Toys of the Eighties, Kerbangers
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Description
"Kerbangers on the left, Kerbangers on the right, Kerbangers, Kerbangers, Kerbangers out of site." That was the jingle for this toy which had two balls, each connected by string to the plastic handle. The idea was to move the handle up and down with a flick of the wrist and get the balls to smack into themselves above and below the hand. How kids survived this without broken knuckles is beyond me. Those things hurt!
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Love them. They bring back great memories, but they hurt when you mess up.
I remember playing with them! OUCH! Wasn't the original design banned due to possible injuries when you "messed up"? I vaguely remember the newer design that utilized rigid plastic instead of the loose string. Anyone remember?
These were great. I've always heard that they were banned because kids would break their knuckles or wrists while playing with them, and that the balls would shatter causing possible injuries. These were the ones with the solid balls. The ones I had had triangular holes in the tops & bottoms of each ball, and they never broke (or broke any of my bones!). I would LOVE to get a set of these again. If you have any info as to where I can get a pair, let me know! zerolowb@aol.com
I remember walking down to the beach in St.Ives Cornwall (where I lived) and hearing the sound of literally hundreds of sets of these being played with. I loved them and had a set of orange ones-they were banned later and there was a lot of fuss about them in the papers.
I just love this toy I had so much fun with them. God, Remember how we could sit forever with these. I want a pair!!!! I have the new kind on the hard plastic wanna be string.
kerbangers used to leave me bruised, and me being a very sick child my mom and dad would take it from me for a while and i would go bac and have more bruises, though it hurt like heck i loved that toy
Aaaahhhhh,The banging noise and all the bruises. Oh what fun! I also would love to get a set of these! :)
I loved these and yeah they hurt. I remember there was a "safty sleeve" you could send away for. Kids today would be less annoying if they had toys like this that would beat them back.
My wife is almost 40 years old and has her original kerbangers from the 80's. My daughter just hurt herself with them. They provide a good life lesson...I think.
I remember loving this toy, my friends and I would bring them to school and have contests to see who would "kerbang" the longest..lol. I always lost, because I was so afraid of getting hit in the face, I'd stand kinda bent over to one side so in case I lost control I wouldn't lose a tooth too! too funny!!
I had Kerbangers way back... bruised arms...peeling plastic... ahhh memories. But. I just got a pair of "Quick Clacks" in the mail today! My kids went wild!!! I ordered them from the Vermont Country Store on-line. Same sound, same sore arm from "clacking" but now we wear forearm pads that my kids wear for football. No bruises!
Oh GOD, the momentum when these things came up on your fingers. I stopped playign with them for a long time, then once I learned about physics, I went back to playing with them...
I just found the exact same ones I had when I was a kid for sale on Ebay...same color and all. Since links aren't allowed, you can find it by searching for "Ker-bangers".
Yup, these were the version I had. I had a yellow and blue Kerbanger set. I wish I still had them. Loads of fun even if I did bruise my wrists a bit. lol
i hate these f'ing things
and wat the hell is up with these security codes
I LOVED these!!! They bring back memories...I was really good at this but I did have a lot of black and blues.
ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A PAIR OF THESE, EMAIL ME, PLEASE
FATJOE292@AOL.COM
These things were brutal. The balls would get off tempo, then fly everywhere, and slam into your fore-arm and leave you in great pain, I used to hide the bruises from my parents as best as I could, so they wouldn't take them from me. These things would obviously never be put on market these days because of the greedy lawyers. I know they were banned in Virginia (where my grandparents lived), and probably other states too, but not where I lived. Fun, yes. Dangerous, yes. Pointless, yes.
Oh how we forget about the great yet simple toys that we had as kids!!! Until your daughter who is 10 says she wants a pair of Klacker balls and that she thinks we can find them at the old antique store!!!! I said oh no honey the last time mommy was in the neighborhood where i grew up they were still hanging on the telephone wire right where that bully across the street threw them!!
I had a set of them in the most beautiful green, bubbly glass...thee originals....loved the sound but if you didn't pay attention you'd get your wrists smacked. I'd love to have that set again..so pretty!
I think they outlawed them in school because they were considered weapons. The trick was not to clack them too fast or too slow.
Still have my original Kerbangers. Will NEVER part with them. So many bruises, but I can still do it. My kids have not been able to do it though.
I had ker-bangers as a kid and would play with them for hours despite the fact that when you lost control they always seemed to strike in the same sore spot on your arm. I recently found a pair at a rummage sale (unfortunately it only has about one third the handle). I can still
ker-bangem and have that same sore spot in my arm coming back. My teenagers all look at me like i'm crazy but think they're pretty fun when they gave it a try.
Anyone know where i can get a pair of these?
fatjoe292@aol.com
Where do I get a set of these. These were my favorite toys which did hurt like hell but were a blast. enlightened34@aol.com TY
i loved kerbangers and would definately buy if they were still available. and as far as getting hurt with them my brother and i did stuff in which we could have been hurt much worse.lol i seem to recall my brother hitting me with a dart which hurt far worse. lol bring back those kerbangers!!!!!
I was at the swap meet this weekend in So. El Monte, Ca. I found a lady who was selling an imitation version of them, and my 9 & 11 yr. old knew what they were. They each have a set now, i just had to buy them. great pre Christmas present. Yes, only 2 days now and my wrists are all banged up. but Loving it!
I use to use them like bolos on my friends while they were runnin, it was funny!!!
I was the Queen of Ker-bangers!! Watch out everyone, i will out-clack bang you!! lol Miss them, wish i still could find my own... :(
There is a version being sold on the boardwalks of southern NJ. Not exactly the orignal. Two balls - like giant marbles hanging on a string with a key ring for a handle. A little different, but same idea. And it still hurts, but it doesn't stop the kids...young or old!
I just played with a set and dam these Kerbangers are just as fun today as they were in the 80's.. My 14 year old brought them home and I rocked them I never stopped playing with them! THEY RULE!
A co-worker of mine had a post about "clackers" this morning on her Facebook and it brought back all the wonderful memories of my KERBANGERS. Oh my goodness how I loved this toy!!!! When I commented on her post, I told her how I was quite the pro at using them and I really must have been darn good because I don't remember getting hurt by them. :-))))
My wife is 36 and has her kerbangers still. The thing about this is that she has a very rare pair. She has a glass pair. Very rare
i love the klik klaks, ker bangers, click clacks etc.. they are so wonderful i would definitely buy them and save them as memories does anyone know where we can get the original glass ones?? raymondjanice2006@yahoo.com
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