Albert the Robot Hanger

Albert Hanger is the coolest hanger ever. Albert is a robot, but unlike other robots bent on destroying the earth with their whole Skynet thing, all Albert wants to do is just hang out.


But the thing is, Albert doesn’t want to hang with you- that’s what makes him so cool. He just wants to chill on the wall with your stuff, taking it all in, maxing and relaxing. I guess you could say he’s like the Fonz of hangers. If he wasn’t screwed into the wall tightly by his eye sockets, Albert would have one leg up and be drinking a robot beer. That’s just how cool he is.

Sofa Converts to Bunk Beds

Sure we’ve all seen convertible sofas that transform into a double bed and even easy chairs that convert to single beds but have you ever seen a couch that can become bunk beds? Now you have with the space saving Doc couch from Resource Furniture. The cover is fully removable for easy cleaning and there is an integrated ladder.

Sports Ball Shaped LCD Monitors with Real Leather

These monitors are for the sports fanatic or leather enthusiast. Or better yet, for your kids. The 19 inch LCD XM Ball series monitors from Hannspree was just announced and they come in several sports ball shapes- soccer, basketball, and baseball (what, no football?) and are covered in leather. For some odd reason the baseball is black. Because of that (and the whole leather thing), I can’t take these monitors seriously.

If you are looking for a serious monitor, according to testfreaks.com the best rated monitor is the Samsung SyncMaster XL20. And you might want to avoid the Samsung SyncMaster 172 X, which testfreaks.com rates the worst.

ABC3D Crazy Alphabet Pop Up Book

Watch the video above for one of the absolute coolest children’s book. It’s a pop-up book by Marion Bataille where each page is a letter of the alphabet (in some cases 2 letters). The letters pop up in very unique manners making this one of the hippest and coolest children’s books I’ve ever seen. Not that I’m reading kid’s books all the time. ABC3D will be released on October 14th, so set your calendars- or you can pre-order it now at Amazon:

SuperSoaker Filled Coffee Table

Here’s a whimsical addition to your living room- the SuperSoaker Coffee Table. This table, actually called the Candy Table from Jellio is made of 1/4 clear acrylic and filled with your favorite toy from your youth. That is, assuming you were born late enough to have had supersoakers when you were a kid. Otherwise it’s just the favorite toy from your younger cousin’s youth. Either way, they come in a variety of dayglo colors and would make a witty and fun addition to your home’s decor.

Stroller with Skateboard Attached

Just because you have a kid doesn’t mean you have to give up the skater lifestyle. You just have to modify it a bit. Here’s an awesome DIY project for the skater mom (or dad) in your life. It’s a standard stroller with a skateboard attached in the rear for the parent to ride on.

No more tired legs from walking your kid in the stroller all about town, now you can wheel about with great speed and less effort. Although it appears that braking is a bit sketchy, maybe it needs a handbrake or something similar. The front wheels of the skateboard have been removed and it looks like it’s attached to the stroller via modified skateboard trucks (the metal part that holds the wheels of the skateboard on). Here’s a video of the “Baby Momma Board” in action.

Electronic Spin the Bottle Game

Kid’s today have it so easy! Back in my day if you wanted to play spin the bottle, first you’d have drink all the nasty backwash out of the bottom of the bottle and then you’d have actually spin the bottle yourself. When the bottle stopped spinning, you’d have to come up with your own truth or dare question using your imagination. Now like everything else, spin the bottle is done electronically.

Electronic Spin the Bottle lights up and makes “cool” sound effects when you spin it. When it stops, the bottle cap puts out a beam of light so you know exactly who it’s pointing at. Then it give you one of 130 commands to do in one of 3 categories (truth/dare/kiss or forfeit). This game is recommended for ages 9-99. Seriously age 9? Kid’s are starting earlier these days. And don’t even get me started on recommending this for anyone over 18… you’re too old for spin the bottle you creep.

