At-a-glance information:

Items	Remco Science Kits
Manufacturer	Remco Industries Inc.
Location	Newark, NJ
Manufactured	1961-1968 (approx)

Left: An original "canister" science kit.

Remco was one of the largest of the toymakers, hitting their zenith of popularity in the 50s and 60s, including such wonderful toys as the Barracuda Sub, Flying Fox, Fascination Game, and the famous (and actually not very good) Lost-in-Space Robot.

The name was applied in the 80s to a number of forgettable toys, and the company went out of business. Remco had sought bankruptcy protection in 1971 (interesting link here). Last time I checked the Remco name was owned by Jakks Pacific Toy Company. They used to even show the old Remco trademark on their site, but that is no longer there.

Jakks Pacific is one of the new generation of toy companies that is everything I don't like in a toy company. Their big sellers seem to be WWF figures. Wow. One of the newest items they have is the (from their press release): "pet products based on the iconic rap artist and music mogul, Snoop Dogg". Yeah, that's the guy infamous for his porno parties, and hosting videos advertised in the evening featuring women coaxed into going nude on cam. Isn't that a great name to get behind for children's toys? I guess because he sponsors softball leagues "it's all good", to use a trashy expression. I especially love this, also from their press release: 'Jennifer Richmond, senior vice president of licensing and media, JAKKS Pacific, Inc., commented, "We think Snoop Dogg will be a perfect complement to our new pet line, and our team is really excited to develop and market what we expect will be an urban and edgy line. Initially, we'll look to sell the Snoop Dogg line into mass retailers and pet superstores. However, we hope to reach even wider distribution to music, novelty and other specialty outlets with a strong, irreverent line." '

Whenever I hear some white goofball executive spout words like "urban" and "edgy", I want to slap them silly. I really do.

However, let's get back on track with these interesting vintage science kits.

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One of the many fun things about collecting is going back and revisiting toys of your youth that didn't seem to work…and seeing if they really are how you remember them.

One of these was my Remco Jet Propulsion Science Kit.

Remco had been making science kits for a number of years, usually in the cylindrical containers that featured projects involving everything from electric motors to mechanical physics. In the mid to later 60s, they reissued some in a standard box with updated graphics.

The latter was given to me at about age 7. The Jet Propulsion kit was essentially two projects. A car that was propelled forward via the air escaping from a balloon and hitting an "air paddle", and a mysterious rocket that swooshed through the air via a mix of baking soda and vinegar. Who would have thought.

I distinctly remember assembling this and having my older sister help me. Of course, the rocket was the primary focus. She mixed the kitchen compounds together as per the instruction sheet, and woooshhh, the rocket took off with a pop. Amazing what mixing ingredients that make an expanding gas will do!

I also remember going solo many, many, many times thereafter in an attempt to get the rocket to fly again, and was never able to. I measured the baking soda, the vinegar, just as my sister showed (I don't remember the instruction sheet) and all the thing would do is fizz a little, never again creating the exciting pop and-if lucky-20 foot high flight.

A few years ago, I came across the kit on EBAY, very much like mine, but in the original cylinder packaging. Eight bucks later it came, I assembled it, and guess what, it flew! I don't know if it had ever been used before. I could not believe that the rubber O rings were still good. Only the balloon, part of the aforementioned air-car setup, was unusable.

So, just today, a few years later, I decide to get the kit out and do a story on it. For fun, I mixed up the ingredients, and guess what? No go! Just like when I was a kid.

Of course, I took a "Plazer" attitude towards it and did some adult analysis. After several other unsuccessful attempts, it became clear to me what was wrong, and what was always wrong with these.

The key rubber O ring seal between the chemical mixing chamber and the rocket-where it separates-gets a little hard. The hardness does two bad things. One, it lets some of the precious gas escape, and two, it makes the separation of the two pieces very tough. I was thinking as I strained a bit to pull them apart, that it would take a lot more than a ¼ teaspoon of vinegar and baking soda to separate these sections, and launch the rocket.

So, my first experiment was using more water to make it slippery. That did not work, and I even tried a little soap. Nope. The answer?

Good old Vaseline. The Vaseline does two important things. It lubricates the O ring, AND it helps to provide a little bit of a barrier to keep the gas from seeping. It is basically just a perfect insulator AND lubricant, and it should not damage the O ring.

(Note: Since I used Vaseline the first time, it softened the O ring up enough so that plain water once again works fine.)

The other tip is learning, by trial and error, just how much to shake the unit (once it's upright). When you get it right, you can feel/hear the gas expanding in the chamber, and when you release the lever---POP, it's 1967 all over again. I finally got it right, and POP! several flights of a good 15-20 feet!

If you have never seen one of these, you can still pick them up for about $10-15 bucks on Ebay. Have fun, and show your kids.

Some day I will get around to building that car!

Take me back home