Also, we had a REAL Thing-Maker! Nothing but an out in the open hot plate with those stupid little tweezer things to remove the metal mold. I had a butterfiles and flowers one, and my bros had the Creepy Crawlers (and later the "Incredible Edibles"). I can't tell you how many times we burned our fingers - probably every time we played with it! My kids have one and you can't even open the fool thing unless it's cooled down to a certain level. Kinda takes all the excitement out of it....
I share your fond memories of those "living on the edge" toys, especially the thingmakers. We had em all too, complete with the burned fingers and all the olfactory memories. Mmmm MMM the scent of burning plastic. The edibles were only barely so.... a gritty gum with a simulated-flavor scented, mildly strange taste.