Offered here from the dougfinds collection of curated fashion, accessories, clothing, collectibles, and unique gifts is this vintage 1998 Dowling Magnets Magnet Levitation Set, model SDK100, an wonderfully old-school hands-on science kit designed to explore magnetism, equilibrium, gravity and magnetic levitation.

Long before STEM became the educational buzzword printed on every science toy in sight, kits like this one were putting magnets, iron filings, nails, wood blocks and plastic rails directly into kids' hands and asking them to figure out what happened.

And frankly, that's still pretty cool.

This original Dowling Magnets set was made in the USA and dates to 1998, as marked directly on the original packaging. The kit was designed around introductory magnetism experiments followed by several complete levitation projects—including the construction of a magnetic “floating” train.

Included is the original Second Edition Magnet Levitation Set project book, written by Duan F. Knight and published by Dowling Magnets of Sonoma, California.

Included components shown in the photography include:

• Assorted disc, ring and latch-style magnets
• Magnetic strips
• Strong small magnet components
• Plastic guide rails
• Wood block
• Compass
• Iron filings
• Nails / metal rods
• Additional experiment components
• Original Second Edition experiment and project book
• Dowling Magnets Levitation Magnet Kit SDK100 Materials Provided checklist
• Original carrying/storage box

The original packaging lists the kit as including 6 disc magnets, 6 ring magnets, 10 latch magnets, a super-strong neodymium magnet, standard and hi-force magnetic strips, plastic guide rails, compass, iron filings, wood blocks, nails, and experiment/project book.

IMPORTANT: Because this is a nearly three-decade-old previously used science kit with numerous individual pieces, we have not represented it as complete against its original factory inventory. Everything included in this sale has been removed and photographed so the buyer can see exactly what is present. Please use the photographs as the definitive inventory of included components.

A wonderfully honest old box

There will be no attempt here to describe the original packaging as anything approaching pristine.

It isn't.

The box has significant wear from age, storage and use, including torn and missing portions of the printed outer graphics, creasing, edge and corner wear, staining/discoloration, tape and previous repairs. The cardboard structure itself also shows considerable handling wear.

But that's part of what makes this particular survivor interesting. Inside that battered 1998 package remains a substantial collection of the original hands-on science materials, along with the project book and checklist.

The original graphics alone are a terrific little time capsule of late-1990s educational science kits—and this would make an interesting find for a vintage science-toy collector, homeschool/STEM collection, classroom prop, science enthusiast, or somebody who simply believes there is no such thing as having too many magnets.

Please review all photographs carefully, as they are considered part of the description and provide the best representation of this item's condition.

Thank you for visiting dougfinds! Alyse and I encourage you to browse our dougfinds Store, where you'll find all of our carefully curated collection of fashion, accessories, collectibles, antiques, and unique gifts. Please feel free to message us at any time with your comments or questions.

Collector Search Terms

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