Toys

Wind-Powered Model Helicopter? Go Fly a Kite

A remote-controlled helicopter, powered by the wind? Well, not exactly. This wind-powered helicopter is more kite than copter, and it needs a pretty stiff wind of at least 13mph to stay aloft. It does use the same lift principles as helicopters, though. You start its rotors spinning so the craft can lift off, and then…

Gadgets Charlie White

Stare at This Solar Spinner Until the Drugs Kick In

Hang this little bauble in the sunlight, and suddenly you have yourself a spinning solar disco ball. A solar cell on the top of the Solar Spinner powers a little DC motor that gets the thing turning. As it turns faster its sides stick out from the centrifugal force. Its refractive holographic film strips reflect…

Gadgets Charlie White

RFID Experimentation Kit

The RFID Experimentation Kit is the toy I always dreamed of owning. This kit includes over 12 different types of RFID tags, a USB RFID reader and a book full of fun projects. It does require a minimal amount of technical knowledge, but the kit includes every piece of hardware needed to complete basic and…

Gadgets Travis Hudson

Robosapiens Invade McDonalds Happy Meals

Our favorite robot toys have gone mainstream, as WowWee and McDonalds are teaming up to put tlittle miniature versions of the toys into Happy Meals. The mini robos consist of regular Walking Robosapien, Roboraptor, Talking Robosapien, Running Roboreptile, Walking Robopet, Chomping Roboraptor, Standup Robosapien, diabetes and obesity. Oh wait, sorry, those last two come with…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Discovery Biosphere Terrarium Lets Kids Play God

This biosphere from Discovery can supposedly teach kids important things about nature and the environment and all of that crap, but isn’t it more important that this biosphere allows children to play god with an assortment of insects living inside the biosphere. Making it rain, controlling the temperature and humidity, poking and prodding with tweezers…

Gadgets Travis Hudson

The New York Times Exposes “iSilly” iPod Accessories; iSigh

The NYT has a rundown today on the supposedly new trend of iPod accessories where “cute or irreverent often trumps wow.” While I wouldn’t exactly call the piece bleeding edge in its discovery, the trend it points at is definitely real, and most of the products it highlights are interesting or amusing, my favorite being…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Bandai Human Player: It’s OK To Play With Yourself

Standing in front of the mirror for hours on end fulfills our daily narcissism quota, but we just never get anything done. That’s why we’re very excited about the Bandai Human Player. It’s like Tamagotchi, but your pet is…you. After responding to fifty personal questions such as “Have you ever killed a man and gotten…

Gadgets Mark Wilson

Ghost Blaster: 80’s Hardee’s Toy?

I miss 80’s marketing, full of slick continuity editing that can fool the weak/young-minded into believing the Ghost Blaster can actually shoot lasers at ghosts. Because it can’t…right? The Ghost Blaster [neatorama]

Gadgets Mark Wilson

Mattel IM-Me: Safer Mobile Instant Messaging for Kids

Mattel wants parents to believe that its IM-Me mobile device will prevent bad people from IMing their children. It’s comprised of two separate parts, a USB dongle with an attached RF antenna and the SideKick-like unit that kids use to communicate with their friends. Parents install the USB dongle into their computer through which kids…

Gadgets Nicholas Deleon

Art.Lebedev Drops Another Bomb, This One Holds Money

Art.Lebidev Studio, in between cranking out questionable keyboard/button thingamajigs, also creates whimsical and weird stuff such as this takeoff on the piggy bank shaped like a nuclear weapon. Called Superbitus, the only way to get your money out of this ceramic munition is to drop the bomb. https://gizmodo.com/art-lebedev-pron-live-shots-of-upravlator-208788 Ironic that the Russian designers at Lebedev…

Gadgets Charlie White

Rubik’s Cube For the Lazy

If they’ve got Rubik’s Cubes for the blind, why not one for the lazy? Speaking of lazy, whatever happened to those omnipresent moving walkways, auto-shavers, and sexy, sexy robots from The Jetsons? We thought the future was supposed to be so lazy-friendly, when it turns out we have to do even more work than before.…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Boss Toss: Next Best Thing to Killing, Maiming

Of all the workplaces in the world, we certainly don’t need the Boss Toss. But many of you, dear readers, must have a slavemaster patrolling the cubicles whose command you’d like to eliminate with extreme prejudice. Load up the appropriate mini-effigy of your boss or nemesis and flip it out into the ether where it…

