Dave's Cool Toys Blog

Many, many years ago I had a great little toy. It was a small top that you spun on a black base. It didn’t float like the Levitron. But it had a great trick of it’s own. It would spin for days! My friends thought it was the coolest thing when they would see it in my room (yes, we were dorks). But it WAS amazing. The top didn’t just sit there spinning it bopped around on the base and sometimes it would spiral around toward the center.

Many years later, when I started Dave’s Cool Toys, this cool little top was on my list of toys I wanted to carry, but I couldn’t find it. But recently, one of our suppliers began to offer it and we recently added Top Secret to our line of cool toys. Of course, the minute they came in, I took one for myself and it’s been spinning on-an-off ever since. My kids love it.

HOW IT WORKS: No, it’s not perpetual motion. It cheats by using a hidden battery and circuitry.

This is how the manufacturer explains it on their website:
"Top Secret" consists of a spinning top with a radially oriented magnetic field and an associated base that houses a conductive coil. When the top spins past the center of the base, its changing magnetic field induces a current in the coil which momentarily opens the switch to the battery resulting in powering up the electromagnet. The electromagnet then delivers enough torque to the spinning top to allow it to speed up and spin away from the center. Since the electromagnet is only engaged when the top crosses near the center of the base, one 9 volt battery can last for over a week of continual use!

I do not know too much about electronics, and my eyes sort-of glazed over when I read this. But, here’s the way I understand it. There’s an electromagnet in the base run by a 9 volt battery and a magnet in the top. The base is concave, so it slopes down in the middle. The electromagnet turns on when the top gets near the center (when it’s slowing down). This turns on the electromagnet, which spins the top faster and sends it on it’s way until the next time.

My friend Richard added "it’s exactly like a brushless DC motor where the armature is free to roam about." Yes, Richard was one of those dorky friends. Still is.

More importantly, it’s a very cool toy. Check it out here.

And check out a short video I made of it below.

Bubble Wrap Turns 50!

Bubble Wrap, the iconic packaging material, turns 50 today, January 25, 2010. It also happens to be the 10th Annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

Sealed Air, makers of Bubble Wrap brand will be running their factory line entirely in gold today, rather than clear, to commemorate the event.

Originally invented in a garage in Hawthorne, NJ as a textured wallpaper. When that didn’t work out, they tried to market it as a greenhouse insulator. Eventually, they hit on the idea of using it to cushion fragile items and an icon was born.

Why am I mentioning the 50th anniversary of Bubble Wrap in my toy blog? You know why. Bubble Wrap stands with the Cardboard Box as one of those products that is not used as intended, but instead often used as a toy. You know you love popping it. Bubble Wrap has more than two million fans on Facebook.

But what do you do when you are stressed out and would love to pop some Bubble Wrap, but you have none handy? No problem. Just visit the Virtual Bubblewrap page to pop as much as you like (Be sure to try "Manic Mode" to pop at hyper speed).

Want to pop even when you’re not at your computer? Check out the Electronic Bubble Wrap Keychain. You can pop your virtual bubble wrap anytime.

Happy Birthday Bubble Wrap!

Trinity Anderson

On January 4, in Denver, Co, Trinity Anderson was found by her mother, lying limp on the floor next to her chair. There was a USB cable lying next to her which was plugged into her mother’s iPod (or laptop, depending on which report you read). Burnt flesh was found on the prongs of the USB cable and she was hospitalized with third-degree burns on her tongue, palate and lip. She remains hospitalized and has had a traceotomy and administered sedatives and paralytics to keep her still and quiet while she recovers.

A technician spent the day friday at the infant’s home trying to determine what actually happened. A USB cable typically doesn’t carry more than 5 volts of power, far too low to do any damage (which you would know if you’ve ever put your tongue on a 9-volt battery). Apple’s USB cables can sometimes carry a bit more, but it’s not usually considered life-threatening. Life threatening voltage is usually considered over 50 volts.

