Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Remember when I was all excited because someone put one of the Tim Burton era Batmobiles on eBay? Well I’m glad the auction was removed because it allowed me to save my money for this Airwolf replica instead. Unfortunately this Airwolf was never affiliated with the TV series, but was created for a helicopter museum in Tennessee. It is pretty accurate though, since it was built on an existing Bell 222A airframe and the side panels, nose panel and other details were all made from the real Airwolf’s specs and plans. In other words, this is probably as close as you’ll ever get to owning one.

Like the series, the helicopter museum is no more, which is why their collection is now up for auction. At the time of writing the latest bid was $38,900, but the reserve hasn’t been met. And if you plan on making your own bid, just keep in mind this is strictly a replica and can’t actually be flown out of your secret mountain base. Also Ernest Borgnine is not included.

[ Airwolf Helicopter Replica ] VIA [ TechEBlog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not entirely sure how Wile E. Coyote could afford everything he bought from the ACME company over the years, but I do know there were plenty of gadgets and contraptions I would have loved picking up myself. I mean who can’t find a use for a Do-It Yourself Tornado Kit, Rocket Powered Roller Skates or even the pinnacle of ACME engineering, the Giant Rubber Band.

The Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products website has pretty much every single ACME product I’ve ever seen in a Looney Tunes cartoon, and plenty I haven’t. It also lists what episode or episodes the product appeared in (I remember the Giant Rubber Band being used again and again) as well as a handful of screenshots for each one. Looking back you think ACME would have opened up a division to sell insurance. Though I guess the claims would have probably bankrupted them in a week.

[ The Original Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products ] VIA [ OpticalPoptitude ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While the post dates back to October of last year, on the Kodak ‘PluggedIn‘ blog Steve Sasson took a walk down memory lane regarding the company’s first portable electronic still camera. And who better to do so than Steve Sasson who is actually credited with inventing the digital camera and was one of the guys who created the prototype pictured above. The camera is really a Frankenstein of technologies from 1975 built from various components including a Super 8 movie camera lens, a portable digital cassette instrumentation recorder, 16 nickel cadmium batteries, a new type of CCD imaging array and a collection of digital and analog circuits all wired together. All in all, the first prototype doesn’t look half bad.

Instead of memory cards, the camera relied on the aforementioned cassette deck to capture still images which took about 23 seconds to record the digitized image to tape. Viewing the image required you to put the tape in a custom built playback device which featured a frame store that would interpolate the 100 captured lines of data from the CCD to 400 lines so that it could then be viewed on an NTSC TV.

This reminds me of the electronic camera I invented as a child, but my version was actually capable of producing full color images. Unfortunately when I tried to apply for a patent the government informed me that my ‘camera’ was actually a Lite Brite that my parents had bought me for Christmas. But they were impressed with the photos of Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner I had ‘taken’… Or maybe they were just trying to let me down easy now that I think of it… Those jerks!

[ PluggedIn - We Had No Idea ] VIA [ Retro Thing ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While Doom usually gets most of the credit for being the first great first person shooter, 16 years ago yesterday Id Software released Wolfenstein 3D which deserves just as much credit. It technically wasn’t the first FPS either, but thanks to a shareware version the game spread across PCs like wildfire. I also think it helped to foster the concept of the ‘adult’ or ‘mature’ game since it had you running around shooting Nazis and even attack dogs with all manner of machine gunnery. (It was even banned in Germany because of the Nazi themes.) Of course Wolfenstein 3D paved the way for Id to make Doom and Quake which also helped the PC to become the place for first person shooters. (Until Goldeneye on the N64 showed up.)

So Happy Birthday Wolfenstein 3D. And if you’re in the mood for a little nostalgia while at work, I recommend checking out the WolfenFlash 3D flash game which is a pretty close facsimile of Wolfenstein 3D that can be played right in your browser.

[ May 5, 1992: Wolfenstein 3-D Shoots the First-Person Shooter Into Stardom ] VIA [ Kotaku ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given the choice, these days I’d rather go for a spin in the Tumbler Batmobile from the latest Batman films, but as a kid I was definitely a fan of the Tim Burton version. Sure, he didn’t actually design it, but he definitely helped influenced what has become another iconic iteration in the history of the Batmobile. And if your own infatuation with the Burton Batmobile is still going strong, it’s time to get out that credit card (or credit cards) since one of the Batmobiles used in the original Tim Burton Batman film is now on eBay.

