marbles

Gadgets

Elaborate, Handmade Japanese Marble Mazes are Awesome

11:34PM Adam Frucci | There’s not a ton of info out there on these amazing, handmade marble mazes other than what’s to be found in these Japanese YouTube videos, but we think they’re cool enough to share with you anyways. Apparently, there’s a subculture in Japan that makes really elaborate marble mazes that look like models from a train set or something. Check out the first one above, then hit the jump for two more. More »
Design

Marbelous Table Provides Fun and Distraction in Marble Form

2:56AM Adam Frucci | Oh man, do I like this table. Sure, it provides a flat surface for eating or working on like most tables, but it also has marble tracks carved into it. That means that when you get bored of your meal/job, you can put marbles in the top and watch them follow an elaborate path around the legs and down to the ground. Call me a simpleton, but this thing would keep me entertained for an embarrassing amount of time. [Product Page via NotCot] More »
Gadgets

Q-BA-Maze Marble Toy Teaches Kids About Construction, Balls

11:00AM Jason Chen | Combining the concepts of LEGO with the concepts of Rube Goldberg, the Q-BA-MAZE gives you a set of 20 to 50 pieces that you put together to make a descending maze for marbles. It sounds boring from our description, so if you watch the video you’ll notice that it’s…only slightly less boring. This may be cool to use to teach your kids about gravity, mazes, and the fact that you shouldn’t put marbles up your nose, but we’d be much more impressed if there were more pieces that did different things. [Q-BA-MAZE] More »