“In 4 magical minutes, they bake and shrink!”
Although Shrinky Dinks have been around since the 1970s, these “shrink like magic” craft kits truly took off in the 1980s after Colorforms secured the rights to license and distribute them from their original creators. Budding junior artists could colour, cut, and bake their way to creating unique collectibles. The shrunken works of art were durable and retained the detail of the pre-heated versions.
Colorforms incorporated many of their existing character licenses from their popular playsets into the Shrinky Dinks line. Kids could purchase Shrinky Dinks kits from popular TV shows and movies of the time, Disney characters, Marvel and DC superheroes, and other toy brands.
BEHIND THE MAGIC
Shrinky Dinks were made of polystyrene, a common form of plastic. Thanks to a unique manufacturing process, each plastic sheet in a Shrinky Dinks kit would shrink evenly when placed in a heat source like an oven. When heated for approximately 4 minutes, Shrinky Dinks would shrink to 1/3 of their original size and become roughly 9x thicker, the perfect recipe for a fun arts and crafts project for kids.
Colorforms’ Shrinky Kits typically included multiple sheets of ready-to-colour shrinkable plastic, coloured pencils, and a printed instruction booklet. Most sets also included a set of slide-on plastic bases that allowed kids to display their cooled-down creations.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Over the years, Shrinky Dinks have been distributed by multiple companies. In addition to securing sets from Colorforms, collectors of vintage sets will need to source options on the secondary sales market from Skyline Toys, Western Publishing, and Milton Bradley. Shrinky Dinks were also licensed to other retailers and brands as one-off premium giveaways, representing the rarest sets from a collectable standpoint.
If you want to pick up a set or two for a weekend DIY project, retailer Just Play continues to market and sell Shrinky Dinks craft and activity kits today.
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