We’ve already covered a wireless mini video camera that can be attached to any kind of remote control vehicle, so why would you buy an RC buggy with a built-in one that can’t be removed? Well it turns out there’s a pretty good reason. The VTS or Vision Tracking System Camera Car will wirelessly broadcast a VGA video stream to an included set of LCD goggles, providing you with a first person view of the road ahead. But the goggles are also able to track the motion of your head, which is then translated to the camera on the buggy. So while out cruising you can actually look left, right, up and down to check for obstacles, or simply enjoy the scenery.
The buggy, LCD goggles and controller also come in a large black protective case filled with precut foam that will really protect your investment. And yes, I do mean investment. The VTS Camera Car is available from RED5 for about $1,172. So while you’re free to enjoy it like a toy, you might want to take better care of it than one.
When I was a kid, I was surprised when my parents let me buy a slingshot. I wasn’t a particularly mischievous child, but it’s hard for any kid to resist using one for evil purposes. Honestly, what is one really going to use a slingshot for, other than shooting at things that move or break?
If I were a kid again, I’d definitely go for one of these Ringshots. Rather than holding a Y-shaped device, this slingshot slips on your index finger and thumb, cutting down on the size. Heck, I might consider buying one anyway, were I able to find out anything about pricing or availibility.
The Titanic falls into the same category as Mickey Mouse in that it’s probably harder to find someone who hasn’t heard of it, than someone who has. But if you’re not familiar with the Titanic, as I recall it was a wildly popular movie from a decade ago that was later turned into a great sea disaster. And believe it or not, as famous as the ship has become, this 1:48 scale model of the Titanic is the first one ever built. (Or so the website selling it claims.) Belfast, Ireland based Harland & Wolff, who built the real Titanic, never released the plans outside of their company. But in 1995 another company called Fine Art Models convinced them to work together to produce this ‘definitive’ model.
Apparently this version of the Titanic took 7 years to build, which is actually longer than it took the shipyard to build the real one. Since its completion the model has toured the world via museums and other private exhibits, but it’s now available to one lucky buyer with deep, deep pockets. So what does $2.5 million get you? Here’s a breakdown of the ship’s finer features:
• The model is over 18 feet long
• The hull is a fiberglass form plated and riveted with brass plating, per the original plans, using more than 3,376,000 rivets, composed of three (3) different styles.
• Every bulkhead is in its proper location
• The entire superstructure is constructed of brass.
• The model weighs 1,500 pounds
• The decking is real wood, as is the deck furniture, which is crafted to exact proportions.
• All exterior windowed rooms are to scale, including the furniture and décor inside each room
• The telegraph in the Bridge is internally lit
• Its lighting is so complex that it required the installation of more than 8 miles of fiber optic cable.
I can’t deny that this is easily the most impressive and detailed model I’ve ever seen that’s not made from LEGO. But unless you’re sticking it in a museum and charging people 2 bits a gander, I can’t see why anyone would spend this much money. Unless of course you’ve grown tired of rubber ducks and plan to bust it out of the glass display case and enjoy it in the bathtub.
The only thing better than having your own robot servant is having a robot servant you can actually ride. RINGBO is kind of a hybrid between the Radio Shack bots of yesteryear, and those electric carts used by the elderly and disabled. Unfortunately it’s specifically designed for kids aged 2-3, so if you’re thinking it would make those long walks to the copy machine at work a bit more bearable, be aware that it has a 66 pound weight limit. RINGBO is controlled via a pair of joysticks mounted on its head, and also features what I assume to be a touch-screen LCD. What it’s used for though, I have no idea. On a 6-8 hour charge your kid can spend an hour crashing into furniture and terrorizing the family pets, since I’m pretty sure they aren’t protected under Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics.
If you happen to be in New York on May 14 or 15 you can check out RINGBO in person at the Koreannovation Trade Show.
I couldn’t even begin to count the number of hours I spent as a kid playing with my Legos. Most of the time I was building spaceships of some sort, usually loosly based on the ones I’d seen in Star Wars. It crossed my mind a few times as to how tall of a tower I could build before it would topple over. I never really had enough bricks to make anything substantial, but apparently you can get quite high if you’ve got enough bricks.
To be exact, the Legoland Windsor theme park now has such a tower that stands a whopping 100 feet tall. Just how many tiny bricks did it take? Half a million. Somehow I think my childhood collection was just a bit smaller than that. For those wondering, this is the tallest Lego tower ever created, and was done in celebration of the toy’s 50th anniversary.
