We used this for a Christmas gift exchange game among adults, and it was a big hit - except the triangle with the answers wouldn't always float to the top. Other than that, we had a good time asking it questions, and it was kind of right each time. Really fun, and the woman who ended up with it for her gift at the end of the night was thrilled to have it, due to her nostalgia about it, and she also was eager to show her young kids how to play with it at home.

well the ink is a bit too blue and that makes the message hard to read. also the weight seems to be a tad lighter than the 8 -balls from long ago.

NONETHELESS. my lady loves it. it's a fun thing to have around. I would its a good buy so as long as its under 7 bucks.

The Magic 8-Ball is really magic! I hope Mattel continues to update the 8-ball. I'm trying to get my hands on the 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" My kids love them even more!!

This thing is not very reliable. You can't trust anything it says. You ask it once, you get one answer. Ask it again, you get something different.

I teach and bought three of these to add a little fun to the classroom.It certainly did and it was great to see the faces of the children (and adults) as they asked their sincere questions and delight in the right answer or ask again if the answer didn't satisfy.I teach english to spanish children and this 8 ball really forced them to focus and speak as I had said it would only respond to English.A great toy.....but.....after six months,all three are now next to impossible to read as bubbles have appeared within the port hole and they seem to spawn at an ever increasing rate.Now it is no longer as effective and I now have to ask the students to try and decipher whats written.

Maybe my eyes were clearer 40 years ago when I had my first Magic 8 Ball but even with my glasses on this one was almost impossible to read when I looked into the hole to get my answer. And I had to kinda shake it to get the triangle thingy to land on an answer too !!! Now, I'm not a fool but if I'm looking for advice I do want my "without a doubt" or "outlook not so good" to be a lot more definitive. I have a lot riding on these answers ya know....
Maybe its that I'm in my 50's now and more cynical than I used to be. Sigh, life does NOT get any easier as you get older and thats for sure.

I named my magic 8 ball reginald. I was 0riginally going to name it OverLord but, i thought it sounded too classy and allpowerful. so i named it reginald, cool, social, and ready to do battle with my toy laser cannon. i shall let reginald rule over all that dare enter my room.

This is a great toy. The only complaint I have is that it only seems to be accurate about half the time. Thus, I have stopped using it to make major life decisions, but other than that, I highly recommend it.

love the magic 8 ball - we use it at work!
but the quality is not as good as the original, you have to really shake it up
in order to get an answer - the answer triangles don't come up very well!

Yes, everyone - that means you, too. I'm giving this to my nephew who's just graduated from high school. Everyone needs a little help deciding whether to study or have fun, and Ty's Magic 8 Ball will help him make those tough decisions.

After I finished my comprehensive exams, I knew exactly what I wanted to give to colleagues as they prepared to take theirs: a Magic 8 Ball. Surprisingly, I could not find one in any brick & mortar stores but Amazon, as always, came to the rescue. Buy one for every academic you know. I assure you, it's every bit as reliable as many peer-reviewed sources.

I have looked everywhere for this and have only found it here. I did find it here prior to searching elsewhere for it. And this was a present I use to always as a kid give to almost all my friends at their birthday parties and they all said this was one of there top 2 gifts always. (Note I have lived in very well to do areas so big expensive parties with lots of kids are/have been the norm. Anouther words they had a lot of gifts and gift givers to judge their presents qualities. And the friends at the party loved it too. Now, I think only certain adsults will appreciate it but it still should and could be by an older population. Especially if you give a great reason why you think so and so should have it. So enjoy and challenge yourself or the one you give it to to ask really strong questions to help their analytical skills too!

just as reliable and much easier to use, the mystic Eight-Ball has plotted the course of history since its introduction during the Cold War. It is critical in nutritional dilemmas such as "Pizza or Sub" "Triple Latte Ventral Grande Mocha or coffee" Quit thinking and let the Eight-Ball do the hard work

I purchased this for my 12-year-old grandson for his birthday. This toy was first made when I was the same age. It is fun for every age, requires no batteries, and makes no noise. It is also portable and can be played with almost anywhere.

my husband purchased 2 of these magic 8 balls for his 2 new supervisors at work that really don't know the job well. my husband thought it would be a great gag gift seeing as the new supers are always asking him questions. he gave the 8 balls to them for christmas . it was a hit. anyone over 35 must remember playing with a magic 8 ball. as much fun today as it was when we were kids....and the supers now only bother him with important questions....