This particular Batmobile is the 5th one built for the film and features a custom chassis powered by a Chevrolet 350. The only door is the sliding cockpit canopy, so it might not be the best choice for taking the family out on a Sunday afternoon drive. But having this thing parked in your driveway will definitely make you the king of your neighborhood. The reserve on the car is $500,000 and a 20% deposit is due within 48 hours of the end of the sale. On top of that, since the car was originally owned by Warner Bros Productions, you’ll have to sign a contract with them and comply with a few other legal terms before taking ownership.

[ eBay - Batmobile ] VIA [ Autoblog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s no secret that many Hollywood celebrities are happy to appear in ads and commercials in Japan, while absolutely refusing to back home. George Lucas on the other hand seems happy for him and his characters to appear in ads all over the world. StarWars.com recently published a collection of ‘10 Cool Star Wars Posters from Japan’ and among them are these ads from a Panasonic Star Wars campaign from the late ’80s and early ’90s. Seeing most celebrities riding a satellite dish with an Ewok and a Wookie would probably seem odd, but not so much when it’s George Lucas who’s awkwardly sandwiched between them. (And that’s awkward with a capital ‘A’ by the way.)

And here’s an ad with Yoda listening to a Panasonic personal stereo while he uses the force to float the earbuds next to his head. (He’s probably listening to Weird Al’s take on Lola.) Maybe if he’d done a better job of investing his money in the early ’80s he wouldn’t have had to shill stereos for Panasonic during his retirement.

If you’ve got a few minutes to spare you can head on over to StarWars.com and check out the other 8.

[ StarWars.com - 10 Cool Star Wars Posters from Japan ] VIA [ I Watch Stuff ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Got a stack of NES carts at home that you’ve been dying to play while traveling? I didn’t think so. Given the capabilities of the PSP and even the DS, I’m kind of surprised anyone would even want a portable way to play old NES carts when they can be so easily emulated. But the FC Mobile portable system does just that. It looks like a slightly fat, overly curvaceous version of the Game Boy Micro, but that’s mostly because of the slot on the back designed to accommodate NES cartridges.

You can either play the games using the FC Mobile’s 2.4 inch LCD color screen, or use the included AV adapter cable to hook it up to a television and enjoy all that 8-bit goodness on your hi-def display. It’s powered by 3 AA batteries, comes in a red & white or silver & black color schemes and appears to only play North American NES games.

Unfortunately the only place to pick one up right now is on eBay, where they range in price from around $30 to $60.

[ FC Mobile NES Game Portable LCD System ] VIA [ technabob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s a great post from the people at Mightygodking.com who claimed to have found a genuine working-condition Atari 2600 at a garage sale, complete with a huge stack of classic games that they’ve scanned for our enjoyment. In reality, it’s a huge post of classic video game artwork that’s been updated with titles and descriptions that more accurately reflect what’s being depicted on the cover. If you’ve ever looked at an old video game and wondered how the artist came up with those over-the-top covers when the games barely featured a few pixelated sprites you’ll find these pretty amusing. And really, do you have a better way to spend your Saturday morning?

[ Fun From Yesterday! ] VIA [ Fazed ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I have no problem with kids playing video games, as long as they spend part of their days doing something more creative so their imaginations don’t atrophy. Besides building toys and stuff like Lite Brite, I also remember having a Muppets themed Colorforms set when I was a kid. While I don’t think the Muppets are as popular as they were in the 80’s, I do think today’s kids would still enjoy Colorforms, even though they seem pretty hard to come by these days.

Thankfully as part of MoMA’s Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today exhibition, the MoMA Store is now selling an exact replica of the original Colorforms set from 1951. The kit includes 350 brightly colored vinyl shapes that will stick to any glossy surface, or as I recall, to each other. At $35 this replica Colorforms set isn’t exactly cheap, but finding all the little pieces strewn across your house? Priceless.

[ MoMA - The Original Colorforms Set ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I have fond memories of my childhood (minus the noodle incident) and for a gamer, nothing says the early 80’s like Atari. So if you’ve got a few minutes to spare and fancy a trip down memory lane, check out these scans of a 1981 Atari Catalog on HuguesJohnson.com. The catalog was actually found by a friend of his while moving, and Mr. Johnson was kind enough to put it online for the rest of us to enjoy. While a lot of the games in the catalog have become classics, the fun part is looking through the lavish illustrations that barely resemble what the actual gameplay was like.

And if Atari was never your thing, you might want to check out the ‘Scans’ under the ‘Video Game Features’ section of HuguesJohnson.com where you’ll find copies of old Sears, Intellivision and even Coleco catalogs and flyers.

[ 1981 Atari Catalog Scans ] VIA [ Fazed ]