Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's roundup of the most interesting toys we’ve seen this week. It’s a Guardians of the Galaxy blowout as we’ve got life-sized Groots, creepy plush Groots, and a fancy cassette player. But wait—there’s more, including a very swanky David Bowie figure and a very large Iron Man. Check it out!
Build-a-Bear Baby Groot and Rocket Raccoon
The make-it-your-self plush toy company has revealed its latest tie in the form of a truly horrifying rendition of Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2—the latest in a line of creepy takes on the actually adorable little sentient tree fella.
Build-a-Bear’s online-exclusive Groot plush, yours for just one blood pact with a dark old god (but also $35) makes the expected “I am Groot” sound when you squeeze him, but honestly, he sort of looks more like he’d be begging you to end his suffering in such a bizarre form. If that’s too weird for you though, Build-a-Bear also does a much more adorable plush Rocket Raccoon in the company’s Guardians collection that’s available for $25. That you can outfit in various T-Shirts, his own costume, and even given him a little Baby Groot of his own to play with that’s much cuter. [Build-a-Bear via EW]
Legend of Zelda Master Sword Umbrella and Hylian Shield Backpack
If you needed yet another good reason to up and move to Japan, a company called Banpresto there sells lottery tickets for various types of pop culture-related merchandise, including a new line of The Legend of Zelda-themed goods. The top two prizes are an over-the-shoulder Hylian shield shoulder bag, and a Master Sword folding umbrella. Neither can be purchased outright, you’ll need to win the Lottery of Zelda to claim either one, with tickets going on sale in May for about $6 each. So you’ve got time to relocate. [AnimeNow via Sora News 24]
McFarlane Labyrinth Jareth Figure
It’s surprising there aren’t more David Bowie figures available, given the late musician’s oversized persona. But if you want a tiny replica of him standing on your shelf, you’ll need to settle for his Jareth character from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Available in October for $20, this seven-inch figure from McFarlane toys features a decent 12 points of articulation, and of course includes a crystal orb accessory. [McFarlane Toys]
Hot Toys Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Life-Size Baby Groot Figure
Most of Hot Toys’ incredibly detailed figures stand around 12-inches tall, but at just 10-inches, the toymaker’s new Baby Groot is the first that can actually be called life size. Boasting 15 points of articulation, three interchangeable faces, an equally tiny Ravagers uniform, you can also swap Baby Groot’s hands with a pair of extending roots that can be posed like he’s ready to attack you—with cuteness. [Hot Toys via Toyark]
8-Bit Art Sticky Note Kits
Creating giant sticky note mosaics on your walls or windows is made considerably easier with these new 8-Bit Art kits that come with everything you need. Designs include Nintendo characters, Christmas icons, even Halloween motifs, and evenly laying out hundreds of sticky paper squares is hard to screw up with a sticky paper ruler that serves as a starting baseline. They’re currently only available at Target and GameStop stores for five bucks each, but will hopefully be sold online soon. [8-Bit Art]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Star Lord Voice-Recording Walkman
Despite having access to spaceships, incredible weapons, and a rocket-powered suit that disappears into nowhere, Star-Lord still relies on an ‘80s-era Walkman for his tunes. This $30 recreation has slightly more advanced features, including a voice recorder, a voice changer, and the ability to connect your smartphone to listen to your music through an antique (translation: terrible sounding) pair of headphones. [ThinkGeek]
Sideshow Collectibles Iron Man Mark III Life-Size Figure
There’s an argument to be made about Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits being action figures for grown-ups, which is why Sideshow Collectibles can create and sell a life size version of the Iron Man Mark III suit. Even with a staggering price tag of $7,950, there are still fans and collectors who will snatch these up, even though they can’t climb inside it. It does, however, feature glowing accents including the chest-mounted arc reactor, and a light-up base for display. [Sideshow Collectibles via Toyark]
USB-Powered BB-8 Desk Fan
They clearly had such cutting-edge technologies as faster-than-light space travel, autonomous droids, and lightsabers, but who’s to say if air conditioning existed a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away? They never appeared in any of the Star Wars movies, but there could very well have been droids that rolled around cooling people with built-in fans, like this $27 USB-powered version of BB-8 you can keep on your desk to help beat the heat when the summer sun (or suns) gets unbearable. [NCSX via Technabob]
Build Your Own Lego HAL 9000 (0937)
Aside from being one of the greatest pieces of science fiction, 2001: A Space Odyssey is also a cautionary tale about giving AI too much control over our lives. A cautionary tale you can straight up ignore by building your own Lego version of HAL 9000—or HAL 0937, in this case. (Read it upside-down.) The talented Jason Allemann of JK Brickworks is responsible for this Lego creation that will hopefully not try to kill you, assuming you don’t ask it to lie. [JK Brickworks]