The heatwave has seen shoppers rushing to the freezer aisle of their nearest supermarket to stock up on ice lollies, panic ordering tower fans and slapping on the suncream. But what if there was a way to keep cool while having fun, feeling nostalgic and enjoying a tasty treat?
Allow me to re-introduce you to one of the most iconic toys of the 80s and 90s. Top of the Argos catalogue Christmas list back when we would circle products on pages, and the perfect antidote to the current weather conditions - Mr Frosty.
“Mr Frosty is such fun, he makes treats for everyone,” is a jingle ingrained in the brains of millennials and Gen X-ers born pre-1995, but you can still buy the ice crusher that everyone was so desperate to have as a child.
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In the midst of the summer heatwave, having never received Mr Frosty in the early 00s, I picked one up for myself from Argos for £24. Oh how powerful it feels to be an adult with their own bank account at times. Unstoppable.
The snowman shaped plastic toy means you can make iced treats to your heart’s content, from lollies and ice cubes, to juice-flavoured slush drinks.
The product description reads: “Make your own delicious frozen treats with Mr Frosty, the coolest guy around! This friendly snowman comes with everything you need to create your own crunchy ice, fruity ice shapes and ice lollies!”
The box includes one Mr Frosty ice crunchy maker, as well as three ice lolly moulds, 2 spoons, a penguin juice dispenser, two ice tray moulds and two Mr Frosty bowls. All you’ll need is your own ice, and your juice flavour of choice - I opted for elderflower and blackcurrant.
The idea behind Mr Frosty appears simple, returning to the well-known jingle: “Pop the ice under his hat, turn the handle just like that.” Which is very much easier said than done as Mr Frosty does take a fair bit of elbow grease and muscle power. You really have to put your back into crushing the ice by hand - oh if only there was a frozen drinks maker that would do it for you…
Of course, true to the vintage toy, I followed the rules and cranked the handle until ice began to spill from his stomach into the tray. When you’ve got a substantial amount of ice - which is half melted by the time you’ve actually crushed it - you can decide on whether to turn it into an iced bowl, lolly, or tray of ice moulds.
I opted for a bowl, adding in some juice from Percy the Penguin, using the spoon provided to enjoy it in the garden. Of course, you can add any flavouring you like, and one MEN commenter actually suggested adding alcohol for the adults for a drunk Mr Frosty - an idea I quite liked the sound of.
While the retro toy takes putting your back into it to provide results, it was certainly very fun to use even at 24 years old, meaning children will absolutely love making their own slushed drinks this summer with the toy. If you and your budding mixologists want to keep cool with Mr Frosty this summer, you can pick one up from Argos for £24 here.
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