Nope, no matter how hard I try, I’m still not sick of Space Invaders. Now you can show that you’re an Invaders fanatic with these festive Space Invaders dog tags you can hang on all your stuff.
Created by La Tête Au Cube (the same guys who make the excellent Space Invaders door mat), these colorful aliens are perfect hung from a bookbag, keychain, zipper or anywhere you want to show that you’re a member of theInvaders’ cult.
I’m actually thinking about covering my Christmas tree with a crapload of these guys in lieu of my regular ornaments this year.
French design retailer Collette has cornered the exclusive to sell these through November 15h, then after that, you should be able to buy them direct from La Tête Au Cube for €5 (appx. $9 USD) per Invader.
Written by technabob on November 4th, 2008 with no comments.
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These little toy robot kits from Japan do one thing and one thing only. They beat the crap out of each other.
Tamiya’s Robocraft boxing robots come in a kit that’s easy enough to assemble if you know your way around a screwdriver.
Each robotic boxer operates on a wired remote, which lets you control each of two gearboxes which drive the robot’s punches and movements. The same gears drive the punching action and forward/backward movement, making them a bit wobbly and unpredictable - both excellent traits for a boxer. Just as Mickey Rourke.
A simple adjustment lets you switch between two punch types: upper-cut and straight jab.
Pow, right in the kisser!
Click to view the embedded video.
They’re sorta like a modern-day version of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, no?
Click to view the embedded video.
Tamiya USA sells individual blue boxing ‘bots (along with a little punching bag) for $37 USD, and pairs (in colorful pink and yellow so you can tell ‘em apart) for $67 USD.
Written by technabob on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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I don’t know if I should really be sharing this dorky tidbit, but back when I was just a pup, I was a serious bad-ass on the miniature golf course. I actually won a couple of shiny plastic trophies, and even an official gold-plated Jack Nicklaus putter from the neighborhood Putt-Putt.
Over the years, my time on the course diminished, and eventually I ended up as a completely sub-par (er actually, way above par) golfer as an adult. So when I saw this kit that lets you set up a mini golf course just about anywhere, I got the wild idea that maybe I could get my putting game back in check.
Just mow your lawn, throw down the obstacles on the ground, and get to putting. Since each piece is completely standalone, you can constantly create new challenges for yourself. And of course, there’s nothing stopping you from setting up a virtual putting green in the middle of your office or living room.
Designed by George Pal and Hannes Weber of defacto.GmbH, the MyMiniGolf portable mini golf course comes with a variety of ramps, loops, jumps and cups. The kit includes 13 plastic obstacles in an oversize nylon carrying bag, along with a putter, a couple of balls and a score pad.
Click here to view the embedded video clip.
Ready to bring the course to you? Head on over to Generate, plunk down your $329, and get working on that hole-in-one.
Written by technabob on September 19th, 2008 with no comments.
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There’s something just so satisfying about the tactile sensation of popping bubble wrap. Now you can have a legitimate reason to pop bubbles every day, thanks to this fun bubble wrap calendar.
Each day of the year lives beneath a burstable bubble layer. As the days go by, just pop the corresponding bubble. If you happen to be away for a few days, you get the extra bonus of being able to pop a whole bunch at once.
Handmade in Brooklyn, NY, the oversize calendars come in either horizontal or vertical orientations, and measure in at substantial 48″ x 18″.
The 2009 edition of the calendar is now available, in either a paper-backed version ($29.95) or a sturdy acetate-backed version ($49.95). So get popping and head on over to the Bubble Calendar website to get yours.
[via Chip Chick]
Written by technabob on September 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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This oooey-gooey delicious skeleton is made from the melted down old carcasses of cassette tapes. Artist Brian Dettmer created these guys for an exhibition at the International Museum of Surgical Science, right here in my hometown of Chicago.
While the full-sized skeleton looks like it’s inspired by 80s greats such as R.E.M., The Knack, and The Police, this skull the artist also made appears to have fallen off from too much head-banging. (Note the Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe cassettes).
For some reason, these remind me of the famous face-melting scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
[via Clutter via ALBOTAS]
Written by technabob on July 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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Some of my fondest childhood memories involve doing (or more accurately, attempting to do) tricks with an old Duncan Butterfly YoYo. So when I saw these whimsical YoYo lighting fixtures, I said to myself - hey, I need one of those!
German Designers Catarina von Matérn + Lisa Lindström created theses clever floor lamps for Elmar Flötotto which store their power cord around a central axle when not in use. A 16-meter (52-foot) long red cable rolls around the middle of the lamp, letting you move it far, far away from the wall if need be.
The lamps are made of durable white transluscent Polyethylene, and measure about 18-inches in diameter. And thanks to plenty of flat surface area, I don’t see any reason you couldn’t lay the lamp on its side to serve as an illuminated side table.
You can get your fingers wrapped around on the YoYo lamp over at Questo Design for €232.80 (appx. $367 USD). If that’s too much money for you, maybe you should just stick with one of these.
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Written by technabob on July 4th, 2008 with no comments.
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The cassette tape is probably just a fuzzy memory for those of you who grew up with Compact Discs and MP3s. But for us born before the 1980s, we have to figure out what to do with all of those old tapes. Why not turn them into a lighting fixture?
That’s exactly what the guys over at Transparent House are doing with their cassettes. The designers make each lamp from dozens of individual cassette tapes, arranged into visually appealing patterns. Not only do they look cool as a sculptural piece, they cast dramatic shadows onto surrounding surfaces.
Each lamp uses a bright, cool-burning neon light source to keep the plastic cassettes from melting. Of course, they left each tape in its original transparent case so they could be together glued neatly.
And if you have a fond place in your heart for the old micro-cassette, you don’t have to feel left out. They’ve got a lamp just for you, made from 140 of the mini tapes.
Now the guys over at Transparent House don’t say if they’ll be producing these en masse, or if they’re just one-of-a-kind design pieces. Personally, I’d love a couple of these in my media room.
[via geeksugar]
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Written by technabob on June 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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The other day, I came across this Cold war-era Geiger Counter PC casemod, and passed along the erroneous notion that it was created by some Russian modder. In fact, it was built by a guy named Andy over at widefault, right here in the good old US of A. While I was over checking out the build log for Andy’s Fallout Meter PC, I happened upon another one of his creations and thought it was worthy of a mention.
Widefault happens to spend his days working near a Goodwill thrift store, and happened upon this plastic lunchbox when he was trolling the aisles one day. He thought to himself - what better use for this thing than to house a firewall for his network? With a little X-Acto knife work, Widefault transformed the lunchbox into a quick-and-easy computer.
Since it didn’t need to be all that powerful to run the GNU/Linux-based Smoothwall firewall app, the lunchbox packs a compact Via C3 motherboard, along with a low-voltage power supply and an inexpensive 4GB Compact Flash memory card for storage. All told, the entire project cost under $100 bucks.
While a 2007 Hot Wheels lunchbox isn’t exactly a rare retro artifact, it certainly could have carried some kid’s PB & J and Juicy Juice for at least one semester before meeting its maker.
[Read Complete Worklog]
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Written by technabob on June 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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