Seems to be like most women I know, indecisive. (No offense ladies, but you know it's true)

It's a variation on a classic toy with marginal differences. The original featured 2 plastic halves plastic-welded together then machined to look spherical. That somewhat defeated the illusion of being a real 8-ball. Not that anyone could mistake a 5 inch billiard ball for the real thing. I'm guessing it was done to seal the fluid in. The new one appears to feature an additional lining within the black halves and doesn't need the same welding. The illusion is better preserved, but there's still a very clear seam running through the middle where the halves meet.

Just remember not to shake it. Shaking it creates bubbles which get permanently lodged in the lettering.

I got this for a (sort of) joke gift for my adult daughter for a Christmas gift this year. I felt she has been having a bit of a problem making decisions--lol and this MIGHT help. She has been getting a kick out of it. But, really-this is a toy I had as a kid, and is a TRUE classic toy.

What can I say? It's a magic 8 ball. You ask it questions and it answers truthfully. Fun for all ages!

The Magic 8 ball is the same as I remembered it in the 70's. The only thing different is that there is a line/ridge separating the two halves. I guess this was put there to make assembly easier. Overall It's fun to ask questions and see what responses you get. It also makes a great paper weight when I'm not consulting it.

When I was seven years old I received a Magic 8 Ball for Christmas. As soon as I unwrapped it, I ignored every other present under the tree for the next half hour, so absorbed was I in the 8 Ball. Fast-forward some quarter of a century later when my own son was seven. I passed my 8 Ball down to him. That's how durable it is.

WHAT IT IS:
The Magic 8 Ball looks almost exactly like the 8-ball in a billiard game, only larger; about five inches in diameter, slightly flattened on one side, which allows it to sit on a flat surface without rolling off, and constructed of very hard black plastic. The flattened side is a round window, in which you can see an icosahedron (a 20-sided geometric figure) floating in water. On each face of the icosahedron is a phrase written in white: Yes, Without A Doubt, My Sources Say No, Concentrate And Ask Again, Yes Definitely, Outlook Not So Good, You May Rely On It, Ask Again Later, etc. The positive, negative and vague phrases are distributed about 10-5-5, so you get a 50% chance of a positive response, a 25% chance of a negative response, and a 25% chance of a vague response.

HOW TO PLAY:
Using the 8 Ball is great fun. You hold the ball face up, with the 8 showing, and ask a yes-or-no question. Turn the ball over, wait a second or two, and as if by magic (at least young children will think so), a face of the icosahedron with the answer to your question will swim eerily up into the window. The question, of course, should make sense. I remember my bratty little five year old neighbor down the hall complaining that my new 8 Ball was dumb -- "I asked it, Is my mother a boy? and it said Yes." I told her "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer." She went home in a huff.

The big caveat in playing with the 8 Ball, of course, is taking it too seriously. It's a game, for heaven's sake. It's a toy, actually, but grownups who think they are too grown up for toys can call it a desk game or whatever else they want. (Law & Order SVU fans: check out the 8 Ball sitting on Detective Tutuola's desk.) You can ask the 8 Ball any question that can be answered with a yes or a no; like most other fortunetelling games, its response will be right some of the time. Using the 8 Ball to play the stock market is definitely dicey. It's can be frustrating when you're told to "Concentrate And Ask Again", or "Ask Again Later". I wanna know now, dammit.

The Magic 8 Ball is one of the classic toys, like Slinky, Mister Potato Head, and Lego blocks, that have stood the test of time. It's easy to use and great fun.

SAFETY/DURABILITY:
I've never known an 8 Ball to break. My own was dropped on the hard floor innumerable times and never showed a crack. Maybe if you bounced it at 90 miles an hour off a concrete wall...

AGE RANGE:
Age 5 to adulthood. Children under 5 will probably find it too large and too heavy to handle easily.

Judy Lind

When I was a kid, my brother and I would play with my Grandfather's Magic 8 Ball. We could sit there for hours thinking up questions to ask the ball and then laugh hysterically at the answers that popped up.

I have to admit that I'd forgotten all about the Magic 8 Ball until a recent trip to Toys 'R Us for some early Christmas shopping. While wandering up and down the aisles, I rediscovered the Magic 8 Ball! It's hard to imagine getting so excited over a toy, but I nearly jumped for joy at the sight of it! As soon as I got back to the car, I ripped the packaging open and started asking questions. My favorite answers are, of course, Yes and You Can Rely On It! Once home, I called my brother to see if he remembered sitting on Grandpa's front porch playing with the Magic 8 Ball. This turned into a great conversation about us as kids and for that alone, this ball is magical!

If you are looking for a fun toy or to bring back memories of childhood, the Magic 8 Ball just might be the answer! It was for me!

This Magic 8 ball is awsome! It really seemed to know the answers. I asked it if it was the best toy ever & it said YOU MAY RELY ON IT! I think it is a very, very cool toy. GO BUY THIS PLEASE! The "Know it all ball" even said you should buy it WITHOUT A DOUBT!

