Dave’s Cool Toys Blog

Archive for the ‘Cool Toy of the Day’ Category

We think this is Svetlana, the miniature giraffe

The latest cool toy of the rich and famous are miniature giraffes. Or are they?

Sokoblovsky Farms is supposedly selling miniature giraffes that they have been breeding for many years. According to their website, their Great Grandfather Nicolas escaped from the circus with their miniature giraffe and he’s been breeding them ever since. They don’t explain how he bred them from one giraffe. You are also welcome to visit the farm, if you’re ever in the vicinity of Krasnodar, Russia.

If you visit their website, there is "live feed" on their Giraffe-Cam of the little creatures walking around and mostly sleeping.

	Raina the miniature giraffe

But if you want to purchase one, you may have a bit of a wait. I added my name to their waiting list and I was 1,222,619th in line. No word on how much these pets will cost when my number comes up.

But once you get your new pet, their care is simple. They eat bonsai tree leaves and drink distilled water, have zero health problems, love being indoors in the air conditioning, require a bubble bath once a week and love to listen to Rimsky-Korsakov.

There is an 800 number on their site, but it is not a working number (surprise!).

My best guess is that this site is a tie-in to the DIRECTV commercials which "featured" the little creatures. The site seems to mimic the broken English of the commercials as well.

Well, if it is a hoax there are always other ways of getting your miniature giraffe.

How cool would it have been to have had this on long car trips?

"Window to the World" would allow kids in the car to draw on the window with their fingers, get information about what’s outside the window, pinch to zoom and get a close up view of things you are looking at, and maybe much more.

This excellent technology is actually being developed by Toyota Motor Europe and the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. It would embed a touchscreen into the auto window and create an interactive display with (hopefully) all the features shown in this video and more.

Note: You may notice that the little girl in this promotional video is not wearing a seat belt. Toyota states that this is a simulation filmed in static, controlled environments. "All health and safety requirements were met for the described conditions. Toyota will never promote unsafe behaviors, and will always encourage passengers to fasten their seatbelts."

Via Gizmodo

Megatron shoe. How odd.

Today’s toy isn’t new. But it’s very cool.

This Nike shoe can’t actually be worn, but it does transform into a bad ass robot. These official Nike miniature Transformer shoes are about six inches long when they are shoes and they transform into a likeness of either Megatron or Optimus Prime. Once they transform, the robot is wearing a very miniature version of the original shoe. They don’t come in sets, but as a single shoe.

The description notes that “Convoy” is the Japanese name for Optimus Prime, which is true, so it seems as if they were only sold in Japan.

They seem as if they are official Transformer items. The information I’ve found is very hard to tell if they were official or knockoffs. It does seem to have been released by Nike Japan and Takar Tomy, and it has the Nike logo and, I think, the Transformers logo on the robot (it’s hard to see in all the images I’ve found).

These must have been out for some time since they seem to have been tied-in to the first Transformer’s movie.

They sold in Japan for the equivalent of about $33.00 (although some places I see them as having sold for $95.50), but I have found them on Amazon selling for a VERY Pricey $160.00!

One thing this transformer shoe illustrates very well that I’ve always noticed about these toys is that in their shoe version, they look just like a shoe, but in their robot version, they are generally so complex that it hides the fact that there’s still a lot of “shoe” left behind.

I originally found a great video of this toy, but it can’t be embedded here. There’s another video below and you can see the original video here.

These amazing toys are the Singing Bird Pistols. They date from 1820 and are made of gold and inlaid with diamonds and pearls. They sold for $5.8 million at auction at Christie’s in May, 2011. But the real treasure is the workings inside attributed to Frères Rochat. Check out the video to see their amazing design.

Buzz and Woody Minifig Alarm Clock

Today only at 1 Sale A Day, you can get the Lego Minifig Buzz Lightyear or Woody, Digital Alarm Clock for only $12.99.

They show the list price as $49.99, so your saving would be $37.00, but I have found these on Amazon for $24.99. This is still a great savings, though.

1 Sale a Day, means just that. They will have this on sale today only. At midnight it will be gone. But if you miss this deal, check back on their site. They often repeat deals a few weeks later.

Buzz and Woody are both poseable with movable arms and legs and includes a snooze button They light up at the touch of a button so kids can see the time at night.

If you’re seeing this post after the day it’s available, you can find this cool clock on Amazon.

Jonas looking happy and Rusty looking worried

This great action figure set being unveiled at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego is a retro Rusty & Jonas Venture St. set with a tin lunch-box tote.

The set includes the former boy-adventurer and his dad as featured in The Venture Bros. episode "Escape to the House of Mummies, Part II". They are fully articulated and include real fabric clothing. Dr. Venture is 8 inches tall. It includes accessories such as goggles, ORB, backpack, and watch.

This great Venture Brothers action figure set will not be available until November, but you can pre-order it at Entertainment Earth right now for $44.99.

