Emotigraph is a laser-cut wooden plaything with a mechanism which lets you change its face between a variety of moods. Simply turn the disc underneath Emotigraph, and it’ll go from elated, to depressed, to non-plussed in seconds (just like you.)

The exact expressions on the included disc are “happy,” “angry,” ” sad,” and “surprised.” However, additional discs can be purchased for moods like “bashful,” “sorry,” “whisper,” and “maybe.” The interchangeable discs are why its called the Emotigraph (“emotion phonograph”, get it?)

Emotigraph was designed by Matthew Garten, who has shown the pieces at MakerFaire, and also has instructions for making your own over on Instructables. But the easiest way to get an Emotigraph is to head over to Etsy, where you can grab one for just $29.50(USD). You’ll still need to tackle what looks like a pretty involved assembly process, but that’s part of the fun anyhow.

Take, for example, this automaton which looks like a human hand.

This  interactive hand sculpture has sort of a steampunk vibe to it, with its structure and mechanical parts made from brass, along with wood accents and the articulating hand itself made from resin.

It kind of reminds me of Thing from The Addams Family, but it’s just a cool mechanical hand that taps impatiently as you turn its hand-crank. Here, check it out in action:

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Pretty cool (and a little creepy), no? This very special automaton sculpture was handmade by UK artist automatonman, and is being sold in a limited edition of just 20 over on Etsy. While it does sell for a rather pricy $750 (USD), you’ll be in great company, as one of these already sold to Pan’s Labyrinth/Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro.

Radio Man was created by a Swiss engineer named August Huber. Ah, now the yodeling makes sense! He’s 7 feet tall and took 10 years to complete. It supposedly could walk, talk, sing, or yodel at his master’s command.It was supposedly powered by batteries hidden in the legs, but honestly, this makes me wonder if this was a work of fiction. Batteries in the legs? I thought that back in the 1930s it would have needed something like a truck filled with batteries to power it.

[Modern Mechanix via DVice]

Designer Chico Bicalho’s MxyKikker crawler is my personal favorite, what with its dozen or so spinny elbow macaroni looking legs which help it move along your floor. Each of these unique creations has a slightly different way of ambling around, but they all are about as whimsical as can be.

Here’s a brief video clip showing off MxyKikker and his pal Bonga in action…

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You can find these guys, along with Kikkerland’s entire collection of creepy, crawly automatons over at their online shop. Prices range from $6 to $40 (USD), depending on the size and mechanical complexity of the critter you select.

The skull and crossbones automaton clock has a mechanical moving jaw, and snakes that dart out of its eyeballs. The Watchismo Times describes it best:

“During the first minute, the skull’s expression seems to smile, the second minute it seems to laugh, the next appears to scream and finally, the jaws snap shut, as if the skull were trying to bite something. At the same time, one of the snakes slowly sinks back down into one of the eye sockets, while the other slowly comes out of the other eye, before retracting suddenly, as the first snake again springs out from its eye-socket.”

I guess you shouldn’t put your fingers in the mouth of this thing if you want to keep them.

The gilded brass clock was built in 1610 by Nicolaus Schmidt der Junger in Augsberg, Germany and recently sold for $135,000. I guess I won’t be able to have this in my haunted house this Halloween.

[via Born Rich]