NOT TODAY, EBAY (36)
By:
June 11, 2026
One in a series of posts via which Josh Glenn will share recent examples of stuff that he was tempted to purchase via eBay… but, heroically, didn’t.
Vintage 1998 Illuminations Quicksilver Magical Mystery mercury Maze
US $19.99
When I was a kid, in the early to mid ’80s, I had a couple of mercury/quicksilver mazes. These were handheld plastic puzzles — I think they first appeared in the ’70s — containing a small, free-moving blob of liquid elemental mercury. The goal was to tilt the board to navigate the mercury bead through a maze into a center hole. Which doesn’t sound that interesting, but it wasn’t like similar maze-puzzles with a little steel ball bearing… because of the “blobby” movement of the mercury. It was quite tricky, and sort of hypnotizing.
I was more fascinated by what happened when you shook the puzzle. The mercury blob would disintegrate into smaller blobs. The challenge then was to consolidate smaller, split drops into a single large one.
Due to the extreme toxicity of mercury, these puzzles are now considered hazardous and are banned. I don’t think you can find them on eBay. The later (1998) version of the game shown here likely does not include a blob of quicksilver. Despite the game’s name, it looks like a little plastic bead to me. On the other hand, that bead looks too large to fit through the maze’s corridors. So maybe it’s the real deal?
London’s Loncraine Broxton, who manufactured the mercury maze linked to above, also made really elegant and stylish “aquabatic” (or “water dexterity”) toys. And those “magnetic feel” execituve desk accessories too. A rabbit hole I dare not go down.
MORE FURSHLUGGINER THEORIES BY JOSH GLENN: SCHEMATIZING | IN CAHOOTS | JOSH’S MIDJOURNEY | POPSZTÁR SAMIZDAT | VIRUS VIGILANTE | TAKING THE MICKEY | WE ARE IRON MAN | AND WE LIVED BENEATH THE WAVES | IS IT A CHAMBER POT? | I’D LIKE TO FORCE THE WORLD TO SING | THE ARGONAUT FOLLY | THE PERFECT FLANEUR | THE TWENTIETH DAY OF JANUARY | THE REAL THING | THE YHWH VIRUS | THE SWEETEST HANGOVER | THE ORIGINAL STOOGE | BACK TO UTOPIA | FAKE AUTHENTICITY | CAMP, KITSCH & CHEESE | THE UNCLE HYPOTHESIS | MEET THE SEMIONAUTS | THE ABDUCTIVE METHOD | ORIGIN OF THE POGO | THE BLACK IRON PRISON | BLUE KRISHMA | BIG MAL LIVES | SCHMOOZITSU | YOU DOWN WITH VCP? | CALVIN PEEING MEME | DANIEL CLOWES: AGAINST GROOVY | DEBATING IN A VACUUM | PLUPERFECT PDA | SHOCKING BLOCKING.