Artist Dave Styerd (of Geek-Lee-Tist) created this still life using R2-D2′s head as a serving bowl for some delicious grapes, bananas, apples and oranges. The blue Bantha milk is a nice touch too. I have to say it’s kind of cruel that Dave had to decapitate the little droid though. I mean, why not use R5-D4? He already had a bad motivator unit and was headed for the scrap pile. Besides, his flat head would be less likely to tip over and spill fruit onto the table.

Regardless, I’m sure this will inspire some Star Wars geek out there to make an actual R2-D2 fruit bowl using a stainless steel mixing bowl, and e-mail us a picture once they’re done with it. Right?

But I digress. This 16.5″ x 11.7″ Giclee print is the perfect thing for any Star Wars themed kitchen or dining room. Grab one over on Etsy for $15 (USD).

The toy will retail for appx. $63(USD), and is a 26 inch-tall inflatable R2-D2 on wheels. A foot pump is included so that you don’t need to beat your lungs to death to satisfy your child (or yourself.) The Jumbo R2-D2 model is the first of the new Star Wars Pump and Play series – more will be coming later if the droid unit turns out to be a big hit. Now, this is all wonderful, but I need to ask – has anyone already called dibs on the Princess Leia demonstrating the toy? “I did.” *Sulking*

Pump and Play is a term that reminds me of my old days, when I used to shoot hoops with my boys. We’d pump up the ball, go out to the court, and then I would help them play by giving them water when they felt that they were thirsty. Those were good times – hey, if you think you’re falling in love with the Jumbo RC Inflatable R2-D2, you’re going to want to have a look at the R2-D2 Garbage Can and the R2-D2 Apron.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

For starters, there’s a safe that looks just like the TARDIS, complete with all the appropriate blue Police Box details, including a flashing blue light on the roof. It looks like it’s a pretty decent size, and could hold small, but precious things like coins, jewelry or even small documents. Of course, there’s no telling if they might get transported to some other time or dimension once you put them in there and shut the door.

Star Wars fans can skip the TARDIS and go straight for the R2-D2 safe, which finally proves that there wasn’t actually a little person inside of the droid, but a hollow storage compartment perfect for holding onto your precious galactic credits and other goodies.

Each safe locks using an app which runs on your iPhone, iPod Touch or Android phone which outputs a series of blinking lights when docked – so your only key is a mobile device with your code keyed in. Of course, the biggest problem with small safes like these is that if a criminal really wanted what was inside, they could just pick it up and crack it open with a lightsaber, a sonic blaster, or a ball-peen hammer.

Both safes both come from UK watch and gadget company Zeon, and are expected in stores sometime around June.

[via Pocket-Lint and C|Net]
(Thanks for the tip, Mo!)

The R2-D2 area rug is hand-tufted from blue and grey wool, and is the perfect thing to round out any Star Wars themed space. Each one features a larger-than-life image of our favorite maintenance droid, and is offers a mix of textures which make R2 feel good under your feet.

Artoo is available in 3′x5′ ($129 USD), 5′x7′ ($299) and even a huge 8′x10′ size ($599), in case you’re a really big R2 fan. Grab one now over at pottery barn kids before everyone else does.

…and now that you have a rug, you need a way to clean it.

[via R2D2Central]

It’s made by Etsy contributor HauteMessThreads, and perfectly captures R2′s key attributes, while still being completely serviceable as an apron. While I’d say that either a guy or girl could wear this, I think the little bows, cinched waist and v-neck make it more appropriate for girly geeks than the boys. I think it’d take a really confident man – I’m talking Boba Fett confident – to pull this thing off.

Each apron is handmade to order, and is crafted from 100% cotton, with blue and black accents. The R2-D2 apron sells for $70 (USD), but if you want an XL, you’ll need to chip in an extra 5 bucks. It’s available for order over on Etsy. C-3PO is also available, but I’d say he’s not quite as awesome as R2, which is too bad, because I always envisioned 3-PO as some sort of robot butler who would do my bidding and cook me up a nice wampa steak.

[via Geek Crafts]

R2 in fancy dress with a pipe? Someone please make a new Sherlock Holmes with the little droid as Holmes and C-3PO as Watson. I would pay good money to see that and it would beat the whole Data/Geordi Holmes thing from Star Trek.

Jabba certainly still looks evil, but now he’s an evil gentleman from the past. He could easily be Holmes’ arch-enemy Moriarty. Chewbacca is also available, but he just looks strange to me.

You can buy all of these portraits over on KULT, with prices starting at $125(USD). For that price, you get an unframed 9″ x 13″ Limited Edition hand numbered giclée print signed by the artist with a Certificate of Authenticity.

[via Modcloth]

Robot builder Florida Robot built all but one of these robots, which include C-3PO, R2-D2, B9 from Lost in Space, Bender and a couple of others. Robby the Robot was already built by Fred Barton, but he modified it in order to “motorize and computerize some of his systems.” Apparently in need of some extra space in his house, these robot’s creator has put the entire robo-menagerie up for sale on eBay.

