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10 of the Most Controversial Toys

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Toys are generally created with the best of intentions. Toy makers want to bring entertainment and joy to children through their creations. However, sometimes, the toys they make are remembered for all the wrong reasons. Sometimes through unintentional innuendo, stereotyping, or overlooked design flaws these toys became infamous. With that in mind, check out below for 10 of the most controversial toys ever made!

#10. Harry Potter NIMBUS 2000

controversial toys
One of the most unintentional controversial toys ever was the Harry Potter NIMBUS 2000 broomstick. This toy was based on the broomstick from the Harry Potter series of books. The toy was intended for children between the ages of 8 and 12. When they put the broomstick between their legs to “fly” it would vibrate to simulate flying! Needless to say, the toy was not only popular with kids. In fact, at one point you could buy it both in Toys R Us as well as many adult video stores! Some of the best reviews for the broom and its special “adult” features come from Amazon and include: “My only problem I see with the toy is the batteries drain too fast” and “They seem to like the special effects it offers”.[1]CBR – 15 Controversial Toy That Somehow Snuck Past Censors

#9. Knocked-Up Midge

controversial toys

Mattel has been making Barbies for a long time. In fact, they have been selling Barbies since 1959. While it has long been a favorite of little girls around the world, there have also been many controversial missteps as well. One of the most controversial toys that Mattel ever made was in 1963 when then started selling MIDGE Hadley. She had hooked up with Allan Sherwood to produce 3 babies (Cassandra, Nikki, and Ryan).[2]Flashbak – Midge Hadley: The Pregnant Barbie Doll Who Posed For Playtoy In addition, you could by Midge with the babies still in her stomach. What even made this Barbie more controversial was that she was shorter and younger looking than a regular barbie making families question the morals that Mattel was putting forth.

#8. The Doll That Pole Dances

controversial toys
As children are growing up, they are bound to be exposed to adult life. This is a natural process. However, at the same time, parents don’t want to destroy their innocence to early. The toy company, Tesco, didn’t take a clue. Rather, they made one of the most controversial toys ever with their pole dancing toy. However, they didn’t just stop there. In fact, they pushed it farther by advertising the toy with language such as “Unleash the sex kitten inside…slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!…earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars”.[3]Babygaga – 14 Most Inappropriate Kids Toys You Won’t Believe Exist Needless to say, parents everywhere rose up in anger. However, Tesco didn’t take a hint and doubled down on their toy by making a “Peekabo Poker” strip poker game as well as defending the pole dancing dole as a reflection of the pole dancing exercise fad.

#7. Cabbage Patch Doll

Controversial Toys

Mattel has a long history of making controversial toys. In the 1980s, Cabbage Patch dolls were extremely popular and all the little girls wanted one. In order to help feed this crazy, Mattel was consistently releasing new versions of the doll. One of their most infamous ones was the Snack Time Cabbage Patch doll. You could “feed” the doll with plastic food.[4]Hooked Upon – 9 Most Controversial Toy Ever Made However, due to the designers deciding not to add an “off” button, the doll didn’t just stop with the “food” but would also eat little children’s fingers and hair as well!

In order to try and relieve the problem, Mattel tried to offer $40 cash refunds to people as well as add a warning sticker on the toy box. Needless to say, this wasn’t enough and the Consumer Product Safety Commission quickly pulled all of the controversial toys off of the store shelves.

#6. Teen Talk Barbie

Controversial Toys

Teen Talk Barbie is just another example of one of many controversial Barbies released by Mattel. The toy makers designed the Barbie to be able to say 4 random phrases out of a group of 270 possible phrases. Researchers at Mattel believed that the phrases that they had chosen best represented the demographics of teenage girls. While there were some encouraging lines such as “I’m studying to be a doctor”, there were many other questionable and downright offensive lines as well. These included “Will we ever have enough clothes?” However, the one that the American Association of University Women took the greatest offense to was “Math class is tough!”[5]ET – The 14 Most Controversial Barbies Ever Mattel quickly took this phrase out of Teen Talk Barbie’s library of phrases, but it was already too late. This controversial toy clearly highlighted the sexual stereotyping that already plagued the Barbie toy line.

#5. Lego Concentration Camp

controversial toys

In 1996, Lego gave free Lego bricks to Polish artist Zbigniew Libera. With it he created one of the most controversial Lego sets ever to be made, a concentration camp. At the time, Lego said that they didn’t know what he was going to make. In addition, while this was never sold in stores, it still ranks high as one of the most controversial toys ever made.

Lego attempted to sue Libera, but later dropped the charges. In 2012, a museum in Warsaw purchased the set for $71,800.[6]Culture – Lego Concentration Camp – Zbigniew Libera

#4. Black “Oreo Fun Barbie”

controversial toys
In 1997, Mattel and Nabisco collaborated to create the Oreo Fun Barbie. The line included both white and black barbies. However, it seems like no one at either company had ever heard the offensive and politically incorrect slang to describe black people who act like white people.[7]Daily Beast – Shackle Sneakers, Oreo Barbie, and Other Controversial Pulled Products (PHOTOS) Needless, to say, when

#3. F-You Pickachu

controversial toys
One of the most controversial toys ever made was the Hasbro 1998 electronic Pikachu. The toy included 2 metal sensors on the feet that would make the toy say “Pikachu!” just like it did in the video games and cartoons. On the outside this might seem harmless. However, as kids are likely to do with toys like this, they tend to press the button repeatedly. If doing this in quick succession, it would cause the Pikachu to start slurring its words and eventually say an audible “F*** you!”[8]YouTube You might think that this is just a minor oversight by Hasbro and it would only happen in very rare cases. However, many kids could actually easily get the Pikachu to say it in less than 10 button clicks!

#2. Rad Repeatin’ Tarzan

controversial toys
The Rad Repeatin’ Tarzan came out in 1999 to help promote the Disney movie Tarzan. Similar to the character in the cartoon, it could make a battle yell as well as make a stabbing motion with the supplied weapons. Interestingly, Disney decided to package the Tarzan toy in such a way so that you could try out these features while it was still in the box. Needless to say, despite it coming with weapons, there was no way around looking past the suggestive sexual motions Tarzan performed.[9]Mom.me – Rad Repeatin’ Tarzan In fact, many described it as if he was pleasing himself. In addition, the  yelling sound at the same time did not help to make you think differently.

#1. The Original Lawn Darts

controversial toys

You can still buy lawn darts today. They feature safe plastic tips. However, the original ones that came out are perhaps one of the most controversial toys ever. They were made with heavy metal tips. These proved to be extremely dangerous and in some cases even deadly! In fact, they were completely banned in the United States in 1988 when a person was killed when the lawn dart went through their skull![10]The Richest – 10 Most Shocking Children’s Toys

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