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Shrinky Dinks resurface as popular holiday toy

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Inflation and time have been kind to Shrinky Dinks; the popular 1970s and 1980s toy is resurfacing this holiday season.

Shrinky Dinks, initially popular with the generation currently in their twenties, enthralled children with their ability to be colored on and then, with the help of an oven, shrunk into a palm-sized plastic figure. The magical toy shrinks to one-third its original size and becomes nine times thicker.

Shrinky Dinks began in 1973 when a mother created the legend for her son’s Cub Scout pack. The success of the toy with the Cub Scout troop prompted Betty Morris and Kathryn Bloomberg, now mayor of Brookfield, Wis., to create K&B Innovations Inc. and take their invention to the stores.

The invention was sold at Brookfield Square Mall near Milwaukee for $2.50 each. The toy made $50,000 in the first two months at 26 sites in Milwaukee.

Morris still runs K&B Innovations Inc.

Despite the 20-year gap in the popularity of Shrinky Dinks, the price change is a mere dollar. Prices range from $3.60 for the simple Shrinky Dink kits to $8.00 for the key chain variety. Shrinky Dinks are now armed with a purple oven, called the Incredible Shrinky Dinks Maker. The oven uses a light bulb as its heat source, similar to the Easy Bake Oven popular during the 1980s. Past Shrinky Dink lovers are basking in the glory of the toys’ triumphant return. “Now I don’t have to worry about what to get my friends for Christmas,” UW junior and Shrinky Dink enthusiast Abbie Testa said.