Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Caution!
Contents may be not!

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                                               

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Self-referential toys

 ...for our postmodern age...
  (+11)(+11)
(+11) 		  [vote for,
against]

While children spend a lot of time playing with toys which mimic the adult world in some way (e.g. making cars, houses, etc. out of Lego, playing with dolls), there appear to be no toys which mimic the world of children who, of course, play with toys.
Sample toys would thus be: A construction kit for Lego people to make things out of, a doll for your doll to play with, educationaal software for your teddy, and so on.
These would appeal to smug, knowingly "ironic" parents and cost a fortune.
—hippo, Sep 17 2002

Home Thermoplastic Recycler http://www.halfbake...oplastic_20Recycler
[half, Sep 17 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Acme Klein Bottles http://www.kleinbottle.com/
Need a zero-volume bottle?
Searching for a one-sided surface?
Want the ultimate in non-orientability?
Get an ACME Klein Bottle! [StarChaser, Sep 19 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

[link]






       perhaps they are called *parents*
—po, Sep 17 2002
   

       Toys R Themselves
—FarmerJohn, Sep 17 2002
   

       How small do these things go ? Is this a recursive system ?
—8th of 7, Sep 17 2002
   

       Hey kids, just buy all 58 parts, and you can build your own lego brick!
—pottedstu, Sep 17 2002
   

       At the far end of the product line you get a bag of atoms and a scanning tunneling electron microscope with which to do the assembly.
—bristolz, Sep 17 2002
   

       bristolz - I suggest you post "Bag of atoms" under business:scam. "Each bag is unique..."
—thumbwax, Sep 17 2002
   

       Little Lego people using the Lego people version of the "Personal Thermoplastic Recycler" to make Legos. (Possibly from their friends and relatives for you "Soylent Green" fans)
—half, Sep 17 2002
   

       "It's Wee People!"   

       Make the legos from actual people?   

       Anyway, I was thinking about this the other day as I was browsing a toy aisle and all the toys were bigger dolls holding a baby doll in their arms, who in turn had a doll... and I began to wonder how that would extend out. It's kind of like nesting mummies... it's been done before. It's one of man's filosoftical questions. Give Barbie a set of barbies to store inside her Malibu Dream House.
—polartomato, Sep 18 2002
   

       I calculate that the Hausdorff-Besicovitch dimension of a set of infinitely nesting Barbies is approximately 2.4.
—General Washington, Sep 18 2002
   

       Sounds like Christmas chaos.
—FarmerJohn, Sep 18 2002
   

       "Collect the complete Mandelbrot set" ?
—8th of 7, Sep 18 2002
   

       ...and don't forget the Julia Set for the girls!
—gnomethang, Sep 18 2002
   

       A wonderful retail oportunity - just think of the merchandising. Klein bottle thermos flasks, mobius strips, Schrodinger cat boxes, Maxwell Demons, Laplace and Fourier Transformers, Nyquist Limiters, Tesseracts ........   

       Of course, because of Heisenbergian uncertanty, you could say where the shop was, or when it was open, but not both at the same time.
—8th of 7, Sep 18 2002
   

       Only one side pose.
—FarmerJohn, Sep 18 2002
   

       "She makes the Koch Curve."
—General Washington, Sep 18 2002
   

       The shop runs a syndicated cartoon called 'Hilbert'.
—lewisgirl, Sep 18 2002
   

       "Hilbert" - yes, we like those - the ones about the chubby mathematician who's a bit on the Heaviside ?   

       If Barbie's clothes are a bit on the skipmy side, you could always cover her up with Gauss bandages.
—8th of 7, Sep 18 2002
   

       To ring up this shop, do I dial Avogadro's number?
—half, Sep 18 2002
   

       // That's the one thing you can be sure will remain constant //   

       Two, actually - the wooden floor is very firmly fixed (Planck's constant).
—8th of 7, Sep 18 2002
   

       Yes, well done, take a bow everyone. And if Feigenbaum myself?
—General Washington, Sep 18 2002
   

       You're a Feynman, General .....
—8th of 7, Sep 18 2002
   

       //602 000 000 000 000 000 000 000//
I called and asked the operator for extension pi. She said, "hold please while I dial..."
—half, Sep 18 2002
   

       It's worth holding on until they answer; I think the place is open 22/7.   

       They've just brough out a new line in firewood, too - "Natural Logs".
—8th of 7, Sep 18 2002
   

       I made the mistake of calling the Self-Referential Toy Shop after hours once. They were angry...they cursed and recursed.
—half, Sep 18 2002
   

       I started building a coffe table based on the Mandelbrot set, but eventually I gave up... it seemed like there was always an endless amount of detail work to do.
—yo, Sep 18 2002
   

       Goodness, what are you folks hawking now?
—waugsqueke, Sep 19 2002
   

       My life is such a Bohr, I just took the most Dirac route to the shop.
—Leighzy, Sep 19 2002
   

       Sorta like those Russian dolls, eh?
—DesertFox, May 04 2004
   

       //building a coffe table based on the Mandelbrot set//   

       In my case, I ran into problems with my MandelChisel. Apparently the manufacturers of the dedicated sharpener were having problems with their suppliers. At least, that's what they said in the shop where I bought the chisel.   

       I turned to the law, but the Third Policeman I spoke to said he couldn't go, because his bicycle had gone somewhere. "Anyway," he said, "where's the point ?".
—VaquitaTim, Sep 08 2009
   
      
[annotate]
   


 

back: main index
business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle