Back to Dick's Gadget Warehouse! What (Boys) Toy is 100 years old and still being sold?

Did you guess Erector? (With help from Wikipedia.) Erector was first introduced and sold to the public in 1913 at the Toy Fair held at the Broadway Central Hotel in New York City. Notice it’s called Erector, not Erector Set. Erector was conceived by Alfred Carlton Gilbert (A.C. Gilbert) in 1911. The first Erector, made in 1913, was called "The Erector / Structural Steel and Electro- Mechanical Builder". It claimed to be "Educational, Instructive and Amusing". In 1914, the name was changed to "The Mysto Erector", "The Toy That Resembles Structural Steel". In 1916, the company was reorganized and became the A.C. Gilbert Company. "Erector" was renamed "Gilbert Erector", "The Toy Like Structural Steel". In 1924, more changes occurred, as the entire Erector system was completely overhauled to include over 70 parts.[3] "Erector" was now called "The New Erector", The Worlds Greatest Toy". Through 1932, "Erector" was sold in wood boxes. From 1933 through 1962 the sets would be sold in colorful boxes made of steel. Early boxes were painted red, green or blue but by the 1950s all set boxes were painted red. Later, as the company grew, the area around the Gilbert factory became known as "ERECTOR SQUARE". Today, this area has become a rather run down section of New Haven, Connecticut and the old factory building consists of many small shops. A.C. Gilbert died in 1961 and the company went into decline. The system was redesigned, adding many plastic parts, but the "clunky" looking models failed to compete with the new, realistic, scale, plastic models coming onto the market. The A.C. Gilbert Company filed bankruptcy in 1967. The Gabriel company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania bought the "Erector" name and continued to market the recently redesigned system. Sales were slow and by the 1980s the trademark "Erector" was acquired by Ideal Toys and then Tyco Toys. "Meccano" (France) has owned the "Erector" brand since the year 2000. "Erector" sold millions of sets over the years. The largest (and most sought after by collectors) is the 1931 No. 10 Set. Touted in advertising of the day as "The Climax of Erector Glory", the set weighed in at 150 pounds. Today’s there’s an Erector 100th Anniversary RC Remote Control Set that comes with a 6V battery-operated motor,  643 parts and instructions for 25 fully detailed models. The cover shows the crane Jeff built.

See or hear the original Netcast: www.twit.tv/giz1412

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448

OMG! This week Leo has two really good gadgets from Sky Mall. Here's the description of the 1st one from the Sky Mall website!

The Cuisinart ICE-45PK Mix It In Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker, in Pink, gives you professional-quality soft ice cream, yogurt, sorbet and sherbet right at home. Not only does it make everyone's favorites, but with three built-in condiment dispensers, it makes them extra delicious. Just a pull of a tab sends sprinkles, chips and other mix-ins down the chute to mix right into frozen desserts as cones or bowls are filled. Operation is fully automatic; simply pour in the ingredients and turn the dial. Product Features: Adds favorite mix-ins into soft serve ice cream as it's dispensed! / Pull out tabs to add one, two or all three types of mix-ins / Pull down handle to dispense soft serve ice cream directly into cones or bowls / Makes 2 quarts of frozen dessert in as little as 20 minutes / Fully automatic - just add favorite fresh ingredients and turn the dial / Cone holder holds a stack of pointed or flat bottom cones / No chemicals, salt or ice required / Removable parts for easy cleaning / Instruction Book and Recipe Book included. $99.99.

http://www.skymall.com/soft-serve-ice-cream-maker-pnk/ICE-45PK.html#q=ice+cream+maker&start=1

And Leo’s take: It seems like a well-made machine, which one would expect since it’s from Cuisinart. Although Leo sort of faked making soft serve ice cream on this show, the machine looked good. Kids will love the fact that you add mix-ins right from the machine. It’s worth the price. (But you could do a a web search just to make sure $99.99 is the best price.