Spy Gear Lazer Tripwire System

Wild Planet Spy Gear® Lazer Tripwire is one of the coolest spy gadget toys out there. The Lazer Tripwire lets you use the three lazer units to set up an invisible perimeter around the area you want to protect. The included water mister is used to make sure the LED beams are lined up properly- without actually setting off the alarm. The system is expandable- you can add more units.

We never had anything like this when I was a kid. I used a piece of yarn and some scotch tape to keep my little brother out of my room. Of course I never knew if he actually entered or if the tape just came off. Well, now your kids can know for sure if their little brothers or sisters have tried to infiltrate their private space. And they can have fun doing it- spy style.

Home ATM Really Dispenses the Cash

This ATM is really just a super advanced piggy bank. You deposit money and it keeps track of how much you’ve put in. Then you can use a special ATM card with a pin number to make withdrawals. The best part- no pesky service fees and no lines. This would be a great teaching tool for kids to deposit their allowance into. It appears to be sold for the British market, so sorry American dollar users- your money’s no good here (and practically worthless due to failed economic policies anyway! but I’ll save that rant for my imaginary finance blog).

Teddy Bear Lamp is the Cutest Ever

OMG! Look how cute this Teddy Bear Lamp is. It’s as if an adorable stuffed animal fell asleep with a lampshade on his head. So cute. Just don’t look up the lampshade or you’ll see the headless bear with a lightbulb for a head. That would kind of be the Wizard of Oz man behind the curtain moment. I don’t know about you, but I’m totally charmed by this little guy.

Colorful Crayola Mouse and Keyboard

Kids love to use the computer but the keyboard and mouse can be intimidating- too large for small hands and just plain boring. Well Crayola’s about to change all that with it’s line of colorful kid-oriented computer accessories. The USB keyboard has large colorful keys in those vivid classic Crayola colors for easy typing.

The Crayola optical mouse has a water filled bottom with a floating charm and is compact kid sized for small hands. These two accessories make computing fun for kids! Both are PC & Mac compatible.

Hello Kitty Branded Casio Exilim 8.1 MP Digital Camera

Unlike previous cheap VGA Hello Kitty cameras (not that I would know anything about those), this new Hello Kitty version of the Casio Exilim line of digital cameras is actually a pretty decent camera- 8.1 megapixels and 3x optical zoom, 2.6 in LCD. Except for the whole Hello Kitty graphic on the front and the fact that it’s pink. But it will definitely appeal to someone out there. Now I don’t want to say it’s overpriced because you really can’t put a price on Hello Kitty branded merchandise because Hello Kitty is more than just a lifestyle- Hello Kitty=life itself, but it does cost about twice as much as the non-HK branded version of the Exilim. At least from GeekStuff4U which is the only place I see it for sale. Thank goodness. The last thing we need is a world filled with Hello Kitty shutterbugs everywhere.

Beatblinds Combine Blinds with a Xylophone

Beatblinds, designed by William Gurley combine regular wooden window blinds with a xylophone in what could be the most annoying window covering ever devised! Yeah it would be great for a kid’s room as long as your room is way at the other end of the house. Is there any instrument more annoying than a xylophone (ok, maybe the pan flute)? There’s only so many times you can play the NBC chimes before it gets old. Still, it’s an interesting concept for kids or your percussionist buddies.

Good Nite Lite Readjusts Your Kid’s Sleeping Patterns

The Good Nite Lite is more than just a light for your kid’s room- it’s a patent pending behavior modification device. The light is designed for children ages 3 to 5 who are learning the difference between day and night and when they should be sleeping. The Good Nite Lite changes colors from yellow daytime sunshine to blue nighttime moonlight according to the times you select. Now your kids will have a visual clue as to whether or not they should still be sleeping or if it’s ok for them to get up and wake you up with a little Superfly Snuka jump off the top rope into your bed. The Good Nite Lite will be available in a few months for $34.99.

