Hasta La Gadget!

A new stuffed bear toy has turned up on Indiegogo that is mostly cute and just a little bit creepy. The bear is called the Teddy Sitter and is supposed to be a fun and educational interactive toy aimed at kids from age 4 to 8. The people behind the project say that the bear knows songs, stories, games, and can play music.

Parents can pre-set reminders for kids to shower, snack, or take medicine. Here’s where the creepy part comes in – the bear also allows parents to monitor their children remotely using a mobile phone application. Using the app, the bear can take pictures and send them to parents, and allows parents to send and receive text messages from the bear.

Oddly enough, the bear can also measure the room temperature and humidity levels. Teddy Sitter includes the ability to call your child by name, has an integrated nightlight, can tell bedtime stories, sing songs, and play MP3 music.

Teddy Sitter will cost you a minimum of €100 (~$132 USD) over on IndieGogo.

I don’t always agree with the choices that Nicolas Cage makes with regards to his career, but I definitely have a strong opinion about his hairstyle – or his lack of one. Nicolas has been sporting variants of the same boring old ‘do for as long as I can remember. If it bugs you as much as it bugs me and his legions of fans and non-fans, then the good news is that there’s something you can do about it.

You won’t be able to make him change it, but you can try to convince him by showing him what he looks like with the help of a couple of dry erase markers and this handy dandy Nicole Cage whiteboard from Brandon Bird.

So you won’t be able to use it for anything else, but at least you’ll be able to have tons of fun and tons of laughs while you unleash your creativity and share it with your bestest pals.

The Nicole Cage hairstyle whiteboard is on sale for $20 on TopatoCo.

[via Laughing Squid]

Growing up, it wasn’t a holiday or a special event unless there were at least two Polaroid cameras whirring and spitting out instant pictures. If you grew up in the 70s or 80s, you probably owned one or more of these cameras, or at least your parents did. These cameras all spewed out little white-bordered pictures that developed themselves. I bet your mom’s photo album is stuffed full of these pictures right now.

If you like to the looks of these retro-style images these cameras produced, a company called PolaPros has 12 classic Polaroid instant camera models available for purchase.

Most of the cameras are refurbished units, but the company does offer some brand-new never sold vintage cameras still in the original packaging. Along with the cameras, the company also offers a wide range of accessories including lenses, camera cases, and external flash units.

All of this retro goodness will cost you though. Camera prices range from approximately $395 to $700(USD) – significantly more than their original $180 to $399 retail prices. If you have one of these Polaroid instant cameras lying around that doesn’t work, the company can also clean or fix it for you, with prices starting at about $80. One required accessory that I don’t see listed on the PolaPros site is film, which you can purchase from The Impossible Project for about $24 a pack.

Back in 2011, Ryan of Mad Art Lab wrote a post publicly condemning the Slave Leia costume. He had a couple of good reasons, but he realized that he had gone overboard, which is why last week he revised his stance. If some men just want to watch the world burn, some women just want to wear a Slave Leia costume. It’s as simple as that. So he decided to join in on the fun too.

Image by Angela Clayfield and Julia Hall

Mad. Swag. Ryan was also partly inspired by a group of girls who wore gender bent versions of Star Wars characters – they had a female Darth Vader, Han Solo and even a female Artoo. He also said that it was a chance for him to step outside of his comfort zone. Finally, Ryan took his concept as an opportunity to challenge himself artistically. He didn’t just buy a Slave Leia costume; he actually spent months making his own costume using cloth, metal and leather, and making adjustments here and there to come up with a male version of the famous outfit.

Ryan says he’ll be rockin’ Slave Leo at this year’s Dragoncon. I hope the convention’s got ample heating. You can check out more pictures of Ryan in his Slave Leo outfit on Mad Art Lab. You know you want to.

[via Boing Boing]

One of the buried treasures at last week’s New York Toy Fair was this cool buggy I found hiding out in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles booth. Basically, it’s like a mega buggy that can seat all four Ninja Turtles, but can also break off into individual cars.

The Patrol Buggy line comes in individual rides for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, and then they can snap together to form the giant   four-turtle mega buggy shown above.

You can also connect two of the vehicles together and launch either Leo and his rocket grenade, or Raph and his road rash missile towards their foes.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles patrol buggies will sell for $19.99(USD) each when they arrive this August, and are compatible with standard TMNT action figures (each sold separately.)