I had one of these toys when I was a child. You would it him on the head and he would kick the football, hopefully through the goal post. I made a version out of wood so I could have my very own wooden football kicker with a super toe.

I ripped some ½ inch thick poplar to 3 inches wide. Then I cut 3 pieces at 4 ¾ inches long, 2 pieces at 2 ½ inches long, 2 pieces at 2 inches long, and 2 pieces at 4 inches long. One of the 4 inch pieces is ripped at an inch for the kicking side leg.

 The three 4 ¾ inch pieces are clamped together and a 5/8 inch hole is made through all of them. The two 2 inch pieces ate taped together an a 3/8 inch hole is drilled through both at ¾ inches from the front and bottom.

The two 2 ½ inch pieces are glued and tacked to one of the 3 inch pieces. The 2 inch pieces are attached to another of the 3 inch pieces. The last 3 inch piece is glued and tacked to the 2 ½ inch pieces and, using a 5/8 dowel to help align, two of the 3 inch pieces are attached face to face.

The pivot dowel is placed in the 3/8 inch holes for reference, and the non kicking leg is aligned to it, glued, and tacked. The wider portion of the kicking leg is attached to the back on the opposite side.

The large linkage for the kicking mechanism is cut from ½ inch plywood. A 3/8 inch hole is drilled for the pivot dowel, and a 3/16 inch hole is drilled for the machine screw. A 5/8 inch hole is drilled halfway through the plywood over the machine screw hole for the screw head to reside. I inserted the pivot dowel through the linkage and glued the kicking portion of the leg to it. It was reinforced with screws later.

The small linkage was cut to 1 ½ inches by ½ inches by 1/8 inches thick, and two holes for machine screws were created.

In order to get the holes in the 5/8 inch dowel on perpendicular planes, I hot glued some scrap wood to hold them before drilling.

Using washes and a lock nut, I fastened the small linkage to the large linkage. I added a spring that goes around the dowel. The dowel was fastened to the small linkage with another machine screw, using a washers and a nut for spacing, and secured with another lock nut. I put a dowel pin on the top of the spring, and inserted screws on each end of the pivot dowel and to attach the large linkage to the pivot.

Two triangles were glued to the legs for feet.

For the helmet, I glue up some ¾ inch thick stock, trimmed it to size, and cut the shape with hand saws and a rounding bit.

I cut some 1/8 inch plywood for the front and the back, cut a slot for the kicking in the front, and glued the front. I attached the back with screws to keep the accessible for repairs. They were trimmed flush.

I made some 1 inch stock, rounded one side, and cut out shoulder pads, arms, and hands. I glued them to the body.

The base is sliced into 3 parts. The middle part is cut off to make the tee.

The other pieces are glued to some plywood and trimmed to size. A shallow hole is drilled in the remaining piece for a tee. I cut an angle off the bottom of the tee to avoid the glue squeeze out.

The kicker is attached to the base with screws.

I show off my total lack of painting skills.