Vacuum formers are still relatively unusual in our community, so it was a surprise to see that in the 1960s Mattel marketed one as a toy. It utilized a hot plate to mold plastic sheets into different shapes. The style was updated by Toymax in the early ’90s to utilize a light bulb heating aspect to make vehicle bodies, like some kind of manly Easy-Bake Oven. The home-built machines we’ve seen are a much larger scale. In 2005, we published [Ralis Kahn]’s version that employed an electric grill as the heating element. [drcrash] has considering that built on those plans, intending to establish an even more affordable device.

[via Gizmodo]