Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

The Slip N’ Slide brought most of the fun of a waterslide to every kid’s backyard. And while the experience wasn’t exactly like you’d get at a waterpark, at least you didn’t have to stand in line for hours on end. The Banzai Skimboard Surfer hopes to do the same for surfing, allowing you to enjoy the sport in your backyard without the risk of sharks, drowning or breaking your neck. (Well at least the first two.)

Just connect a garden hose and when the bumpers along the sides are filled they’ll start spraying water into the inner reservoir. Once that’s filled, you’ll be able to skim along the specially designed surface using the included pro-quality (probably not) wooden surfboard. You can find it at Wal-Mart for $49.88.

[ Banzai Skimboard Surfer ] VIA [ BallerHouse ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Where I live the weather has gone directly from Winter to Summer, and while I don’t particularly miss the snow, I do miss the in-between, light jacket conditions of Spring. But on the plus side, the return of Summer means you can dig out all the outdoor toys you had to put away when the weather got cold. This RC Speed Boat Challenge is kind of like the slot car tracks you had as a kid. (Or still play with.) But instead of a plastic groove to keep the vehicle on course, this one uses a large inflatable pool complete with lanes and various obstacles.

The inflatable track includes 2 RC speed boats that can be wirelessly controlled from a distance of up to 50 feet. And while technically the RC Speed Boat Challenge can be used indoors, while I was growing up there was a strict ‘no water toys in the house’ rule which would have kept something like this in the backyard.

You can find it at Drinkstuff.com come May 2 for about $70.

[ RC Speed Boat Challenge ] VIA [ Toyology ]

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’m probably the last person on Earth you’d want to consult when it comes to the science of hugs, but apparently your heart will actually sync itself to the heartbeat of someone you’ve embraced. Who knew? And that phenomenon is how the ‘My Beating Heart’ supposedly helps you calm and relax. It’s a stuffed heart that features a realistic heartbeat you can feel when it’s squeezed. While you might think the heartbeat is generated by some cheap, electronic metronome, there’s apparently more to it according to the Perpetual Kid website:

My Beating Heart employs new advances in computer science, Artificial Intelligence, and haptic design. The technology inside each Heart combines the practice of meditation and yoga with software and hardware development. This lead to designing a small micro-computer to run on specially made software.

As you hug My Beating Heart you may notice subtle changes to the heartbeat. The “secret sauce” technology is at work inside algorithmically modeling the human heart in a deep meditative state.

The product description dangerously walks the line between making it out to be an actual therapeutic device and just pure snake oil, but at $49.99 from Perpetual Kid, it better do something more than just thump.

[ My Beating Heart ]

By Evan Ackerman

I used to play paintball… I had a totally badass setup which is now collecting dust in my basement. Seeing the EMT Paintball Sentry Turret is making my trigger finger itchy again, especially with the suite of add-ons that you can get to make this thing the terror of your backyard and/or workspace. The most basic version includes what appears to be a custom made double barreled paintball gun, sitting on top of a mechanized pitch and yaw mount (350 degree rotation and 90 degree tilt) and bolted to a big tripod. The markers are powered by CO2 and gravity fed from hoppers (200 rounds each) on top. A camera mounted next to the guns relays a picture along a 25 foot cable back to a monitor and remote control, which allows you to aim and fire the weapon from the safety of a bunker. More specs on all the sweet add-ons, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

Based on the product shots, I originally thought this Private Ocean interactive clock used one of those segmented LCD displays like you’d find on Tiger and Nintendo Game&Watch handhelds. But if you check out the video I’ve included after the jump, the display actually appears to be capable of full-motion animations, which is kind of cool even if they’re just monochrome. While it’s no substitute for actually being in the ocean, the clock does include a vast menagerie of undersea life that will either casually swim by, or dance along to the music if you connect an audio player.

