Ready for some high-tech nostalgia? Join us as we look back at the coolest spy gadgets that had every kid dreaming of joining the OSS! From incredible kitchen appliances to amazing wearable tech, these gadgets defined an era of young espionage fantasy. Which of these amazing devices would you want in your spy arsenal?
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we'll be counting down our picks for the best devices in the Spy
00:14Kids franchise. Number 20. Rocket Boots. The original trilogy's final battle is one of the
00:25most epic moments in the series. Everybody's favorite characters heroically appear to battle
00:30the toymaker's villainous robots. They don't just walk up to help, they arrive in style.
00:36Members of the extended family descend from the heavens in super cool rocket boots.
00:45Let's kick some metal. At that moment, every child in the cinema was seething with jealousy,
00:51imagining how much fun they'd have with a pair of rocket kicks. Well, not every character has them.
00:57Steve Buscemi arrives on his flying pig Porky, a pet arguably just as cool as rocket boots.
01:07Somebody call in a loon!
01:09Number 19. Tent Capsule. One of the most annoying aspects of camping is setting up the tent.
01:15Okay, we're gonna set up a campsite, put up the tent, build a little fire, and roast marshmallows.
01:23They're huge, cumbersome, and need a lot of hard labor to secure. If you like camping, but not tent
01:29building, then the tent capsule would be a dream for you. It saves not only space, but loads of time.
01:35When it works, it works. But unfortunately for Carmen and Junie, it fails completely.
01:40I can't believe this. What happened? Nothing. That's just it. That was supposed to make an
01:46instant campfire, and that was supposed to make a shelter. None of our gadgets work.
01:51If they were on a camping trip, it would have ruined the holiday entirely. As usual,
01:56they're on a secret mission, so they get on with the job rather than moping about the faulty tent.
02:01Number 18. Electroshock Bubbles. Machete has a whole bunch of potentially lethal tools,
02:07which the kids get their hands on throughout the series.
02:09Another fine machete product. You make the best spy inventions in the world.
02:17That's correct.
02:18One such device is the Electroshock Bubbles, which Carmen and Junie steal from Machete in
02:23the first movie. They do exactly what they say on the tin. It's a high-voltage bubble blower.
02:30So soft. Everything. Let's see if they like bubbles.
02:34Carmen and Junie only use it to short-circuit some thumb robots, but it makes us wonder if
02:43they'd work on other things. As much as every child wanted Electroshock Bubbles,
02:48maybe this is better left as a sci-fi invention.
02:50Can I have a glass of water?
02:55Number 17. Rebreather. Scuba diving was a field tons of kids thought they'd someday start a career
03:01in. Most of us never followed up on that as adults, but still feel nostalgic for the dream.
03:06The first movie's scuba devices will bring back these feelings.
03:09This must be it. You're kidding. It's a cave of sleeping sharks. Sharks don't sleep on a bed.
03:18These gadgets save the duo from an almost lethal plane crash. As far as Spy Kids tools go,
03:24it's one of the more realistic. The sleepy sharks, on the other hand, are not. Sharks don't sleep
03:29like humans do, as the film makes out, and they generally don't shut their eyelids.
03:33Hey, little sleepy sharky.
03:35It's asleep, silly. I knew that.
03:43In nature, they're also made of flesh and blood, rather than CGI. Another major inaccuracy.
03:49Number 16. Dance Belt. Nailing a groovy rock concert in front of a huge,
03:54cheering audience is a relatable daydream for a kid. Unfortunately, it takes a huge amount of
03:59skill to pull off, something that doesn't come naturally.
04:02I am not going out there. Oh, yes, you are. You're a spy,
04:06you're undercover, and you have to make them think you're a pop star.
04:09I can't sing.
04:10If Machete were your uncle, this wouldn't be a concern. Since he's a highly skilled inventor,
04:15he can just let the tools do the work. Carmen receives a super cool belt that makes her dance
04:20remarkably well. Alongside this, Machete also gives the duo a microphone that makes you sing
04:25amazingly, plus a guitar that makes you shred like Hendrix. Even as a grown-up,
04:30it's tough not to be jealous.
