Archie McPhee

7.19.2008 @ 8:09 pm UTC by lilah wild

Archie McPhee deluxe monster finger puppetsA fantastically weird toyshop in Seattle, where the online catalog is divided into categories like Catapults, Evil, Sushi, Jesus, and Candy. Kitchen wares, drinking goods, and some other actually-functional things are sprinkled into a mass of pirate umbrellas, Venus de Milo party picks, wrestling masks, Holy Toast, deluxe finger monsters, Cold War Unicorn play sets, mannequin heads, Wind-Up Hopping Liederhosen, and of course a site like this wouldn’t be complete without the option of Mystery Boxes.

Vat 19

2.17.2008 @ 6:38 pm UTC by lilah wild

Vat 19 Space Invaders desktop gameA catalog of oddities for the home and office, some merely cute, others quite useful in an offbeat way. Self-extinguishing beeswax candles, invisible bookshelves, windchime alarm clocks, desktop-sized vintage 80’s video games, salt and pepper shakers that hug each other, dial-a-drink cocktail shakers, journals made from floppy disks, collapsible BBQ firebowls, all kinds of weird little gadgets.

Evolve Fish

10.10.2006 @ 10:02 pm UTC by lilah wild

Evolve Fish Darwin gefilteEver wonder where those hilarious bumper-sticker Darwin fish come from? This site has a lot of great permutations of the original, including “Satan,” “Freud,” and “Tuna.” They also carry a ton of stickers, buttons, shirts, cards, all kinds of reading material, science toys, Wash Away Your Sins soaps, pride stuff, and other snarkilicious miscellanea for progressives, pagans, and other subverters of the status quo.

Dead Batteries

2.13.2006 @ 1:00 am UTC by lilah wild

Dead BatteriesIn a world of anxious press releases and endless flowery ad copy, it’s almost heartening to run across a site that greets potential customers with an upraised middle finger. Enshrined amid some truly obnoxious web design, AA batteries are restyled with comic and pinup imagery. Yes, they work, and come with a profanity-laden guarantee, and are quite popular as vibrator accompaniments.

The Science Fair

11.15.2004 @ 10:17 pm UTC by lilah wild

The Science Fair crystal radioLots and lots of fun (and educational) playthings. Rock candy kits, chemistry sets, rock tumblers for the jewelry crafters, solar cell panels, electronics, weird games, microscopes, tons of glassware, and pre-packaged experiments for the budding mad scientist.

Automata Shop

10.4.2004 @ 1:00 am UTC by lilah wild

Automata Shop Anubis situpsBrought to you by Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, a touring exhibition of fabulous moving sculptures that we highly recommend visiting if they appear in your local science museum, the Automata Shop brings penny arcade dioramas to life: motion art is for sale as well as considerably less expensive paper cutout kits and “design-your-own” sets.

Giant Microbes

9.26.2004 @ 10:48 pm UTC by lilah wild

Giant Microbes ebola dollThe Black Death has never looked so cuddly! Plushy, bulbous dolls fashioned after various diseases and undesirable conditions. Divided into sections like Calamities, Maladies, and Critters, these stuffed animals put cute, wide-eyed faces on ulcers, dust mites, and flesh-eating streptococcus (which comes with a little knife and fork.)