Blog Archives
Thinkgeek Remix Part 2: Air Swimmers R/C Flying Fish
I really dig these radio-controlled flying fish from Thinkgeek. Not only do these helium balloons look convincing at a glance, but their swimming movement also looks realistic. Check out the video:
If it were up to me, I’d swap out the fish with the flying balloon-like Boo from the Super Mario games. It too moves slowly and not all that gracefully. I’m hoping that the tail and wing-like arms can help propel it like the flying fish. The tongue could also be used as a rudder perhaps. If it’s possible, a voice chip could be added for his “laugh” sounds.
But why stop there? There are plenty of other geeky things known for flying that could be used:
1. A flying droid briefly seen in the Star Wars: A New Hope (Special Edition onwards). I chose it because it has a rudder and wings. 2. Metroid. Would make for a beautiful balloon. 3. Lakitu, an enemy-turned-friend, also from the Super Mario games. 4. A City Scanner robot from Half Life 2. Looks like a product of Aperture labs. 5. Laserbeak! Okay, probably wouldn’t work as a balloon. 6. Probe Droid from Empire Strikes Back. 7. Torture Ball droid from A New Hope. And you thought your dad was harsh. 8. Orko from He-Man. I’d enlist his large elf-like ears to be the wings, and his hat tip for the rudder. He’d be life-size, I believe.
Anything you’d like to see as a flying toy?
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Star Wars Weigh Scale
Darth Vader kneels humbly on top of an illuminated pad when he is chatting with the Emperor, which I’m guessing is some sort of holograph phone thingy.
With a scale that looks like this, you too would be saying “What is thy bidding, my master?”
This would probably need to be plugged-in, with all the lights it has. Perhaps one without lights would be adequate, chances are your bathroom is well-lit anyways.
The transporter pad from Star Trek could also be employed in a similar fashion. Same goes for the pink hoverboard from BTTF.
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Star Wars Blu-Ray Case
This is a really basic design: R2D2’s body is essentially a canister of Blu-Ray discs (approximately a dozen discs). Each disc is accessible via an extending drawer:
Each drawer is manually opened. To ensure the disc is fully clear of R2’s body the drawers would telescope (almost like extending the dinner table to add a center cross piece).
This case would be on the bigger side: about 7″ wide and 9 - 10″ tall. Given its size I feel it has room for lights and sounds, which I’m sure most fans would love. This Astromech Droid would make for a nice display piece on your shelf.
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Geeky Gadget Wish List #15: Star Wars Mouse
This mouse is based on the Thermal Detonator (or “glop grenade”) used by Boussh, the bounty hunter disguise adorned by Leia - her second-most popular outfit from Return of the Jedi. She threatened Jabba with this handheld device, now it can sit on your desk and look almost as menacing.
Because the detonator was a sphere that opened in the middle to form more of a capsule shape, I thought it could work as a mouse device. I had to stretch it a bit to be as ergonomic as a mouse though! The open cavity caused by “arming” the grenade is filled with a clear plastic.
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Geeky Gadget Wish List #14: Star Wars Surge Protector
Just to prove Lucas hasn’t made every possible product out of Star Wars, I give you the Hoth Shield Generator Surge Protector. Yes, the doomed station with 18 seconds of screen time. But here it looks very much at home guarding your electronics like it did protecting Rebels - albeit with more success against AC/DC currents than AT-AT walkers. Somewhere an electrician is shaking his/her head.
I try to implement geekiness into everyday products. When I look around my desk, I see potential even in the neglected surge protector. It’s a messy terminal of wires, so why not make it look like an intended mess? Plus the protective purpose of the Hoth Shield Generator would make a knowing geek nod in appreciation. Damn straight.
And yes I skipped thirteen. Not that I am overly superstitious, but would like some ideas to actually happen and become a reality.
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Geeky Gadget Wish List #7: PC Tower Cases
Note: The above image is a more recent rendering I have decided to place here.
So besides the Ghostbusters Firehouse, a few more candidates for a neat PC tower case would include: the Sandcrawler from Star Wars (oops, someone already made that); the factory press that crushed a T-800 in the first Terminator film; and the Great Fox ship from StarFox.
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Geeky Gadget Wish List #4: R2-D2 Assistant
This is an open-ended idea, so bear with me. Basically it’s an R2-D2 figure on a platform interacting with one of those revolving gears (as he often does). There would be 2 motors, one to revolve R2’s head and one to revolve the gear. This toy would feature lights and sounds.
As for its function this gadget could be: a bookend, a USB hub, a recharging dock for your phone, a wireless speaker, a desk lamp, and so on. The gist of the idea is that R2 appears to be “assisting” you by turning that gear.
Personally I’d love to have him placed against the wall on my desk (like the picture above), connected to my computer via USB. He’d then react to me opening programs or writing files, stuff like that.
There are many possibilities for this gadget! I have a feeling that we’ll see something like this one day, as there seems to be a new electronic R2-D2 toy coming out every week.