As you can see in the video above, both Robby and B9 light up in sync with audio tracks from a classic episode of Lost in Space, called “War of the Robots.” C-3PO, on the other hand, seems a bit more dignified. He’s got an awesome shiny vacu-metallized finish, and his eyes LED light up when someone approaches. Despite the fact that he’s supposed to be fluent in over 6 million languages, this 3PO isn’t talking, though.

And if that’s not the only droid you’re looking for, R2 is up for sale too.

He’s completely motorized, and can be driven remotely. His dome turns, his lights work, and he even makes all sorts of appropriately droidly sounds.

Now Bender, on the other hand. He seems too busy smoking and drinking to utter a word or even move. Still, he looks pretty cool just lazing around – though you might want to keep an eye on your valuables.

Last but not least in this awesome robo-collection are these boxy ‘bots who are inspired by an image on a 1958 issue of Fantastic Universe magazine, featuring a pair of robots sitting on a bench, waiting for the bus to come.

They’re also mechanical, and their heads move back and forth and eyes blink when a motion sensor detects someone approaching. They’re also completely charming.

Wow. I am so not adding that song to iTunes. That’s what you get when you let robots sing, I suppose. That and Mr. Roboto. I think all robot videos should actually be set to ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky.

But I digress. If you’re ready to adopt this lovingly-built family of robots (or you’re readying your own robot theme park), head on over to eBay and check out the auction now. The seller says that local pickup is available in Clearwater, Florida, and I can’t imagine how you’d ship these.

The R2-D2 Souvenir Cup is somewhat large, meaning that you can easily use it as a dessert cup or a pencil holder. It stands about 8.5″ in height, and the lid is hinged so you can check on its motivator unit if needed. It’s definitely something cool to have around on your desk, while you’re getting ready to re-watch Star Wars for the n-teenth time.

The cups themselves cost $11.49 (USD) which includes a chocolate parfait dessert – apparently something droids like to eat. It’s really a great deal since this cup features a lot more details than the previously mentioned Japanese version. If you want one, you’ll need to head over to Red Rocket’s Pizza Port or Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland.

[via GeekAlerts]

This isn’t some cheap piece of glass. It’s a 10-ounce whisky glass, done up with the ancient Kiriko glass-etching technique – dating back to 1824. Unfortunately, I have expensive taste, as a single one of these collectible R2-D2 glasses sells for 50 bucks. Yeouch. So much for my dreams of owning a set of 8 to share with my friends.

Well, I guess I should be glad that Kotobukiya is out of stock of these, since that would be just one more thing for me to spend money on that I don’t really need. For now, I’ll just look at the pretty pictures of the world’s most fragile droid.

Thankfully, all you need to do to rescue R2 is to take a bath or ten. You know you probably need to hose off anyhow, you scruffy-looking nerf herder. You definitely work up a sweat fighting the Empire all day. Once you eventually work your way through the clear, lavender-scented exterior, you’ll get to the chewy candy center find that R2 himself is actually made out of soap too.

Actually, the reason that BlackWyrmDesigns encased R2 inside a clear block of soap was so you can enjoy him in the bath for much longer than if he were fully-exposed to the elements. Good idea. And if one R2 unit isn’t enough, you could always go for a double:

Keep in mind that the twins are miniature versions of R2, so you’ll probably wear them down quicker. Both the R2-D2 ($8 USD) and R2-D2 twins ($7) soaps are available over at BlackWyrmDesign’s Etsy shop.

While it’s not exactly beach weather around here in Chicago, I could see hanging out in one of these for a tailgating party – as long as you don’t mind being ridiculed by your football buddies.

The R2-D2 folding armchair is available now over at ThinkGeek for $39.99 (USD).

I actually want to call this little droid R2-MP4, since I think that would be a more appropriate name. The musical R2 unit even comes with earbuds which look like C-3PO’s head. Hopefully, when you stick them in your ears, he won’t go blathering on about how he he’s fluent in over six-million forms of communication, and just let you listen peacefully to your playlist.

Now, this R2-D2 media player isn’t exactly high-end. It’s only got 2GB of storage – or about 500 songs, and despite the screenshot above, I’m not convinced it can play video or view photos. That sure looks like an screen grab from an old iPod with some Star Wars images tossed in. But I could be wrong. Heck, maybe it can project holograms and hack into the Death Star’s security system for all we know.

Anyhow, if you’re buying this, you’re probably not getting it for its tech specs, and just because you have to own every Star Wars gadget and gizmo. R2-MP4 sells for $44.99 (USD). If you want one, you’ll have to go to your local Toys R Us and poke around, as they appear to be sold out online right now.

