Magic 8-Ball

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The standard face of a Magic 8-Ball

The Magic 8-Ball, manufactured by Mattel, is a toy used for fortune-telling or seeking advice. The device was invented in 1946 by Albert Carter, son of a clairvoyant, who marketed and sold the device with Abe Bookman of the Alabe Crafts Company (a company named for the first letters in Carter's and Bookman's first names). Although Carter is the inventor, Bookman is often credited for the invention of the device. It is a hollow, plastic sphere resembling an oversized, black and white 8-ball. Inside is a cylindrical reservoir containing a white, plastic, icosahedral die floating in alcohol with dissolved dark blue dye. The die is hollow, with openings in each face, allowing the die to fill with fluid, giving the plastic die minimal buoyancy. Each of the 20 faces of the die has an affirmative, negative, or non-committal statement printed on it in raised letters. There is a transparent window on the bottom of the 8-ball through which these messages can be read.

To use the ball, it must be held with the window initially facing down. After "asking the ball" a yes-or-no question, the user then turns the ball so that the window faces up, setting in motion the liquid and die inside. When the die floats to the top and one of its faces is pressed against the window, the raised letters displace the blue liquid to reveal the message as white letters on a blue background. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary (or recommended) to shake or jostle the ball before turning it, as doing so can create air bubbles that may visually distort the answer.

Contents

[edit] Standard answers

Inside the Magic 8-Ball. The raised letters of one face have been colored blue to make the message more readable.

The 20 standard answers on a Magic 8-Ball are:

● As I see it, yes
● It is certain
● It is decidedly so
● Most likely
● Outlook good
● Signs point to yes
● Without a doubt
● Yes
● Yes - definitely
● You may rely on it
● Reply hazy, try again
● Ask again later
● Better not tell you now
● Cannot predict now
● Concentrate and ask again
● Don't count on it
● My reply is no
● My sources say no
● Outlook not so good
● Very doubtful

10 of the possible answers are affirmative (●), 5 are negative (●), and 5 are non-committal (●). Using the Coupon collector's problem in probability theory, it can be shown that it takes an average of 72 questions of the Magic Eight Ball for all 20 of its answers to appear at least once.

[edit] In Popular culture

  • Predating the invention of the Magic 8-Ball (and thus possibly serving as inspiration for the design), a "magic ball" in the guise of an oversized 8 ball appears in the Three Stooges short "You Nazty Spy" and is used to parody the use of Psychics by prominent Nazis at the time. The prop used is not actually a Magic 8-Ball.
  • In the 1995 Disney/Pixar film, Toy Story, Woody asks a Magic 8-Ball sitting on his owner's desk, "Will Andy pick me?" as he wanted to go to Pizza Planet, not Buzz. The Ball's response is "Don't count on it." Woody then gets upset over this answer and throws the Magic 8 Ball on the desk, causing it to roll along and fall behind Andy's desk.
  • In a season 1 episode of House, the title doctor asks his "magic pool hall oracle" to help him decide between Dr. Foreman and Dr. Chase's theory.
  • The Magic 8 ball features prominently in the film Interstate 60
  • In The Simpsons episode Bart's Friend Falls in Love, Bart and Milhouse peer into a Magic 8-Ball to see if Bart and Milhouse would be best friends in the future. The Magic 8-Ball was giving negative feedback, which turned out to come true when Milhouse makes friends with a new girl in school.
  • The song "First Drink of the Day" by 7 Seconds of Love features the lyrics "Woke up today; I didn't feel like I should, / And my Magic 8-Ball said 'Outlook not so good'".
  • In episode "The Truth Is Out There And It Hurts" of TV-series "Charmed" Phoebe tries to learn her fortune by shaking classic Magic 8-Ball, which gave her "Ask again later" answer each time.
  • In the episode "iMeet Fred" of iCarly, Spencer use a Magic MeatBall a parody of the Magic 8-Ball
  • In SEINFELD: Puddy enters Elaine's apartment the next day with a “Magic 8 ball” coat. Elaine, crestfallen by yet another odd piece of garb that she has to endure, states irritably “What’s that?” Puddy responds “It’s the 8 ball! You got a question? You ask the 8 ball!”
  • In Friends Season 5 episode 4 ("The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS"), Ross consults a Magic 8-ball for answer to his dilemma: should he "never see Rachel again" (as requested by his then-wife Emily as the condition to try to continue their marriage, and avoid being divorced twice before 30), for which the ball twice gave non-comittal answers ("Ask again later").
  • Featured in the film Stickmen.