My friend, who is living in an assisted-living home, and I were discussing toys that we enjoyed during our childhood. She asked me when the Magic 8 Ball was invented. I researched the topic and learned that it was invented in 1946. I sent her the Magic 8 Ball. She has had such fun with it, as she has introduced it to some of the people in the home who did not know anything about the toy. My friend uses it as a conversation piece and enjoys the responses she receives from others. It's great to know that an old toy can still bring joy to people over 68 years old. Try it!

I bought this to leave on my desk at work. When someone asks me something, I grab the magic 8 ball! Everyone enjoys it!!!!!

This is really abrupt and childish taking advice from a plastic 8
Ball. Like, we would care? No.

This ball is obviously has blue-dyed liquid inside with triangular sides that probably make up a three dimensional hexagon. Grow up, people. A ball of plastic that holds liquid would never be damn right to ask questions, infact nobody and no-one can ever or will predict questions.

This toy should stay on the shelves when everyone starts to be loyal and by using this hunk-of-[...] gets you dumber every question you answer it. The shrewd kid that wrote a review back
that was something like 'Form of Idolatry. This is wrong' is positively right.

Ohhhhh Wow! Talk about a blast from the past! This sits next to the TV remote when I watch the news... I'll believe the ball long before I'll I believe CNN or the others.

I bought this toy to use it as a quick decision maker on simple things and for fun. The little pyramid piece inside doesn't come with a single sign. You have to adjust it by shifting your hold on the ball to see the sign. Not worth for 8$ + tax.

I've always been skeptical about this stuff until now!
One day, I decided to toy around with it, almost testing it by asking it obvious questions. When I asked "Am I a bo," it said yes, when I asked if I was a girl, it said no. When i asked if it was 2005, it said yes.When I asked if the Yankees won the World Series in 2004 it said no. Now here is the question that made me a true believer: WhenI asked "Blah, Blah, Blah,Blah?" it said Concentrate and ask again as if it understood that I wasn't really asking a question! Totally weird. Use this to solve many problems. I'm suprised it's only considered a toy!. Plus, unlike Ouija Boards , no bad spirits will enter your house!

when i was like 8 years old,I said,this is the best toy i ever had
in the whole world!I think is perfect for children that are like 8
years old,and i remember when i and my friends we ask the "magic b-
all" all our personal things and i remember that day that,i bring
my magic ball and all my classmates start:What is that? Can i ask
something? I was the center of atention of all the classroom!But,
my best friend and i were asking,asking and asking the magic ball!
This is the perfect toy of a children like you!You're going to lo-
ve it!

It's obvious that 8 balls suck, it's just some random answers that may not be true; or you could get a repetitive question and does no more but to waste your time over un-true questions.

If a robotic company invented a talking 8 ball with no random questions and can be your pal as a lie detector, than that one I like..

this toy is the best toy ive ever gotten!!! The magic 8 ball knows all!I love it!I just got it today and i know i could play with it for countless hours!!!all my friends love it and i ask silly questions too!If u want a great toy come to toys r us and start askin questins!Its also low prise!i love it and ull love it too!

This is such a fun toy to play with. You can play alone or with your friends . But this toy can be freaky at the same time. You see when i was twelve years my mother and father told me that this toy is bad beacause it may have correct answers and bad answers . Imean like compare this with a quija bord or a secance thing . I use this toy to talk to the dead and it works all's you have to do is be in a quiet candel lit room and then do the same thing as a quija bord only you do not move a planchet. you ask it anything you desire. Trust me this works. When i asked the what i call quija ball a question it speaks to me. One night i asked it a question i asked it will i ever grow harir on my balls and it answerd yes i was shocked. Anyway i highly recomand this toy for every kid in the world get it today at Toys R us. Have fun.

This is a fun toy to play with your friends or by yourself. This toy is so cool but it is pretty freaky at the same time. Because one night I was going to bed and I always keep it with my CD holder. Then the next morning I found it right beside my bed. Then my mom came in and asked me if it was telling me something. No one touched it not even me! This was so freaky! But this is still a fun toy to play with but be careful. You'll never know what's going to happen when you play with it. Because you'll never know what will happen when you play with the magic 8 ball.

This is a simple novelty toy. No real educational value, unless your child wants to use it to calculate the odds of a yes or no answer.

These 8 Balls are fun for everyone. I keep mine on my computer desk and use it every few days when I'm bored. The only downside to these balls is that they tend to get air inside them after a few months. These small air bubbles will affect the ability of the "answer" cube inside - it will often get stuck midway between answers, so you have to shake it again. I've had this happen with 2 different 8 balls.