04:41Number 15. Carmen's Glove. Carmen frequently intimidates people in the third movie with
04:46her giant mechanical hand.
04:48Hey, guy, we found your pal. Now, where are we going exactly? Where's level five?
04:53First of all, you don't ask the questions around here. I do.
04:56It's not a real gadget. It's just part of her in-game transformation. While it looks cool,
05:02it's never revealed to do a whole lot. It was probably just there for visual flair,
05:06which is enough to make a child envious.
05:09We're not letting you shut down this game. Now you're going to see just how fast that
05:12countering yours can count backwards.
05:14You have to go to me first. Game boy.
05:17The tubes connecting it could imply hydraulics are involved. So maybe it possesses some sort of
05:23super strength. Maybe it was so powerful, they couldn't let Carmen use it, since they had to
05:28keep things family-friendly. Number 14. World's Smallest Camera.
05:33Cameras in 2001 were a lot clunkier than they are today. Film was more common than digital,
05:38and we didn't all have high-tech phones in our pockets. As such, the idea of an incredibly small
05:44camera was very exciting. Machete hilariously places it on his fingertip when doing maintenance.
05:57Fascinatingly, this camera has been a reality since 2023. A camera with a width and length of
06:03only 0.575 millimeters was created, approximately the size of a salt grain. Most people will probably
06:11stick with their phone camera, though, since losing that would be a total nightmare.
06:15How about if-
06:16No, no, no, a million times no!
06:18Number 13. Electrical Gum. Machete has already made bubbles lethal,
06:23but what about candy? He's done that too, with gumballs specifically.
06:28Puny, puny, puny. It's all over.
06:32If you chew them up when you spit them out, they can electrocute anything. The pair uses them to
06:42short-circuit robots like Robot Carmen and the occasional Thumb Thumb Guard. Their underlying
06:48mechanics are pretty perplexing. Chewing something that holds a powerful electric charge should zap
06:53your mouth, tongue, or even your whole face. Instead, they only activate after being spat out,
06:59implying there's some kind of sci-fi sensor mechanism inside. Regardless of whatever's
07:04going on, they're a mega stylish and creative gadget.
07:13Number 12. Acid Crayon. Most of us had crayons to draw with, but what if they had another purpose?
07:19You should never eat a crayon, but if you did, they're usually non-toxic. Machete's crayons are
07:25another story. If you ate one, you might die. That's because it's been crafted out of extremely
07:31strong acid, with the power to melt through thick metal bars.
07:39It's okay. It's okay. I know. We'll talk about it when we get home.
07:42It's not the type of crayon you wouldn't mind getting mixed up in someone else's pencil case.
07:47It's one of many contraptions that make kids wish Machete's spy shop were real,
07:52but parents don't share their feelings. We have something to tell you.
07:57We are secret agents too.
08:03Number 11. Flying Pigtails. There was no shortage of children with pigtails in the 2000s,
08:09but only Gertie Giggles had flying pigtails.
08:12What you doing? Hi, Gertie. I'm just doing nothing.
08:20They became her signature gadget, letting her hover like a helicopter. It's even cooler and
08:25more convenient than the rocket boots. Despite their power, she uses them sparingly in the second
08:31movie. Even when stuck in camel poo, she opts not to bother flying away.
08:36We guess one inconsistency is that in Game Over's final fight, Gertie uses rocket boots.
08:47It's unclear why. Maybe the boots give her better control, or it could just be a fashion choice.
08:52Alternatively, it could just be cheaper to animate.
08:56Number 10. Hammer Hands and Stompers.
08:59Not wanting to be overshadowed by the iconic gadgets of the original trilogy,
09:03All the Time in the World introduced a handful of sweet new gadgets to the world of Spy Kids,
09:08such as the Hammer Hands and Stompers.
09:10These are awesome. You can crush them.
