Lab Notes: A magic doodle board is a traditional road trip toy from the 1950s that
features a smiling, bald, clean shaven man; a magnetic stylus; and dark magnetic shavings. Invented long before computers or pacemakers, this toy needs to be kept away from all things sensitive to magnets. Our lab testers tried several variations on this classic.
Testing: To recreate a true “road trip” experience, we put our testers in the back seats of a 1966 Ford Country Squire with wood decals. No air conditioning was provided, but we had plenty of 8 track tapes. Our “trip” was a virtual reality, 12 hour drive through the state of Kansas. We then asked our test subjects to rate the magic doodle boards based on sturdiness, fun, reusablity, visual appeal and cost-to-play value. Several of the larger doodle boards rated significantly higher for sturdiness and reusability and one rated quite high for visual appeal. All of the boards garnered identical ratings for fun. When cost-to-play value was factored in, the larger boards fell flat. At up to five times the price of the cheapest doodle board, the fancier boards lost their luster. Our testers told us to stay with the simplest model.
Conclusions: We agreed with our testers and opted to include the inexpensive doodle board in a box. This then allows us to offer even more objects de fun to our box.
Mirth in a Box includes the Magic Doodle Board in Simply Silly, a fun and funny care package for campers or anyone who likes retro toys for old fashioned fun.