“Escaped” tiger lounging in a field

Police in Hampshire, England were mobilized when a member of the public spotted a tiger in a field through a his camera’s telephoto lens. The tiger didn’t seem too upset. He was just lying in a field.

Police investigated and contacted a local zoo for advice on how to handle the situation. After advising the officers, the zoo prepared a team of staff members trained for just such a situation, armed them with tranquilizer darts, and got ready to travel to the scene.

The nearby Country Golf Club was cleared of golfers and a local cricket game was suspended while police boarded a helicopter and flew to the scene to assess the situation.

But when they flew over the area, the tiger was blown over by the helicopter downdraft.

	Hanging with police after the incident

It turns out it was just a plush toy. Police are now treating the incident as missing property and are investigating whether it was a hoax or just a lost toy.

The tiger looks to me to be the Melissa & Doug White Tiger Plush, which lists for $79.99. In fact, it’s almost a perfect match, down to the stripes on his tail. Not the kind of thing most people would accidentally leave lying around, which would lead me to believe it was probably a hoax.

I suppose it’s a testament to the realism of the plush tiger. It fooled police for about 1/2 hour.

Via BBC

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a flying radio-controlled superhero.

And it’s genius!

Check out this video.

If you’d like your own flying superhero, you can buy the plans or a kit from rcsuperhero.com. They have plans in two sizes, 57 inches, and 75 inches.

One of my favorite sites is "1 Sale A Day". I’ve purchased more than a few items from them.

Today’s deal is a 6-in-1 Solar Kit for only $4.99 plus S&H! They claim that it’s a 92% saving off the $59.99 list price, although I’ve seen it online for $10-$20. Shipping & handling is $4.99, which is reasonable.

Here is the description from their site:

"Learn the benefits of solar energy while having fun. With the Ace 6-in-1 Solar Educational Kit, you can see how solar energy is used.

Build six different working models including an airboat, car, windmill, puppy, and two different airplanes. With no tools or batteries required, this set is sure to provide endless hours of educational value and amusement for children and adults."

The way 1 Sale a Day works is that you have exactly one day to make your purchase. Tomorrow there will be a new deal and you will miss out. So if you’re interested, act fast. If you’re reading this after 5/3/11 this deal will be gone. 1 Sale a Day’s shipping isn’t always as fast as I’d like, but everything I’ve received is as-advertised, I’ve never had a problem with an order, and they’ve got the best deals on the web.

I can’t tell you too much about the 6 in 1 Solar Kit, but I’ll write a review when I receive mine and had time to play with it. Yes I ordered one.

I Can Has Coinage

When I was young, my cousin had a “Thing” bank . It had an Addams Family tie-in (basically the outer box). When you put your coin down, "Thing" would reach out and grab it and take it away for safe keeping. Although for some reason, Thing was green.

Today’s cool toy is the “Itazura Stealing Coin Cat Brown Chatora Kitty Coin Bank” . Whew!

Just place your coin on the little plate and the little kitten will come out and grab it and take it to some secret cat hiding place.

Before long he’ll have thousands of dollars of cat toys and you’ll need some cat handcuffs.

I’m guessing the "Chatora" part is a tie-in to Japanese Manga just the way the Thing Bank was a tie-in of a previous product to the Addams Family.

The Itazura Stealing Coin Kitty Bank is about $20.00.

What can you get for that budding Apple enthusiast in your family?

Playmobil Apple Store

How about the Playmobil ™ Apple Store Playset?

For only $179.99 your child can have the apple store to play with every day. It includes an entire Apple Store with figures and over 60 accessories and is fully staffed with associates. The first floor features product demo tables, software for sale, and a kids corner. The second floor features a Genius Bar and Keynote Theater for product launches.

For only $49.99 more you can add the "Line Pack" which simulates conditions at the store during Apple product launches. It even comes with a Woz on a Segway (If you don’t understand that you’re just not a geek).

Yes, you too can introduce your child "to the magic of Apple technology". You can even use your own iPhone as the screen in the Keynote Theater behind Steve Jobs!

Be sure to view the awesome commercial for the Playmobil Apple Store Playset below.

Gizmodo launched this item April 1 and we can’t say how long it will be available. Get yours today!

Think Geek via Coolest Toys

I must have this toy!

The Crawling Zombie is a battery operated toy that has no legs and crawls across the table by pulling himself along with his arms. His eyes glow red (why to their eyes always glow red?) and he growls and says things like "I can’t feel my legs" He’s also sound-activated, for even more fun. He’s about 4.5 inches high and made of soft rubber complete with a mesh "shroud" to complete the effect.

He would be a little better if he moved more slowly, but he’s still great.

Unfortunately, the one place I found him for sale (in England), he’s no longer available. I’ll have to just keep searching. Scroll down for video of the Crawling Zombie toy in action!

	Lawn Zombie

I did find a cool zombie lawn ornament. This one is excellent, but a bit expensive at $72. It’s a resin lawn zombie that looks like he’s crawling up out of the ground. He’d be great for Halloween, but for those of us who are a bit off-beat, he’d be great for any time of year. Even in the snow. The Lawn Zombie is by one of my favorite companies, Design Toscano and was sculpted by Alan Dickinson. He’s hand-pained, comes packed in three pieces, and requires assembly.

