io9
g.i. joe
Posts Tagged “
Toys
”
g.i. joe
retro futurism
The Most Exciting, Baffling, Thrilling, and Mysterious Tie-In Product Ever! (1954)
The Mono-view Outer Space Helmet (yours for 25 cents and a box top) was just one of a panoply of mail-order goodies the Space Patrol TV show shamelessly hawked to the kiddies during its run from 1950-1955. Remember, Commander Corry wants you to have it! Unless you're a girl, of course: the ad makes it clear the Mono-view Outer Space Helmet was for boys only.
smart goggles
Recognize Everyone You've Ever Met With Smart Goggles
Smart Goggles will totally revolutionize social interaction. When you meet people, instead of struggling to remember their names and other pertinent details, you'll just file the info with your glasses, which will recognize those people next time and display the stored information. How long will it be before someone programs a pair to come up with Terminator-style instruction lists? Just don't get too snarky about your coworkers in the notes your glasses save about them — they're bound to fall into the wrong hands. More »
retro futurism
Pull the Plazer's Instant Destruct Trigger and See Your Target Destroyed!
Direct to you from the pages of the 1966 Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog comes the Plazer, the bleeping, blipping transistorized ray gun of the future. Even though the Plazer's "ray beams" were contained "safely inside the gun," it's doubtful you'd see the words "'Hit' a plane" advertising anything today. Click through for all the Plazer's specs. P.S. $8.88 in 1966 is equivalent to roughly $57.00 today. More »
robots
Cute Robot Soldier Toys Are Plotting "Big Reset"
This cute little wooden robot is handmade, two inches tall, and just $5. Also, it's part of an army of fierce environmentalist soldiers. Makes perfect sense. Here's what creator Alexander Shen has to say about Woodbots:The Little Woodbot is Mother Nature's robot soldier and they are currently surveying your world right now! You may not see them around, but they're not meant to be seen. They are gathering data to determine whether the world is due for another Big Reset, aka Natural Disaster to wipe the world clean. You know, to start a clean slate.We've got some pictures of the damage these bots can do. More »
bots
This little wind-up bot from Brazilian toymaker and environmental activist Chico Bicalho does a spastic jitter when you let it go. In fact, all Bicalho's creations are goofy, jumpy critters that are pretty much the opposite of what you'd expect from a robot. They shoot sparks, wobble lopsidedly on their wheels, and hurl themselves upsidown if given a chance. I'm lucky enough to own one, called a Sparklz, that is a wobbly fire-squirter. Check out some videos of Sparklz and its crazy bot friends below.
More »
Brazilian Booping Robots Will Have You Doing the Twitchy Dance
This little wind-up bot from Brazilian toymaker and environmental activist Chico Bicalho does a spastic jitter when you let it go. In fact, all Bicalho's creations are goofy, jumpy critters that are pretty much the opposite of what you'd expect from a robot. They shoot sparks, wobble lopsidedly on their wheels, and hurl themselves upsidown if given a chance. I'm lucky enough to own one, called a Sparklz, that is a wobbly fire-squirter. Check out some videos of Sparklz and its crazy bot friends below.
More »
toys
'Alien' Figures Have More Details Than Actual Humans
Hot Toys is a Hong Kong based production house, and they put out large-scale figures that are extremely detailed down to the smallest level. They not only put out 13" figures based on Marlon Brando's Jor-El from Superman, and Brandon Routh's Clark Kent from Superman Returns, but they're releasing 1/6th scale figures of Kane and Captain Dallas from Alien later this year. Check out the detailed geekery in the gallery below. More »
toys
An Overload Of Scifi Toys
Phillip Torrone of the awesome DIY magazine MAKE: covered Toy Fair in New York City with a massive onslaught of photographs. While we told you about some of the items we wanted, Phillip went through his 500+ photos and tagged everything scifi related for us with "io9." What a guy. You can check out all of his scifi photos in the gallery below, and be sure to check out his blog at MAKE:'s website. More »
toy fair
New Toys Will Vaporize The Contents Of Your Wallet
Toy Fair is going on right now in New York City, and besides Comic-Con, it's probably the geekiest time of the year, sending shuddering fangasms through everyone who's ever wanted a scale-model replica of the flux capacitor. This year finds a ton of science fiction toys on display, and we've already put several things on our must-have lists for when they hit stores. Check out our favorite goods in the gallery below, and find out why we want a Sleestak coin bank so badly. More »
retro futurism
The Great Garloo Used To Smash Railroads And Destroy Cities, But Now He'll Have a Tea Party With You
In 1961, Marx Toys advertised The Great Garloo as "an out of this world movie monster" for "every kid who has ever seen a science fiction movie" and showed him going on a rampage, destroying rail bridges and high tension wires. Click through for a video of Garloo's wimpy friend. More »
kanye west
This is the fastest road vehicle in the world, the Acabion from designer Peter Maskus. It can go up to 342 mph and gets about 70 miles per gallon at 60 mph. I found it on Kanye West's blog, where he posts futuristic (and super-expensive) toys almost every day. One day, it'll be a self-cleaning kitchen that uses plants developed by the aerospace industry that produce water and vegetable soap. Another day, it'll be an e-paper bracelet that can serve as a watch, or a multimedia player. Or a mobile bubble workstation. Or a jetpack. It makes sense, since Kanye's summer tour will be "set in the future." Click through for a gallery of Kanye's futuristic toys.
