7 Retro Toys From the Atomic Age

August 6 and 9, 2025, mark the somber 80th anniversaries of when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. These two catastrophic events led to the deaths of over 100,000 Japanese civilians and helped bring about the end of World War II in the Pacific. They also ushered in the Cold War era and the Atomic Age of science and technology, when, from the late 1940s through the 1960s, such devastating nuclear power inspired awe, fear, and some truly wild kids’ toys.

You read that right. Products for children—including atomic bomb-themed card games, gadgets, and even a few toy sets that were literally radioactive—were invented in the spirit of scientific ingenuity at the time. Needless to say, they did not age well.

Here’s a look at some of the strangest Atomic Age toys, some of which are still available for sale by collectors via websites like eBay and Amazon.

1. Atomic Energy Labs—With Uranium
2. Atomic Space Guns
3. Kid-friendly Versions of Atomic Geiger Counters
4. Nuclear War, The Card Game
5. Atomic Submarines, With Missiles
6. Giant Atomic Bomb Toy Sets
7. Dollhouses With Nuclear Bunkers

Atomic Energy Labs—With Uranium

In the early 1950s, one of the most dangerous toys ever designed—the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab—came with a Geiger counter and ”four glass jars containing natural uranium-bearing (U-238) ore samples” of “autunite, torbernite, uraninite, and carnotite from the Colorado Plateau region.” A detailed 60-page manual allowed kids to conduct mini nuclear experiments in the comfort of their own home. The set also included several nuclear spheres, “low-level radiation sources,” and a Wilson cloud chamber, among other models of atomic scientific equipment.

As you can imagine, these aren’t around anymore. However, similar (albeit less lethal) versions featuring other chemicals like aluminum sulfate and sodium carbonate can be seen on display at the MINT Museum of Toys in Singapore.

Atomic Space Guns

According to the ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity, atomic ray guns were all the rage in the 1950s and 1960s. They took many shapes and sizes, and were called everything from atomic disintegrators to electronic space guns. One version was even modeled after comic book hero Buck Rogers’s very own atomic pistol. You can view a vintage atomic space gun on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Kid-friendly Versions of Atomic Geiger Counters

In the 1950s, the Bell Products Company sold nuclear fun-loving toys like atomic Geiger counters—which detected ferrous metals (objects containing iron) to simulate real radioactivity detection. A deluxe version also came with an electronic radio station and a pair of walkie talkies to complete the atomic childhood experience. In 1949, the A.C. Gilbert Company offered similar items, namely the U-239 Geiger Counter, that would make clicking sounds through your headphones and light up whenever radioactive material reared its ugly head. 

Nuclear War, The Card Game

Billed as “a comical cataclysmic card game of global destruction,” Nuclear War, a popular card game created in 1965, gives you and up to five friends the chance to pretend you’re “major world powers” and negotiate your nation’s fate using “propaganda” and “secrets” cards. Over the course of an hour, you’ll declare war and potentially destroy each other’s homelands before either one of you outlasts the others or peace is eventually reached. A special 50th anniversary version was created in 2015 and can be purchased on Amazon.

Atomic Submarines, With Missiles

What’s better than playing a game of global domination? How about being able to shoot your friends with missiles from an atomic submarine? This extremely rare toy was created by Louis Marx and Company in 1960. The 13-inch sub was made of tin and, thanks to its battery-operated feature, could launch little missiles. Modern collectors might be able to track one down on eBay or through other vintage toy sellers.

Giant Atomic Bomb Toy Sets

In 1955, kids had the opportunity to nuke their friends with a “safe, harmless giant atomic bomb,” as if their parents needed a reminder that these were indeed family-friendly toys. They were made of plastic, with caps that made cracking and popping sounds when they crashed. Today they can be seen on display at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis as part of the “Memories, Wonders, and Dreams: Stories from 100 Years” exhibit.

Dollhouses With Nuclear Bunkers

Even the girls section of the toy aisle got in on the atomic action thanks to dollhouses that came with built-in nuclear fallout shelters. In a 1962 Sears catalog, one version of the Blueberry Lane collections’ Colonial Metal House came with a “conversation piece” featuring a fallout shelter complete with everything you’d need to withstand a nuclear holocaust painted on its walls—shelves stocked with canned food, first aid kits, and other supplies, plus two cots. There’s even a sundeck of sorts, ideal for any dolls who might want to take in views of the blast. Since these Louis Marx and Company dollhouses weren’t exactly sell-out items back then, only so many were built, which makes them highly coveted by collectors today.

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