It’s the future: Whacky #tech you could totally imagine a superhero using (P.S. secret coupon page bottom) #geekgear

Heyooo SuperPeeps! It’s me again, still hunting around for cool geek and superhero things to get you for the holidays. This time, I’m focusing on five things you could totally imagine coming out of a whacky scifi or weird superhero comic–and, much to the rejoicing of all you sweet otaku out there, I found it all on JapanTrendShop.com. It’s a site where you basically get to look for Japan-exclusive coolness, like the face exerciser, or…bishonen peeled chestnuts…. as well as a bunch of other awesome stuff you’ve never heard of. If you just wanna grab your secret coupon, scroll all the way down–it won’t hurt my feelings if you skip all my words. = P

Ready for some weird gadget gifts?

The Air-Conditioned Dress Shirt

What spoiled billionaire (with a superhero secret life) wants his dress shirt to get sweaty while he’s in a meeting? You really think after getting accustomed to the air conditioned comforts of an environmentally-regulated suit, Tony Stark doesn’t keep that tech going all day long? I can’t imagine the guy sweating, and now I know why: air conditioning inside his shirt. You say “Why” and I know he’d say “Why not!”

Heated Socks

Yes, if you notice a theme so far, it’s on purpose. But imagine this. Frigid wind slices against a chiseled jaw. A hunched figure trudges through a blizzard, his thick, worn parka concealing 200 pounds of muscle and at least fifty pounds of weapons. I’m thinking like, rogue Batman from that Red Sun comic where Superman is a communist tyrant. This one:

That Batman’s smart enough to know that in Siberia, what happens to your feet, happens to you. Your feet get wet, you die. Your feet get cold, you lose them, you die. (Okay, so maybe what happens to your feet doesn’t happen to you. Maybe no matter what happens to your feet, something bad happens to you.)

Point is, that Batman’s gotta keep his feet warm. And I know, yes, that Batman grew up in a rural area and probably has socks knit from ridiculous monster-sheep, but come on, if the brain’s the most dangerous weapon, and if I know anything about Batman’s obsession with gear–he’d have heated socks.

Like these.

LED Garden Hydroponic Grow Box

 

I know, WHAT?

But speaking of Superman, like, what does he eat when he’s in the Fortress of Solitude? Does he seriously take a whole ten seconds or whatever to fly back to Metropolis, pick up a burger, and then fly back, every time he’s hankering? I think not–in fact, I am almost certain not, because in certain comics and animated media he stays in that Fortress alone for a LONG time, to think.

To keep himself in that whole “solitude” mindset without interruptions, I bet he grows his food. In some of the old 1950s comics he had his own lab in the Fortress. So why wouldn’t he have a hydroponic garden?

And more importantly, actually why don’t I have one? In all seriousness, I try to encourage superhero-like, upstanding behavior, and one aspect of that lifestyle is independence: a hero tries not to rely too much on broken systems, so she can become a source of help and protection for others. Heroes also spend a lot of time saving the earth. Hydroponic farming speaks to both of those needs.

(I’ll do a post in the Superhero Alerts section later on cheaper “urban farming,” but for now this is an easy way to start if you’ve got a lot of money to drop and not a lot of time to learn)

On Serebu Toilet Noise Blocker

Heehee this is one of my favorite ones! The website claims,

“It is one of the peculiarities of the Japanese (mostly women, but also men): they’re very self-conscious when it comes to the noises they make when they are on the toilet. Many Westerners are too, of course, but not to the extent that they create a device that makes the sound of flushing water to cover the sound their bodies make. Yes, the On Serebu Toilet Noise Blocker is one such gadget!”

I…uh…don’t know who wrote this website copy (although I suspect it was an anthropologist from the 1930s = P) but there you have it, a cute little gadget that makes water sounds to hide…other sounds.

Can you imagine how useful this might be for a superhero with something to hide? Blue Beetle, in the bathroom whispering to himself; Natasha Romanov destroying evidence; I hear Ralph Dibny had social anxiety and might straight up want to use this for its intended purpose.

At any rate, I feel like the On Serebu thingy is probably one of those gadgets a lot of superheroes have and don’t talk about. Also, they’re shaped like hearts:

Telescopic Fishing-Pole-Looking Camera

Aiight, so this one’s straight out of Spy Kids. Not a lot of explanation needed here. The head looks like something off the end of Doc Oc’s arms, for real.

It’s useful to be able to snake cameras into places sometimes.

So yeah, that’s JapanTrendShop.com! I’ll be looking through other websites in the coming days to try to find either geek gear gifts, or superhero tools for you, just to kind of give this whole site a little bit of a real-life feel to it. I’m not a JapanTrendShop affiliate, but I did manage to swing a sexy little coupon for you if you find yourself on that site and hankering for some gag gifts. I’m seriously contemplating buying the face-exerciser for my mother in law to see what she says.

The coupon’s available here, for 10% off anything, if you drop me your e-mail!

I won’t spam you, send you product recommendations, or turn into an electrical villain and sneak into your computer ala that bad guy from Mighty Med. Just let me know if you want something and I’ll send it your way. I’m helpful like that. ^_^ Oh, and if you’re looking for more practical superhero gear, you can find a chat about different nonlethal stun weapons here. If you’re hungry for more geek deals–like Lego for the mini-nerd in your life, or licensed DC/Marvel apparel–I found you some of those, here. Don’t forget to hit me up on twitter or any of the other socials, above, to let me know what you think of this stuff!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

~Jen