DarePlane Stunter

[@johncrouch17]

Someone just asked me today what was my all time favorite childhood christmas gift and this was it. Thank you for posting. I would play with this thing for hours, but the crashes were brutal.

[@jaimhaas5170]

Yes those crashes were. I don't think that is why many of them are around. I would love to get one of these going again.

[@EricDennison]

Thanks for sharing this. This was one of my most favorite toys ever in spite of its short, brutal life.

[@jim.joseph]

Thanks for the comments, I completely agree. I think I once ordered a replacement plane and promptly destroyed that one too.

[@subversion6066]

This was my all time favorite toy. Good memories.

[@thegee-tahguy4877]

Thanks for posting this. I had one in the 70's. Oddly, I'll never forget the smell of the mechanicals on this plane. It was like nothing I ever smelled before.

[@tomrizzo1554]

One of the best toys I ever got for Christmas

[@dannydontgoin237]

I remember Vertibird, but I don't remember this. What a cool toy!

[@ToyKingWonder]

Great to see one flying! This was the first version, later came the Barnstormers, etc, which were not as good. This was actually flying. I got the very first Vertibird and played with it tons. Then I went over to my uncles house and he had this! I played with it for hours when we stayed there over the summer. It did not break, but I was careful with it. They were plagued with electrical defects from the factory, and they were fragile. A high rate of returns, and they this model was gone, largely forgot about. The Vertibird was incredibly successful, this was not. I remember the sound and the fun of playing with this awesome toy.

[@2007andrewg]

This was a copy of Mattel’s Harry Canary which I had . Loved that toy. My second was the WhirlyBird helicopter with the big styrofoam ship to land the helicopter on. Damn. Wish they still made these Id be playing with it at 59 years old.

[@petemclinc]

I'm the same age as you and got a Harry Canary for Christmas the first year it came out. I could never get the damn thing to fly! The cable would always screw-up. A friend of mine was able to make it fly, he was good at flying stuff like those Cox tethered model airplanes .

[@dbfcrell8300]

I had a blast with mine, but it was the smell of the lubricant or whatever it was made with that I miss the most.

[@Sockieknowshockey]

Thanks for posting. Brings back great memories!

[@jim.joseph]

Thanks. I know it's not a very exciting video, but I posted it for people who fondly remember this awesome toy.

[@stevis8264]

I got one of these for Christmas 1972. Mattel only offered it for that year. The next year they offered the Hairy Canary.

[@jaimhaas5170]

Such a unique toy. Mine was called "Hairy Canary" and I have been looking for it everywhere but have had no luck. I have most of the parts but like many others here they have taken a beating. I still think this is one of the most interesting toys I have ever seen put into mass production.

[@ClockFixer]

I still have one and it's MINT!

[@jaimhaas5170]

@@ClockFixer no kidding? How much would you let it go for?

[@ericferguson68]

The version I got for my birthday (probably '74 or '75 or '76) was called "Harry Canary". It was the exact same toy but hand cranked instead of battery powered. I believe the hand-crank version would have been superior to this one because you could generate far more power to the propeller. Mine lasted for a couple of years of hard play until the crank handle broke off (I believe there were many parts replaced before the crank broke: I don't know why we didn't get a new crank, maybe they quit selling the toy and the replacement parts?). I have never seen a Harry Canary for sale anywhere. I only ever see this battery powered version (and I don't remember the battery version from when I was a kid). You do have to play around with the pitch of the propeller, the angle of the wings, the trim of the elevator, and maybe the center of gravity to get it to fly right.

[@jaimhaas5170]

I have tried for years to find any parts or full toy...to no avail.

[@jamesprell159]

The best toy ever made!! Too bad they all broke. You're just 1 crash away from disaster...I had 4 from Christmas 1972 thru April 1973. I was 12. Every time my DP would break, my dad drove to Mattel for a new one. They did not ask any questions. Just gave us a new one. After April '73, Mattel would no longer give you a new one. BTW, I'm an expert with these things. Over the past 20 years, I've collected parts over the internet and restored the 12 DP's to OEM, (even made new landing pads). I have sold 8 online. I have 4 for myself. I don't attempt any tricks... Again, 1 crash away from breaking. If interested, I can send pics of the restored DP's. I'm 56 and still love this toy :)

[@jim.joseph]

Thanks James. Yes, great toy. I think I will need a replacement control wire at some point, I remember that those fray pretty quickly. Post some pics and send a link if you can.

[@mikeduncan2353]

Best toy I ever had

[@didimo1963]

I envy you guys. The Dareplane was never released in Italy, where I grew up, but I knew about it because it was featured in a 1972 US catalog my friend found in his import Big Jim. However, when I was 12 in '75 I got a Mattel Superstar plane, which was pretty cool and could fly outdoor. I eventually found a Dareplane in '94 at a flea market in CT, but was broken and never got to fly it.

[@robertwright1084]

My brother and I got this toy for Christmas in 1972 or 1973, although my dad flew it more then we did LOL. It flew great on Christmas morning but after several flights the motor burned up and it had to go back to Toy's R US. When we brought it back to the store to get another one we were told there wouldn't be any other ones due to high return rates on this toy! We were devastated :-(

[@jim.joseph]

The life of a DarePlane was all too short!

[@rcfred_689]

I had one too, and it broke. I don't even remember getting to fly it. I had vertibirds that were much better!!

[@tomrizzo1554]

But I remember the cables always used to break

[@ClockFixer]

Your wife is CUTE!

[@jim.joseph]

Ha ha, yes. She learned to fly it pretty well too.

[@jaimhaas5170]

I was thinking what a lucky guy her husband is.

[@ClockFixer]

LIke the Hairy Canary !

[@jaimhaas5170]

The most awesome toy ever.

[@robertprice7246]

Good Job !at the age of 8 I could never get mine to do anything but crash.

[@jim.joseph]

Haha, yeah, me too!

[@robertprice7246]

@@jim.joseph what I would love to find is a Hasbro Air Devils toy in good shape to buy. I got the air devils and dare plane stunter both for Christmas 1972 and loved them both. But the air devils flew better

[@nascarmad]

When I was in 6th grade, I went over to Mattel with a friend and our dads to build and then test this...THING! The dads were there to help us with construction issues which came up a few times. Then we TRIED to fly the THING. We didn't have much success. It pretty much did on takeoff what we see here around 2:43.

[@Craiglaca1]

My dad had one of those. One crash broke the Styrofoam wings into pieces. He said my Grandmother spent big bucks on that thing

[@jaimhaas5170]

@Gregory Dahl many ...many layers of tape on my wings!!!!

[@madmarkstoys]

I LOVE IT

[@ericlogos9568]

Yes, this and vertibird.

[@melcrose]

harry canary super stunt plane