The Super Soaker has pretty much become the de facto standard when it comes to waterguns these days. The only downside is that like with all waterguns you eventually have to refill it, which can leave you vulnerable to soakings from the enemy. But instead of coming with a water reservoir tank, the Super Soaker Bottle Shot allows you to screw on a standard plastic bottle instead. In fact it can even accommodate a 2 liter pop bottle allowing you to reuse them as back up liquid ammunition for when you’re in the heat of battle.
The downside is that the Super Soaker Bottle Shot only works on a pump by pump basis. So every time you pump the handle, it fires a 20 foot stream of water. The traditional Super Soaker allows you to fill the reservoir with air, which in turn creates a pressurized blast of water. However I’m sure that Hasbro (or at least their legal team) was worried about the risk of a regular plastic bottle simply blowing up if it was over pressurized. But at just $7.99, this one’s a must have for the Summer time.
Here’s a simple weekend project for anyone who’s ever dreamt of piloting a blimp, but miserably failed out of Goodyear University. You can easily build your own miniature version and all you need is some tape, a few binder clips, 2 24 inch dowels, 2 miniature RC helicopters and a helium balloon that’s large enough to keep the rest of the materials afloat. (And of course enough helium to fill said balloon.) The most expensive part of the build is the RC helicopters, but these days you can get a couple of the PicooZ or AirHog varieties for under $60. And what’s even better is that the project doesn’t require you to dismantle or destroy the helicopters in any way.
Basically the dowels are attached to the underside of the balloon with the choppers mounted on each end serving as propulsion. Since binder clips and tape are used to hold it all together, when the balloon inevitably runs out of helium you can easily disassemble it and swap in a new one. When it comes to controlling the blimp you need to use both remotes at the same time, but you only need to move one joystick on each which apparently makes it feel like steering a flying tank. As an added bonus the blimp is a lot easier to fly than the helicopters themselves, and crashing it into the wall or a piece of furniture probably won’t cause that much damage.
The NeoCube may not have any practical purpose, but I want one anyway. Really, really badly. The NeoCube is only incidentally a cube, since it’s made of 216 spherical magnets that you can pull apart and reattach in whatever design you feel like. Looks like you can even make jewelry out of it, and according to the website, it’s also a “dual hemisphere brain stimulator.” Hard to go wrong with that, and it’s hard to go wrong with the price, too: a mere $40.
Even though the Indiana Jones films were Lucasfilm productions, I don’t remember the original 3 featuring as extensive a marketing or product tie-in push as the Star Wars films did. But it seems they’re going to make up for that with the 4th Indiana Jones film that’s set to hit theaters in less than a month. In the same way that Star Wars fans can buy toy replicas of nearly every single lightsaber seen in those movies, Indiana Jones fans can now get themselves a toy version of Indy’s most famous accessory. (No, not his hat.)
This three foot soft whip features a plastic handle that not only plays authentic whip-cracking sound effects as you swing it around, but also the well-known Indiana Jones theme music. (aka The Raiders March) There’s a switch on the handle for turning the sounds on and off, and it even features a carrying strap for attaching it to your belt so it’s always close at hand. I’m sure there’ll also be actual whip replicas available for sale at some point, but this version is probably a lot safer if you’ve never used a whip before.
I’m really enjoying this trend of lightweight, easy-to-fly RC planes and helicopters. Not only can they be enjoyed indoors where you don’t have to deal with the wind, but they can easily survive those inevitable crashes that happen every few minutes. The latest addition to the fleet is this RC ‘Jump Jet’ which can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, but also fly around the room like a plane. Think of it as a slightly cheaper, quieter and easier to fly version of the Harrier Jump Jet.
Like with most of the indoor RC aircraft available today, the Jump Jet itself uses a small rechargeable battery to keep it as light as possible, while the remote itself runs off 3 AAA batteries. I’ve included a video of the craft taking off and flying after the jump, and to be perfectly honest it really just looks like a 4-bladed helicopter that’s been adorned with small wings and a tail to make it look like a plane. There’s no control surfaces that I can see, and this thing would have to be moving pretty quickly through the air to generate any kind of lift with those wings. However, that doesn’t make it look any less fun.
Related Tags: Digital Cameras, Toys
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