09:13While Cecil and Rebecca are given the opportunity to keep some souvenirs from the abandoned Spy
09:18Kids division warehouse, Cecil is immediately drawn to these gadgets, and we cannot blame him.
09:24Hammer time.
09:25According to Carmen, they use electron fields to create superhuman impact force.
09:36Basically, they give your hands and feet super strength.
09:38As if that weren't cool enough, they also glow in the dark, letting you clobber your enemies in style.
09:43Now you've seen my dark side.
09:55Number 9. Virtual Reality Glasses.
09:58In Spy Kids 3D, Junie has to enter and complete a virtual reality game titled Game Over,
10:03in order to free his sister and save the world.
10:05Put on these glasses, and you'll enter the world of the game.
10:09To enter the game, Junie wears special VR glasses that transport his consciousness inside.
10:15And at the end of the movie, when the toy maker's giant robot runs amok in the real world,
10:20Junie and his family have to wear the glasses in order to see it.
10:23Dad, you need these to see.
10:25Glasses, quick.
10:28We all wanted these glasses so that we could also play Game Over.
10:31And since theaters gave out 3D glasses that looked just like Junie's,
10:35we got to feel like we were part of the adventure for just a little while.
10:38This won't be easy.
10:44Number 8. Machete Buddy Pack.
10:46How do you work this thing?
10:48Despite the demand certainly being there,
10:51scientists still haven't quite figured out how to make a consumer-ready jetpack suitable for mass production.
10:57Junie and Carmen's inventor Uncle Machete, however, figured it out.
11:00And all we can say is we'll take one, please.
11:03Going up!
11:08Uncle Machete's Buddy Packs made their way into a few Spy Kids movies,
11:14and each time, they're totally awesome, reaching outrageous speeds and looking all kinds of epic.
11:20Give me back that brain!
11:22Get away from me!
11:24Everybody who grew up on Spy Kids remembers the jetpack chase scene from the first movie,
11:28and we'd be willing to bet that Uncle Machete's Buddy Packs have had starring roles in more than a few people's childhood fantasies.
11:34Enjoy the ride!
11:36Number 7. Field Ambush Supplies.
11:40Cecil's hammer hands and stompers are definitely cool,
11:43but the cream of the crop in terms of the new gadgets in the most recent Spy Kids has to be Rebecca's Field Ambush Supplies.
11:50Built to help a spy create on-the-spot booby traps, ambushes, mass confusion, and pranks.
11:56Essentially a secret agent backpack, the Ambush Supplies Kit contains tons of tools that come in handy for spy work,
12:03like the powerful electric whip Rebecca uses to fight and the classic electroshock gumballs from the first Spy Kids.
12:10Sorry! It's okay, do it again!
12:12While Carmen explains that the Ambush Supplies Kit is supposed to be for creating booby traps on the move,
12:18she also mentions that it can be used for pranks, which definitely gives us some ideas that we'd like to try out.
12:23Number 6. Wall Climbing Device.
12:26The Island of Lost Dreams wastes no time in introducing new gadgets to the Spy Kids universe that made all of us kids green with envy.
12:34Right out of the gate, Junie and Carmen are given these wrist apparatuses that aid them in scaling an amusement park ride
12:40in order to save the president's daughter.
12:42We get to keep them afterwards?
12:44No.
12:46Yeah, of course.
12:49What's wrong?
12:49Watching Junie and Carmen climb up the ride like Spider-Man had us desperate to try out the gadget for ourselves.
12:55Though their mission is cut in on by Gary and Gertie with what they claim to be a superior means of climbing the ride,
13:01we still think that Junie and Carmen's climbing gadgets are way cooler.
13:05Leave this gear in my butt.
13:09Number 5. Spy Glasses.
13:11Focus your eyes closer.
13:13On the glasses themselves.
13:15Whoa, maps and readouts.
13:17There's quite a bit of modern technology that Spy Kids showcased back in the early 2000s before it was popularized in the mainstream.
