Things You Never Knew Existed: New Things

Friday, June 19, 2009

New Things

I don't know how they do it, but the buyers here at Things have talent for finding the most interesting and unusual Things on the planet. That's why it's so easy to love my work -- I spend a lot of my time digging through the cool, bizarre, icky, creepy or just plain silly Things they come up with. I don't do it just because it's my job, I also do it because I don't want to miss out on anyThing that I just couldn't live without!

The Flickin' Chicken Game is a perfect example. It made it's debut at the 2009 New York City Toy Fair and it didn't take long for people to fall in love with it. The game is like a goofy version of mini golf where the chicken is like the ball and the target is like the hole. You toss your squishy rubber chicken at the target until one part of the chicken makes a hit. If you come close on your first toss, you have to "putt" from where the chicken falls. Believe me, it's a lot harder to putt a chicken than a golf ball!

I had to have these two Things for my desk.

They're modeled after the Magic 8 Ball, but instead of telling your fortune, they help you out when you need a quick excuse or a sarcastic answer. The Excuse Ball has 20 ways to help you out of a jam. Late for an appointment? Tell them "My fish died" or "I was mugged." Miss a deadline? This magic orb can help with the enduring "my dog ate it" to the more contemporary "abducted by aliens."

Then there's the Sarcastic Ball, which comes with 20 snarky answers for almost any situation. When someone asks you a question, ask them to repeat it for the magic ball. It gives answers like, "in your dreams," "get a clue," "do I look like I care?" and my niece's total favorite, "whatever."

Speaking of my niece, we tried out the Giant Solar Bag last weekend. It's a 50-foot bag you tie at one end and fill with air by running around and holding the untied end open. My niece did all the running. I sat on a bench, rubbed my stomach and used an excuse ball line, "Mexican food." Once she had the bag filled, I helped her tie off the other end and we watched the mammoth "UFO" rise by itself. She was amazed and then curious. She must have gone straight to the computer after I dropped her off. She found out that the bag works because the heat from the sun causes the air molecules to bounce around, hitting the insides of the bag and making it rise. She was so intrigued by the properties of air, convection and buoyancy, she must have used up at least half of my cell phone minutes telling me all about it. What could I do? My niece is a science bug, like me.

Speaking of bugs, I've always liked ant farms. We have two new ones that are very cool. Rainbow Ants starts as a sand sculpture. You pour in the different colors of sand in any design you like and add sugar water. When you place the ants inside your "sculpture," they start creating their own work of art as they build a habitat. You can trace their trails through the colored sand and watch as the sand along their paths and at the top turns multi-colored. It's a great science project for kids and looks great anywhere in the house. Beer Ants are probably best suited for adult enthusiasts. The concept is the same, but as the ants make their way through the habitat gel, which looks like beer, they create "foam."

And as long as we're talking weird science and buggy Things, did you know that crickets are edible? No joke. And of course, if there are flavored crickets to be had, you know that Things would be the place to get them! I only tried them because my sister said I wouldn't (I know a dare when I hear one) and they are crunchy and tasty. Really, they are! My favorite flavor of the set is Bacon & Cheese, but the Salt & Vinegar and Sour Cream & Onion crickets aren't bad either. Now I'm hungry. Where'd I put those bugs anyway?

See you next week,
Bobby

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