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The blog Hey! Look at My Toys! is hosting a contest for Christmas nativity scenes made from toys and action figures. The nine finalists are presented for voting. At first, I wanted to use a picture of the scene featuring a unicorn, then the one with Pee Wee Herman as Joseph, but then I saw this one by Nathan N. See them all at the site. Link -via Unreality magazine
Cracked has put together a great article on these terrible action figures from iconic lines, like the one featured above-April O’Neil’s Boss from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.
These are the kind of toys that had kids yelling “Awwww man! Not this one!” at their birthday party, and they were always given (in my experience, anyway) by a relative who thought they were being cool by giving you a toy from one of the hottest lines. Thanks anyways Grandma! *forced smile*
(Image via mattonfire)
Continuing our series of what kids wanted back in the day, we explore the 1980s-a time of excess, badass toys and fashion regrets. While kids in previous decades may have had simpler tastes, by the 80s it was all about the latest toys based on cartoons and TV shows, electronics and video game systems, sometimes all rolled into one.
I couldn’t find one site with a comprehensive list of what we all wanted for Christmas in the 80s, so I chose 3 different sites that detail most of the amazing toys from that decade:
14 Photos of Kids Opening Presents in the 80s –this one’s cute because you get to see their reaction as they get the toy/present of their dreams.
Looking Back on the Hottest 80s Toys –a list, accompanied with pictures, that briefly describes each toy. This one’s mostly aimed at girls.
Top 20 Totally Awesome Toys from the 80s –this one’s fun because it features TV commercials for most of the toys on the list.
Enjoy this look back at the fabulous toys of the 1980s, and if you still have some of these treasures in a box somewhere, they may be more valuable than you think!
Hasbro has created these awesome stop motion shorts to advertise their new line of Kre-O Transformers Sets, their version of LEGOs that come in sweet box sets featuring your favorite Autobots and Decepticons. I guess Megatron was on Santa’s naughty list this year!
–via ComicsAlliance
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Ant farms are cool in and of themselves, but that doesn’t mean their designs can’t be improved on to look even more fascinating. WebEcoist has a great collection of some of the coolest ant farms around. From flags of different nations to the Clone Trooper farm, these toys make me want to go buy my own ant farm.
Remember when we all thought Beanie Babies would be worth a fortune someday, or when Pogs ruled the schoolyard? Then check out this gallery of Christmas list toppers from the 90s, some of which are still around while others have fallen by the wayside, and see if you still have some of these treasures lying around in a box somewhere. Ebay here we come!
WebUrbanist has some great animal houses on one of their recent articles, but I have to say my favorite is definitely the fish tank adaptation that allows the fish to swim across the room from one tank to another. Do any of you have similarly cool adaptations at your home?
Comments Off If you ever wanted finer control over your Etch-A-Sketch lines, then you may want to consider splicing in a NES controller! Here’s the process as described by Alpinedelta32, the creator of this brilliant mod:
I connected the etch-a-sketch knobs to stepper motors, which are then controlled by an Arduino microcontroller. The Arduino program I wrote takes signals from the NES controller and sends them as stepper motor control instructions.
Low tech toys meets high tech mod, this is what geeks do with their toys when they grow up!
–via Endgadget
Office toys go on a road trip the only way they can, with the help of Google Street View and stop-motion animation in this animation by Tom Jenkins. Read more about this video at the Atlantic. Link -via Metafilter
Now here’s an impressive kid’s playset. Cia of DeerDot made this impressive four-story structure for her son to play with so he could play Mario brothers without actually turning on a gaming system. The detailed pictures at the link are definitely worth a look, so be sure you click away.
GameBoy has crawled out of it’s grave and is hungry for some computer brains! This nifty little figurine was made by Kodykoala, a guy who has created an impressive array of custom figures, most of which place beloved Nintendo characters in *ahem* awkward situations. Click on the link and check out Nintendo characters gone wild!
Link –via Destructoid
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Child’s Own Studio is a home-based craft business which makes stuffed toys from children’s drawings; some drawings are sent in by adults who want personalized gifts for their children, and sometimes children submit the drawings to make gifts for their parents. They have a blog, and a gallery of their creations is available on Flickr.
We’ve posted about some extremely unsafe toys here. the one that came to mind immediately when I saw the title of this Cracked post was the Atomic Energy Lab, and it’s included. But the others are just as shockingly dangerous! However, I remember some of them from my own childhood, the childhood with no seat belts or bicycle helmets or minimum age for babysitting. Shown here is a kit for children to learn how to melt and mold their own lead, which could not only burn a hole through flesh, but poison your brain as well. NSFW text. Link
Watch some of the most memorable toys from the 1980s turn into each other, including the beloved Transformers and Nintendo cartridges. Today’s Bratz dolls have nothing on marbles. -via Colossal
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m always misplacing all my USB drives and SD cards. Fortunately, someone has finally created a delightful city where they can all go to spend some time together when you’re not using them.
