I’ve tried explaining what Colorforms were to my kids before, and I’ll admit, in a world full of PlayStations and iPads, they sound pretty boring. Recently I ran across a still-sealed Dick Tracy Colorforms set for a couple of bucks and decided to open it up and show my kids just how fun Colorforms were!

This picture is only here to show that this truly was a “mint in box” set of Colorforms. This included piece of paper includes instructions — as if “stick things wherever you want” needed explaining — and also lists some of the developmental benefits of Colorforms, including “finger dexterity” and “sense of neatness and order.” It’s odd that it doesn’t mention anything about gun safety. I wonder why?

Here’s the backdrop onto which kids can place their Colorforms. The first thing Morgan said was, “it looks like a back lot.” Last year we toured the Universal Studios backlot. According to Wikipedia, much of the 1990 Dick Tracy movie was filmed “using sound stages and backlots at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.” Good eye, kid!

Here are the actual Colorforms included in the set. There’s Dick Tracy and Pruneface and Monkey Head and Madonna and… okay, I don’t know all of their names. Each one does say “(C) Disney” next to them though, in case you forget.

And here’s the fun we had, placing the Colorforms onto the backdrop. I felt a little bad placing that kid directly in front of a machine gun. The kids were underwhelmed with the process. I remember this being a lot more fun. Mason said they should make a Colorforms app. Morgan said they should make a Dick Tracy movie. I told her they did and asked her if she wanted to watch it. She said no thanks.