Let's face it: Life is serious. There must be better ways of introducing kids to the realities of life, though, than giving them toy weapons and combat-simulation software. Why not give them some Serious Putty? Serious Putty looks like Silly Putty, with some important differences:

Silly Putty comes in a plastic egg. Serious Putty comes in a small vinyl Brooks Brothers suit.

When you drop it, Silly Putty bounces. Serious Putty stops, assesses the situation, and issues a report.

When you press it against the comics, Silly Putty picks up an impression of the comics. Serious Putty picks up an impression of the Wall Street Journal.

When you subject it to sudden stress, Silly Putty breaks. Serious Putty drinks more coffee and works extra hours.
-- Ander, Oct 10 2002

(??) Self-baked http://www.loganwor...s/pages/putty.shtml
Someone's already thought of everything---so this time, I posted my idea first, then looked it up. I always wanted to try that. [Ander, Oct 10 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Muppets are apparently working on Serious Putty http://www.muppets....oneydewarchives.htm
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew addresses the topic tangentially. A little over half way down the page. Muppet Labs is working on other halfbakery worthy projects as well: "The Muppet Labs Action Figure Cleaner, The Muppet Labs Movie Theater Floor De-Stickyfier, The Muppet Labs Inside The Carton Milk Shake Mixer, The Muppet Labs Dryer Lint Reconditioner and the Muppet Labs Pocket Cranberry Bog Harvester" [half, Oct 11 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Serious putty. http://portal.acm.o...dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE
Great name. [methinksnot, May 22 2006]

On xkcd today http://xkcd.com/840/
Very serious indeed. [hidden truths, Dec 29 2010]

Very funny. I like this.
-- iuvare, Oct 10 2002


Guaranteed to make smiles … or you get your frowns back!
-- reensure, Oct 11 2002


Nice.+
-- bristolz, Oct 11 2002


Ahem - how can *anyone* be serious in a vinyl suit? (And I really don't think Brooks Brothers sells *anything* made of vinyl.)
-- DrCurry, Oct 11 2002


DrCurry: Sellafield. PVC "Windscale" or "Nuke" suits. Very, very hot, uncomfortable and sweaty. Very, very serious, very non-casual clothing.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 11 2002


I seriously like this. Makes me wonder what you could do with some duct tape.
-- blissmiss, Oct 11 2002


Is it appropriate to call this idea funny? I would think that would be an insult to "Serious Putty".

Sounds more like WIBNI Putty to me. I guess this is another of those high concept things that I just don't connect with. Neutral vote.

//Wabbit tape!// Now that's funny. Maybe I belong at the Acme halfbakery.
-- half, Oct 11 2002


8th: serious clothing, maybe, but I don't think you'll find anyone will take you seriously if you wear it into the dining room.
-- DrCurry, Oct 11 2002


I vote we make Dr. Bunsen an honorary Halfbaker.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 11 2002


Wait. Do you mean to tell me the Muppets have serious-putty capabilities? My God.

We superhero/pedant/virtual characters have to get busy! Panic stations! Call MIT and the Cal Tech! We need scientists! We've got to come up with a stretchy, bounceable, print-transferable latex substance that is not to be mocked, pronto!
-- 1percent, Oct 11 2002


I can't believe it's not butter!
Wait, I meant "I can't believe I've never seen this idea before!" Where is ol' Ander these days? He had quite a few gems over the years.
-- AfroAssault, Apr 17 2005


Yeah, seriously!
-- quantum_flux, Nov 18 2007


//Serious Putty picks up an impression of the Wall Street Journal//

Time to sell illegal copies of the Wall Street Journal!
-- Shadow Phoenix, Nov 18 2007



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