What’s the exact opposite of Breaking Bad?
Your Uncle Goose receives some funny emails and phone calls. Let’s discuss the call from Al B. Quirky*, who wanted to know if we still “sold the blocks from that one TV show.”
Our blocks have been featured in several popular TV shows. So we asked Al if he could be more specific. To our horror, Al said,
“You know. The one with Walter White. What’s it called? Breaking Bad.”
We informed Al that to our knowledge, our toys have never been used in any episode of that particular TV show. It wouldn’t make sense: the show had little or nothing to do with innocent children’s toys.
“But they had your blocks right there in their logo,” Al insisted.
Oh. Oh, dear. Oh, no.
No, no, no.
The logo for the hit TV show used two images from the period table. One is element 35, Bromine. It uses the symbol Br. The other is element 56, Barium. It uses the symbol Ba.
Together, the two element squares were used to form the Br in “Breaking” and the “Ba” in Bad. The use of chemical symbols is a nod to the main character’s background and proclivity in science.
So let’s clear up this funny little misconception. Uncle Goose toys have nothing to do with the popular TV show Breaking Bad.
Our designs were not used in the logo, nor did they inspire it. And we seriously doubt any of the characters played with our toys in any of the episodes!
Rather, Dmitry Mendeleev came up with the concept of the Periodic Table in 1869. It’s his groundbreaking work in science and design that likely inspired the logo for the hit TV show.
Your Uncle Goose is also inspired by Mendeleev’s work, albeit in a different way. We make our colorful, 20-piece Elemental Blocks to help children learn the Periodic Table.
Our Elemental Blocks are a popular learning and design toy. Children like them, and they grace the homes and offices of adult scientists, as well.
The period table has 118 elements. Our 20-block set has 120 sides, because 6 sides times 20 is 120. We feature an element on each side of the block. Two other sides feature the Uncle Goose logo.
Other than a funny, one-off question about Breaking Bad, here’s a frequently asked question surrounding our Elemental Block set:
“Instead of a 20 block set, why doesn’t Uncle Goose make a full set to display the entire period table?”
Whoo. If we featured each element on its own block, we we would need to design a 118 piece block set. This would also require a display case to hold all the blocks. That’s a mighty big set!
We can’t say for sure, but we think there would be limited appeal for such a huge and expensive toy! It sure would be fun to design, though.
Plus, it would be a great learning experience to put together as a puzzle. But we’re not at all certain enough people would buy it. And right now, we’re massively busy wrapping and shipping your holiday orders!
However, our 20-piece Elemental Blocks are a fun and colorful way to help children learn the periodic table. They’re a joy to sort and stack, or to display in your home, office, or lab.
We hope you know that your Uncle Goose has nothing to do with either Breaking or Bad. We like to think our toys are the exact opposite of those two words!
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*not his real name, obvs.