Link Via Geekosystem
Jason Freeny makes some great urban vinyl toys, but this Rubik’s cube for geniuses is a lot more functional than the toys made by most artists. Personally, I think the color patterns are way too hard, so I can’t imagine solving something based only on the patterns.
Link Via Geeks Are Sexy
Photographer Kristina Alexanderson has a great project she’s been participating in this year. Every day, she takes a picture of her stormtrooper toy in a different pose. While this picture of the toy with a Lego version of itself is my favorite, her Flickr gallery is filled with image after image of delightful stormtrooper photos.
Link Via Geeks Are Sexy
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If you’ve been looking for some paper dolls to play with that are actually designed for adults instead of kiddos, then BuzzFeed has a great collection of them for your paper-playing pleasure. Time to get printing!
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Advertising company Ogilvy & Mather put together a campaign for the plastic model company Tamiya featuring kits that you can use to illustrate your favorite conspiracy theory. This one is for the faked moon landing; others have to do with Roswell, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and the Kennedy assassination. Link
If your kiddos are getting tired of boring old regular playdough colors, then try adding some sparkles to the black dough and they can suddenly play with space playdough. If you want to make your own, Fairy Dust Teaching has a great recipe.
If there’s one thing ridiculously rich people are good at, it’s wasting money. And this list of potential gifts for the world’s most spoiled children is equal parts depressing and hilarious. Just check out this $10,000 teddy bear made with black Tahitian pearl eyes, white alpaca fur and a 10k diamond necklace on a gold chain.
If you miss watching him paint little happy trees, then you can always make your own Bob Ross doll to paint tiny masterpieces on your desktop. At least, that’s what Allison Hoffman of Crafty is Cool did.
These aren’t the little critters that have been driving kids, and parents, crazy for over 15 years, but personally I find these designs by Gavin Mackey far more appealing. Gotta catch ‘em all? More like make sure they don’t catch you, alone in the dark…
Link -via ComicsAlliance
Reptangles - $24.95
Are you looking for a fun and fantastic way to teach your child about geometric transformations or how to build complex polyhydra? You need Reptangles from the NeatoShop. This vibrant toy comes with 24 adorable turtle-shaped reptangles that snap and slide together in over 100 ways. This is math made fun!
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more brain boosting Toys & Games!
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Artist Jason Freeny isn’t content with viewing the exterior of some of our favorite toy characters, he wants to know what the insides of Care Bears and My Little Ponies look like. His depictions of the creation’s innards are delightful for biology-loving geeks and terrifying for children.
Comments Off Anybody who built tracks for their Hot Wheels as a kid will drool when they see this incredible setup! Metropolis II is an amazing, kinetic work of art by Chris Burden that measures 20×30 feet, and features over 1200 matchbox cars that travel at speeds up to 200 scale mph. John Farrier first wrote about this spectacular feat of micro-engineering back in November of 2010, and now it can be seen, live in all its massive glory, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art beginning this fall. Watch the short doc, made by the same folks who made Catfish, and you’ll see just what the hype is all about.
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I hate to admit it, but I’m on a bit of a geek kick still so you’ll have to excuse my extensive Star Wars posts today. That being said, how awesome is this great Salacious Crumb crochet plush? He was created by Allison of Crafty is Cool for the Bird and Bear Gallery’s Stitch Wars Strikes Back show that starts in August.
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Remember the good old science kits of yesteryear that contained things like cyanide, uranium, and ammonium nitrate, as well as Bunsen burners and glass vials that are now considered too dangerous for children? Why, you can’t even blow up the kitchen anymore! How do the original science toys stack up against their modern counterparts? Collectors Weekly looks at both the old and the new science kits, which include a lot more than chemistry, and rates the old against the new. We may not have ammonium nitrate anymore, but we have some science kits that our parents and grandparents never had. Link
Etsy seller Nausicaa Distribution sells these precious statistical distribution graph plushies that are just perfect for any Neatorama reader. Of course, if you’re looking for cute nerdy plushes, the Neatoshop is also a great place to go shopping.
Link Via Laughing Squid
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Jill Harness is getting ready to cover Comic Con this week in San Diego. I hope she brings back lots of pictures! As a preview, she’s posted a roundup of quite a few products that will be officially unveiled at, or exclusive to, the convention, like this awesome limited edition Nerd Domo. See the rest at Rue the Day. Link
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