Toys Weren't This Cool When I Was a Kid

So, I'm a HUGE gadget fiend. I have been ever since I saw my very first Bond movie. I think I probably was even before then, I just don't remember wanting a gadget of any kind before my dad showed my Live and Let Die. Around that age there were toys that inspired us kids to want to become spies. There were minicameras, pens that could squirt acid, pens that would shoot poison-tipped darts and more. The catch was that none of them actually worked. We had to use our imaginations.

THe minicamera just spat out pre-printed badly drawn cartoons of white people. The acid-squirting pen really only squirted water and the pen shot suction-cup-tipped darts, sans the poison. Of course, I grew up in the dark ages of spy toys for kids. Flash forward to 2006 when [http://www.wildplanet.com|Wild Planet], the toy company behind Spy Gear, add a few new products to their already successful line of spy toys. First up is a remote control car with a wireless, night-vision camera mounted on top of it. Pretty damn sweet, huh? What's better is the damn thing transmits a video signal to a head-mounted display!

I had to dream about HMDs when I was a kid...

This whole package will run you (or your parents) somewhere between $100 and $160. Not a bad price for what you're getting, sez me. I probably won't be picking this one up, though I am tempted. I just don't know what I'd do with it aside from spying on my wife while she sleeps. The thing is, I can do that with any camera and--

NOT that I'd actually spy on my wife while she sleeps. :)

The other gadget that Wild Planet is adding to their spy gear line I WILL be picking up even though it's not quite what I'm looking for. It's a pair of sunglasses with a crappy still camera built in. They don't have any pics available on their site, but they claim:

No one will suspect you’re a spy as you stroll nonchalantly into secret places or glimpse in the direction of confidential documents, looking unconcerned with all that surrounds you. Sunglasses on, hand in pocket, seemingly casual – you don’t garner a second glance. No one is looking at you. It’s the perfect time to press the cylindrical remote in your pocket and capture images on the small digital camera attached to your stylish shades.

DUDE, I SO want one!!

Here's more from the press release:

The tinted, impact-resistant sunglasses house a retractable digital camera that stores 20 color photos. Transfer the images onto your computer using the USB cable and decide if you will expose the evidence or keep it in your back pocket for future bargaining. The pictures have 640 x 480 pixel resolution. The Digital Spy Camera blends spy role-play with reality.

Sure, sure--it "blends" role-play with reality--BULLSHIT! THIS THING WILL MAKE ME A HARDCORE SUPERSPY!!

Well, really, I'll hack the thing so it'll record video. :)

These spy-makin' sunglasses will run you $30 and $35 and should be available with the spy car in the fall of 2006.

I can't wait!!

Read more about these gadgets in [http://digitalcameras.engadget.com/2006/03/29/a-night-vision-spy-car-for-your-little-james-bond-in-training/|the original post] at Engadget.Com that I first read about them in or check out [http://www.wildplanet.com/press/wp_release_single.php?prid=88|the press release] at WildPlanet.Com