If you still have both front teeth, maybe you didn’t have a Roller Racer as a kid. This blast from the past is a 1980s Wham-O Roller Racer, sometimes called a Flying Turtle. It’s posted here on Facebook Marketplace in Independence, Ohio, and the seller is asking $50. Here is the original listing, and thanks to JDC for the tip! JDC, did you have one of these?
Here’s a slightly different one listed on eBay for $55 or offer as a comparison.
It’s funny and sad at the same time how a seller with a $50 kids’ toy can take such great photos, and someone selling a $30,000+ vehicle can take such horrible photos. Why is that? Seriously, why is that? I really want to know. Is it the person? So if this seller were listing a 1970 AMX, would their photos be just as good as they are for this $50 Roller Racer? It makes no sense, but it gives me hope for humanity.
By the 1980s, I was out of high school (remember the blue velvet pants grad photo? That was 1980), and was in my late teens, so I missed the whole Flying Turtle or Roller Racer era. Not to mention, being 6′-5″ tall, I wouldn’t have been able to use one anyway. Oh yeah, and we grew up in the country, and these tiny skateboard wheels don’t work too well on gravel roads. Although this grainy YouTube video shows actual adults on them, so maybe… hmm… The Roller Racer was invented by an engineer from Boeing in the 1970s using a tractor seat.
Wham-O, Inc. is a toy maker that most of us have heard of, whether we’ve had their toys or not. Their commercials really made these things look fun and trouble-free! Here’s a video on YouTube showing a bunch of kids “safely” enjoying pivoting back and forth down the sidewalk and elsewhere in these Roller Racers. They’d have helmets and full hockey gear on now to perform such stunts. How did any of us live through the 1950s through the 80s?! Founded in 1948, Wham-O made such famous toys as the Frisbee (!), Hula-Hoop, Silly String (good for the eyes), the Super Ball (modified by the NFL for the “Super Bowl”) (no, really), the infamous Water Wiggle, which caused two deaths, and many other toys. I love the warning sticker in the photo above. It sounds like you can safely use this while encased in bubble wrap, and that’s about it.
It appears that ol’ dad tried out the ol’ Roller Racer here, with that bent rear axle. Stories abound on the internet about a tiny pebble stopping these tiny roller skate wheels, and the kid would go flying. If this were local, I’d add it to my mix of oddball vintage toys that’ll eventually be in a dumpster after I go to the big storage unit in the sky. My wife won’t sell anything or list it on Barn Finds or elsewhere; it’ll just be tossed. Still, it’s fun collecting unusual things like this Roller Racer. Have any of you heard of the Roller Racer, or better yet, owned or ridden one?
Surprisingly yes, I had a yellow Flying Turtle from the very early 70’s. It was actually ok to ride inside the house on a concrete slab with indoor outdoor carpeting my parents had in the basement. Outside, they weren’t the best and as Scotty said a pebble could stop you in a heartbeat. I forgot all about it. I don’t know whatever even happened to it. My Mom used to give stuff to other relatives with younger kids. Thanks Scotty, this is great!!!
Great write-up SG, especially the opening line.
If my memory is still working, Wham-O started with the Pluto Platter and a slingshot. The Pluto Platter became the Frisbee for some unknown reason. I had a Pluto Platter. I used to walk by their factory, which wasn’t far from my parents’ house.
Never heard of the Roller Racer. When I was ten or so, I would have bugged my parents for one, but I was already too old when they came out. Now? Not so much.
We had such cool toys!
I pre-date this roller-racer by a good 20 yrs or so. These I have never even heard of before, let alone seen. I can see the fun factor for say, a 4 year old on the driveway. Now in MY day, I was a bit spoiled being the youngest of 3 kids. When BATMAN was all the rage in `66 or so, one XMas I got a ‘motorized’ BATMOBILE! I was the coolest 6 yr old in the entire neighborhood! It even came with a tool kit in the trunk! Most pregnant cats can waddle faster than my ride would go, but I sure looked confident behind the wheel!
No, I no longer have mine, or my Big Wheel, but, I do have plenty of scars from going down Dead Man’s Hill, at 18 mph… Lol… Doze were the days, my friend… PS Helmet’s??? We don’t need no stinking helmets!!!
Scotty…. I did lose my front tooth as a kid, but not due to one of these. It was due to my brother with a baseball bat! These were a little after my time as a kid.
In the first linked video, there is an adult lady riding one with a baby between her legs. Looks safe.
At 1st, I rolled my eyes, thinking the site, ( and the author ) sunk to a new low, but considering my kooky submissions, I better keepa my big mouth a shut. Admittedly, this is pretty lame, but ANYTHING that transports me away from this time period I dislike, it’s totally welcome. I don’t see the concept here, looks like it would wear out a pair of PF Flyers in a hurry( Wham-Os intent?) and I believe I’ve seen a video made about “Toys that should have killed us”, that was very entertaining but made by someone who just wasn’t there. This was on the low end of dangerous toys, and we took many a lump, but all in good fun. Just think, laws are now in place thanks to these contraptions. “Waaahhh, mommy”, oh, walk it off, and we did.
A steep paved hill and anything that rolled was an irresistible invitation for a young kid. Didn’t have a roller racer, but sent pretty much everything else down it. Including a tractor tire that crashed through the wall of the house house on the outside of the curve at the end.
Chipped my front teeth,got a bunch of stitches and still took the Stingray or Go cart down it as fast as they would go.
Went back as an adult and was surprised at how insignificant it actually was, but as a kid it was hard to even walk to the top!
WHAM-O was the sound you made when you hit a parked car at the bottom of the hill. Which was why you triple dog dared some other kid to do it.
Exactly. Safety rating is right there with Bag O’glass and Jonny Switchblade, Adventure Punk…
Helped teach car control,and slide recovery. Early Driving School tool !
The rear wheels wear out quickly if your having too much fun !
Well, it was good to see the main pivot bolt on the steering is a grade 5.
Yes I had one, and later bought one for my son. Was a long lived product !
Someone grabbed it, was it one of you folks who are in much better shape than I am?!