Category: Cool Toys

Call me a dork, but Futurama has always been one of my favorite programs on the old idiot box – at least when it comes to animated programs. Now, just in time for the holidays, I’ve found the perfect decoration for my office. Inspired by the classic Futurama Christmas episode, A Tale of Two Santas, the set includes 6-inch tall bendy desktop versions of Santa Bender and (the bloodthirsty) Robot Santa for you to pose into a variety of compromising positions.

Here in the Philippines the elderly are respected and revered; these two toys are definitely not from the Philippines. First up are the wheelchair and racetrack bound racing grannies. Racing grannies. I can barely wrap my head around the concept. The grannies can be individually controlled and are powered by AA batteries.

You’ve gotta hand it to the Japanese. They managed to take the strains of howling, tone deaf, drunken business executives and turn them into a multi-billion dollar yen industry. Now you can bring the Karaoke experience to your living room, complete with a cheezy disco light show.

Toy store FAO Schwarz has a special service whose results could either be really cool or really abysmal. Although the store’s name sounds like it should be a division of the German army, the name of their service is straight to the point: Make-My-Own-Monster. As you might have deduced from the image above, the Make-My-Own-Monster service is so simple it’s magical.

Those of us living in the Midwest know all too well that Winter is about to strangle us with its icy grip. And while 6 months of freezing cold weather can really suck the life out of you, there is a happy side-effect of the season.

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.

Why is it that Japan gets all the coolest toys? I mean really, why can’t I walk into the neighborhood store and pick up one of these? Coming this December from Bandai Japan, this remote-controlled Mechagodzilla robot is truly a sight to behold. Towering at nearly 20-inches tall (1/100th scale), the mechanical creation is faithful to the version of the Robosaurus Rex from 1974’s Gojira tai Mekagojira (Godzilla vs.

I had enough problems trying to solve the original Rubik’s Cube. Heck, I was often tempted to just peel all the colored stickers off and place them on the proper sides of the cube whenever I got frustrated with the damned thing.

I read a news story the other day that whenever the economy is in the crapper, sales of safes shoot through the roof. I guess its better than putting your money under the mattress, right? Here’s a crazy safe that should keep all but the most devious of thieves away from your stash. Artist Alex Schlegel is the creator of this complicated puzzle-inspired safe.

Remember that goopy green gunk you used to play with when you were a kid? No not your nose goblins. It was called Slime, and it was the number one gross-out toy back in the day.

What do you do when you drop your old laptop on the ground and break it? If you said “bring it to the Geek Squad” or “throw it in the dumpster”, you’re dead wrong. At least that’s the case if you’re the guy who took his recently trashed iBook G3, and turned it into a Magnadoodle (sorta). When modder leadoffdouble dropped his old iBook G3 on the floor and busted its CD-ROM drive, he decided to take his freshly squozen Apple and make himself some tangy Apple-ade. While he did manage to cram the iBook’s circuitry and LCD screen into the Magnadoodle’s case, there was no room for a keyboard or trackball, so an external one needs to be connected to actually use the computer.

The NeoCube starts out as a cube made of super-magnetic balls that’s billed as “literally a puzzle with billions of solutions.” Here’s the good news: There are no right answers, just a whole heap o’ magnetic mayhem to be had. Check out this video of the NeoCube in action.

Ready for a challenging puzzle? Check out this new variant on the classic Rubik’s Cube which isn’t comfortable just being perfectly square. The new Rubik’s Mirror Blocks puzzle makes things a bit more complicated than the original by making each and every one of its blocks a slightly different size. And instead of pretty colors, each one is covered with a mirrored surface, making it just that much more difficult to figure out. I managed to find a video clip showing the unboxing of the new cube here: The puzzle is slated for release in Japan in the next couple of weeks for ¥2079 (appx $20 USD), but I haven’t been able to find out anything about a North American release.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane… back to, oh, say, 1998. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but regardless, we all played laser tag with gusto. Now you can play it in your very own home! Yeah, I know, I’m excited too!

The Lite-Brite is one of my fondest childhood toy memories. Maybe it was the fact that it was THE original way to make pixel art. Or maybe it was the “living on the edge” thrill that any minute I could choke on one of the of hundreds of tiny candy-like pegs.

Remote controlled race cars are pretty much a dime-a-dozen these days, so I’m always happy to come across one that’s a little left of center. Contrary to its name, the Air Hog Zero Gravity Micro R/C car does not defy gravity.