While trampolines have sent over a million people to the emergency room, toy manufacturers in the 90s thought, “Why not strap them to kids’ feet?” And thus, the moon shoes were born.

They were meant to simulate the feeling of walking in the moon’s low gravity, allowing children to bounce around to their heart’s content. The toy looked like a plastic bucket with rubber bands stretched across the top and a few straps to attach a kid’s foot. Once strapped inside, the child would wobble around before bounding off like an unstable kangaroo. Hey, before the internet, children had to amuse themselves somehow.

Unfortunately, as much fun as the commercials made moon shoes look, they led to a variety of injuries. Broken ankles and knee scrapes were just part of the moon shoe experience. Plus, moon shoes had one other strike against them, per TTPM Toy Reviews: assembly required. Depending on the kid’s weight, you had to spend a half hour attaching additional rubber bands.

That's one small step for a kid, and broken ankles for children everywhere

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