Gadgets Charlie White

Toy Fair 2007 Round Up: Stupid Moving Toys (Happy Meal Nostalgia FTW)

Actually, these remote-controlled hopping lederhosen aren’t that stupid. Pressing the button on the knockwurst remote [insert dick joke here] sends them into a convulsion of bouncing and yodelling for about 15 seconds, after which they shut off automatically. Okay, maybe they are kind of stupid. Sadly, I don’t any video for you. Enjoy a few…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Kid-Sized Tetris Blocks

Similar to the Tetris Magnets and Tetris Shelves, these Tetris blocks are made for children 4 and up to fool around and smack each other with. Great for building up your kids’ spacial recognition and organizational skills as well. https://gizmodo.com/tetris-magnets-for-the-fridge-195635 You’ll have to be careful they don’t line them all up in a row though,…

Gadgets Jason Chen

MP3 Players and Accessories for Kids: What Happened to Action Figures?

While the “gadget” section of the Toy Fair was small, what struck me was the number of mp3 players and accessories targeted at kids, all the way down to toddlers. Do they really need to listen to the new JT single while they doze off to sleep? First up is the iPod pillow (pictured), from…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Humping Dog in the Flesh, Boxed and Ready for Valentine’s Day Lovin’

There’s no new information here or anything like that. It’s just the Humping Dog in its retail box, and well, we’ll take any excuse we can to post about it. Since it was at the Toy Tokyo booth, it looks like those of you in New York, at least, can get your laptop (or anything…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

R.C. Color Bug Designer Clearly Has No Children

At first glance, the R.C. Color Bug seems like a great idea and a fun product for young kids. Plug a marker into the top of the remote-controlled bug, set it on a big sheet of paper and they can doodle away without having to stop bouncing off the walls long enough to sit down.…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Toy Fair 2007: Optimus Prime Transforms Into Profit

Yesterday I went to Toy Fair here in NYC to check out what sorts of tie-ins Hasbro has planned for the upcoming Transformers Movie, and boy was I underwhelmed. Sure, I might be a good decade and a half beyond their target market here, but I know what kids like. And they like accurate representation…

Gadgets Adam Frucci

The Biggest Lego Set Ever Made – Star Wars Millennium Falcon – Does Point Five Past Lightspeed

Click to viewMade of over 5,000 pieces, and almost 3 feet long, this $499 Millennium Falcon is the biggest LEGO set ever made or sold. Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon [Product Page]

Gadgets Noah Robischon

Electric Football Coming Back, Watch Out Madden

More Toy Fair goodness for your Monday morning, now with 100 percent more electric football! You know how this works: you place a series of plastic men on a vibrating table (wow, sounds like the Penthouse letters section), turn on the table then all hell breaks loose. The men bounce up and down and just…

Gadgets Nicholas Deleon

Wind-Powered Model Helicopter? Go Fly a Kite

Stare at This Solar Spinner Until the Drugs Kick In

RFID Experimentation Kit

Robosapiens Invade McDonalds Happy Meals

Discovery Biosphere Terrarium Lets Kids Play God

The New York Times Exposes “iSilly” iPod Accessories; iSigh

Bandai Human Player: It’s OK To Play With Yourself

Ghost Blaster: 80’s Hardee’s Toy?

Mattel IM-Me: Safer Mobile Instant Messaging for Kids

Art.Lebedev Drops Another Bomb, This One Holds Money

Rubik’s Cube For the Lazy

Boss Toss: Next Best Thing to Killing, Maiming

Toy Fair 2007 Round Up: Stupid Moving Toys (Happy Meal Nostalgia FTW)

Kid-Sized Tetris Blocks

MP3 Players and Accessories for Kids: What Happened to Action Figures?

Humping Dog in the Flesh, Boxed and Ready for Valentine’s Day Lovin’

R.C. Color Bug Designer Clearly Has No Children

Toy Fair 2007: Optimus Prime Transforms Into Profit

The Biggest Lego Set Ever Made – Star Wars Millennium Falcon – Does Point Five Past Lightspeed

Electric Football Coming Back, Watch Out Madden

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

2027 Is Shaping Up to Be a Great Year for Big Sci-Fi RPGs

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Ahead of the SpaceX IPO, xAI Has Now Shed All 11 of Its Non-Elon Musk Founders

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

How to Watch the F1 Japanese GP 2026 on a Free Channel

Ranking 2016’s Superhero Debuts, 10 Years Later

Fourth Most Populous Country in the World Bans Most Social Media for Kids

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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