13:24Video calls, watches that would connect to the internet, and even the Google Glass.
13:29Introduced in the first Spy Kids and popping up in other entries as well,
13:33Spy Glasses are an iconic staple of the series.
13:35These gadgets let the wearer visualize maps, store information, and access a large OSS database.
13:41Agent John again?
13:47Where's my mom and dad?
13:49Of course, they're also oozing 2000s style.
13:52In Spy Kids 2, Junie uses a presumably updated model of the Spy Glasses as binoculars.
13:57And the way that the glasses zoom in on a target always had us going back to see it again.
14:04Gary and Gertie.
14:05What are they doing here?
14:07Number 4. Machete Elastic Wonder.
14:09Most of the gadgets on this list sadly don't exist in real life.
14:13So when playing Spy Kids, we had to make do with our imaginations.
14:17The Machete Elastic Wonder, however, can be found in pretty much any household's kitchen, cupboards, or drawers.
14:22999 uses.
14:25And the important thing is, you have to figure out what those uses are with this.
14:30Yeah, it may just be a rubber band, but like Machete says, it's also the world's greatest gadget.
14:34In introducing the Elastic Wonder and having it be the gadget that saves the day in the island of lost dreams,
14:40Spy Kids gave us all a tangible link to the world that we all wish we were a part of.
14:45They won't stay up!
14:47Machete Elastic Wonder!
14:49With 999 uses that they have to figure out on their own, the Elastic Wonder inspired hours of fun.
14:56I'm gonna make a fortune with these.
14:573. Ralph.
14:59Every kid wants a weird pet that's unique to them.
15:02Better still if that pet is also the product of advanced, secret robotic engineering.
15:06Junie's spy bug Ralph definitely appeared on some kids' wish lists after the release of Spy Kids 2.
15:12And fair enough.
15:14Thanks, Ralph.
15:18Junie can communicate with Ralph remotely and have it spy on people without them knowing,
15:22which gives Junie an incredible tactical edge in his spy work.
15:26Get to the briefing room!
15:28We need you to spy on Gary and Gertie.
15:31But let's be honest, we mostly like Ralph because of the way it jumps and swings through its environment,
15:36and its incredibly toyetic design.
15:38Ralph is simply a way better pet than your average goldfish.
15:41Good boy, Ralph.
15:422.
15:43Spy Watch.
15:44Even in the age of computers that can fit into our pockets,
15:47the novelty of spy watches still captures our imaginations.
15:50The Spy Watch appears in multiple Spy Kids movies, and it's easy to see why.
15:54That baby will do everything but tell you what time it is.
15:57The idea of having an incredibly powerful computerized tool strapped to your wrist is never not awesome.
16:02And with each Spy Kids movie, we got to see more and more of what these gadgets could do.
16:07Everything you're wearing is right here on my wrist.
16:11It's super accurate and oh so light.
16:15It even tells time.
16:16How did you get that?
16:17Built-in satellite dishes, internet connectivity, cell phones, and so much more,
16:23these gadgets were iPhones before iPhones existed.
16:26And we'd still prefer the Spy Watch any day.
16:28How long have we been falling?
16:31I don't know.
16:33My watch doesn't tell time.
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16:49The microwave-like appliance from the first Spy Kids is probably the least realistic gadget on this list.
17:00So, of course, it's the one we're most desperate for.
17:02Stored in the Cortez safe house, this rehydrator has the unique ability to turn popcorn-style bags or color-coded packets into entire meals.
17:11True to the wish-fulfillment of the Spy Kids series, it appears that most of the meals you can make are junk food.
17:17Check it out.
17:19Even as adults, when we see Carmen pull a McDonald's meal out of the machine,
17:23we're hopelessly wishing that we could install one in our kitchens.
17:27If only.
17:28Which device would you want in your arsenal most?
17:31Let us know in the comment section.
17:33Okay, airspeed, fine, altitude, fine, autopilot, failing, I'll write another fine machete project.