Tag Archives: Cool Toys

Mark Rober Builds World’s Longest Hot Wheels Track

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Because records were made to be broken, Mark Rober recently constructed the world’s longest Hot Wheels track in his new CrunchLabs warehouse. The track measures over a half-mile long and utilizes a series of switchbacks and boosters to achieve the record-setting length in a warehouse that isn’t anywhere close to a half-mile long. Me? I would have gone with a long straight track down a steep hill.

How much does a half-mile of Hot Wheels track cost? No clue, but I’d definitely buy the off-brand stuff to save on construction costs. Kind of like when my wife and I had our house built, and I opted for no windows. Is it day or night right now? Beats me, but I’m tired regardless.

Mark filmed the Hot Wheels action with some cool drone flying, which really adds an element of excitement that the otherwise boring track was missing. I mean, not even a single jump or loop-the-loop?! For shame, Mark. For shame.

[via The Awesomer]

Make Your Own CBD Gummy Candies

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CBD: it’s all the rage. With numerous health benefits like pain relief and helping to reduce anxiety, it’s the latest miracle cure. And now you can make your own CBD gummy candies at home using the Nostalgia Electric Giant Gummy Bear, Fish, and Worm Maker (affiliate link). The unit features a gelatin melting pot in the middle, surrounded by candy molds on ice for forming your candies. Plus, it comes with a giant gummy bear mold if you REALLY need a strong dose.

Add the CBD oil of your choice to the candy mix before cooling, and you’ll be pain-free and as cool as a cucumber before you know it. Just make sure to follow the dosage suggestions with the oil you’re using when making them because one time, I ate these brownies before a concert and never made it to the concert. Granted, they weren’t CBD, but the lesson is the same: proper dosage is important.

Of course, you don’t have to make CBD gummies; you can use it to make regular gummy candies. Or you could make gummies with other medicinal oils. Hey, I’m not here to tell you what to do; I’m just here to demand a handful of whatever you do make.

LEGO Ferris Wheel Great Ball Contraption

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Designed and built by Berthil van Beek for the Eurobricks T23 competition (where I’m sure it will be a contender), this LEGO Great Ball Contraption (GBC) is a massive functional Ferris wheel, with a diameter of a 91cm (~36″). For those of you unfamiliar, Great Ball Contraptions are modular machines built to move LEGO soccer or basketballs from one place to another in unique and unusual ways. A Ferris wheel definitely fits the bill. So would a tilt-a-whirl or a gravitron.

Berthil built the ferris wheel GBC using 128 strings, 63 pods, 2.5 meters of 3 mm rigid hose, and is 100% LEGO. For reference, my nephew is always around 1% LEGO depending on exactly how many pieces he’s eaten in the past few days. He takes after his uncle.

I can still remember the first time I got a LEGO soccer ball stuck in one of my nostrils. I panicked and went to the doctor. What an idiot I was! Now I just leave them there and wait for a good sneeze.

[via GeeksAreSexy]

This Tic-Tac Gun Is a Minty-Fresh Blaster

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Designed, 3D printed, and sold by Etsy shop 3DCubedPrinting; the TTG2.5 is a  handgun that uses mints as bullets. That way, you don’t even have to clean up after shooting cans for target practice in your living room; just let your dogs enjoy minty-fresh breath.

The spring-action Tic-Tac Gun is made to order and available in over 1,000 color combinations, including a bunch of different camo and glow-in-the-dark options. A whole regular-size box of Tic-Tacs acts as the gun’s magazine, allowing around 38 shots before running out and needing to run to 7-Eleven for more am-mint-unition.

So, should you try shooting Tic-Tacs directly into a friend’s mouth? I suppose that depends on how you feel about them choking and/or chipping a tooth. Honestly, I say go for it. Just make sure to mention this website at the dentist’s office, so they know where to send the referral check.

[via DudeIWantThat]

LEGO Releasing 4,049-Piece Iron Man Hulkbuster Build Set

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Priced to bust wallets at $550, the LEGO Avengers Hulkbuster set is the toy giant’s largest Marvel set to date, with an impressive 4,049 pieces. For reference, that’s $200 more but only 277 pieces more than the LEGO Daily Bugle set. Those extra 277 pieces must really be expensive ones.

The set will be released on November 9th and is also the largest LEGO mech set, standing over 20.5″ tall with an optional Iron Man figure that goes INSIDE the mecha. It features light-up arc reactors in both hands and chest, as well as several other new LEGO elements like special glow-in-the-dark and gold bricks. The whole upper body is articulated for posing and includes a Tony Stark in Mark 43 suit minifig. It is currently listed in the coveted spot #3 on my Christmas list.

With the popularity of both LEGO and The Avengers, I’m sure the set will be a hit. Although how many people will be willing to dig $550 out of their wallets to buy one remains to be seen. Of course, there are probably a lot of LEGO and Avengers fans out there that are richer than I am. Most of them, actually.