Crayola Digital Concepts Camcorder is Great for Kids

Kids love to play with cameras and videocameras. But if you think I’m letting some whippersnapper touch my expensive HD camcorder, getting greasy fingers all over the screen and wasting half of my storage on a 20 minute shot of a rock being thrown down the driveway over and over again, you’re dead wrong! No little punk kid is touching my gadgets, no way.

That’s why Crayola has introduced the Digital Concepts Camcorder specifically designed for kids. Rated for ages 5 and up, it comes in great bright colors and is simple to use. The camera has a 1.5inch preview screen, sound effect buttons, built in microphone, and SD memory card slot for storage. The kid-friendly Video Genie software makes it easy for your little ones to make their own movies. It includes five activity centers to entertain and educate: photo editing center, story maker, puppet show, photo frames and jigsaw puzzles. Of course most of the fun is getting out there and shooting stuff on the camera. Most importantly it’s cheap!

Ladybug Earphones Crank it up to 10 on the Cuteness Meter

These Ladybug Earphones really crank it up with cuteness. Available in either “sunnyred” or “sunnypink”, they are great for kids, the ladies, and of course entomologists (bug scientists). The ladybug (ladybird in the UK?) is scientifically called the coccinellidae, which doesn’t make for as catchy a title for a headphone. Imported from Japan the ladybug earbuds have a gold plated plug and are a bit pricey at $29.99, but like I always say “sometimes it pays to be cute and sometimes you have to pay for cute”.

Astounding Keyring Kite

The Keyring Kite is a tiny portable pocket sized kite. It folds up into a tiny plastic case that is literally on a keyring. It unfolds into what looks like a pretty decent size kite, although the product page does not give any specific sizes. You can just toss it into your bag or purse and your kids (or you!) will always have an airborne diversion for when they are getting restless in the great outdoors.

Electric Paper Airplane Launcher for Lazy Kids

The Electricity Science Kit: Electric Paper Plane Launcher is a AA battery powered toy that will propel paper airplanes forward at up to 30 MPH. You might think that requiring a cool gadget to launch a paper airplane rather than throw it with your arm would make your kids lazy and you might be right but the neat thing about this product (besides the fact that it launches paper airplanes!) is that it’s actually a mini-science kit. Your kids (or you) will learn about spinning motors and gears as they assemble the device. So maybe it’s not as lazy a toy as I thought. Cool gift idea for kids.

$27,000 Pirate Ship Treehouse Might Just be Overkill

With the housing and credit markets in crisis, you would think that a $27,000 pirate ship tree house would be overkill. But they sell the Scallywag Sloop Tree House at Sam’s Club, so it’s got to be a good deal! Luckily it’s not sold in bulk, so you don’t have to store an extra 5 treehouses in your basement for the next 10 years behind the box of 5000 q-tips, 7 gigantic sized ranch salad dressing bottles and 11 boxes of tissues.

The Scallywag Sloop Tree House (aka the world’s greatest tree house) measures in at a whopping 19′W x 10′D x 20′H. It has a 5′ x 6′ pirate themed clubhouse, 8′ x 6′ galleon styled ship’s bow, a fire pole, cargo net climb, turbo slide, and pirate themed props like a canon hole, skeleton figurehead and a ship’s wheel.

If you came out unscathed by the whole subprime mortgage crisis and happen to have a spare $27,000 lying around to give your kids the best Christmas gift ever, then you might want to look into renting the required forklift or a crane to get this thing off the truck and into your yard (unless you’re Magnús Ver Magnússon, in which case you just carry it off yourself). Family and friends take note: this is on the top of my holiday wishlist.

Military Inspired Stroller Takes Your Kid for a Ride Into the Danger Zone

Check out this seriously tough stroller. I’d call this the Hummer of strollers. Called the Oakley Roddler and supposedly inspired by the Oakley brand, this stroller will make your kid the ultimate Army brat. Literally… he will literally be a brat with a bunch of jealous little runt friends telling him how awesome he is because he has such awesome stuff all because he’s riding dirty in a serious stroller. Best stroller ever.