It seems to me that something more than was going on here than a child putting a USB cable in her mouth. Especially when the other end was attached to an iPod (and not the outlet). Since nobody saw what happened, we may never know exactly what the child was doing when she was burned.

However, this story is a good reminder to parents to be careful about seemingly harmless cables and cords. With all the consumer electronics in most homes today, the amount of cables has expanded dramatically. Many are often left plugged into the wall when rechargeable electronics are in use. While they may seem harmless (and may be harmless) parents should consider taking some precautions with small children to be sure they are safe.

I found these USB Protective Covers on Amazon. While they are certainly not fool proof, and you would still want to keep the cables out of reach, so children don’t swallow the covers, they would still provide a small amount of protection if the end of a USB cable should find its way into a young mouth. They also protect the connectors from dust.

Art Clokey with his creation Gumby.

Art Clokey passed away on Friday, January 8, 2010. He was 88.

If you don’t recognize Art Clokey’s name, he is the creator of Gumby!

Gumby and his buddy, Pokey were first seen as shorts on the Howdy Doody Show.

If you’ve visited my Toy Trivia page, you’d know that the shape of Gumby’s head was inspired by the hair style of Art’s father.

Art Clokey was also the creator of one of my favorite shows (probably because of the name) "Davey and Goliath", which were created for the Lutheran Church.

His creations have been satirized many times over. Most notably, Gumby has been satirized by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live and more recently, Davey and Goliath has been satirized (quite irreverently) by the TV Show Moral Orel.

It wasn’t actually until a renewed interest in Gumby, brought about by Eddie Murphy’s character, that Clokey began to see real financial benefit from his creation.

Art started his claymation career with a student film called "Gumbasia". Check it out…

And for a very strange example of Art’s work, check out the opening sequence to Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine…

Gumby at Dave’s Cool Toys.

World’s Most Useless Machine

I came across this today and thought it was very cool. It is the World’s Most Useless Machine. The guy (I think it’s a guy) who created it built it from scratch. It does only one thing… turns itself off. Check out the video below and if you’d like to have your own, complete instructions are available at www.instructables.com.

If this machine ever gets commercially produced, we will carry it!

Incidentally, I absolutely love the Instructables site. Unfortunately, they recently went to a "pay" system so that you must become a Pro Member in order to see all images, view all steps on one page, or save a pdf of the instructions. Fortunately, the Pro Membership is fairly inexpensive. They also have very intrusive ads on their site. You know the ones…they enlarge over top of what you are reading until you find the "close" button. Hate that.

Anyway, check out the video below of the World’s Most Useless Machine Ever.

Civil War Cannon

One of my favorite items, and also one or our most popular, are Big Bang Cannons. Unfortunately, we have been forced to increase our prices on most of these cannons due to an increase from the manufacturer. Like most products, due to higher costs, they had to raise prices. The last time they had an increase was in 2000, so it is understandable. However, since the price has not changed for 10 years, the increase has been a substantial one.

We are sorry for this increase, but we have kept the prices as low as we possibly can. Subscribers to our newsletter were alerted early to the increase so they had a chance to purchase a cannon before they went up (shameless plug).

All the brass cannons are the same price at this time.

Incidentally, If you aren’t familiar with this great item, don’t miss my Big Bang Cannon information page with all the information you could possibly want to know about them.

Square maple baby rattle.

I added two new items to www.davescooltoys.com today that I think are both great.

The first is a new Wooden Baby Rattle. I really love this rattle. I don’t know how to tell you how this rattle feels in your hands. It’s very smooth and tactile and I just can’t stop holding it. The rattle is concealed inside so it appears as one single block of wood. The price may seem a little steep at $17.99, but it is handcrafted in the USA by our supplier (no mass-produced overseas stuff here) and is sanded smooth with all rounded edges making very safe. It would make a great heirloom gift for a new baby.