[via Gizmodo]

Build Your Own Wooden Tilt-A-Whirl Moving Music Box

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Because who didn’t get into puzzles or model building during the pandemic (I got into miniature ships myself), the $55 ROKR Tilt-A-Whirl is a DIY music box wooden puzzle kit from the company’s Magic Amusement Park series. It’s based on the classic spinning teacups amusement park ride and features the outer decorations of an old traveling circus. It will make the perfect addition to my mantle, provided I can build it right without smashing all the pieces to bits with my Hulk hands.

The 280-piece model measures approximately 7″ x 8″ x 9″, requires about 5.5 hours to construct, and even features working lights around the spinning ride. It plays ‘Wind and Moon’ when turned on, and the cups start spinning. Unfortunately for me, the model is rated 4 out of 4 stars for building difficulty, meaning its successful construction is unlikely in my case. I’m more of a 1-star model builder or, if I’m being completely honest, a buyer of pre-built models. “Best to leave it to the professionals,” my wife will tell me while watching me burn my latest failed build in our fire pit.

Flexible Articulated 3D-Printed Fidget Slugs

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Anxiety: we all experience it. And what better way to help alleviate that feeling than with a 3D-printed, articulated fidget slug? I can’t think of anything. Granted, I’m not trying to think of anything, but I have to save my brainpower for more important things like what’s for lunch. Available from Etsy shop Nates3DPrintedGifts, these slugs are sure to be the next slap bracelets or Tamagotchi, you just watch.

Nate, who sells the slugs but didn’t design them (available to print yourself for free at Thingiverse HERE), prints them in eleven different colors (including rainbow!), and four sizes (4″, 5″, 6″, 7″), ranging in price from $13 – $27 with free shipping included. That doesn’t sound like a bad deal. Granted, I’ve never shopped for 3D-printed fidget slugs before, so I don’t really have any basis for comparison.

Well, I know what all my nieces and nephews are getting for Christmas this year. 3D printed slugs, just to be clear. Apparently, I still have some making up to do for last year since the 63-piece Craftsman tool sets didn’t go over all that well. Still, they’ll be thanking me years from now when they’re moving into their own places. Maybe then I’ll finally earn that Uncle Of The Year award I’ve been chasing.

Desktop Mars Zen Garden: Interplanetary Peace

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Originally created as places for monks to meditate on Buddha’s teachings, Zen gardens have been miniaturized and available in desktop versions for quite some time now. Just not in interplanetary form, like this Mars Zen Garden available from Uncommon Goods. The desktop meditation garden features a 10″ diameter resin tray, red sand, lava rocks, a tiny astronaut and Sojourner rover, and a rake for making patterns. I am going to have so much fun relaxing and not working!

The copper-finish nickel rake features one end for raking and the other for creating craters from meteorite impacts. How realistic. Of course, if they wanted to make it even more realistic, it should come with some alien mini-figures as well. Stop hiding the truth, NASA!

I remember I had a miniature Zen garden in high school to help calm my nerves from the high stress of youth (little did I know!), but my cat Bill eventually knocked it off my desk, and all the sand got lost in the carpet. I suppose I should just be thankful he didn’t decide to use it as a litter box instead. At least there’s that.

[via The Awesomer]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Inspired Stormtrooper: Spaghetti Space Western

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Because there will never be enough Star Wars merchandise in the world, Merchoid is selling this The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly-inspired stormtrooper statue. Complete with a cowboy hat and poncho, this stormtrooper is clearly ready to set out on his trusty steed (read: speeder bike) and seek his fortune. And if only he could hit the broad side of a barn with his blaster, he might actually stand a chance.

The statue measures approximately 18 cm (7 inches) tall and is cast from “the finest resin.” Not to be confused with just fine or finer resin, this is the finest resin, presumably mined from some planet in the Akkadese Maelstrom and used to cover the smuggling of glitterstim from Kessel. I’m not a Star Wars nerd; you are!

While the statue may have been made with the finest resin, it does not appear to have been made with the finest painting technique, with even the official product shots appearing as if they were painted by someone who assumed customers don’t have the same high standard in paint jobs as they do resin quality. That’s a shame, too, because I almost had my wife’s credit card out.

[via GeeksAreSexy]

LEGO Releasing $600 Ultimate Collector’s Edition Of The Mandalorian’s Razor Crest

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Already available as a 1,023-piece, $140 set, LEGO has just announced an Ultimate Collector’s Series version of The Mandalorian’s Razor Crest ship, with 6,187 pieces and a price tag of $600. Ultimate Collector indeed – you’d have to be to shell out six big bills for a LEGO set. I mean unless you’re buying it as an investment opportunity like I did with all those Beanie Babies.

The ship measures 72cm long, 50cm wide, and 24cm tall (28″ x 20″ x 9.5″), and features removable engines, a cockpit, an escape pod, and a minifig-size carbon-freezing chamber along with numerous other interior details. The set also includes minifigs of the Mandalorian, Grogu, Mythrol, and Kuiil along with a buildable Blurrg model.​ I am going to have so much fun building this set… entirely in my mind because I can’t afford the $600 price tag.

Admittedly, I bet that’s a fun build. As fun as the giant LEGO Death Star set? No clue, I couldn’t afford that one either. Looks like not much has changed for me financially in the ten years since that set came out.

[via Engadget]