If You Remember This Fun Summer Game

Then you are my people. I grew up in a time when we tossed these darts at rings that laid at our feet. Of course tossing a heavy, pointed dart by a child guaranteed that something or someone was getting damaged. We all have story about getting nailed in the head by one of these until they were forever banned from sale.

 

Lawn darts are actually back and they are called JARTS now. Doesn't make them any less dangerous if you just change the name. This is what is written on the box they come in. You know it was written sarcastically by some lawyer for the JART company.

 

 

"These Jarts are NOT toys. They should be kept out of reach from children. They should be treated as you would a bow and arrow. These have and will puncture a person. If you have the IQ of a monkey please don't buy lawn darts. I will not sell to anyone under 18. I do not have many sets left so when they're gone they're gone [...] Jarts in Your Heart will not be held liable for any death or injury caused by these Jarts. By purchasing from Jarts in your heart you agree to these terms. Again, I can not stress this enough. If you're an idiot just don't buy Jarts, stick to playing Horseshoes, Baggo or that ladder ball game."

 

This is an interesting article about how one Father got lawn darts banned.

 

 

http://mentalfloss.com/article/31176/how-one-dad-got-lawn-darts-banned

 

Lawn Darts

(Recalled 1988)

December 19, 1988, was literally a game changer for Lawn Darts, a horseshoes-style backyard game in which players lob foot-long darts toward a circle. The steel missiles sail through the air until their oversize metal skewers perforate the soil, the dart's flags standing tall in the grass. On that December day, in response to a series of injuries and a death toll of three, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the sale of lawn darts in the United States. In the ban announcement, the CPSC "urges parents to discard or destroy the darts immediately." This created a stir among lawn dart enthusiasts, who still hold annual tournaments over two decades later. One group's website even offers suggestions on where to find the contraband toys. 

But the search may end this summer. After years of engineering a way around the ban, game maker Sportcraft Ltd. has come up with a "Soft Tip Sky Dart," which has a weighted tip designed to ensure the darts stay upright once they land. Sportcraft vice president of marketing John Erlandson credits "those punching bags that stand back up when you hit them" as inspiration for the design. "We were punching one of those one day, and we said, if this thing can pop back up every time—and those things are tall—then there's got to be a way." Erlandson's team cracked the code using a bag of stones suspended inside the dart, connected to the inner polypropylene wall at five different points. "It's kind of like weighted dice," Erlandson said.

Will 2010 be the year of the lawn dart's triumphant return to backyards across America? Surely a malicious mind could find a way to injure others, even with these cushy bludgeons.