Hasta La Gadget!

Watch out Ken. Barbie’s packing some steel. Actually Jim Rodda’s Barbie armor is made of biodegradable plastic. Jim originally wanted to print glitter cannons that fit on My Little Pony toys as a birthday gift to his niece, but it proved to be too complicated. Four cups of coffee and a hot shower later, the idea for Barbie armor sprang out of his mind, fully formed.

The field plate armor in the image above and in the video below is one of Jim’s first prototypes. He’s currently designing a parade armor, a more detailed version of the field plate armor that has “filigrees, engravings, gewgaws, gubbinses, and assorted skeuomorphisms.”

Aside from being silly, Jim is also generous. He’s sharing the 3D files for the Athena Makeover Kit, another Barbie costume, on his website.

Pledge at least $5 (USD) on Kickstarter to get the 3D files for the field plate armor as a reward, while a pledge of at least $10 gets you the files for the parade armor. Jim will most likely make those files available after the Kickstarter, but he isn’t planning on selling the printed armor themselves because that would be beyond his means.

If you want to get the printed armor right away, pledge for the higher reward tiers ASAP because Jim probably won’t print anymore of them after his fundraiser ends. Pledge at least $200 to get the field plate armor set and at least $250 to get the parade armor set. This reminds me, I’ve yet to finish Jeanne D’Arc.

Sideshow Collectibles will release two Xenomorph busts this year. Both the Big Chap and the Alien Warrior will be in “Legendary Scale”, the toy maker’s term for 1:2 scale. Unless we’re talking about a Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann scale model, I refuse to call anything that’s half the size of the original “Legendary”. That said, these busts are freakin’ scary.

Come on Sideshow, use a banana. Get with the program. The Big Chap is 14″ high and has its trademark slimy shine, semi-translucent head and French kiss-ready mouths. It also bears a relief of a xenomorph egg and a facehugger at the back of its base. It also comes with a plate that bears the Alien movie title in its stylized font.

The Alien Warrior is not as slimy or imposing as the Big Chap and has its distinctive ridges. Its bust also has an egg and facehugger relief has an Aliens film plate.

Get in the power browser and head to Sideshow Collectibles to pre-order the busts. The Big Chap costs $400 (USD) and will be released this November while the Alien Warrior costs $350 and will be released this July.

[via GeekAlerts]

Boutique video game shop Analogue Interactive announced that it’s going to release Analogue Nt, a retro console that can play both NES and Famicom cartridges. That’s double the library. Double the dribble. Double the dragon. And probably quintuple the Mario clones.

Analogue Nt is based on the NES hardware but will have support for up to four controllers as well as a case crafted from a single block of aluminum. Analogue Interactive should release more details about the console very soon, seeing as they plan on taking pre-orders by the end of the month.  If their Neo-Geo MVS case mod is any indication, you should expect to pay more than a current gen console for this one.

It’s too bad that Twin Peaks didn’t last longer on TV. It had some quirky characters and plenty of dark and bizarre goings-on. Plus, we never even got any action figures. At least these action figure mock-ups from Twin Peaks let us see what we missed out on. All of your favorites are here with perfect matching accessories.

Special Agent Dale Cooper comes with his donuts and coffee mug, while Lucy Moran has a watering can and plant, and Windom Earle comes with several disguises. These come from illustrator Max Dalton who created them in poster form for Spoke Art’s David Lynch-inspired art exhibit. It is too bad they aren’t real products. I would buy the whole set.

Yes, there is even a log lady with log accessory. Fire walk with me over to Max Dalton’s site to see the rest. You can also order the 18″ x 24″ limited-edition poster over at Spoke Art for $50(USD).

[via Kotaku]

One of the coolest things about Batman is all his gadgets. I particularly like the gadgets that he had to play with in the Dark Knight trilogy like the Batpod and Tumbler. Inspired by the Bat’s wonderful toys, a dad made a really cool Batpod for his kids.

But unlike the bike in the movies, this Batpod is sized for the man’s 10 and 12-year-old boys to enjoy. The bike uses an Alltrax AXE 4844 controller running a Mars ME0709 electric motor, and the Batpod is powered by a quartet of lead-acid batteries from a car. I think I would worry about those lead-acid batteries in a vehicle that is destined to spend lots of time tossed on its side. The power system has a maximum of 50 volts and the bike can hit speeds of 37mph.

Check out the videos to see the bike in action along with some kids that aren’t big on safety gear other than a helmet.

[via Nerd Approved]