Land of the Lost: Sleestak Vinyl Figure
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
If you grew up with Land of the Lost
Transformers: Laptops in Disguise
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 8, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is the Transformers Trans-Portable PC which is learning laptop aimed at kids. So ou can play with a robot while having it teach you about math, spelling, logic and memory games. It also features real-time English to Spanish Translation of select words and instructions (take that Lou Dobbs!).
Found via GeekAlerts.
A Kitty Piggy Bank
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is the Hello Kitty ATM which allows you to save money. The kitty ATM also comes with a kitty credit card that alows you to take money out of the cute little kitty cash machine.
Found via Kittyhell.com.
Space:1999 Deluxe Eagle Gift Set
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 5, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
You know I see so many Star Wars and Star Trek themed toys I get burned out after a while, so it was with delight that I discovered this Space: 1999 themed goodie! Shown above is the Space 1999 Alpha Moonbase Deluxe Eagle Gift Set
Gundam USB Ionizer Air Freshener
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
So you’re a fanboy who is:
– A huge Mobile Suit Gundam fan
– Glued to your computer all day
– …and the air around you is polluted
Well you’re in luck: The Gundam USB Ionizer Air Freshener is your dream come true! While it’s not as a cool as some of the robots from the show the ionizer is based on the design of the “White Base” from the show. The ionizer is will come out next month from Banpresto, and you can read about it here (warning: link leads to an acrobat file which is in Japanese).
Found via akihabaranews.com.
More Hello Kitty Laptop Bling
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
It’s always Hello Kitty themed goodies
Found via GeekAlerts and Akihabara News.
Xabungle: Chogokin GX-38 Irongear
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 23, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Combat Mecha Xabungle was one of my favorite anime shows from the early 80s which was pretty much a western with tons of robots. Bandai has recently put out an amazing model based on the main giant robot from the show, the Chogokin GX-38 Irongear. The two shots shown above are from a photo packed page from toysdaily.com which features a ton of photos, screen grabs, and mecha drawings from the Xabungle Roman Album. If you need to own the Chogokin GX-38 Irongear for yourself HobbyLink Japan has it in stock.
Hello Kitty Ekinaka
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 23, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is the Hello Kitty Ekinaka phone strap collection. Ekinaka literally means ‘inside train stations’ and refers to retail shops inside rail stations where you can buy lunch or a snack. In fact to eat local Ekiden can be one of the most enjoyable things about your trip. Shown above are Kitty phone mascots which feature a boxed lunch, ice cream, and course green tea.
Toy2R Rolitoland Safari
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 21, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The above photo (taken by Michael Rouah of artoyz.com) shows off the Toy2R Rolitoland Safari collection. The toys were designed by Rolito who is a French character designer who graduated from the School of Beautiful Arts then worked with Teamchman and Toy2R before starting Semper-Fi, a French design group with some friends.
Italian Tin Car Toys
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 18, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Leo Toys is an amazing website from Italy that has an amazing collection of photos of vintage 1/43 scale tin toy cars.
Found via toysblog.it.
A Mickey Mouse Mouse
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 15, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The Optical Mickey Mouse shown above is quite swanky! What’s cute about it is that it also includes a matching mouse pad that uses the same black and white comic strip motif.
Found via GeekAlerts.com.
Hello Kitty Cellphone
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
I wish Apple would team up with Sanrio and make a Hello Kitty iPhone:
A new GSM Hello Kitty Phone for Taiwan
“Face it, the iPHONE is completely a has-been; just jump into the Hello Kitty phone experience with the latest OKWAP C150T Hello Kitty Edition available in Taiwan. With this true Uber-Geek phone, you will not be screwed by any firmware updates; even better, the phone is ALREADY SIM FREE, and will be to play Mp3 files, MP4 and 3GPS video, take pictures with its amazing crappy 2Mpix camera… and the best of all, you will be able to “pimp” your phone with some cute pink Hello Kitty stuff… Finally: the first nemesis to the iPHONE!”
Decepticon Belt Buckle
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 10, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
It’s more belt buckle than meets the eye! Shown above is the Decepticon Belt Buckle.
Serenity Lunch Box
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 9, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is the Serenity Lunch Box (from Dark Horse Comics) which will be hitting your local comic book shop in March of 2008:
Serenity Lunch Box: Fruity Oaty Bar
“In examining the rich and cohesive world of Serenity, we’ve designed two special lunch boxes. With the Serenity logo in brilliant litho-printed color on one side, and the ship herself on the other, bordered by the exotic intergalactic currency created for the film, this makes a striking lunch box for any Serenity fan to tote around.
