Toys

The PowerUp 3.0 is a newly-launched Kickstarter project that lets you pilot your homemade paper airplane using a smartphone. The PowerUp features a carbon fiber frame with a propeller on one end and a battery powered BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) receiver on the opposite end. The receiver is powered by a lithium polymer battery that provides 10 minutes […]

… and this “World’s Most Challenging Puzzle” results.  The 36 Cube is available from ThinkGeek, who likens it to a 3D Sudoku puzzle.  The game was developed by Dr. Derrick Niederman of MIT and is based on Euler’s 36-officers problem.  The goal is to place the colored pieces so that each color appears only once in

What do you get when you combine an author who is a former LEGO Group product designer and a trusty robot companion named Brickbot? You get The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 2 by Megan H. Rothrock. This is a 196 page hard cover book that features 100 example LEGO models from the world’s most creative

I’m more than a little fascinated with magnets. When I was a kid, I would take apart any device that I thought might have a magnet in it just so I could add it to my collection. As an adult, I still love magnets and recently had a 10 foot long steel sheet hung up

LEGO Space: Building the Future from No Starch Press and authors Peter Reid and Tim Goddard take readers on a fantastic intergalactic LEGO adventure with sleek starships, cool robots, creepy aliens, fearsome space pirates, and much more. This 216 page hardcover book features color images and a selection of step-by-step building instructions that will let

Griffin’s new app powered MOTO TC Rally touch-controlled race car connects to iOS devices via Bluetooth, letting users drive, maneuver and race using their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. “MOTO TC Rally isn’t your typical remote-controlled car,” said Erica Kyle, Youth Product Line Manager at Griffin. “We’ve added fun features like the Bump ‘n Run

I’m not really a huge sports fan, but these minifigs from OYO make me want to start so I can buy a few. The mini figures might look like LEGO minifigs, but OYO isn’t associated with LEGO. Their figures feature rotating forearms, bendable knees, team colors, logos, and player likenesses so that they look like

Laser Pegs are similar to a lot of toy building blocks on the market, but you build lighted creations with these blocks.  Each kit has 72 blocks, and each block has an LED light and low-voltage circuitry; the power supply in the base makes your creations glow with light.  There are a variety of kits

My heart skipped a couple beats when I first saw the 3D Metal Mechanized Playing Cards from artist Dale Mathis. I absolutely love gears and Steampunk style art, so I was very interested in learning more about Dale’s Kickstarter project. First of all, the Tuck Box (the box that holds the playing cards) is the

Hackers, makers, tinkerers (is that a word?), programmers, and general noodlers should check out the VERVE Kickstarter project. The VERVE is a controller that connects to your PC or Mac.  You plug up to 7 sensors into it that can be used to translate your activity into game controls or keyboard commands. The 7 included sensors

Did you realize yet that it’s less than two months until Christmas?  If you have a budding astronomer or a devoted Star Wars enthusiast on your gift list, you need to check out the SEGATOYS HomeStar STAR WARS Darth Vader Planetarium from Brando.  This planetarium projects about 10,000 stars on an approximately 106 inch field at

Have you ever had a game board that was useless because you lost the playing pieces or the dice?  You can always buy new dice, but you can’t necessarily get new game pieces.  Why not just replace it with a suite of games for your tablet and a Bluetooth dice?  DICE+ is a universal board

When you claim to have the world’s smallest IRC helicopter, you better be able to back up that claim. The Nano Falcon from Brando can do that because it was certified by Guinness World Records in March of this year. The Nano Falcon measures 3.19 inches long by 2.00 inches high and 0.88 inches wide

I’ve been looking for lamps recently, and I stumbled across this.  It may not be the statement I want to make in the living room, but it might be perfect for the home office.   With the Alien Abduction Lamp, it looks for all the world as if old Bossie the cow is being abducted

If you like chess, but you need a new challenge or perhaps you’re just tired of the other player forever pondering his moves, this chess set will add a definite time constraint to the game.  The Ice Speed Chess Set  from ThinkGeek comes with two silicone molds that will make two complete sets of chess

The holiday gift-giving season is coming quickly, and Roddenberry Entertainment has a perfect gift suggestion for the Captain in your life (especially if it’s you).  Captain Kirk’s own chair was built by surrounding a Danish chair with a plywood enclosure and equipping it with incandescent lights for the buttons.  These Star Trek TOS Captain’s Chair

Halloween is coming, and you want to go dressed as one of the crew from the original Star Trek TV show.  Don’t despair!  You don’t have to make do with cheap costumes; you can have a uniform shirt as authentic as Roddenberry Entertainment can make it.  “Using decades worth of accumulated research and access to

Do you have fond memories of playing in the sand? I walked into a gadget store yesterday and saw a display for Kinetic Sand, which is made by WABA Fun. It reminded me of playing in a sandbox with Play-Doh. Kinetic Sand only sticks to itself so you can mold it and play with it

We show and review a lot of cool and useful gadgets here on The Gadgeteer, but sometimes it’s nice to find an item that has no real purpose other than being fun to play with. The Precision Gyroscope, a Kickstarter project from Manuka Makers, is such a gadget. Although gyroscopes have many practical uses, most