Dave’s Cool Toys Blog

Archive for the ‘General Coolness’ Category

Shains bracelet at gift fair in New York.

A slinky on an escalator. Nothing more to say.

Check spelling

A day in the life of Monkey, a rescue dog. Adopt a pet – you’ll both be into something good!

	Legoman washed up on shore

A giant Legoman washed ashore in Siesta Key Village, Florida Tuesday. He’s about 8 feet tall and on his chest is the message "No real than you are." On his back is the name Ego Leonard and the number 8.

A google search leads to this website for Ego Leonard.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the first Legoman to wash up on shores. Three years ago, one washed up in Zandvoort, Holland, and one also washed up on Brighton Beach, England. This leads to the question "were they all released into the sea at the same time and this guy has been making the transatlantic journey ever since?"

A google search of the text on his torso leads to this website for Ego Leonard, which seems to belong to a group of Dutch artists.

The information on the main page of their website says:

"I would like to introduce myself:
My name is Ego Leonard and according to you I come from the virtual world. A world that for me represents happiness, solidarity, all green and blossoming, with no rules or limitations.
Lately however, my world has been flooded with fortune-hunters and people drunk with power. And many new encounters in the virtual world have triggered my curiosity about your way of life.
I am here to discover and learn about your world and thoughts.
Show me all the beautiful things that are there to admire and experience in your world. Let’s become friends, share your story with me, take me with you on a journey through beautiful meadows, words, sounds and gestures."

Below is some video of the most recent visitor to our shores.

Via BoingBoing

	Today’s Google Logo

If you visit Google today, you will be greeted by this logo shown here. The reason? It’s Art Clokey’s birthday.

You do know who Art Clokey is don’t you? Of course you do. He’s Gumby’s Dad.

Art first created Gumbasia, a stop-motion film, which let him to create Gumby and eventually an entire cast of characters including Pokey, The Blockheads, Prickle, Denali, and a few others. Gumby’s head was inspired by the hair of Art’s father.

Later, Clokey also created the Davey and Goliath series. (My friend, Rich, still uses Goliath’s voice to call me "Davey").

Art Clokey passed away in 2010 from a bladder infection.

Lots of Gumby Videos
are available for purchase on Amazon!

This has nothing to do with toys. But my son is on this show. Be sure to watch it!

Barbie necklace

Margaux Lange loved Barbie as a child. As an adult with a bachelor of fine arts degree, she put that obsession to good use and began creating Barbie jewelry. But she went a few steps further than just standard Barbie jewelry. She creates hers by directly incorporating bits of discarded Barbie and Ken dolls.

The liberated Barbie pieces are imaginatively combined with sterling silver and pigmented resins to transform a mass-produced feminine icon into unique pieces of wearable art.

	Barbie earrings

Her unique creations are sold at art and jewelry galleries and museum stores in the U.S. and as far away as Australia and Russia. They are also available for purchase on Etsy.

Some are quite beautiful and abstract until you look closely and realize that they are, in fact, made from pieces of dolls. Some are a bit disturbing. Some are a bit cutesy and some are quite elegant. A few are a bit provocative, using otherwise clothed sections of the dolls’ anatomy.

	Barbie and Ken necklace		Turn the Other Cheek Bracelet

Via Gizmodo

Banzai’s promise and fail (from failblog.org)

I’ve posted about the deceptive photos on Banzai water products in the past. Not once, but twice. Well, they have not changed.

Their latest deceptive photography is on the packaging and publicity for the Banzai Slide N’ Splash Whale Pool.

Their packaging shows four children in the pool with tons of space between them (two in the pool, one on the slide and one at the top ready to slide down). But the reality makes that impossible.

As you can see from the photo there’s barely enough room for one child.

And over at Amazon, there are many more complaints about the product including leaks right out of the box, tangled hoses, and the slide being so unstable that children can’t actually slide down it or climb the stairs. In addition there are many complaints about the actual size of the pool compared to the photo.

User photos at Amazon also show just how small the pool actually is compared to their blatantly deceptive image.

The box says it is for ages up to 12. Clearly that is ludicrous. A 12 year old wouldn’t even fit in the pool let alone slide down the whale.

As I mentioned, Banzai has been using deceptive photography on their products for years. I believe it’s time for this to end. But consumers need to do more about it than post complaints on Amazon. They need to head to the Better Business Bureau and report the company. Next, head over to the Federal Trade Commission and report it there as well.

Failblog via Gizmodo

This exellent Lego dragon not only looks cool, he breathes fire!

I’m not sure what sets the Lego came from to create this. Maybe this one?

Via Gizmodo

Today’s post is a cool video from Jesse & Joy. It’s in Spanish, so I have no idea what they are saying, but it’s cool and fun. The video is made from cookies and other yummy candies and such.

Enjoy!

“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 worrisome when toys are recalled due to safety issues. And in the past few years there have been more recalls than there should be.

Did you ever wonder what happens to all the batteries that were on those toys when they are pulled off the shelves and out of warehouses? They can’t be sold as new because they were in the toys.

The good news is that all those battereis are are pulled out of the toys and sold as surplus at a somewhat reduced rate.

American Science & Surplus is offering AA Duracell batteries for $3.25 for a package of 8.

via Gizmodo

Google is celebrating Roger Hargreaves and Mr Men and Little Misses books
with an assortment of Google logos today to celebrate his birthday.

I’m sorry to say I’m not familiar with Roger Hargreaves, so I’ll have to check out his books the next time I’m at the Library. They seem to have been very popular in Britain, so I’m not certain how widespread they are in the U.S. There have been four animated TV series of his stories in Britain in 2008 and 2009.

He first drew the characters when his Son, Adam asked him what a tickle looked like. After Mr. Hargreaves death in 1988, his son continued writing and drawing the books until his wife sold the rights to Chorion entertainment group.

An animated move is in the works for release in 2014.

To see all the versions of the logo, go to Google and hit refresh to get a new version.

It’s Easter! And that leads us to wonder what happens when you place a Cadbury Creme Egg
in a vacuum? Check out this video for the answer to that burning question and more.

Via Gizmodo

Check out this amazing video of a xylophone constructed in the woods to promote the Touch Wood cell phone.

It’s supposedly entirely real with no tricks. I would think the timing would be better if it was done with any kind of CGI. But there may be a few camera cuts.

Anyway, it’s amazing to watch. Enjoy!