	Wooden race boat

The second item is a Wooden Race Boat. This little boat is a great item for the bath, the pool, your local pond, or even a puddle. This items is also hand made in the USA and costs $15.99. I’m not crazy about the picture I have of this item right now, but I’ll get a better one soon because it doesn’t do it justice. Wind up the propeller (make sure you wind in the right direction or it will go backwards) and set it in the water to watch it go. Obviously, it would be great to have two for races. It’s finished with simple mineral oil so that it will stand up to use in water. You might want to give it another coat now and then to keep it in good shape.

This is by the same craftsman that makes the rattle and we are always pleased with his items (he also makes one of my favorite items, the Wooden Decoders Set. They are both made from all-natural materials with a natural oil finish.

Roy E. Disney in the 2000 Rose Parade

Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, passed away today, December 12, 2009. He was 79. He had been battling stomach cancer for the past year. Roy mostly kept a low profile, but on two occasions he led a shareholder revolt against Walt Disney’s son-in-law and Michael Eisner, respectively.

Roy was born in 1930 and grew up in the Disney company. His uncle, Walt and his father, Roy O. Disney were co-founders of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio just seven years prior to his birth. Mickey Mouse was "born" just two years before Roy.

He worked at Disney as an editor, screenwriter, and producer, but never had the chance to formally lead the company. He nevertheless had a huge impact on the company over the years. His first revolt led to the ouster of his cousin’s husband and the hiring of Michael Eisner. Roy re-joined the board and became the company’s vice chairman and chairman of the animation division. He oversaw the creation of such iconic films as "The Lion King".

Roy amassed quite a fortune through savvy investments in both Disney and other areas, ranking him by Forbes magazine as the 754th richest person in the world in 2007 with an estimate fortune of $1.3 billion.

He once again resigned his board seat and led a revolt, this time against Michael Eisner because he felt that quality was "slipping away from us" at the Disney theme parks. Eisner was replaced by Robert Iger who named Roy a board member emeritus and welcomed him back to company events.

Roy Disney bore a striking resemblance to his uncle Walt. He was also an active philanthropist, supporting the California Institute of Arts, personally matching a gift from the Walt Disney Company to establish an experimental theater space at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, and pledging $10 million to establish the Roy and Patricia Disney Cancer Center at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

He will be missed.

Chia Obama. Looking determined.

OK. Now I may have seen it all. And I thought the President Obama Action Figure was unusual.

Yes, it is the Chia Obama. For only $18.99 you too can own your very own President Obama handmade decorative planter. You get enough seeds for 3 separate growings. Unfortunately for our friends in the 49th and 50th states, it cannot be shipped to Alaska or Hawaii for some reason.

To quote on advertisement, "The Chia Obama is easy to set up, and it is fun to grow, achieving full growth in 1-2 weeks."

The Chia Obama is available in both a "Determined Pose" and a "Happy Pose".

If you’re stuck for a present for that hard-to-buy for person, this may be the ticket. The Democratic Ticket, that is. (Sorry.)

GI Joe poster

We watched G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra this past weekend and I was most disappointed with it. Aside from the fact that I was slightly surprised with the amount of violence and profanity in a movie that is based on a child’s toy, it just wasn’t a very good movie. Too many villains, too many things blowing up, too many sound effects, and visually a mess.

I recently read an article that blamed the demise in recent years of Disney’s animated film juggernaut on the fact that parents began to feel exploited by Disney. Many parents began to feel that the long list of animated films such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, etc. had become nothing more than a tool to sell merchandise to children and parents, cranking them out each year just for the sake of toy and video tie-ins.

It certainly is true that not only Disney, but all major movie studios strive to have films that tie in well with toy and merchandise. In some cases, effects and gadgets are written into films just because they would make a great toy, or the toy already exists.

Years ago I remember hearing the little creatures from the original Star Wars trilogy referred to as "the oh-so-merchandisable Ewoks". That didn’t work out too well for George Lucas (if that’s what he had in mind), since parents didn’t flock to the store to buy plush Ewoks, but he has certainly made up for it with subsequent movies.

