Area World Record Holder Wins On ABC’s ‘The Toy Box’

A man from Cordova, Illinois, about 90 minutes from Cedar Rapids, is the latest finalist on ABC's 'The Toy Box' with his invention called Hovercraft. The season winner receives a contract from Mattel and will have their toy sold at Toys-R-Us. Judging by the way the kids reacted to his toy, there's a pretty good chance Bob Windt might be that winner.

Bob, 75, is a retired aerospace engineer and he knows a thing or two about real hovercrafts. More on that in a second. His Hovercraft toy is remote-controlled but kids have to build it themselves so, as he says, there's a learning curve. The kids adored the toy. This is how one of them reacted when he saw the hovercraft for the first time.

All five of the kid-judges chose Bob's toy against all others on the show, advancing him to the finals at the end of the season.

Bob's a bit of a hoverboard expert, to say the least. He's been the world record holder for highest recorded speed (85.38 mph) for a hovercraft for 22 years. According to Guinness World Records, he set the record at the 1995 World Hovercraft Championships in Portugal. Yes, there's video. It's lengthy, but if you're interested you can watch it here. According to 2Paragraphs, Bob is also the inventor of the Universal Hovercraft.

Bob Windt has done a lot of amazing things in his life, but he's nowhere near done. You can watch the full episode of 'The Toy Box' he appeared on here. We'll be watching for him again later in the season... he's a guy you can't help but cheer for.

[Guinness World Records, and 2Paragraphs]