Serenity fans everywhere will be able to recognize each other when carrying the cute and colorful lunch box bearing the iconic images from the “Fruity Oaty Bar” commercial. If you know Fruity Oaty Bar, you know your Serenity!”
2001: A Space Odyssey on Giant VHS Cassette
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 4, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is an art installation which is copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey on a 2×4×8 foot large VHS cassette by artist David Herbert.
Found via GeekAlerts and GearFuse.
Hello Kitty: Sanrio Bath Toys Commercial
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 2, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The Hello Kitty bathtub toy from the 80s seems so low tech when put next to all the recent Sanrio merchandise like the Hello Kitty Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds.
Found via ToysBlog.it.
Kidrobot Dunny Series 4
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 1, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above is a sample from the latest chapter in the Dunny series of urban designer toys, which are well worth checking out:
“Dunny Series 4 is rockin’ the block with it’s greatest assortment of artists yet. That isn’t to say the first three series weren’t great, it’s just that this one is going to blow your minds! Series 4 is a 3-Inch mini-series featuring Frank Kozik, Jon Burgerman, MAD, Tara McPherson, Mad Barbarians, Shane Jessup, David Flores, KOA, Sket One, Gary Baseman, Michael Motorcycle, Joe Ledbetter, MIST, Nico Berry, Thomas Han and Mike ‘2600’ Davis of Twelve Car Pileup.”
Transformers: More USB Than Meets the Eye
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 27, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Transformers fanboys may now store their files in style! The Transformers USB Flash Drives sport a nifty design and comes with USB 2.0 technology and with 1GB (Autobot) and 2GB (Decepticon) of storage:
Autobot 1GB USB Flash Drive
Decepticon 2GB USB Flash Drive
Found via GeekAlerts.
60’s & 70’s Asian Pop Record Covers
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 23, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
David Greenfield has an amzing collection of of rare 60’s and 70’s Asian pop singles. He mainly collect Singaporean titles, but also has records from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand. As a designer I find looking at this treasure trove quite an inspiration:
60’s & 70’s Asian Pop Record Covers
Shown above is a cover featuring Sakura with the songs “Like I Do” and “Sad Movie”.
Found via LinkFilter.net.
Ultimate Ultraman Toy Collection
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 22, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Shown above are a small sample of Ultraman toys from the 1960s from the amazing website Ultraman Toy Collection. If you’re lucky enough to live in California you can see some of these toys at an upcoming exhibition at the Los Angles Toy, Doll & Amusements Museum.
Apollo Era Space Suit Replicas
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 19, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
So your a NASA fanboy and you have a spare $10,000 and you need the perfect Apollo era space suit replica, where do you go? Well the website you gotta check out is SpaceToys.com, not only do they have a full line of space suits, but they also sell full scale replicas of various spacecraft like the Apollo Lunar Module and the Mercury Capsule. So who buys this sort of thing? It’s mostly museums and science centers. Although if you’re a fanboy on a lower budget they have tons of other cool items like wall murals, autographed pictures, and a nice selection of model kits.
Found via LinkFilter.
Sushi-Rolling Machine
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 16, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
It’s not as good as having your own sushi robot, but this automatic sushi roller from toymaker Bandai Namco is amazing! Here are the instructions thanks to Google translate:
1. The boiled rice tool material is set to the transparent seat part of the substance.
2. The steering wheel is turned round and round.
3. Inserting the paste, when it turns the steering wheel again, the paste keeps being sucked.
4. It is completion! (Size of the kanpyo roled in rice and seaweed is length approximately 9.5cm)
You can buy the machine here, and here is the press release (in Japanese).
Found via TokyoMango.
Yumi Modal Sculptures
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 10, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Located in Thailand Yumi Modal makes amazing large scale fine art sculptures inspired science fiction films like Alien, Terminator, Mobile Suit Gundam and Star Wars (which is shown above). Looking at the craftsmanship you can tell that the artists love what they’re working on.
Spinning Homer Simpson USB Hub
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 8, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The perfect toy to play with when you’re eating donuts in front of your computer:
Animated Homer Simpson Multi-USB Port
“Woo-hoo! It’s completely practical, honest. Plug in with up to four extra USB ports and every time you do, Homer celebrates with a quick spin and his trademark celebratory howl (you can turn off the sound and/or spin action if your office is not hip to Homer humor).”
Found via GeekAlerts.