	A quiet moment in GI Joe when nothing is blowing up.

The article I read wondered if the recent trend of big-budget movies aimed at boys such as Transformers and G.I. Joe may have reached its end for the same reason.

I have always disliked marketing that tries to make you feel inadequate if you do not have the entire line, summed up with the statement "collect all 37!" Licensed merchandise plays upon that by having an entire line of characters from a movie, the full complement of children’s sheets, or limited edition items such as Disney video’s that will only be on the market for a few months. I don’t like feeling manipulated.

I recently posted about Toy Story 3, and this got me thinking a bit about Pixar and their films. Pixar has had a string of film success that is unprecedented. I love Pixar. Now this may be partly because an old friend of mine worked for Pixar for a while (prior to Toy Story) and their CEO is Steve Jobs, also the force behind Apple Computer. But is it also because of the wonderful films they produce and the talent and creativity at the company. Many years Pixar has released the only great "G" rated film. I know this from experience trying to choose child-appropriate films for middle school band trips.

But Pixar’s first film, Toy Story, was almost made for merchandising. That may have partly been because the very new medium of computer animation lent itself well to animating toys. But the movie, either by accident or design, reinvigorated some classic toy lines such as the Slinky and Mr. Potato Head. One anecdote about the Toy Story movies is that Pixar wanted to include Barbie in the first Toy Story movie, but they were turned down by Mattel because they didn’t expect the movie to succeed and didn’t feel they needed them. By the time they made Toy Story 2, Mattel was calling Pixar to get Barbie in the film. The point is that Pixar certainly capitalized upon Barbie in the film.

On the flip side, the recent Pixar film, "Up" was nearly un-merchandisable. There really were very few opportunities for toy tie-ins in the film. Pixar seems to have elected to concentrate on making a good film rather than concern themselves with merchandising.

Pixar is now owned by Disney and they are making Toy Story 3 (something Pixar fought against for many years). Will Pixar eventually succumb to the temptation of cranking out films in order to drive merchandising? It will remain to be seen.

	Pushalong wooden toy

At Dave’s Cool Toys, we do not carry any licensed toys. We prefer toys that are not tied to the popularity of a movie franchise. We don’t concern ourselves with fads or worry about what is "hot" this year. Some of the toys you can purchase on our site have been in-stock for 14 years, since we first started out. Some of them have been around long before that, but are now hard to find in the giant big-box toy stores. Sometimes toys we loved have become fads, but that’s not our fault, so don’t hold that against us. Many of our toys are also low-tech. Batteries die, electronics stop working, video games get old. But a great wooden toy can last for generations.

A ball.

On November 5, 2009, the National Toy Hall of Fame inducted three new toys.

The first one is the Ball. The ball, I assume, includes all balls. Dodge balls, baseballs, bouncy balls, etc. The ball is been around almost as long as Man. A ball is often a child’s first toy, yet they might still play baseball as an adult (or at least watch it).

Next is the Big Wheel. The Big Wheel was invented in the 60’s by Ray Lohr, head designer for Louis Marx & Co. After they went out of business in 1985, the big Wheel was marketed by Carolina Enterprises, and later Enterprise Industries. Currently it’s made by Alpha International. The Big Wheel put kids low to the ground, making skidding and spinning-out safe from rollovers (mostly). I did a quick search for the Big Wheel and was somewhat surprised to see that the price on Amazon for the Original Big Wheel
was $62.99. Yikes!

	The Big Wheel

And last is the Nintendo Game Boy. The Game Boy portable video game came out in 1989 and was an immediate hit. The Game Boy certainly revolutionized video gaming and allowed kids to play on car trips, summer camp, and in school (which thrilled teachers).

The Ball and Big Wheel I have no argument with, but the Game Boy I’m not so sure about. Especially when you look at the list of previous inductees, which includes Crayola Crayons, Hula Hoop, Jump Rope, Teddy Bear, Lego, and, even the Cardboard Box. An argument could certainly be made for it, but it just doesn’t seem like a natural to me.

