Crocodile Dentist

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Crocodile Dentist is a game made for young children, first published by Milton Bradley in 1991. [1] A smaller travel version of the game was released in 1993.[2] The game was the brainchild of Robert B. Fuhrer, who later created Gator Golf, and many other toys and games..[3]

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The goal of the game is to "extract" the plastic teeth from a crocodile toy by pulling them out with plastic tweezers. If the "sore tooth" is pulled, the mouth will snap shut, and the person who caused the mouth to shut is the loser.

[edit] Development

Crocodile Dentist went through several changes during its development phase. Fuhrer and his technicians were told to tweak the length and speed of the crocodile's lunging motion so that the toy would not cause eye injuries. Fuhrer also added a pair of plastic tweezers to quell fears that children would hurt their fingers. However, the game testers later thought that the toy lacked excitement, and though the tweezers remained in the final product, Fuhrer restored the original lunging motion.[3]

[edit] Reception

Crocodile Dentist was one of the best-selling games of the 1991 Christmas season[4][5] and remained a high-seller afterwards.[6][7]

Several commentators listed the product as one of the strangest new toys available.[8][9] "What kind of mind came up with this game?" asked the York Daily Record's Mike Argento, who included it in his 1992 Bizarre Toy Awards.[10] Twelve years later, however, Argento admitted that the game had "passed into classic status".[11]

The success of Crocodile Dentist led Robert Fuhrer to design several other crocodile-themed games. One of those, Crocodile Golf, became the popular Gator Golf.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nancy Piccin. "Zoo time at Toy Fair - Turtles have lots of company". The Republican. February 17, 1991. H1.
  2. ^ "Tools for back seat playing". Philadelphia Daily News. July 16, 1993. 60.
  3. ^ a b c Drew Fetherston. "Playing With Toys Is Serious Work: Robert B. Fuhrer's life revolves around games". Newsday. December 5, 1994. C03.
  4. ^ Pete Bishop. "Hottest games going from burst to splat!". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 1, 1991. H4.
  5. ^ Bruce D. Ebert. "What's hot in toyland?" Daily Press. December 3, 1991. C1.
  6. ^ Beth Snyder. "Familiar favorites are still popular". York Daily Record. October 19, 1992. D6.
  7. ^ Emily Heller. "What's hot for the holidays?" The Bradenton Herald. November 15, 1992. E1.
  8. ^ "Toy makers take a walk on the weird side". The Orange County Register. November 14, 1993. E04.
  9. ^ Randy Peterson. "Want to see something really odd? Check..." The Salt Lake Tribune. December 1, 1993. C7.
  10. ^ Mike Argento. "First annual bizarre toy awards". York Daily Record. December 5, 1992. 6.
  11. ^ Mike Argento. "Toys of our times". York Daily Record. November 25, 2004. Living, 1.

[edit] External links

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