io9: replica

Gort For Sale [Robot Coolness]

Kevin Kelly — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:00:34 PST

While we're out here at WonderCon, patrolling the halls of fandom and looking for good science fiction action, there's a piece of super-sized memorabilia on eBay that you might want to pick up: a full-sized replica of Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still. It was created by Fred Barton Productions ("Celebrity Robots Brought To Life!") and although it's a local pickup only in the San Francisco area, the thing is already up to over four thousand bucks. Our favorite line from the auction is, "Although the controller is included, the robot hasn't been activated in years. It's unknown if it's in working condition." Come on you fool, fire that sucker up! Klaatu barada nikto! [Thanks Peter!]

Ride Around In Your Own Criminal-Built Dalek [Doctor Who]

Kevin Kelly — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:02:28 PST

The Australian government might have come up with the most brilliant prison plan ever: use hardened criminals to churn out replicas of science fiction props, and then sell them on eBay. Sadly, they aren't using the money to fund the development of robot prison guards — all proceeds are going to charity. The fools. Why not keep that dough and buy yourself a high tech lair?

The Woodford Correctional Center in Queensland, Australia has built a full-sized Dalek replica from Doctor Who that comes complete with wheels, space for an occupant, and an electronic voice changer. Granted, you have to Fred Flintstone the thing around with your feet, but it's a small price to pay. You can pedal this thing down to your local market and shout "EX TER MI NATE!" until you get arrested. Priceless.

Bidding is up to $3000 bucks Australian right now, which is roughly $2700 US, although you'll have to fly down to Australia to pick the thing up, since they wont ship it outside of Oz. You might also want to check and make sure it's passenger-free when you get it, since these same inmates melted the walls at the prison with toasters in 1997 and escaped. Maybe they've incorporated that same wall-melting in the Dalek's beam weapon.

'Doctor Who' Dalek For Sale [Comic Mix]

Make Your Own Cylon Space Battles [Cylon Raider Miniature]

Kevin Kelly — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:20:47 PST

Battlestar Galactica might not get to film their final show due to the strike, so it's time for enterprising young fan-filmers to start working on some homemade versions of the show. If you want your handiwork to really look authentic, though, you're going to want to pick up an Artisan Limited Edition Cylon Raider Filming Miniature for your epic space dogfights.

Quantum Mechanix specializes in "Imagination Made Real," and they'll be offering up this handmade ship sometime later this year, next to the cool schwag they already sell like replicas of Captain Reynolds pistol from Firefly, customizable Battlestar Galactica dogtags, and that nifty "How To Spot A Cylon" poster we already coveted. Although this Cylon Raider replica will probably set you back a bit further than any of those.

They'll only be making 500 of these, each one made to order, and the coolest feature is that you can plug it into the wall to active the red sweeping Cylon eye at the front of the ship, and the random firing engine lights in the back (check out the video below). So you'll be able to film this thing as a realistic movie miniature, without blowing your entire budget on CGI effects. Of course, they don't a Viper model yet, so your Raider will have to battle it out with other Raiders, or you can do a mashup and stick an X-Wing or something else in there.

Cylon Raider Filming Miniature [Quantum Mechanix]

Cheap Time Travel is Easy With the Flux Capacitor [Holiday Gear]

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:45:29 PST

Scientists have been examining the possibilities of time travel for decades, but now you can stroll into any store and purchase a Flux Capacitor for a couple hundred bucks. People have been recreating the time-tripping DeLorean from Back to the Future for years, and now a high-end toymaker has done them one better.

Diamond Select Toys has created a replica of the famous gadget that "makes time travel possible" in some unexplained way that involves flashing lights. It's house in a replica box that looks just like the one in the film, and it can be sitting proudly in your living room next year. Better yet, just install this sucker in your Honda and see what happens when you get up to 88 miles per hour. Hopefully you'll see some serious shit.

Cool Stuff: Back To The Future Flux Capacitor Replica [/Film]