More »
Kanye West, Man Of The Future
This is the fastest road vehicle in the world, the Acabion from designer Peter Maskus. It can go up to 342 mph and gets about 70 miles per gallon at 60 mph. I found it on Kanye West's blog, where he posts futuristic (and super-expensive) toys almost every day. One day, it'll be a self-cleaning kitchen that uses plants developed by the aerospace industry that produce water and vegetable soap. Another day, it'll be an e-paper bracelet that can serve as a watch, or a multimedia player. Or a mobile bubble workstation. Or a jetpack. It makes sense, since Kanye's summer tour will be "set in the future." Click through for a gallery of Kanye's futuristic toys.
More »
retro futurism
Junior Spacemen Beg Mothers to Buy Vegetable Juice They Won't Drink
In what must be the most unappetizing breakfast combination since soylent green and cream soda, two junior spacemen (no girls allowed!) chase their Cheerios with V-8 juice in this commercial from 1960. Why? Because they needed a box top and can label to get a "moon rocket" game. More »
action figures
Fugly-Twin Powers, Activate!
We told you yesterday about the upcoming line of Heroes figures, and now we've tracked down more images of the first wave of toys based on the hit NBC show. These are apparently all prototype figures — the real ones will be out later this year. Based on what we've seen, maybe that means there's still a chance to go back and fix things like making Claire actually look like her character, and having Sylar not look like a neanderthal. Check out more mind-bogglingly awful details and pictures inside, like Sylar with his awesome brain accessory. More »
The Coolness of New "Heroes" Action Figures? Not So Much.
The most recent issue of Toyfare magazine came out yesterday, and it has a spread on all the new Heroes action figures that'll be out later this year. Since it's looking less and less likely that you'll be seeing new episodes anytime soon, it might be time to pick up some of these and bust out that video camera. Unfortunately, the Sylar figure does not have brain-eating action, so you might want to add your own visual effects. Maybe even ones that make these figures look a bit better because... yow.
The most recent issue of Toyfare magazine came out yesterday, and it has a spread on all the new Heroes action figures that'll be out later this year. Since it's looking less and less likely that you'll be seeing new episodes anytime soon, it might be time to pick up some of these and bust out that video camera. Unfortunately, the Sylar figure does not have brain-eating action, so you might want to add your own visual effects. Maybe even ones that make these figures look a bit better because... yow.
triviagasm
Santa Claus vs. Neo in the Martian Matrix
The 1964 holiday film Santa Claus Conquers The Martians has the distinction of constantly being named one of the worst films ever made. It also contains the acting debut of Pia Zadora, although that may be unrelated to its critical status. Instead this film was all about bringing "freedom" to poor Martian children who have been brainwashed by machines. Of course, Neo can't rescue them — only Santa Claus could bring that kind of liberation. How does this film stack up to The Matrix? Let us count the ways. More »
environmental collapse
Which of Your Toys Will Suck Most Next Year?
Good magazine has whipped up an amazing chart that shows how much energy your electronic toys will suck up next year — even when they're turned off. Most electronics stay in standby mode when turned off, maintaining a clock in a microwave, say, or a timer in your DVR that tells it when to turn on. After the jump, see the full chart showing how much money people in the US will spend next year just to keep devices on standby. It ain't pretty. More »
toys of yesteryear
Stretch Armstrong was one of the coolest toys back in 1976. This grinning little circus strongman could be stretched and pulled into a thousand different positions thanks to the gooey syrup he was filled with. Stretch proved so popular that toymaker Kenner decided to create a nemesis for him, and the red-skinned alien Vac-Man was sucked into our world in 1994. More »
Vac-Man Was One Space Monster Who Sucked, Literally
Stretch Armstrong was one of the coolest toys back in 1976. This grinning little circus strongman could be stretched and pulled into a thousand different positions thanks to the gooey syrup he was filled with. Stretch proved so popular that toymaker Kenner decided to create a nemesis for him, and the red-skinned alien Vac-Man was sucked into our world in 1994. More »
retro futurism
There's no better way to unwind after a tough mission than with a makeover at the Bionic Beauty Salon, circa 1976. After all, you may be a cyborg, but you're still a lady. P.S. You can see more toys spawned by the original Bionic Woman at Bug Eyed Monster.
I Want A Bionic Perm!
There's no better way to unwind after a tough mission than with a makeover at the Bionic Beauty Salon, circa 1976. After all, you may be a cyborg, but you're still a lady. P.S. You can see more toys spawned by the original Bionic Woman at Bug Eyed Monster.
