Hasta La Gadget!

Looking back at the Atari 2600, it really wasn’t very good until Activision came along and raised the bar for graphics and sound for the early 8-bit console. To commemorate these classic games, Chicago Toy Collector Dan Polydoris created this nifty set of custom action figures.

The set of five action figures got their start as various G.I. Joe characters, but they’re now sporting that perfect Activision 8-bit look. While Pitfall Harry is surely the most recognizable of the bunch, the other games were all pretty solid too – especially H.E.R.O. – though I never knew its protagonist’s name was Roderick.

Awesome job, Dan. These are all quite special. I only wish you would make a little burglar dude for Kaboom!

[via it8bit]

I may be a nerd, but it just seems like circuit boards make everything better. They are all shiny and full of circuits. And when you make dragons from old circuit boards, they look pretty amazing. They probably breathe electricity rather than fire.

These cool dragons were made by Amanda aka TheblueKraken. Each dragon has been made into brooches, necklaces or business card holders that have gleaming (artificial) opals for eyes. She handcuts each circuit board, removes all of the extraneous elements, and then polishes and seals them in clear coat before assembling them with rivets.

I love how she used different circuit boards for the wings, adding some depth. And check out this design – it’s a red dragon necklace, made from a less common red circuit board and hesonite garnets.

These and other cool designs are available over at TheBlueKraken’s ArtFire shop.

I pity the knight who goes up against these dragons. Electricity and armor don’t mix.

[via Obvious Winner]

I love Space Invaders stuff, but there are probably plenty of people who would like its merchandise to be a bit more classy. Maybe a bit more old world. Well, for those fans, check out mudstuffing’s Etsy shop.

The shop offers all kinds of cool screenprinted pottery, but the best pieces are his Space Invaders pieces. There is a small salsa bowl, a cup and a square plate. They are all done in a vintage style and are elegant and classy.

So if you have this kind of dinnerware already, they may even match. I don’t care myself, but some people always want things that match the other stuff in their kitchen. If it has Space Invaders on it, it’s good enough for me.

[via it8bit]

Korean DIY site Hobby:Design has a neat idea for a light bulb that doesn’t need electricity or electronics to work. The not so secret ingredient is of course glow in the dark pigment. Leave it exposed to bright light during the day and you get soft lighting at night. You can’t turn it off though.

Hobby:Design made the luminous bulbs by first making a cast using an actual light bulb. Then they mixed silicone with luminous pigment and poured the resulting mixture into the cast to get a bulb-shaped replica that glows in the dark. To complete the simile and make it easier to hang the bulb, they screwed the replicas into bulb sockets.

If you can use Litrospheres with this project you’ll have a semi-permanent light source. Check out the full how-to on Hobby:Design.

[via NOTCOT]

Flickr member Nick V aka Brickthing made a scale model of a video card using LEGO. Nick calls his creation the PowerBuild CRLMRM IRON HD, poking fun at the naming scheme of video card manufacturers while at the same time referencing fellow LEGO enthusiast Carl Merriam.

As with most LEGO creations, the model really deserves a closer inspection. As someone who’s not up to date with LEGO, half of the fun with seeing projects like this is discovering pieces that I never knew existed.

You can check out the full resolution image on Nick’s Flickr page.

[via Gizmodo]