I’m sure Mega Man fans already know – and pre-ordered – about the old school Mega Man statue that Capcom unveiled for the Blue Bomber’s 25th anniversary. But if you’d rather be Mega Man, go grab Capcom Japan’s limited edition Mega Buster and Helmet set.
Not only are both items wearable, they’re super soft too. You can morph into Sleep Man just by closing your eyes and resting your head on the most huggable arm cannon ever made.
Turn into Pre-order Man and head to Capcom Japan’s online store, where you can get the set for ¥6,090 (~$61 USD). Don’t live in Japan? Try White Rabbit Express and see if they can help you out.
It must be insanely hard to come up with an original superhero these days, what with the hundreds – or perhaps thousands – of already existing ones. Is there any superpower that hasn’t been taken yet? Just looking at the graphic in Pop Chart Lab’s t-shirt must be enough to make a budding writer sweat bullets. Then prompt him to create Bullet Sweater, the ultimate worrier.
The intimidating chart collates 384 super-powered characters, from Superman to Silent Majority. As mind-boggling as that may be, even a casual comic geek like me knows that this is by no means comprehensive. Bullet Sweater isn’t here, for one thing.
You can order The Giant Omnibus of Superpowers t-shirt from Pop Chart Lab for just $20 (USD). As of this writing I didn’t see the graphic being offered as a print, but you can check out a large image of the chart here.
Do you want to play laser tag all the time? Please. Does a bear poop in the woods while dreaming of playing laser tag? Well now you can. A group of kids from the Young Tech Entrepreneur program of ThoughtSTEM have invented a small laser tag target. No need to wear the bulky body armor that doesn’t actually protect you from laser gunfire that isn’t really a laser but infrared!
The yet unnamed gadget is controlled by an ATmega328 chip and has six LEDs that serve as the wearer’s hit points. Each LED goes from green to red each time the gadget is hit and is bright enough to shine through clothing. The current prototypes look rough, but with your help ThoughtSTEM can make the targets look more stylish. But what about the blasters? Well, you may already own a bunch of them. According to ThoughtSTEM anything that emits infrared light at 38 kHz can be used as a laser tag “gun”. That includes many TV remote controls. As you’ll see in the video below, cunning tinkerers can even make hidden infrared weapons or traps.
Pledge at least $75 (USD) on Kickstarter to reserve a fully assembled laser tag target. But if you’re good with electronics, pledging just $25 gets you the schematics and instructions to build the device. They really should come up with a name for it.
Last year we heard about how Teague Labs was able to make a pair of headphones with 3D printed components. While that’s revolutionary in and of itself, that proof of concept still used store bought and manufactured parts. Industrial designer J.C. Karich set out to try and make a pair of headphones that anyone with access to a 3D printer and basic electronics raw materials can make.
Karich succeeded in his task. He was able to make a plug, a headband and bases for the speakers using 3D printed parts and a fabric ribbon for the cord. As for the “speakers” themselves, Karich used nothing but copper wire and magnets.
As you can imagine, the sound coming from the headphones is quite weak and of low quality, hence Karich’s clever name for his creation – Low-Fi, High-Tech. But hey, it works!
If you want to try making your own headphones from scratch, head to Karich’s Thingiverse page for the instructions as well as the 3D files.
This beautiful ceramic teapot was handmade by Etsy seller/Zelda fan/punk potter Lauren Russell. She made it lovingly using white earthenware clay then carefully glazed it with non-toxic glazes. And Link wouldn’t think twice about breaking it open for a chance of scoring a rupee.
Aside from the cool green color, it also a golden Triforce on one side and the red logo found on Link’s Hylian Shield in Twilight Princess on the other side. It can hold about 5 cups of liquid and is dishwasher safe.
This teapot has already been bought, and it won’t respawn even if you leave the room and come back. But maybe you can contact Lauren and commission her to make you one.
