The Office Playground Blog

Winter Blues? Think Beach!

As I write this, I see that it's raining outside... again. My finger tips are a little bit colder than my toes (I'm wearing socks). It will be dark soon and work isn't over yet. Sounds like I've got the winter blues. Do you find yourself daydreaming about summer bliss? Can you feel the warm sand beneath your feet? Is there the aroma of hamburgers barbequing on the grill? Can you taste the cocktail you're having with friends while watching the sunset? Do you still feel the sting of that jellyfish that snuck up on you? (WHOA, time to snap out of this daydream... it just turned ugly).

You can't easily jump on a plane and fly to a warmer climate (chances are flights are grounded anyway, due to bad weather). But, you can use the power of your imagination and some thought management to get through the last stage of winter.

Once again, we're here to help you out. We created a fun list of our best summer themed office toys and put them on sale. Our suggestion is to pick out some of this stuff and play with it at your desk. You can live that summer lifestyle now, in your mind. Thinking of positive things will help lift your spirits. Warm your soul with these playful toys and drift off into another summer daydream. Don't worry, we don't sell jellyfish, just an octopus.

Beach in a Box	Cool Sun	Dolphin Stress Toy
Pineapple Stress Toy	Exec. Sandbox - Day at the Beach	Inflatable Palm Tree
See more Summer Desktop Toys

Celebrate the spirit of summer without mosquito bites, sunburns or jellyfish stings. (You do know the home remedy for neutralizing a jellyfish sting, don't you? Remember that episode of Friends? Eewwww.)

Bill Ross
The Office Toy Guy
OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com

www.OfficePlayground.com
We help you play on company time.

Buckyballs - The Toy of the Year!

Everybody is talking about Buckyballs! This set of 216 rare Earth magnets can be manipulated into an endless amount of shapes, patterns and designs. They're great for relieving office boredom and getting through the daily grind. How you play with Buckyballs is really up to your imagination: create geometrical shapes, letters, animals, or even one of a kind jewelry. We can talk all day about this cool magnetic toy, but let's see what others have to say.

• Rolling Stone proclaims Buckyballs as the "Toy of the Year."
• Entertainment Weekly says Buckyballs are "much more satisfying than a stress ball."
• Real Simple magazine calls them addictive: "Payment for addiction therapy not included."
• People magazine added Buckyballs to their Stocking Stuffers gift guide.
• Esquire says they're "just like Silly Putty but made of metal. There's no better desk toy."

They were also seen in Maxim and Wired magazines and on the Good Morning Texas TV show.

How can you get your hands on a set of Buckyballs of your own? We've got them at OfficePlayground.com for just $29.99.

Be the Best Secret Santa Ever!

Image Credit: Michael Wade   What is the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you at work during the holidays? Sure, getting too drunk at the company holiday party, telling the CEO he looks like Screech and photocopying your behind are all pretty bad. But, we're talking about never being able to live down being a lame Secret Santa. Maybe you didn't even want to participate in the first place. Some people don't believe in Santa anymore. Yet, we all still stand in line to pick one of our co-worker's names out of a hat. You don't have to dread the workplace Secret Santa. The Office Toy Guy wants you to embrace it! This year, your co-workers will refer to you as the most amazing Secret Santa gift giver in company history. Or, at least they will think you are really cool and thoughtful for getting them such an awesome gift. OfficePlayground.com is ready to help you be the best Secret Santa gift giver you can be. Check out these unique gift ideas for your next Secret Santa exchange and really nail it this year!

Dependable and Classy Need to play it a little safe while making a good impression? Give a Zen Garden, Newton's Cradle, Kinetic Motion or Liquid Motion. Zen Gardens Newton's Cradles Kinetic Motion Liquid Motion Vulgar and Irreverent Do your co-workers appreciate low brow humor? Are your company's policies a little loose? Share a chuckle over our Vulgar Stuff and Desk Toys. Vulgar Stuff Desk Toys Cute and Cuddly A desktop plant or an animal toy will win you the cutest gift award. There are many adorable items in Desktop Gardening and Animal Toys. Desktop Gardening Animal Toys Stress Relieving If everyone is stressed out in your office, you can't go wrong with a Stress Ball, Stress Reliever or Foam Stress Toy. Stress Balls Stress Relievers Foam Stress Toys Silly Yet Practical Sometimes goofy can be useful. Give a Funny Office Supply or Gumball Machine for a fun twist on the regular. Funny Office Supplies Gumball Machines

