All of my childhood memories involving Etch a Sketch end the same way. I’d fiddle with the knobs and then after a few minutes, shake it in frustration, erasing all evidence of my hideous “art.” The ionic toy is marking its 60th anniversary this year with a few limited edition launches, but of all of them the Etch a Sketch Revolution was the one that had us shaking our fists at how lucky kids today are.
The Etch a Sketch Revolution is a tad smaller than your typical Etch a Sketch, but it does feature the two signature knobs at the bottom. The main difference is it features a spinning screen that makes drawing circles magnitudes easier. As in, all you have to do is manipulate the knobs on the spinning rim, and that’s it. It’s simple, but pretty neat when you consider just how torturous trying to draw anything circular, rounded, or curvy on a traditional Etch a Sketch is.
Yours truly is probably the worst Etch a Sketch artist to have ever lived, but even I drew multiple circles with ease. (You can see at least three I drew in the GIF above.) That’s not to say that you’ll suddenly be drawing complex mandalas within seconds. It still takes a bit to figure out which way you should turn the knob to sketch anything more than a circle. For example, my blobby mistakes are easy to spot.
Spin Master had a few of these guys on display at the Toy Fair booth, and while I am proud of my abstract concentric circles, they’re nowhere near as artful as the example sketches. The Etch a Sketch Revolution is also gentle on the wallet too. It’ll be $US10 ($15) when it launches later in July.
There’s a few other cool Etch a Sketch edition as well. Leaning in on iconic nostalgia, there’s also a Monolopy Edition to coincide with the game’s 85th anniversary. Likewise, there’s also a Rubrik’s Edition to doubly celebrate the other most frustrating childhood toy’s 40th anniversary. Spin Master’s also commissioned a NASA Inspired edition that’s decorated with space shuttles and a Stan Lee edition that features a cute cartoon version fo the man himself, along with his famed catchphrase, “Excelsior!”
And you know, because Monopoly had to put out a $US500 ($754) Swarovski version for its 85th, Etch a Sketch is also leaning into the capitalist vibe with a Diamond Edition. It’s not nearly as glitzy, but it does feature two diamond-inspired knobs.
These will all retail for $US20 ($30), except for the Diamond Edition which is a bit more at $US30 ($45). The Monopoly Edition will hit shelves in March, while the NASA Inspired Edition will come in April and the Rubrik’s Edition in May. Both the Stan Lee and Diamond Edition will drop in July.