[edit] Variations

Since the emergence of the first Magic 8-Ball numerous variations of the concept have appeared. Some popular ones are:

Affirmation Ball
A yellow ball with a smiley face on it that gives twenty random affirmations to the user, such as "You look marvelous" or "Your breath is so minty".[1]
Sarcastic Ball
The antithesis of the Affirmation Ball, this one provides answers such as "Do I Look Like I Care?" and "Yeah, Right".[2]
Pink 8-Ball
A version made with dating in mind, this ball gives advice on love, romance, and dating; it is often known as the "Magic Date Ball" or "Love Ball".[3]
Yoda's Jedi Destiny (1999)
Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell kids meals' premium toys included a tie-in with the movie Star Wars Episode I. One of the toys was a Yoda figure based on the Magic 8-ball. Instead of a ball, this variation was Yoda seated on his repulsor chair with the viewing window in the bottom.[4]
Yoda The Jedi Master (1981)
Kenner produced this toy after The Empire Strikes Back. The figure is Yoda leaning on his walking stick. You flip him over to get your answer.[5]
Simpsons Magic 8-Ball (2002)
Mattel released a limited-edition Magic 8 Ball on the theme of the television program The Simpsons. Colored yellow and red with an image of Bart Simpson spray painting the number "8", the ball's answers are all well known quotes from the show, such as "D'oh!" (a catch phrase of Homer Simpson), "Excellent..." (Montgomery Burns), and "Okeley Dokeley" (Ned Flanders).
Kirby Magic 8-Ball (2005)
Wendy's introduced a line of toys featuring the Nintendo video game character Kirby. One of them was a statuette of Kirby with a chef's hat and frying pan, with answers appearing in his open mouth. When its arm was pulled, it would give the answers: "Ask Again Later", "Maybe", "No", "Yes", and "ZZZZ...".
Kiss & Tell Fortune-Telling Lip Gloss (January 2006)
Hard Candy cosmetics introduced the Magic 8-Ball – inspired Kiss & Tell Fortune-Telling Lip Gloss, with flavors such as "Destiny" and "Kismet". A window in the cap of each gloss gives answers such as "No", "OK", and "Yuk".
Aye Ball (Summer 2006)
McDonald's happy-meal toy tie-ins with the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest included an Aye Ball, based on the Magic 8-Ball. This variation was not a ball, but was instead a skull with an eye patch. The pirate-themed answers were revealed by lifting the eye patch.[6]
High School Musical (2007)
A red Magic 8-Ball produced as a tie-in to the Disney Channel movie High School Musical.
SpongeBob AnswerPants (March 2007)
Burger King introduced SpongeBob SquarePants-themed Kids' Meal toys, one dubbed SpongeBob AnswerPants. Cube-shaped to resemble SpongeBob, this toy is essentially a Magic 8-Ball with 6 possible answers. Said answers are "Aye, Aye", "Crabsolutely", "Oh Barnacles! No", "Sounds Fishy", "Water Is Murky", and "You'll Sea Soon".
Hannah Montana 8-Ball
Baby blue in color. Based on the Disney live action TV show and pop singer Hannah Montana. Example of answers: "The fans say yes", "I've Got Nerve and I say no", "Sweet Niblets No", and "You got it, Bud."
A Series of Unfortunate Events Unlucky 8-Ball
Beige in color, with vines wrapping around. This 8-ball is based on A Series of Unfortunate Events, a series of books by Lemony Snicket. It gives pessimistic or book-related answers.
Juicy Couture Magic 8-Ball
Pink in color, with "Juicy Couture" written in brown script, circling the ball.
Disney Princess Magic 8-Ball
Pink in color, with darker pink outlines of Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty above the 8.
Aladdin's Lamp
An unusual variation on the Magic 8-Ball in the shape of Aladdin's lamp. Instead of the icosahedral die floating in liquid, this contained a reel of responses and corresponding Genie facial expressions (e.g. "Ix-nay!", "You got it!", "Ask me later," etc.) Sold by Mattel for the 1992 Disney feature film.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Affirmation Ball - Happy Fortunes - Archie McPhee Toys, Gifts, & Novelties
  2. ^ Sarcastic Ball - Magic Snide Fortune Telling Ball - Archie McPhee
  3. ^ Magic 8 Ball Date Ball - Amazon.com
  4. ^ Yoda's Jedi Destiny Magic 8 Ball - Happy Toy Depot
  5. ^ Yoda The Jedi Master: He Answers All Your Questions - Star Wars Collectors Archive
  6. ^ McDonald's Pirates of the Caribbean Toys - Raving Toy Maniac

[edit] Patents

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_8-Ball"
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