Leo’s 2^nd ‘Gadget’, The Star Trek Captain Dress. First the description from Sky Mall.

A rarely seen jewel of the Star Trek TOS series, ANOVOS is offering the TOS tri-cut pattern dress uniform in the Command Division Gold. This dress features the Lieutenant edition featuring a single braid on each sleeve along with a Command Division patch. Featuring the exact double-knit fabric from the original uniforms, and fabric dyed to match screen-used samples, this dress material is accurate to the original swatches used on set during filming. Patterns were based off of original cut patterns used from the set to ensure complete accuracy and look. A long hidden zipper finishes the piece, recreating one of the most iconic feminine designs of its time and even today. This is by far one of the beautiful pieces created in the ANOVOS collection. You deserve to own this one of a kind piece. $349.95. 

UPDATE: SKY MALL NOT LONGER CARRIES THIS DRESS.

Leo’s Take: The in-studio live (very, very live) model for the Star Trek Captain’s dress was Liz Romero (Lizzard77) of world-famous TWiT fame. Leo thought Liz looked ‘great!’ in the dress. I doubt if anyone would disagree with him. It’s quite form fitting and it’s seems, quite short. I think Liz was a bit uncomfortable about the length of the dress, so she wore a black leotard underneath. It was a bit hit, but Leo did mention that the dress is quite expensive at $349.99, plus shipping and handling. Be sure to see Liz wearing the dress in the video version at the link below.

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1411

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448

The $460 Lego Star Wars Death Kit!

I don’t think something that costs $400 and uses thousands of Legos can be called “crap, but I’m getting ahead of myself here. Somehow Jeff Needles, working at the Brick TWiT House as a summer intern for college credit, talked Leo into buying the LEGO Star Wars Death Star (10188) kit. Jeff said he’d build it in less than a week so Leo could show it on the Giz Wiz. Leo thought it looked great, so he bought it and Jeff built it. First, here’s the description from Lego: Recreate the action and adventure of the Star Wars movies with the ultimate Death Star playset. This amazingly detailed battle station features an incredible array of mini-figure-scale scenes, moving parts, characters and accessories from Episodes IV and VI on its multiple decks, including the Death Star control room, rotating turbo-laser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor’s throne room, detention block, firing laser cannon, Imperial conference chamber, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser…plus much more! Includes 24 minifigures and droids, plus all-new Dianoga trash compactor monster.

And now back to me! Follow the show link to see Jeff build it in record time thanks to time-lapse photography. And thanks to Jammerb, you can also see the Star Wars action figures standing, watching the construction! It is a very detailed model, with many working elements. It’s for kids 12 and up. It sells for $459.99. Is it worth it? Leo didn’t give a definite answer, but he was impressed with the detail and working parts of the model.

This is the original show for this gadget: www.twit.tv/giz1418

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448

Video submissions for The Giz Wiz, always start with an email like this one:

My new favorite gadget!

Quick review of the Adafruit "Flowing Effect iOS Dock Data+Charging Cable - Black w/Aqua EL"

Completely pointless.

Everyone who sees it wants it.

Sounds like something for the GizWiz!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxWaX54Dkk

I forgot to mention in the video:

• $15 for the iOS version
• They have regular USB and Lightning Connector versions

More info iOS version: http://adafruit.com/products/1236

"Great Artists Ship"  Lon Koenig 

---- Lon is right. I love this cable. I got the micro USB version to charge my Galaxy 3. Everyone who visits Gizneyland loves it too! The movement slows down as your phone nears full charge. When the moving light goes out, your phone is charged. So it's fun to watch, and very useful. $14.95.

Micro USB version: http://www.adafruit.com/products/1233

This is the show where we 1st showed the Adafruit cable: www.twit.tv/giz1413

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448

Chad shows us the Squatty Potty! Yes, on this show.