Thinking about the Ball, got me thinking and remembering a great commercial for Sony Bravia TV. The commercial features many bouncy balls (generic SuperBalls) bouncing down the streets of San Francisco and is set to music by José González called Heartbeats. Did they really do that? Yes! It took 23 cameras over 2 days with 250,000 balls on the streets of San Francisco. My favorite part is the riot shield that the director used to protect himself. Sony removed the original commercial from their site some time ago, and for some time all I could find were the crappy YouTube copy, but I just found a high-res "Bouncy Balls" Sony Bravia commercial on YouTube. View it below. It is amazing!

My AntWorks on day 35 (shown here in light with the Illuminator)

It’s been a while since I posted on the progress of my AntWorks. Today is day 35 since my ants arrived and went into their new home. They haven’t been very active for quite a few days, so there wasn’t much to post about. They are no longer tunnelling, and we’ve had quite a few ant deaths. I count about 12 ants left alive in our little "colony".

As you can see, they built about 10 tunnels through the gel. They also cleared out quite a bit of tunnel area in the bottom of the AntWorks. There are two small starter tunnels that I first created that the ants completely ignored. You can see them on the top towards the right.

The ants haven’t been quite as active in general recently. They spend most of their time in the bottom cavern area. Even so, there is usually at least one ant in the top area, on the "surface". This has prevented me from being able to clear out the dead ants, as the ones in the top try immediately to escape when the top is open. Within a few moments of opening the top, the ants in the tunnels race to the surface as well.

	Now’s our chance to escape!

In the photo on the right, you can see all the deceased ant parts that are on the surface. I had the lid off for only a brief moment to take this picture and one ant escaped and had to be pushed back into the AntWorks. You can see two live ants attempting escape in this picture.

If you’re thinking of purchasing an AntWorks colony, you may be thinking to yourself "it’s cool, but I don’t want to deal with all the dead ants. That’s really gross". Well, I can see your point, but that is also part of life sciences. The ants do die. It is also interesting the way the ants bring their dead companions to the surface and usually bury them. They seem to have gotten a bit lazier about burying them now, but in the past, they had them quite well buried in the gel chunks that they had moved to the surface. One thing this illustrates is how well the gel provides for the ants as food, water, tunneling medium, and burial material.

The carnage!

As for clearing out the dead ants, I have heard from a student that was part of the original Ants in Space program with NASA, and she assured me that I could refrigerate the ants to slow down their metabolism without harming the ants or the gel. I knew it wouldn’t harm the ants from the first day, when we refrigerated them to put them in the AntWorks, according to the directions, but I wasn’t sure what would happen to the gel. But this information has given me the courage to try it.

I refrigerated my AntWorks for 10 minutes, but when I checked my ants, they seemed more active than before! How strange. So I left them in for a bit longer. It took almost 25 minutes before they began to show signs of slowing down even a little. So, I took them out of the fridge, and took the top off, but they were still pretty active, and I had to really hurry to get the little body parts out. I wasn’t able to get them all because a few ants kept coming to the top and trying to get out, so I got out what I could quickly and closed my AntWorks up again. Since I was rushing, I didn’t get any pictures of this, but I took a picture of the bits I did manage to get out.

YouTube – Best Halloween Costume.

Cheating? You decide.

This is my pumpkin. Or Jack-O-Lantern. Well, maybe I can’t call it that. It’s not my final one, we will be carving them, probably this weekend. But in the meantime, I figured, why not decorate it? I think I read about this idea in a magazine a few weeks ago. Can’t remember which one. But I just rummaged through our recycling bin and cut facial features from magazines, then mixed and matched them. They are glued on with rubber cement, so they will come off easily when it’s time to carve. Looking at it now, I should have put the mouth upside down. My wife felt it was cheating and said I still needed to carve it and take off the face.