[via 7 Gadgets]

Now this particular R2 unit seems to have flipped his lid, but that’s only so you can get at the minty goodness inside, and not because he has a bad motivator unit. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but each mint is also shaped like a little R2-D2 too. It’s too bad that there’s no matching C-3PO candy tin, because they’d look pretty good standing alongside each other on your desk. Oh well, one droid is better than no droids, I suppose.

On the other hand, they will be offering Stormtrooper, Darth Vader and Death Star mints, which freshen your breath with the full power of the Dark Side of the Force.

The R2-D2 mint candy tin is available for pre-order over at Play.com for £3.49 (~$6 USD).

[via shutupandtakemymoney]

Felix is also very willing to accommodate custom requests – “any design, any colour, any size, any shoe!” is his tagline. I don’t want to take away the spotlight from the awesome Mario slip ons, but I just had to share some of Felix’ other products. The yellow and green ones are original designs, while the bleepin’ beautiful R2-D2 shoes, the hard, good, fast and strong Daft Punk shoes, the fully awesome Fullmetal Alchemist shoes and the algebraic Adventure Time shoes are custom orders.

You can order the Mario slip-ons from Felix’ Etsy shop for about $80 (USD). Don’t be fooled by the price; even if they’re cheaper than the Mario Chucks, these are way rarer because Felix only made this one pair. Visit his Facebook page for more of his products.

For comparison’s sake, here’s a shot of the original, garishly-colored Maverick:

Girly Gamer did a fair bit of sanding, hacksawing, painting and brushing to mod the gun. She even improvised to create some of Artoo’s details, like the glass beads for his projector lenses and the wires on his legs. Here’s another look at the Mav2D2:

Check out Girly Gamer’s website for a “run through of all the faffing involved in the NERF mod.” Heh. She said faffing. Sorry. You can also check out a gallery of her NERF mods on her deviantART page. I hope someone gives her a decent digital camera so we can better admire her work.

[Thanks to Thumbbandits for the tip!]

Second, R2-D2 is actually just one of the “flavors” of this dispenser. It also comes in R2-Q5 (or black) and R2-R9 (red). Both are still meant to be used for soy sauce.

Finally, this instructional picture, which is both unnecessary and wrong:

If you need a picture to tell you how to put soy sauce in to the dispenser, then after looking at the picture above you’re probably going to put a whole bottle of soy sauce into R2-D2. If you’re in need of a dispenser for soy sauce – and soy sauce only – Geek Stuff 4 U is selling the dispenser for about $40 (USD).

Still, droid surgery sounds kind of fun, and Hasbro makes it a little more entertaining by replacing the old Operation buzzer with “Realistic Sound Effects” (as realistic as a fictitious droid from a galaxy far, far away can be.)

Well, at least 3PO gets a little screen time with a couple of small malfunctions to repair, but nothing quite as dramatic as “limbs severed and stuffed in a backpack.” That’s one malady I’d like to see you fix with a pair of tweezers.

Star Wars fans who need just one more item to round out their collection (this week) can head over to ThinkGeek, and order this special droid edition of Operation for $29.99 (USD).

[via Laughing Squid]

He’s perfect for hospitals and nursing homes, where he can monitor the elderly, maybe even toss them a lightsaber in a sticky situation. The bot also has a live conversation feature, which comes in very handy. At the proper time, he can simply remind patients when it’s time to take their meds. Emotions are expressed using a dot-matrix display on its head.

Right now this robot is part of a pilot project taking place in a hospital for seniors and nursing homes in Australia. It seems like a great design, even if he is a lot like R2 and it has all the right features. Check out more details here, where you can find tons of specs. This little guy could very well help some elderly patients. Just no tall golden sidekick please!

[via advancedtechnologykorea]

To refresh your memory, this Star Wars special edition Xbox 360 includes a 320GB R2-D2 themed console that features custom sounds and comes with a white Kinect sensor. You also get a C-3PO controller, (It doesn’t talk, thank god!) a wired headset and the Star Wars Kinect game. Aside from that there is also exclusive content and a copy of Kinect Adventures. The system sells for $449 (USD), and despite the delay, Amazon is still listing a December 31, 2011 release date.

[via Gameguru]

Pastry artist by day, Star Wars fan by night, Jenn Hall decided that if she was ever going to make an R2-D2 cake, it might come out in the shape of a helmet. But instead of baking said cake, she cooked up this most-excellent bike helmet in the likeness of R2-D2. Here’s Jenn showing of her finished R2 unit while riding her equally bad-ass scooter.

Not only is this thing perfect, it has just cemented Jenn as every geek’s dream girl. If she’s not already got every Star Wars fanatic on the Internet sending her love letters, she soon will. No questions asked.

If you want to make an R2-D2 helmet for yourself, check out Jenn’s “making of” post over on her blog. And for the love of Alderaan, somebody must order up an R2-D2 cake from the bakery Jenn works at so I can write about that too.

[via The Mary Sue and Geekadelphia via Neatorama]