For those parents who want to foster their children’s imagination on the cheap, who simultaneously don’t have any issues with children playing with violent toys, will join me in appreciating the simplicity of this invention which turns any stick into a sword.
From a designer named Naama Agassi.
There’s just something a little bit nice about this. A US soldier named Rupert Valero who loves action figures, especially robot/transformer types, has been building toys from scraps he’s picked up around Afganistan and using them to impress the local kids.
He’s made a bunch of robot things using plastic bottle lids.
Rupert makes these things when he’s bored, in this interview he says he’ll pull out his knife and start working away on his plastic creations in spare moments while he waits for the artillery cannon he works on to be put into action. But it’s not something solely for his benefit.
“When we are outside the wire, and interact with the Afghan locals, I take some of my little creations, and you see the eyes open wide on these little kids. I think I put in my humble talent to some use if it means winning hearts and minds of the Afghan people.”
“Out here, it’s 4th world, not even 3rd world. Kids are corrupted at a very young age. Boys are brainwashed to be soldiers, girls to be literally work horses. The kids we see out on patrol have never seen a He-Man or DCUC Batman. Afghan children play with rocks and dirt, which is never in shortage.”
You can buy a few of them on Etsy, and see a bunch of his previous creations on Flickr.
Via hilobrow.
Cheap Chinese toy knock offs hold a special place in my heart. My GI Joe collection was bolstered by some quasi-equivalents from Fair Dinkum Bargains. So this little online repository warmed the cockles of my heart for a moment.
Duck Hunt was an awesome game. The zapper was magic (though I found out how it worked) and the little ducks just begged to be plucked from the sky.
If you’ve been missing the NES experience, like I have, you’ll be excited to know you can now pick up a real life version of the game.
I love it when disparate topical threads get brought together into a thrilling conclusion. That’s why I like movies like Lock Stock so much – here’s a combination of two of my favourite things – macabre toys and roadkill.
Roadkill Plush Toys. That’s right. Cheer up your kiddy (or your inner kiddy) with the thought that things could be much worse.
“Grind (Rabbit) Plush Toy
* He measures a healthy 12 inches from the tip of his twitching nose to his outstretched back paws, and 5 inches across the widest part of his body. His fluffy bunny ears add another 5 inches to his length. One is half-cocked vertically upwards, the other lies flat on the ground. In the middle he squishes out to 3 inches high with the blood and guts stuffed in, and 2 inches high with them out. He weighs a piffling 1.6 kilos. He won’t be the first to admit it, but as his modest dimensions show he was the runt of the litter. A litter which stretched to 211 brothers and sisters.
Splodge (Hedgehog) Plush Toy
* He measures a statuesque 23 cms from nose to tail, and 21 cms from outstretched paw to paw. And in the middle he flattens out to 13 cms high with the blood and guts stuffed in, and 11 cms high with them out. At 300 grams he’s slightly overweight for a hedgehog. This is due to his unhealthy obsession with bread and milk.
Twitch (Raccoon) Plush Toy
* He measures a healthy 15 inches from nose to tail, and 10 inches from outstretched paw to paw. And in the middle he flattens out to 2 inches high with the blood and guts stuffed in, and 1 inch high with them out. He weighs a piffling 350 grams. He won’t be the first to admit it, but as his modest dimensions show he was the runt of the litter.”
I have never wanted to learn to knit as much as I do now. Thanks to this collection of macabre toys.
Bad case of carroted artery