That’s right X! It’s a 16″ x 6″ replica of a light capsule from the Mega Man X series, featuring a looping animation of the one and only Dr. Light. The replica was made by artistman Andrewman ButtermanAndrew Butterworth. He showed off the replica at the recently concluded Mega Man Boss Battle art show.
Andrew created the hologram effect by reflecting the image onto an angled sheet of glass in the middle using a screen set into the base.
As of this writing, you can still buy this unique mega merch from the Gauntlet Gallery for $3,000 (USD). Easter Egg included. Check out more pictures of the light capsule on Imgur.
Etsy is home to all sorts of fun, cute and geeky handmade stuff, and these creations by Little Bun satisfy all three of those criteria in spades. She makes little people and characters based on pop culture figures using clothespins as their bodies.
There are tons of great designs up in her shop, but my personal favorites have to be the Bob Ross doll (and his happy little trees), as well as the Sheldon Cooper Big Bang Theory doll, complete with Flash t-shirt. That said, the one with Walter (John Goodman) from The Big Lebowski is pretty sweet too. And check out the tiny unibrow on Frida Kahlo. Check out a bunch of Little Bun’s clothespin dolls in the gallery below:
Wait, I have a new favorite. That little Knight who says “Ni” and his tiny shrubbery is priceless. Head on over to her Etsy shop if you’d like to buy some clothespin characters for yourself.
Avi originally made the set as a birthday gift for his son. The board is made of a 16 x 16 baseplate with 1 stud plates on top. The pieces – Rebels and Empires, of course – all come from LEGO’s Battle of Hoth play set. To finish it off, Avi also made a carrying case as well as a couple of covers for the case.
If you liked Avi’s creation, check out more pictures of the set on Flickr and most importantly vote for it on Cuusoo. Who knows, it might become an official LEGO product. But the good thing about Avi’s idea is that unlike the other Cuusoo concepts we’ve seen, it’s relatively easy to replicate it because Avi was kind enough to share his parts list. So even if LEGO doesn’t approve of it you can just go and build one.
Automation company Festo loves showing off its technologies and expertise by creating robot versions of animals. We’ve featured the company’s SmartBird before, and you may have also seen its AirPenguin in action. Now the company has released information about its latest pet project, the BionicOpter.
With the BionicOpter, Festo set out to replicate the flying capabilities of the dragonfly. The company says the insect is unique in that it can move in all directions, glide, hover, turn and accelerate quickly and even fly backwards. By replicating how dragonflies use their wings, the BionicOpter ends up being more versatile than a plane, helicopter or glider.
The robot has an aluminum body and carbon fiber wings. It has one external brushless motor and eight motors that handle the movement of its wings. Speaking of which, the robot can orient its wings vertically or horizontally as needed, just like the real deal. The BionicOpter can fly on its own but it can also be controlled remotely. All of that in a machine that weighs only 175g (approx. 0.39lbs.).
If you ask me the best feature of the BionicOpter is that it has a gracefulness to it that I previously thought could only be exhibited by a living creature. Check out Festo’s report (pdf file) if you want to learn more about the robot.
While some of you are out thinking of April Fools’ pranks to pull off, 9-year old Daisy Morris just had a newly discovered prehistoric flying reptile named after her. The pterosaur is called Vertidraco daisymorrisae, and Daisy is what we call a winner at life.
According to the BBC, Daisy actually made the discovery back in 2009, when she was only four years-old. Daisy and her family were strolling along Atherfield Beach in the Isle of Wight in England when she stumbled upon a few small bones. They searched the nearby area and found a few more bones, then they had their find examined by a fossil expert named Martin Simpson. Below is an unofficial mirror of the BBC report on Daisy:
A paper that was published last March 2013 by Simpson and two other researchers cements Daisy’s legacy, citing among other things the pterosaur’s name and its etymology. Daisy now has the rare privilege to bring nothing but herself for show and tell.
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