You don't have to be a lame Secret Santa this year. Just make your picks, place your order and we'll get that awesome Secret Santa gift to you really fast. We wish you the best at your holiday office party and may you be remembered for your non-lame Secret Santa gift and not for dancing with a lampshade on your head. Lamelessly, Bill Ross The Office Toy Guy OfficeToyGuy@OfficePlayground.com www.OfficePlayground.com We help you play on company time.

Boss's Day Gift Ideas

Friday, October 16 is National Boss Day. It's an opportunity for employees to show appreciation for their hardworking boss. It's also an opportunity for an employee to make a good impression with a thoughtful gift. You can present a classy gift or a useful item or a whimsical toy that adds a little fun to your boss's day.

If you're in need of ideas for a gift, start with a pre-purchase observation; look at what types of items adorn the boss's desk and office. For sophisticated gifts, check out our Executive Toys category or Kinetic Motion and Levitating items. Take note of how much space is available for your gift. If your boss's desk is crowded, consider something that hangs on a wall such an amusing clock, a funny sign, a dartboard, or a basketball game.

Novelty items that draw positive attention to an office include the Magic Fishbowl, Executive Desk Gong, Exotic Sands, or Zen Garden. A gift from our Desktop Gardening category will please any plant lover.

Golf enthusiasts will enjoy the Executive Office Putter, the Chip Shotz Golfer game and Executive Sandbox-Golf Sand Trap. Surprise your boss with comical Office Supplies such as funny note pads, a Dog Stapler or a Chocolate Calculator.

Make this National Boss Day a memorable one.

Get Smart! - The Benefits of Puzzles

At OfficePlayground.com, we often mention that one of the main benefits of playing with office toys at work is to help reduce stress. But, did you know that playing at work can make you smarter?

Well, your IQ probably won't increase and you still might think the capital of Oregon is Portland, but you can boost your brain power with a mini-workout each day.

According to the September 2009 issue of Redbook Magazine, "research has shown that doing puzzles—from crosswords and Sudoku to Rubik’s Cube—might help ward off diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia." Further, the recommendation is to spend 10 minutes a day exercising your brain muscle.

We've always loved the Office Playground Puzzle Category because of classics like Rubik’s Cube and the Fifteen Puzzle. And as always, these old standbys don't disappoint. But, more recent products like the Find It games and the Hoberman Brain Twist give a fun flair to puzzling.

Visit our puzzles category to pick out your next piece of exercise equipment so you can start to get smarter just by sitting at your desk and playing. No pain, a lot of gain. It doesn't get easier than that!

Gumby vs. Mr. Bill

Who would win a battle between Gumby and Mr. Bill? Both are animated clay figures that made their debut to the public on popular TV shows, both have made their way into feature length films, and both are immortalized as bendable figurines. We decided to collect the facts to predict the winner of this potentially famous battle.

Name: Gumby
Debuted: August 1956
Creator: Art Clokey
Best Friend: Pokey
Nemeses: Blockheads
Claim to Fame: Gumby starred in his own television series, The Gumby Show, that aired from 1957 to 1967 and in 1988
Best Characteristic: Flexibility
Accomplishments: cameo appearance in 1987 film The Puppetoon Movie; 1995 feature length film Gumby I (aka Gumby: The Movie); 8 DVD collections (2000s); video game Gumby vs. the Astrobots (2005); appeared in campaign ads for Library of Congress (1994-1995) and Cheerios (late 1990s)

Name: Mr. Bill
Debuted: February 28, 1976
Creator: Walter Williams
Best Friend: Spot (his dog)
Nemesis: Mr. Sluggo
Claim to Fame: Mr. Bill starred in several short sketches on the television show, Saturday Night Live from 1976 to 1980
Memorable Quotes: "Ohhhh noooooooooooooo...", "Perfectly awful!", "Stunningly bad!"
Accomplishments: 1986 live-action movie Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures; 1998 television show Ohh No!!! Mr. Bill Presents; appeared in television ads for Pringles (1980s), an anti-drug campaign (1988), Pizza Hut (1990s), Subway (2008), and MasterCard (2008)

Based on the character's personality, history and popularity, Gumby wins the battle hands down. However, we believe it's all up to the circumstance and personal preference. Take the battle into your own hands to determine who you think is the real winner.