Toy Tazer

My first thought when I saw this is "could this possibly be a real toy?" The answer is still a bit unclear.

The "Police Electric Baton Shock/Tricky Toy with Flashlight" is certainly being offered for sale and once I finally tracked down the site where it is for sale they do say that it is an adult toy and not for children or elders, although they do call it a "toy". It delivers 3.6V per shot by touching the baton to your victim’s skin and pressing the shock button at the same time. It also has a built in flashlight which you activate with a different button which is "safe to use if you don’t touch the shock button".

Just because a toy is labeled for adults only doesn’t mean that children won’t purchase or play with them. So if children play with a toy Tazer is this a problem? There are certainly plenty of toys on the market that deliver a shock. My kids had the Lightning Reaction game which shocks the players that are too slow on the draw. When I was a child, I had a shocking lighter
that I tricked friends with all the time. It was eventually stolen by a workman who picked it up and thought it was a real lighter and was made fun of by his friends.

And all these "shocking" games have a lineage that goes back to the original “Surprise Hand Buzzer” which didn’t actually deliver a shock, but which most kids probably wished that it did. Surprisingly it doesn’t seem as if anyone has actually created a true shocking hand buzzer yet.

But there’s a difference between tricking friends to pick up a shocking lighter or pen or playing a game that you know might deliver a shock and "Tazing" someone deliberately. There’s also an issue with the similarity between this toy and a real Tazer that blurs the lines for children a bit too much. But the argument could be made that it’s certainly not as bad as children having toy guns.

My opinion is that it’s just a bit too distasteful and doesnt’ feel right to jokingly taze people, even for adults. Maybe especially for adults.

The Police Electric Baton is available at Focalprice for only $3.40 with free shipping, which seems awfully cheap. Focalprice seems to be a dropshipper located in China and not really meant for consumers, although they do sell one item at a time and still offer free shipping. They mostly sell cell phone accessories and novelties.

Via Gizmodo

Ride-on Dalek in action

My son and I are fans of the new Doctor Who series. I had watched the old series only briefly when I was younger and never got into it, but the new series has become one of my favorite shows.

So something caught my attention today. It’s the Dr. Who Ride-in Dalek. It has an inflatable body sitting on a high density plastic base and is battery operated with 360-degree steering! It stands 128 cm tall (a little over 4 feet). There are lights inside the "cab" and it has 10 sounds and phrases. It’s fitted with a soft rubber bumper to protect furniture and is suitable for indoors and outdoors (as long as there’s a flat surface to drive on). It will come in just red at first and blue will follow later in the year. Maybe we’ll have more colors later on.

Pricing is tentatively set at £199.99 ($317.36), which is a bit steep, I think. But hey, how can you put a price on becoming a Dalek?

	Cubee Dalek

I don’t know if or when it will be available in the US. It’s manufactured by Kids@Play, which is in Wales and is being distributed in the UK by Zappies.

While I was researching this post I also came across a very cool paper craft Dalek. It’s not the accurate Dalek shape, but a Cubee, which is a square papercraft representation of an object or character. You can download it, print it out, and assemble it yourself for your own desktop Cubee Dalek.

I printed one out and my son, Alex put it together for me (pictured). Aside from having a little trouble keeping the tabs in place, it came out really well. It’s also fairly delicate printed on standard 20 lb. Bond paper, so I’d suggest printing it on a heavier stock. Enjoy!

Some Lego Architecture iconic buildings

Last week my son and I were in New York City to see the King Tut exhibit.

We also walked down to the store, Obscura, to visit. We’ve been watching the show "Oddities" on the Discovery Channel, which features the store along with it’s owners and employees. Unfortunately, they were filming in the store when we got there and we didn’t want to interrupt, so we didn’t go in.

We also stopped in at the Barnes and Noble and I perused the toy section. Most of the toys they carried were pretty common. But one thing I noticed was the Lego Architecture Sets.

They are absolutely lovely.

But I have to wonder, "are they really Lego?" Basically, you have one thing to build. You follow the instructions and it’s done. There are 77 pieces in the Empire State Building, so it shouldn’t take too long to build (I expect at least one piece is the base). The Seattle Space Needle
is only 57 pieces and they are all pretty custom pieces.

So you are basically just buying a model of a building that you put together. OK. That’s fine. But is it Lego?

Wikipedia’s entry says "Lego bricks can be assembled and connected in many ways, to construct such objects as vehicles, buildings, and even working robots. Anything constructed can then be taken apart again, and the pieces used to make other objects."

So do these sets qualify? I don’t know.

But they are beautiful and the packaging is very classy (that’s what originally caught my attention on the shelf).

Prices range from about $20.00 to $80.00. Or you can buy a complete set of 6 for $259.95. Recommended for ages 10 and up.