Recently, I went on an excursion to the Palisades to visit my brother, Wolfgang Fauntleroy Knauf.
There he was in his Tap Out shorts, flip flops with socks on sporting a clashing T-shirt; DJ-ing away amidst a pile of broken computer equipment, Manga toys, dishes, and car parts on the couch. He was talking about one subject after another as if he was the Spreader Gun from Contra.
This made me remember our time as young children growing up in the cornfields of Indiana.
You see Wolfgang has the ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.) Imagine the Energizer Bunny whose batteries never die, who just keeps going and going and going like a Gremlin on candy.
Not even ritalin – water or a diet free of chocolate could stop him.
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| Brother Wolfgang |
My mom tried every toy with him when we were young yet he destroyed or lost them all. He-Man was sawed in half with a kitchen knife, GI Joe set on fire, Barbie gulliotened, rock tumblers thrown off the roof, wheels snapped off many a Hot Wheels Car, even our giant stuffed Santa was wrecked by Baby Wolfgang using a kindergarten pair of scissors and a bunk bed. My dad said he could break a brick.
And then one Christmas “Santa” brought something so majestic, so mind blowing, so ADHD proof…
PIPEWORKS!
We had seen the commercials, a majestic blonde family all sporting bowl cuts, singing, “Playskool Pipeworks, Playskool Pipeworks, Click and lock, Click and lock.”
The happy bowl cut family went to assemble chairs, forts and cars with glee. Culminating in the main bowl cut boy smiling stating, “I can build a new toy every day!”
Playskool Pipeworks were invented in the late 1980’s by a Mr. John Choong; he designed the set consisted of white tubes and multi-colored connectors that could be assembled and disassembled with a plastic wrench.
Playskool dubbed it as “a kid-sized construction system that’s a new toy every day!”
Pipeworks were originally available as different sets.
- Basic Set 1000 – 61 pieces
- Sports Set 1500 – 60 pieces
- Big Builders Set 2000 – 112 pieces
- Rock’n Curves Set 2500 – 109 pieces
- Deluxe Set 3000 – 130 pieces
- Super Wheels Set 4000 – 150 pieces
The same manual was shipped with 1000, 2000 & 3000 sets but the only
way to build everything in it was to purchase the Deluxe Set 3000 or
the mother load of them all, “The Super Wheel Set 4000,” as it had all
the necessary parts.
My parents had just hit it big selling fishing bait so we had the final and most deluxe set, The Super Wheel Set 4000 consisting of 150 pieces and a new manual with instruction for 45 new projects.
The manual was like some mythical guide to kid bliss with pictures of steerable jalopies, monkey bars, a lemonade stand, jungle gyms and more in its pages.
Our hearts leapt in glee as we spent many hours in our sub-basement building go-carts, houses, jungle gyms, easels, tea carts, bridges, hurdles, shrines for our Strawberry Shortcake Collection, forts, tee-pees, chairs, light stands, unicycles, a dog house, a Hulk Hogan Style weight bench, and so much more.
They were indestructible and hours of fun.
And not only were the Pipeworks amazing to build with but also doubled as an excellent weapon to hit your sibling with. Nothing was better than those Pipeworks and Wolfgang never did break them, although our dog, Ratt did chew on them quite a bit.
Unfortunately, Playskool no longer makes Pipeworks. But if you have any interest, you can try your luck on ebay or even craigslist where they go for upwards of $599 per set.
There is even a Facebook page dedicated to “Bringing Back the Playskool Pipeworks Sets.”
Heck, they may even may make excellent décor for the ADHD grown up children who DJ and wear Tap Out Shorts with flip flops and socks.
Until next time…
