File this post under too dangerous to play with toys—Back in the sixties we had the likes of Lawn Darts (puncture wounds) and the Water Wiggle (strangulation). Both these toys that were once sold to kids but are now deemed too dangerous to sell anymore. Topping this category of too unsafe for play though is the Hop Rod, a motorized pogo stick. See its commercial below. At the Easter car show yesterday, there amid all of the hot rods there was one these on display. It was amazingly well preserved for a sixty-year-old toy. Probably because its original owner tried it once and then thought better of it, only to leave it to languish in the garage ever since. We met the current owner, son of the original one. His father on his eightieth birthday tried the Hop Rod once. His son will be eighty next year and I suggested to him that then he could demonstrate it. His loving wife was sitting nearby and was emphatically nodding her head yes. I guess that his insurance is paid. The Hop Rod has a single cylinder two-stroke piston. Jumping down on the device, causes the air-gas mixture to compress, where a battery powered sparkplug ignites it, to cause the rider to leap back up again. The Hop Rod fires with each bounce. Most new users do report injuries.