Magic 8-ball

Magic 8 Ball

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Magic 8-ball

The Magic 8-Ball, manufactured by Mattel

Mattel

Mattel Inc. is the world's largest toy importing company based on revenue. The products it produces include Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles....
, is a toy

Toy

A toy is an object used in Play . Toys are usually associated with children and pets, but it is not unusual for adult humans and some non-Domesticationated animals to play with toys....
used for fortune-telling

Fortune-telling

Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain....
or seeking advice. Invented in 1946 by Abe Bookman of the Alabe Toy Company, it is a hollow, plastic sphere resembling an oversized, black and white 8-ball

Billiard ball

Billiard balls are used in cue sports, such as carom billiards, pocket billiards, and snooker. The number, type, diameter, color, and pattern of the balls differ depending upon the specific game being played....
. Inside is a white, plastic, icosahedral

Icosahedron

In geometry, an icosahedron isany polyhedron having 20 faces, but usually a regular icosahedron is implied, which has equilateral triangle s as faces....
die

Dice

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Encyclopedia

The Magic 8-Ball, manufactured by Mattel

Mattel

Toy

Fortune-telling

Billiard ball

Icosahedron

In geometry, an icosahedron isany polyhedron having 20 faces, but usually a regular icosahedron is implied, which has equilateral triangle s as faces....
die

Dice

A die is a small polyhedron object, usually cubic, used for generating Statistical randomnesss or other symbols. This makes dice suitable as gambling devices, especially for craps or sic bo, or for use in non-gambling tabletop games....
floating in a dark blue liquid. Each of the 20 faces of the die has an affirmative, negative, or non-committal statement printed on it in raised letters. There is a transparent window on the bottom of the 8-ball through which these messages can be read.

To use the ball, it must be held with the window initially facing down. After "asking the ball" a yes-or-no question

Yes-no question

A yes-no question, formally known as a polar question, is a question whose expected answer is either yes and no. Formally, they present an exclusive disjunction, a pair of alternatives of which only one is acceptable....
, the user then turns the ball so that the window faces up, setting in motion the liquid and die inside. When the die floats to the top and one of its faces is pressed against the window, the raised letters displace the blue liquid to reveal the message as white letters on a blue background. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary (or recommended) to shake or jostle the ball before turning it, as doing so can create air bubbles that may visually distort the answer.

Standard answers

The 20 standard answers on a Magic 8-Ball are:

? As I see it, yes
? It is certain
? It is decidedly so
? Most likely
? Outlook good
? Signs point to yes
? Without a doubt
? Yes
? Yes - definitely
? You may rely on it
? Reply hazy, try again
? Ask again later
? Better not tell you now
? Cannot predict now
? Concentrate and ask again
? Don't count on it
? My reply is no
? My sources say no
? Outlook not so good
? Very doubtful

Ten of the possible answers are affirmative (?), five are negative (?), and five are non-committal (?).

Variations

Since the emergence of the first Magic 8-Ball numerous variations of the concept have appeared. Some popular ones are:

Affirmation Ball

A yellow ball with a smiley face

Smiley

A smiley, or happy face , is a stylized representation of a smiling human face, commonly represented as a yellow circle with two dots representing eyes and a half circle representing the mouth....
on it that gives twenty random affirmations

Autosuggestion

In fringe medicine autosuggestion is used for positive or negative physical symptoms explained by the thoughts and beliefs of a person. For example, some will experience more pain when they think it will hurt....
to the user, such as "You look marvelous" or "Your breath is so minty".

Sarcastic Ball

The antithesis of the Affirmation Ball, this one provides answers such as "Do I Look Like I Care?" and "Yeah, Right".

Pink 8-Ball

A version made with dating in mind, this ball gives advice on love, romance, and dating; it is often known as the "Magic Date Ball" or "Love Ball".

Yoda's Jedi Destiny (1999)

Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut is a restaurant chain and international franchising based in Addison, Texas, Texas, United States offering different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
and Taco Bell

Taco Bell

Taco Bell is a chain restaurant based in Irvine, California, specializing in Mexican-inspired fast food. It is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands. Most restaurants are located in North America, but there are also many in other countries....
kids meals

Happy Meal

Tie-in

A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a film or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property....
with the movie Star Wars Episode I
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 in film space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the first in terms of Dates in Star Wars....
. One of the toys was a Yoda

Yoda

Yoda is a character and a protagonist in the Star Wars fictional universe, who appears in all of the Media franchise's films except for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope....
figure based on the Magic 8-ball. Instead of a ball, this variation was Yoda seated on his repulsor chair with the viewing window in the bottom.

Yoda The Jedi Master (1981)

Kenner

Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located....
produced this toy after The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 in film space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett....
. The figure is Yoda leaning on his walking stick. You flip him over to get your answer.

