takaratomy on technabob...

Back in the late 1980s, a sensation swept the streets of Asia called the “Flower Rock”. The desktop gadget did one thing, and one thing only — it danced to any music that you played near it. Flower Rock 2.0 commemorates the 20th anniversary of the original Flower Rock, giving it a thoroughly modern makeover…

Imagine an army of tiny little UFOs whizzing around your head. Now imagine that you could be the one controlling them.

TakaraTomy’s mysterious looking QFOs are pint-sized remote controlled hovering spacecraft which spin through the sky. A little propeller mounted on the bottom of a lightweight foam body gives the QFO its flight…

Put your cash in this bomb-shaped piggy bank and if you’re not a good saver, you’ll be punished. The electronic piggy bank waits for you to add coins too it every day. If you’re not consistent, it’ll explode, sending coins all over your desktop…

Our friends over at CScout Japan turned me onto this wacky digital camera that straps to your dog’s neck and can automatically snap pictures throughout the course of the doggie day.

TakaraTomy’s Wonderful Shot camera keeps a visual diary of the happenings in your dog’s life by snapping an image every so often…

I guess news of this Transformers Optimus Prime iPod dock has been floating around for a few months now, but this is the first time I’ve seen up close photos of this fun compact stereo in action.

The dock features an 18-wheeler that provides a place for your iPod and speakers on its bed…

Picture yourself lying on the beach, listening to the crashing waves, soaring seagulls and the squawks of far-off dolphins… Now you can bring a bit of that feeling inside your house, thanks to this new gizmo from Japan’s TakaraTomy.

The Healing Theater Umine projects watery blue and green moving images on your ceiling as it plays back digitally recorded sounds of the islands…

Bring the solar system into your living room with these floating lights from Japan’s TakaraTomy.

These Fuwarito lamps look like the earth and the moon, but are just simple helium-filled mylar balloons with an LED built into the bottom. Each light comes with a two cans of helium gas and weighted base to keep them from floating away…

Fancy yourself an aspiring rock star, but have no instrumental talent? That’s okay, thanks to this new gadget from Japan’s TakaraTomy.

The Air Guitar Pro starts out looking like the end of a guitar neck, but that’s where the resemblance ends. The rest of the guitar is nowhere to be found…

This rather silly invention out of Japan lets you count individual one Yen coins so you can save them up.

The TakaraTomy Life Bank One Yen Counter screws on the top of any bottle, and lets you count up your change.
Now keep in mind that a single Japanese Yen coin is worth just a bit less than a penny, so you might not even be able to find a bottle big enough to save up the ¥999 (appx…