5 More Inflatables We Want Based On Retro Properties

In last week’s Recurrent Events, I came across what could be the most glorious bounce house ever conceived. Magic Jump now has an officially-licensed Star Wars Millennium Falcon Experience inflatable that you can purchase for the low price of $9,495. I can’t imagine what joy I would’ve had to rent one of these for a childhood birthday party back in the ’80s. My imagination ran wild just looking at the snapshots of the cockpit, the Dejarik table, and characters like Chewbacca and R2-D2. Take a look…

Magic Jump also has an AT-AT Obstacle Course that looks pretty great. Mickey and I actually discussed the Millennium Falcon bounce house on TRN Podcast 028 and it got our wheels turning about what other nostalgic inflatables would be great to produce. Mickey suggested a WWE (or WWF) wrestling ring where you could bounce off the ropes and reenact your favorite wrestler’s signature moves. That’s a great idea and you could even have an inflatable steel cage as an add-on.

Here are five more ideas for licensed nostalgic inflatables that came to my mind:

Castle Grayskull

We all remember the play tents back in the day that would appear in the Sears Wishbook. Why not take those and just make then larger! Castle Grayskull was such an awesome playset and you could do so much to make it an inflatable palace. The Sorceress’ throne, a drawbridge entrance, and a trap door slide would be some features I would want to see.

1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest

I know there are some inflatables nowadays that feature basketball hoops but why not license one for the NBA and cater to the classic Slam Dunk contests from the ’80s and ’90s. The 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is one of my favorites featuring a duel for the ages between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins. On the inside of the inflatable, you could showcase several of the dunks performed and instructions on how to perform them.

Double Dare

Every kid’s wish from 1986-1993 was to run the obstacle course on Nickelodeon’s Double Dare. How great would it be to live that dream even now as adults?! And while you would probably want all of the slime and gak to make it a true experience, you could just include it in the paint scheme. I’d want the big nose, the hamster wheel, the large rollers, a ball pit, and make sure there were a handful of orange flags to hide in each.

The Home Alone House

Reenacting all of the pitfalls that the robbers experience in the original Home Alone movie would be so much fun. On the lower tier, you could add images of micro machines, broken ornaments, and a tarantula on the floor. On the upper level, you could have inflatable paint cans on ropes to swing at the lower tier kids and also have a slide to “escape to the tree house” (unless you could rig a zip-line.)

Mouse Trap

Imagine a life-sized inflatable Mouse Trap obstacle course based on the old board game! You could have gears to turns, a slide into a large inflatable bathtub, and of course the big trap that you could drop on your other friends on the course. I think it could work maybe slightly better than the actual game itself.

Now, tell me your ideas for retro licensed inflatables! Leave a comment below and let’s continue the conversation.