Toying with Youth; Barry Burlison has Spent 20 Years Inventing Toys That Keep Kids Entertained and Educated -- Ok, Mostly Entertained

Summary

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When Barry Burlison sent out invitations for his birthday party a few years back, he included a letter from his kindergarten teacher that praised him for his artistic abilities but admonished, "He brings too many toys to school."

Oh, the loot that Barry Burlison, toy inventor and resident of rural Clark County, could haul to school today. And the letters that would go home to mother. The Blood Sucker pen. A line of squirt guns: the Hose Nose, the Fickle Finger of Fate, the Joke Soak. Foul Balls, manufactured with a locker-room stink (hold the calls; these were sporting goods, baseballs and such) and a nose-curling slogan, "Catch a whiff."

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Extract

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Toying with Youth; Barry Burlison has Spent 20 Years Inventing Toys That Keep Kids Entertained and Educated -- Ok, Mostly Entertained

And how about the Bug Slugger, a lollipop with an edible "bug" inside. Dr. Juice Bug Guts, candy designed to look like flypaper captured critters and all. Cool Potatoes, a water-balloon toss game. And Freeze Fazers, a squirt gun developed on the premise that if your brother is worth squirting, he's worth squirting with ice water.

If those toys would earn Burlison two weeks of hard labor mopping the cafeteria, some of his most recent work would be good for a hearty handshake from his science teach...

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