What's a CES event without a few wacky toys? A waste of time, really. Thankfully the folks at Interactive Toy Concepts--an industry leader in tiny flying toy things--had seriously showstopping display at tonight's CES Unveiled. Of course it didn't hurt that the guy giving the demo was decked out camo fatigues and hunting gear.
The guy was showcasing the company's new Duck Hunter. The toy combines a gun and a flying duck toy. The duck charges on the end of the gun for about ten seconds when you pull the trigger. You release the duck from the end of the gun and attempt to shoot it--if you connect three times in 30 seconds, the duck falls to the ground. That's pretty much it.
It's sort of a real-life version of Duck Hunt for the NES, sans the annoying dog. The toy will be available in spring for $29.99.
I love me some duck tech, so when Fisher-Price's "This is Serious" Ming-Ming arrived at Gearlog's headquarters, I was beside myself. This adorable creature sings, dances, and saves the world, together with best buddies Linny the Guinea Pig and Turtle Tuck. Together they are the Wonder Pets, and you can see their animated versions in action on Nick Jr. Even better, you can see Ming-Ming in action in your own home (or cubicle).
From the aptly named iwantoneofthose.com, purveyors of all things awesome, comes this delightful R/C ducky, a delightful ducky that will zip and bob and swim his way right into your heart. He's got propellers on his ducky derrière, for duck's sake.
Find him for about 26 bucks (ducks?) at I Want One of Those. And I do!
The weirdest collection of techie toys I've ever seen at the Toy Fair goes to Westminster Inc. Its new toy line consists of:
Norman the Gnome ($24.99), a motion-activated, door-greeting gnome that talks, waves, and says 11 mean things
Whack-a-Mouse ($19.99), similar to Whack-a-Mole except you're whacking mice instead
Fountain Fun Duck ($7.99), a battery-operated rubber duckie that lights up and makes a quacking sound once placed in water
RC Rat with Fur ($19.99), a remote-controlled rat that is guaranteed to scare someone's little sister. Why the emphasis on "with fur"? The company's previous R/C rat model didn't have fur you could feel!
Check out more photos of Westminster's toys after the jump.
Wanna make your sweetie happy this Valentine's Day? The Vibro Love Duckie Massager is an ideal gift. Cute, ducky and, of course, vibratory. Get one for about 15 bucks on drinkstuff.com.
Wow. After six movies, countless VHS and DVD collections, games and other merchandise, Star Wars has reached its peak. That's right, you can now get your favorite Star Wars characters as. . .ducks! And these guys are like ducks to water--literally--when you set them in the water they glow all different colors. The batteries inside only last 45 hours, so the ducks quiet down when you take them out of the water. You get a choice of Luke Pondwalker, Princess Layer, or a Pondtrooper. I wish there were more! Where are the wookies? In any case this is the best thing to happen to duck tech since the duck that sucks. Why is Gizmodo so grumpy about it?
Unfortunately, I can't find any shopping info online. Gizmodo had linked to Red5, but the ducks are no longer listed there. Check back for updates!
I'm taking a temporary break from my blogging duties next week, so I wanted to wish Gearlog/AppScout/GoodCleanTech readers a happy early Thanksgiving. I'm going to be out of the country and won't likely be getting my turkey on next Thursday, so, if you can save a piece for me, I'd be much obliged.
In the meantime, in case you're looking for a few non-traditional ways to prepare your bird, Mental Floss has you covered. Among the included "Manly Ways to Prepare a Turkey" are the bacon-wrapped turkey [pictured], the beer can turkey, Cajun deep-fried turkey, and of course, the perennial favorite, the turducken (that's a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey).
Because nothing says "manly" like accidentally burning the house down.
What better way to spruce up bathtime than with a rubbery ducky. (Ernie had it right.) And what better way to make the ol' rubber ducky seem new again than by adding remote control capability. That's just what you get with the Remote Control Rubber Duck, who's product name gives nothing away. Available on UK-based Play.com (Why do the Brits get all the good stuff??), the RC Ducky sells for about 26 US bucks and runs on AA batteries. Just charge it up for 5 minutes and you've got 15 minutes of playtime--just enough time to avoid pruning.
I recently enjoyed some art therapy courtesy of Skooba Design, maker of laptop cases and other gear. Armed with an assortment of Sharpies, highlighters and colored pencils, I gazed at the empty canvas that is the Skooba DIY Skin laptop case. What to draw? Shockingly, I chose to decorate my bag with ducks (and hearts just to be extra super cute.) Since I'm a terrible scribbler, and for the sake of consistency, I traced an image I found somewhere on the Internets. I liked how it looked with just the outline so much that I stopped there and did not color it in. But I felt the need to represent the traditional orange-beaked rubber ducky, so I hid two tiny ones on the inside of the strap. Oohs and aaahs from my co-workers followed.[[More images of the Skooba DIY Skin after the jump]]
Skooba Designs offers a variety of laptop cases, and the DIY bag is the latest in their collection. You can decorate your own with markers, pens, paint and even glue! The only thing you can't do is use heat--so no iron ons--as this will do terrible things to the fabric. Some customer-designed bags are displayed on the site--lots of creative, cool stuff. You too, can design your own bag for $27.95--art supplies not included.
From the post:
This is a simple Mallard duck decoy that has radio controlled propulsion, and a wireless video and sound system mounted inside. Video is transmitted to a receiver on shore that is either connected to a camcorder or DC television. Color video and sound can be transmitted over several hundred feet away.
It doesn't look all that difficult to put together as long as you have a stocked toolbox, and some patience--there are eight steps with dense blocks of text after all--but the whole thing should cost less than $100. Among the required materials is a mini R/C jetski. Love it. Maybe I'll try to make one, maybe I won't.
I've written about Glow Ducks before, but never about this lovely Tiara Glow Duck--ain't she a beauty? As she floats in the tub, she cycles through a series of glowing, soothing colors, that you make your day just ducky! She's winner in my book. Get her for $11.36 from Find Me a Gift (UK).
No really, I'm not that foregone into my duck obsession that I'm making things up or hallucinating ducks wherever I go. Something Awful has some really fun drawings of every console from the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360, all the way back to the Atari 2600. It's quite excellent. I'm sure the Sony PS3's sales would go through the roof if the console had webbed feet.
Check it out--I promise it will quack you up, if not ruffle your feathers.
Well, I don't know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain't right
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I'm wondering how I'll get down those stairs
Clowns to left of me, jokers to the right
Here am I stuck in the middle with you
These hip "reservoir ducks" will glow in all different colors when you put them in the bathtub. I just hope they don't all shoot each other when they're done.
Unfortunately these ducks will not last forever. Their irreplaceable batteries last only 45 hours, which, according to the vendor is the equivalent of 180, fifteen minute baths.
A nice companion to the "Duck that Sucks" is this ducky desktop duster by Elecom. Aside from a duck, it also comes in penguin, raccoon, squirrel, koala, and sheep varieties. The birds dust your keyboard, the rodent-like creatures take care of your monitor, and the last two are padded cloth erasers (for what, I'm not sure). I am sure though, that these are darn cute!
See images of all six varieties after the jump.
Get 'em on AudioCubes.com for $10 each or $40 for the set.
Mixx It
Digg It
Stumble
More...