Simpsons Magic 8-Ball (2002)

Mattel released a limited-edition Magic 8 Ball on the theme of the television program The Simpsons
The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an Television in the United States animated cartoon Situation comedy created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company....
. Colored yellow and red with an image of Bart Simpson

Bart Simpson

Bartholomew "Bart" JoJo Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family....
spray painting the number "8", the ball's answers are all well known quotes from the show, such as "D'oh!

D'oh!

"D'oh!" is a catch phrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from the long-running animated series sitcom The Simpsons . Originally written in a script as an "annoyed grunt", Dan Castellaneta rendered it as a drawn out "d'ooooooh"....
" (a catch phrase

Catch phrase

A catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such memetic phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth....
of Homer Simpson), "Excellent..." (Montgomery Burns), and "Okeley Dokeley" (Ned Flanders).

Kirby Magic 8-Ball (2005)

Wendy's

Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers is an international Chain store of fast food restaurants founded by Dave Thomas & John T. Schuessler on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio....
introduced a line of toys featuring the Nintendo

Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
video game character Kirby

Kirby (Nintendo)

is the main character of Nintendo's Kirby created by Masahiro Sakurai and developed by HAL Laboratory. The Kirby series is one of Nintendo's many well-known game franchises, spanning nearly twenty games since 1992....
. One of them was a statuette of Kirby with a chef's hat and frying pan, with answers appearing in his open mouth. When its arm was pulled, it would give the answers: "Ask Again Later", "Maybe", "No", "Yes", and "ZZZZ...".

Kiss & Tell Fortune-Telling Lip Gloss (January 2006)

Hard Candy

Hard Candy (cosmetics)

Hard Candy is an United States of America cosmetics company, founded in 1995 by Iranian American sisters, Dineh and Pooneh Mohajer , and Benjamin Einstein ....
cosmetics introduced the Magic 8-Ball – inspired Kiss & Tell Fortune-Telling Lip Gloss, with flavors such as "Destiny" and "Kismet". A window in the cap of each gloss gives answers such as "No", "OK", and "Yuk".

Aye Ball (Summer 2006)

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 58 million customers daily. McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts....
happy-meal

Happy Meal

A "Happy Meal" is a meal specially tailored for children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toy is typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo....
toy tie-ins with the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 in film adventure film of the Pirates of the Caribbean , the sequel to the 2003 in film film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the first film from Walt Disney Pictures to feature the current logo....
included an Aye Ball, based on the Magic 8-Ball. This variation was not a ball, but was instead a skull with an eye patch. The pirate-themed answers were revealed by lifting the eye patch.

High School Musical (2007)

A red Magic 8-Ball produced as a tie-in to the Disney Channel

Disney Channel

Disney Channel is a cable television television channel specializing in television programming for children through original series and movies as well as third party programming....
movie High School Musical
High School Musical

High School Musical is an Emmy Award-winning United States television film, and the first in the High School Musical . Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful movie that List of Disney Channel Original Movies ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and the feature fil...
.

SpongeBob AnswerPants (March 2007)

Burger King

Burger King , often abbreviated to BK, is a global chain store of hamburger fast food restaurants. Burger King is headquartered at 5505 Blue Lagoon Drive in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, Florida, United States....
introduced SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated Television program and media franchise. It is currently one of Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network's most-watched show....
-themed Kids' Meal toys, one dubbed SpongeBob AnswerPants. Cube-shaped to resemble SpongeBob, this toy is essentially a Magic 8-Ball with 6 possible answers. Said answers are "Aye, Aye", "Crabsolutely", "Oh Barnacles! No", "Sounds Fishy", "Water Is Murky", and "You'll Sea Soon".

Hannah Montana 8-Ball

Baby blue in color. Based on the Disney live action TV show and pop singer Hannah Montana

Hannah Montana

Hannah Montana is an 59th Primetime Emmy Awards United States Television program, which debuted on March 24, 2006 on Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a alter ego as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night, concealing her real identity from the...
. Example of answers: "The fans say yes", "I've Got Nerve and I say no", "Sweet Niblets No", and "You got it, Bud."

A Series of Unfortunate Events Unlucky 8-Ball

Beige in color, with vines wrapping around. This 8-ball is based on A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events

A Series of Unfortunate Events is a Children's literature book series of thirteen novels written by Lemony Snicket, and illustrated by Brett Helquist....
, a series of books by Lemony Snicket. It gives pessimistic or book-related answers.

Juicy Couture Magic 8-Ball

Pink in color, with "Juicy Couture" written in brown script, circling the ball.

Disney Princess Magic 8-Ball

Pink in color, with darker pink outlines of Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty above the 8.

Patents

External links

Ask The Online Magic 8-Ball.
Rather complex 8-ball with some added functions (community, widgets in progress)
includes photographs of the dissection of a Magic 8-Ball.
The Spiritual/Magical Eight Ball
A javascript eight ball that uses all the official answers
An online version of the Magic 8 Ball with a twist.
An online version of the Magic 8-ball with official and unofficial answers.
An online version of the Magic 8-ball for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch products.
- Microblog that automatically responds to questions.

An online version of the Magic 8-ball with standard answers.