Like many millions of other people, I’ve got a Facebook account. It keeps me connected with friends both new and old, which is nice. I don’t exactly spend tons of time on there since I have better things to do. However, if you need an excuse to spend more time on the site, then I suggest you take a look at MyDeskFriend.
This interesting little penguin robot syncs up with your Facebook and does fun things like read your messages to you. It can also zoom around your desk and make noises to entertain you. Remember those little Tamagotchi things that you used to see a lot? Well the MyDeskFriend needs to be fed and played with just like one of those. It will react to your touch, whether you’re shaking it violently or petting it. Look for these sometime in September for around $100.
Since the dawn of time man has had to make the difficult and agonizing choice of playing with an RC car or an RC helicopter. And while many great minds from philosophers to engineers have racked their brains trying to find a resolution to this problem, it was a toy company that seems to have come up with a happy medium allowing us to finally enjoy both at the same time.
The Silverlit Heli-Mission SWAT Truck is a fully functional RC car that includes sirens and flashing lights, but the real star of the show is the cargo bay which opens to reveal one of the company’s micro helicopters hidden inside. The launch platform even rises allowing the whirlybird to take off so you can continue your imaginary police pursuit from the air.
The Heli-Mission SWAT Truck should be available sometime in July for about $100, and I have to assume the included remote does double-duty for controlling both the helicopter and the truck.
I’ve had my eye on these Micro Slot Car sets from Tomy for a while now, so I’m glad to see The Gadgeteer has posted a review of one of the starter sets. The cars and tracks are basically no different than the slightly larger versions many of us enjoyed as kids, except that their micro aspect means they can be easily setup and raced on your desk at work for the title of the champion of the universe. The basic set pictured above starts at about $80, but they can get even more expensive like the Nissan Micro Slot History Set available from the Japan Trend Shop for $158! Damn you miniature nostalgia!
Ok, I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure what these new micro toys from Bandai are all about. They come in various colors and species, including a jellyfish, squid and an octopus, and they’ll supposedly autonomously swim and float around in a bottle of water, providing minutes and minutes of entertainment. Given their size and the fact that they retail for about $6 each in Japan right now, I’m going to assume they’re not that technologically advanced, but at the same time there’s plenty of room to cram a small electric motor and battery inside one of these, so maybe there is some potential novelty here.
For the longest time it was only a theory, but now I’m convinced that toy makers these days are just plain lazy, particularly when it comes to movie tie-ins. Now I “”"missed”"” (notice the gratuitous use of quotes)Terminator Salvation but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that Skynet’s army didn’t include flying disembodied terminator heads.
So why on earth did a toymaker at Bladez think it would be cool to slap a terminator skull on an RC helicopter? I don’t care if it can be used to dogfight other helicopters with realistic battle sound effects or that it has folding blades to minimize the damage during crashes, this thing is just lame! And it’s almost $50 from IdealWorld.
He may not be the poster bot for the film, but M-O, aka Micro Obliterator’s quiet antics in WALL-E made him instantly likable. And not only did he do a good job at keeping the Axiom clean, but even with just a set of glowing eyes he had loads more personality than the most advanced Roomba. So for that reason alone this M-O deluxe action figure would make a great addition to any desk. But what’s with the deluxe you might ask? Well it turns out M-O actually has a set of duel bristles on the front allowing him to sweep up any dust or crumbs you roll him over, which are collected in an easy to empty waste bin on his back. Let’s see an Eve figure do that! $21.99 from Amazon.
What better way is there to keep the kids occupied on a warm Summer day than with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry? But what parent wants to spend the afternoon playing official timekeeper while their kids swim laps in the pool? Enter the Swimways ESPN Swimming Challenge which not only comes with an ESPN decal on the side, but a couple of mountable touch pads that can be used by two swimmers to start and stop the timers on the waterproof (hopefully) clock. There’s also a set of LED displays that show the current time, winning time and number of laps if you’re just in it for the exercise. $43.95 at SwimOutlet.com.
Oh Hammacher Schlemmer! Every update to your website is a cornucopia of gagdets and gizmos I never knew I needed. For example, last week I was blissfully unaware I had any desire to own a 6-foot remote control model of the RMS Titanic. But here we are, and I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to get through next week without this thing half-sticking out of my bathtub.
Of course the $2,500 price tag is a good deterrent, but you do get what you pay for. At 6-feet from bow to stern the 1:150 scale model is constructed from over 300 handcrafted pieces and each one involves over 400 man hours of assembly. The attention to detail is pretty impressive too, including miniature white maple planks for the decking that have been stained to replicate the color of the originals, as well as real mahogany and cedar used for other parts of the ship including the superstructure and detailing.
Its 3 propellers are powered by 3 x 550-watt electric motors, and 2 rechargeable batteries provide enough juice to propel the Titanic up to 5mph for about 3 hours. And the included remote has a range of up to 75-feet which is probably something you’d want to be keenly aware of as it would be a shame to watch one of these go sailing off into the horizon if you ever lost control.
Wow, this is definitely one of those toys you wish you had thought of first. It’s gonna be a nightmare trying to find these on store shelves come Christmas time. I’m glad I only ever get my friend’s kids war bonds.
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