Can 30-Year-Old Crayons Still Keep a Secret?

Some Crayola products are memorable because of the colors they introduced. Others are memorable because they did something no one expected.

Released in 1994, Crayola Changeables Color Change Crayons were one of the company's most creative specialty products. At first glance, they looked like ordinary crayons, but each one contained a hidden surprise. Every Changeables crayon had a second color that could only be revealed by coloring over it with one of two special Color Changer crayons included in the box.

For kids in the mid-1990s, it probably felt like magic. That raised an interesting question for me as a collector:

Would they still work after more than thirty years?

To find out, I decided to run a little experiment.

First, I created a set of control swatches using the original Changeables crayons by themselves. Then I created a second set of swatches using the Color Changer crayons to reveal each hidden color. It seemed like the best way to compare the original colors with the transformed versions side by side.The results honestly surprised me.

Despite being manufactured in 1994, the crayons still performed remarkably well. Some color changes were more dramatic than others, but every one of the hidden colors appeared just as Crayola intended more than three decades ago.

The six transformations included:

• Blue → Magenta

• Red → Blue

• Green → Violet

• Yellow → Green

• Orange → Black

• Pink → Yellow

Seeing those hidden colors appear after all these years was a reminder of just how inventive Crayola's specialty products became during the 1990s. Rather than simply introducing new colors, the company experimented with entirely new ways for children to interact with crayons.

That's one of the reasons I enjoy collecting these products. They're not just boxes of crayons—they're snapshots of Crayola's creativity and willingness to try something completely different. And in this case, the magic hasn't faded one bit.

🎥 Watch the Experiment

Curious to see if these vintage crayons still reveal their hidden colors?

Watch my full TikTok video below as I test every Changeables crayon and see whether their 30-year-old secret still works.

One final question...

If Crayola brought back one specialty crayon line from the past, which would you choose: Changeables, Glitter Crayons, Gem Tones, or another favorite?