Over the past few months I’ve gotten three or four email requests to “please do a review of the Squatty Potty on The Giz Wiz Show.” Quite frankly, I had no idea how to do that. A Giz Wiz video of the week? …I don’t think so! But on this episode of The Giz Wiz OMGChad did indeed show and talk about the Squatty Potty. Even though he took a camera into the bathroom at TWiT, he stopped short of a full demo. The whole idea of the Squatty Potty is to put your body into a better position to do what it’s supposed to do when you’re sitting on the throne. Here’s a better description from the company website:

“Whether you’re already a believer in the benefits of squatting to eliminate, or you’ve stumbled onto this site as your first introduction to the whole concept, here’s the low-down on why squatting to poop is in your best interest and why using the Squatty Potty is the most convenient, safest way to squat.” Chad didn’t think it was such a great idea considering it cost a minimum of $30. He thought just bending forward when sitting on the throne would do the same thing. But maybe you can judge better for yourself by seeing photos and reading more at the company website:

http://www.squattypotty.com/Default.asp?gclid=CO6-tY7X9rkCFVGi4AodpWsA1w

Originally heard on this show: www.twit.tv/giz1436

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448

Forget whistle while you work - now you can walk as you work.

Turns out Leo's gadget is quite a piece of equipment. While we were recording this show Leo looked like he was getting warmer and warmer. I noticed a bit of sweat gathering on his forehead. There had been a bit of secrecy about Leo’s gadget for the day. I suspected he was doing something under his desk, like walking on a treadmill to generate electricity to run his computer. It turned out I (and a few in the chat room) were almost right. Leo was walking on a treadmill since we started recording the show, but not to generate electricity. Leo was on the Lifespan Fitness TR1200-DT5 Treadmill Desk. No one watching, including me, could see below the top of Leo's desk, so we didn't know until the reveal what his gadget was. The Lifespan Fitness Desk TR1200-DT5 is a way to work and exercise at the same time. It can used for folks of different heights and the desk has a manual height adjustment. There’s a lot more info at the company website. JammerB found the Lifespan Fitness TR1200-DT5 desk on Woot at a bargain price for a piece of equipment like this. Instead of $1500, it was priced at $999.00. Thinking a healthy employee is a better employee; Leo bought the desk to demo on the Giz Wiz show, and said that JammerB could take it home to use as a way to lose weight and keep in shape! Now that’s a great boss!

http://www.lifespanfitness.com/workplacesolutions-treadmill-desk-and-bike-desk/tr1200-dt5-treadmill-desk.html

Originally heard on this show: www.twit.tv/giz1440

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448

Leo's Crap! (But sometimes it's something good. Occassionally, very good!)

Don’t get too excited about owing one of these, because you can’t buy one. This neat-looking, old-fashioned red rotary dial telephone is actually a cell phone! Place a sim card in it and dial away! With a built in battery you can roam indoors or out making calls (within your calling plan, of course). Watch this episode to see Padre sitting in the street making phone calls on this rotary dinosaur! Made by SharkFun, the Porto-O-Rotary is no longer available. But here’s some info from their website: We have unfortunately retired this product but you can always read about how we built it! This page is for reference only. The infamous Portable Rotary Phone is an original rotary phone that has been modified to be a cellular phone. The Port-O-Rotary has a functional rotary dial, rings the original, loud metallic bells when a call is received, and even has a dial tone. Phone comes fully assembled and tested. All you have to do is open the phone, insert your SIM card, and turn the unit on! The unit will utilize your phone number and account minutes. Each Port-O-Rotary is an original rotary phone that has been specially modified. There may be small scratches and scraps on the exterior, also known as 'character'. The battery can run the phone for 4-5 days (yes days) and is charged by an external jack on the rear of the phone (charger included). And now, back to me. Price was about $300+, which may make the fact that they're no longer made easier to take. Leo said they were all hand made and probably were too much trouble to keep building.

Originally heard on this show: www.twit.tv/giz1442

See or hear the “Best of 2013” show: www.twit.tv/1448