Questions of a weird mind

[thubby]

I seem to recall seeing this same effect in spinning car wheels? Maybe I'm mistaken, but if not how does the blinking light explanation work here?

on tv and movies it's framerate. IRL it's an optical illusion caused by your eyes derping because of the small radial lines all moving.

your eye tries to track the spinning but can't, instead grabbing tiny bits and pieces as it wiggles (your eyes just do that). your brain has a fit, gives up, and resolves the bits as "going backward"

also yes, the toys blink. I've taken 2 of them apart in my life and they definitely blink. they just do it insanely fast.
(btw, the motors in those things are impressive for the size and cost)