Happy 30th to those neverending Space Invaders

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the 2nd greatest video game ever (Ms. Pac Man is #1 4EVAH). We here at Collateral Damage take Space Invaders very seriously. In part that’s because I’m in awe of the amount of time and quarters I wasted devoted to it. In part it’s because it reminds me of the time back when I didn’t have to put up with uppity young punks because I was one. Hence the official logo of the Collateral Damage mobile:

(If you are interested in doing the same to your car or walls the stickers may be found here. Be prepared for a bit of attention if you put them on the old gas guzzler.)

Fortunately the rest of the world seems to share my fascination. Herewith a few of the more interesting things I have come across that pay homage to our Space Invader overlords. So in honor of the 30th Anniversary of the

We will begin with apparel (and skip over the entire t-shirt aisle — cuz there’s a zillion of those).

You can get this underwear:

Or this underwear:

The solid gold necklace ($165!?!?):

The solid plastic pendent ($46 but that’s Australian, so who knows what it is in real money. And by real money I mean Euros.):

Or these necklaces which are made of wood and a deal at all 3 for $50 in deflated US dollars:

Or for more formal occasions there’s a choice of ties.

First:

Second:

Or a bowtie, if you are David Churbuck:

For some reason you can get them as cufflinks. You can get cufflinks shaped like pretty much anything but

Advertisement

Pringles can designer is buried in one

Fredric J. Baur died May 4 at Vitas Hospice in Cincinnati. Baur, 89, had designed the Pringles potato chip packaging system for Procter & Gamble in 1966. Baur’s children said they honored his request to bury him in one of the cans by placing part of his cremated remains in a Pringles container in his grave in suburban Springfield Township.

There is no truth to the rumor that Pringles are people. Nor are they soylent green.

Toast is now the hottest thing in product design

It’s true. There’s something about turning things that aren’t toast into toast that seems to appeal to designers right now. A thumb-sucking trend-spotter (GUILTY!) might say this is because toast is warm and comfortable which makes it especially appealing in these unsettled times. However what I really say is pass the marmalade.

First: The refillable toast-shaped Post-It note dispenser (Toast-It Note?), in which the notes play the roll of the butter.

Second: The toast-shaped inflatable pillow. Or mini-pillow? It’s 6 inches across, so I have no idea what earthly use it might have.

Third: Toast — the board game. Turns any slice into yet another pointless game of tic-tac-toe!

Fourth: The toast phone — sadly still only a prototype.

Fifth: The toast clock.

Sixth: The Toast Doll. “Also available are his friends Joe the Egg (6″ tall), Clem Lemon (9″ tall) and Shaky Bacon (10” tall).“

Products with a bang: A gallery of grenade-shaped gadgets UPDATED!

There’s something about the classic hand grenade that thrills a designer’s heart. I was reminded of this fact by The Raw Feed’s post on a new grenade-shaped alarm clock:

The only way to silence it is by throwing it, which is exactly the opposite of what happens with a real grenade. There is an even better product when it comes to form vs. function and hand-held explosives: The grenade-shaped stress release thingie.

“The best and most alarming freebie was the Army’s squeezable hand grenade, illustrated above. When I saw the tempting display at the Army booth, I said “Ooh! Grenades!” and asked nicely for one – the soldier eyed me uncertainly, and said “It’s for stress reduction”. Oh, right – as if a grenade has to be squeezable for stress reduction purposes!”

Fortunately someone can up with an alarm more in keeping with the original metaphor:
“Ideal to get a teenager out of bed! Just pull the pin and throw your grenade into a room with it emitting a near-ear piercing siren. Before you know it they will be out of bed with the grenade in their hand to find you, ‘the pin holder’! Only the pin holder can switch it off!!”

While most grenade products are of this utilitarian sort, not all are. There is, for example, this to-die-for (figuratively) jewelry case. It would be the perfect home for two items previously documented here at CD. L’Oreal’s Flowerbomb perfume which was taken to be a terrorist threat at the Oslo airport and these oil lamps — just the thing to brighten up the home.

UPDATE: Allan Janus, source for the wonderful squeezable grenade, sent along the link to this amazing selection of weapons made of fine china by Charles Kraft:

But, as they say, that’s not all…