There’s of course a clock and calendar function, and the current time is cleverly displayed with a school of well organized fish. And if you find this type of thing relaxing, the Private Ocean has a multi-colored backlight for setting the mood, as well as a 15, 30 or 60 minute sleep timer if you happen to doze off. You can get it from Japan Trend Shop for $199.99.

[ Sega Private Ocean Interactive Clock ]

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

Given the ridiculously nice weather I decided to go for a walk yesterday, and as is usually the case, I ended up at my local comic book store. Much to my surprise, in their display case of ’stuff that’s so expensive you’re not allowed to touch’ I discovered this handsomely displayed set of Kryptonite. Now I was always under the impression you needed some crazy, Luther-esque plan in order to obtain a usable amount of Superman’s achilles heel, but it seems my own dreams of taking down the man of steel might actually come true.

Unfortunately, after doing a little research online it turns out this is actually a replica of a set of Kryptonite found in the Justice League’s trophy room. So not only is it a fake, but it’s also based on an item that only exists in a comic book. Sigh… Anyways it looks like the BigBadToyStore also carries it for $204.99.

By Andrew Liszewski

Without a big fat defense contract from the government, how is the average consumer supposed to go about creating their own wise-cracking, sequel-spawning, remake-coming robot sidekick? Since Heathkit never sold a complete Johnny 5 kit, you’ll have to slowly piece together your own. And you can start with this robotic arm available from RED5 for about $60.

While it comes partly disassembled (oh no!) you can put it together without having to do any soldering or wiring. It’s powered by 5 electric motors that allow it to lift a whopping 100g and the arm features a 120 degree wrist pivot, a 300 degree elbow motion and a 180 degree base motion. And if I remember correctly, if you want it to develop some level of sentient intelligence, you’ll need to use it outside during a storm and hope for the best. Just be aware that a lightning strike doesn’t always guarantee it will develop a soul. It sure hasn’t worked for me.

[ Robot Arm ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Andrew Liszewski

For some reason I find all books and toys designed to teach kids about potty training hilarious. And that definitely includes the Potty Monkey. It’s a 15-inch tall stuffed monkey that comes complete with a pair of diapers, a pair of underwear and of course, a toilet. An electronic timer buried somewhere in his body can be set at intervals of 30 or 90 minutes, and when the clock runs out, the monkey will tell you he needs to go potty. When you place him on his toilet he’ll say various things about how much better he feels, and will even go as far as to sing a Weird Al-like version of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, except his version is about bowel movements. But what happens if you ignore his pleas?

But let’s back up and suppose you DON’T put him on the potty when he asks. The longer you ignore him, the more he pleads. “I really need to go potty! Let’s go potty!!” And if you are callous enough to ignore him again, he says, “Hey, take me to the potty now or I’ll have an accident!” And if you wait much longer, “Oh no! I had an accident! Please take me to the potty next time.”

So there you go. Normally I would find a stuffed monkey that needs to go to the bathroom every half-hour unappealing. But he kind of reminds me of the short-lived Domino’s Pizza mascot Bad Andy who disappeared well before his time. We all miss you Andy…

You can find the Potty Monkey at Stupid.com for $29.99.

[ Potty Monkey ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’ve ever been fascinated enough with ants to want to stare at them all day, you may have considered picking up an art farm. But what if you happen to also have a soul? And feel bad about trapping those ants in your see-through prison? Enter the Ants Life Studio from Bandai, which is kind of like the next generation of their Tamagotchi cash cow.

Instead of real ants, the Ants Life Studio presents a small colony of virtual ants who go about their daily lives of digging virtual tunnels, collecting virtual food and fending off attacks from virtual enemies. The monochrome LCD display features an electroluminescent backlight allowing you to continue your obsession with the ant’s lives well into the night, and it also includes a clock and calendar function for keeping track of what you actually should have been doing all day long.

It’s currently only available in Japan, but you can get it from Japan Trend Shop for $99.

[ Ants Life Studio - Virtual Ant Farm ]