Toys

After revealing its Game Boy in July, Lego has a new set for Sega fans. The French Lego online store has a new listing for a 260-piece Genesis controller with a mini Sonic the Hedgehog diorama built into the back, but it will only be available as a gift with larger purchases.

We knew that phones, speakers and game consoles were going to be hit by tariffs. Now they’re making it harder and more expensive to get your hands on TTRPGs, retro video games, and vintage cameras too. Lego even announced that it would stop selling individual bricks in the US.

There’s lots we don’t know about Antigravity, the first drone from Insta360. But after my first flights, I think it could change what we expect out of drones. Want a look at some (prototype! compressed!) 360-degree footage on YouTube? I uploaded this interactive sample! Set resolution to 4K first.

“This model is fan art created by myself, it is not endorsed by, sponsored by or affiliated with Sony or PlayStation,” writes Graham Watson on his Bambu crowdfunding campaign. (Here’s more about those.) Looks awesome; I hope Sony’ll give it the nod or even a little help!

Bambu now sells electronics to drop into your creations — remember my floating light bulb and TARDIS? This time, I’m using the $135 “Motion-Activated Sound and Light Props Kit” with Joel He’s double-bladed saber files, but you can design anything you like. Should I try a Zelda Master Sword next?

Bambu’s 3D printers started on Kickstarter; now, the company’s own MakerWorld Crowdfunding has 11 different 3D prints you can back, including DIY pinball tables, steampunk disc blasters, and this epic board game. Be warned you’re paying for the promise of 3D files, not final products. And you can’t just submit your own designs yet; that’s invitation only for now.

From the makers of TinyTV: the $50 Thumby Color and $30 Thumby. Raspberry Pi Pico chips run at just in the low hundred MHz, displays are 0.85 or 0.4 inches respectively! But that’s enough for MicroPython games you can code in a web browser, or even real Doom on the OG Thumby (find installers here). More in my full story.

Oh, I had such high hopes for the Piaggio G1T4-M1N1 (“Gita Mini”). An officially licensed Star Wars bot that follows you around, dodging pedestrians while carrying 20 pounds of cargo and playing The Imperial March on its party speaker? Heck yes. But a single walk to the park showed me that this $2,875 bot doesn’t have enough smarts. (I couldn’t fit all its fails into one video!)

Or would you? The weird little toys are a nightmare to buy so we took matters into our own hands.

I backed the TinyTV 2 on Kickstarter back in 2022, and it’s a delight! When you change the “channel” with its tiny remote or working dials, it’ll realistically flick to the middle of your next video just as if you were watching it live. (It syncs timestamps!) Yeah, it’s $60... but a gift or treat, perhaps? They also sell the transparent one.

Kim Kardashian’s side quests don’t always make the most sense, but Deadline reports that she’s attached to produce and star in Amazon MGM’s new movie based on the Bratz dolls, which somehow feels very right.

Lego may have long ago surpassed the popularity of Meccano but Pete Wood demonstrates why the over 100 year old mechanical building toy still has devoted fans.

This September, Bandai will open a Gundam museum in Japan, where you can not only watch staff members manufacture Gunpla kits inside its factory, but also create a plastic mini mech of your own, as spotted by IGN.

In 2021, Lego collaborated with Adidas for a brick-built version of the brand’s iconic Superstar sneaker. This year the company has partnered with Nike for a 1,180-piece buildable replica of its Dunk sneaker that includes hidden storage, swappable lace colors, an exclusive minifigure, and a display stand featuring a spinning basketball.

To help commemorate the 75th anniversary of Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, Bandai will soon be releasing a new Tamagotchi Nano featuring characters like Snoopy, Woodstock, and Harriet you can take care of and interact with — presumably without the risk of them dying if you’re negligent.

Following brick-built versions of the Simpson’s home and Apu’s Kwik-E-Mart, Lego is releasing a 1,635-piece Krusty Burger on June 4th, 2025 for $209.99. The set opens to reveal a full interior with a kitchen, dining room, play area, restroom, and drive-thru window.

Available for preorder starting today for $69.99 and shipping on June 1st, 2025, Lego’s latest Pixar set recreates the studio’s Luxo Jr. lamp mascot which first appeared in a short film in 1986.

“Is this the maximum speed? Should we just crash?” the F1 drivers laugh. Then, they do — and Lego bits fly everywhere! Such a brand stunt, and yet I’m so jealous. More on the cars here.

It’s slightly smaller than the 2,354-piece Discovery set that debuted in 2021, but Lego’s new Space Shuttle Enterprise is part of a larger 2,417-piece set that includes a buildable replica of the Boeing 747 that NASA used for testing and moving its shuttles around the country.

Available for preorder today for $59.99 and shipping on May 1st, 2025, Lego has announced a 700-piece buildable version of the iconic Star Wars logo created by graphic designer Suzy Rice.

If you had any doubt where GI Joe’s antagonist would stand on the blockchain, Hasbro has repurposed this clip from S1E21, “Money to Burn.”

Following a 6,167-piece recreation of the elven sanctuary Rivendell released in 2023, Lego is revisiting The Lord of the Rings with a new 2,017-piece version of the Shire. The set launches on April 5th for $269 and includes nine minifigures: Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin, Bilbo, Gandalf, Mrs. Proudfoot, Farmer Proudfoot, and Rosie Cotton.

Japan has shown the world that wonderful things can be distributed through a vending machine -- from tiny Nikon camera replicas, to Nintendo controller keychains. But I’m especially jealous of these server rack replicas discovered by Viktor Shpak featuring miniature Dell servers and Cisco switches plus tiny cables to connect them all together.