Spinwelder, and I was
the luckiest kid on Cunningham Street.

The idea of the Spinwelder was this: You had a box of miscellaneous
parts, including plastic girders and panels with holes. You also got
the Spinwelder, which looked something like a hot glue gun.

On the end of the Spinwelder, you'd place a tiny, plastic rivet.
Depressing the trigger on the Spinwelder would spin the rivet to
about 11,000,343 RPM. Touching the rivet to the plastic generated
enough friction to melt the rivet, thereby holding the plastic panel
to the girder.

The Spinwelder also had a pointed attachment that you'd use to put
something like a butt weld on the plastic girders. When you were
done, you'd use the Spinwelder to power the car you built.

Oh, the hours of fun I'd have, inhaling the gentle wisps of burning
plastic smoke in my bedroom. I probably gave myself asthma and took
11 years off my life, but come on, DRAGSTER I BUILT MYSELF.

The downfall, of course, was that there was only enough plastic in
the kit to do one model, and you had to practice for about 357 hours
to get anything that resembled a decent-looking weld, thereby using
up your plastic inventory on rehearsals, rather than the final
product. If your parents were cheap like mine were, the prospect of
purchasing another kit for $11 in the doldrums of February was out of
the question.

Nevertheless, if anybody has a Spinwelder, I would drop everything
and come to your house RIGHT NOW to use it.

Find a new or used car with BestRide's local search.

 

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Craig FitzgeraldCraig Fitzgerald

Craig Fitzgerald

Writer, editor, lousy guitar player, dad. Content Marketing and
Publication Manager at BestRide.com.

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