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The Magic Eight Ball is a toy made by Mattel Toys in California. It resembles a billiard ball and is used for divination. The ball contains a 20-sided die with yes, no, and ambiguous answers. It is popular in pop culture and has various variations.
A Magic Eight Ball® is a registered toy by Mattel Toys, a company located in El Segundo, California. The toy is designed in the form of a black plastic ball with a viewing window, which allows the user to see a 20-sided die printed with various messages, floating on top of a cylinder of blue fluid inside the ball. ball when turned so that the viewing window is facing up. The Magic Eight Ball® can only answer yes or no questions, and is one of many divination toys such as Ouija boards that are quite popular in some parts of the world.
In appearance, a Magic Eight Ball® resembles an oversized billiard or billiard eight ball, which is the most important ball in many games such as eight-ball billiards. The connection between the pool and divination is unclear, but in 1946 Abe Bookman of the Alabe Toy Company designed the toy, naming it the Syco-Seer and relating it to the clear crystal balls used by diviners. The toy acquired the popular name Magic Eight Ball® and the rights were sold to Tyco Toys, a company which was later bought by Mattel.
The dice inside the Magic Eight Ball® is shaped like an icosahedron and is made of a white material with embossed letters in a simple sans serif font. As the die floats towards the viewing window, a thin layer of blue liquid settles around the lettering, making it appear white against a blue background. Traditionally, the user holds the Magic Eight Ball® with the painted number eight facing up to ask a yes or no question, then tosses the ball to reveal the viewing window. After a moment, the die will pop up and the answer will appear.
Of the 20 answer options, 10 answers unequivocally mean yes, such as “Very likely” and “Definitely”. Five sides indicate that the answer is no, including “My answer is No” and “Don’t count on it.” The remaining five sides are used for ambiguous responses, such as “Answer confused, try again” or “Ask again later”. Statistically, this means that the Magic Eight Ball® is likely to provide an affirmative answer to the question asked.
In addition to being a toy for children and adults, the Magic Eight Ball® also appears in popular culture, usually in the context of being consulted by a character in a book or on the screen. Numerous variations of the Magic Eight Ball® have also been produced, including A Sarcastic Eight Ball, an Affirmation Ball and a Love Ball. Most toy stores and gift shops carry the original Magic Eight Ball®.
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