Pop Culture Nod of the Week

Spirography gets an upgrade with the Spirograph Die-Cast Collector’s Set from Kahootz Toys.

Elite Innovations of Australia ushers in a new era of cuesports with their wifi-enabled glass pool tables.

Tiny Arcade from TinyCircuits provides DIYers and video-game enthusiasts with the chance to build their own working miniature arcade cabinet.

Kinetic Sand from Spin Master provides a new twist to the children’s summer pastime of playing in the sand.

For those who do their best thinking while distracted, ThinkGeek offers a Tetris-shaped desk lamp capable of providing the necessary diversion for whatever task is at hand.

Solving crimes since 1930, fictional super sleuth Nancy Drew has been turned into a 1000-piece puzzle by Canada-based Cobble Hill Puzzle Company.

Fans of Doctor Who will rejoice at the hand-crafted items created by Jessica Miller in her North Carolina studio.

Constellation blocks from ThinkGeek are a classic take on the venerable construction toy with a celestial twist.

If you could make an electronic origami creation, what would you create? With Papertonics, Sparkle Labs has reinterpreted origami into lunar landers with personality.

Play dough gets electrified with Dough Universe, a new line of STEAM-focused tech toys that’s got a Kickstarter campaign to bring three fun and educational kits to market.

Talk about a mashup! Nanodots Magnetic Constructors combine math lessons, creative design, stress-relief, and – oh yeah – fun!

The traditional game of Chess gets a retro-mod makeover with the acrylic chess sets from UK-based Etsy store AQuarterPastEight.

LiteZilla out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, takes the concept of Lite-Brite up about a dozen notches through their large installations inspired by the iconic children’s toy.

Stan Lee fans can get a monthly dose of Marvel Comics’ legendary founder via a subscription to a monthly comic book box program.

We said goodbye to music cassette tapes a long time ago. That may be about to change, thanks to ELBOW, an entirely re-imaged way to listen to cassettes.

Toronto, Canada-based manufacturer ForeverSpin has turned one of the world’s oldest and timeless toys into minimalist beauty.

Who is Stranski? This little-known animator is the creator behind a mystery 1940s animated movie that was never fully realized.

Nintendo fans can now decorate with power with some officially licensed Classic Nintendo Entertainment Systems (NES) canvas art from ThinkGeek.