This is not a Father's Day Blog

We have decided to not blog about Father’s Day. It’s not really a work related holiday. It’s on a Sunday—a day of rest, not work. Fathers don’t want stuff for work as a gift on Father’s Day; they want to forget about work for a day. Fathers want beer, meat and sporting goods. Sure, you could buy your husband or dad a nice toy from Office Playground. He’d love it and you wouldn’t have to spend a ton of money. The toy you buy him would sit on his office desk for years reminding him how much he loves his family. That stuff is all pretty awesome, but it doesn’t mean we have to blog about it.

Image courtesy of Bill Tyne.

The How and Why of Newton's Cradles

The Newtonian Demonstrator, known today as the Newton's Cradle, is a device that demonstrates the laws of conservation of momentum and energy. The concept was demonstrated centuries ago in France and used by Sir Isaac Newton when he developed the laws of physics.

How the Newton's Cradle works
When the first ball strikes the row of balls, the impact produces a shock wave that travels through the metal balls at the speed of sound. The speed of sound through steel is much faster (4699 m/s) than through air (300 m/s). The time for the shock wave to travel the short distance through the balls is too small for human perception. Neither the momentum nor energy is perfect in efficiency. Energy is lost in the suspending wires, friction of the surrounding air, and sound (the clicking of balls). The momentum degrades with each swing until near the end of oscillation the intermediate balls are swaying.

We have had customers ask why the balls don't clack back and forth forever in perpetual motion. It's because of the energy loss with each impact. Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, there can never be a "net gain" of energy and therefore there cannot ever be a true "perpetual motion" device (note to self, make a perpetual motion device, sell it to the highest bidder, retire).

The largest Newton's Cradle is over 20 feet tall. It was designed by Chris Boden and is located at The Geek Group home base in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The monster Newtonian demonstrator is made up of 7 bowling balls weighting 15 pounds each. The bowling balls are attached to metal cables and hung from trusses in the ceiling of a warehouse. The suspension cables are 20 feet long and the bowling balls hang 3 feet from the floor.

Why a Newton's Cradle?
Because they're fascinating to watch, make a cool sound, and provide kinetic entertainment without batteries! As it turns out, this little device has become among the most classic Desk Toys of all time. We sell tons of these (literally) and take them very seriously. If you want your own steel balls transferring energy at 4699 m/s, click here to see our selection.

Stress-Busting Watery Habitats

To look at my desk, you’d think I was a fish enthusiast because of the Magic Fishbowl, DeskQuarium and Jellyfish Aquarium. It’s not the fish that I enjoy; it’s their watery habitat and individual stress-busting movement that appeal to me. The two fish in the Magic Fishbowl swim constantly with joyous abandon. Sometimes they stir the blue and green beads on the bottom of the bowl and other times they dart to the surface. Their endless energy is comically inspiring. The behavior of the four fish in the DeskQuarium is just the opposite. They rest calmly as they wait until I place a pencil or retrieve a pen from their holder. They are motion activated and they spring to life at my touch and dart about in an excited frenzy for about 45 seconds before drifting back into a relaxed snooze. Their burst of activity never ceases to surprise me. In contrast to the fish, the three dancing jellyfish in the Jellyfish Aquarium are delightfully soothing to watch. The invisible current in the aquarium causes the jellyfish to sway and twirl while their tentacles wiggle and wave in a dance of grace and beauty. Their movements seem magical and a little magic is a welcome addition to any day.

Honoring The Office’s Michael Scott for Office Toy Best Practices

We are huge fans of NBC’s The Office. Michael Scott may not be the type of manager you’d want to work for, but there's one thing he gets, and that’s having fun at work. Next time you watch The Office, notice the office toys Michael has in his office, they include the following items:

Hoberman Mini Sphere

Wall Street Guru Ball

Newton's Cradle 7" Black

In this week’s episode entitled "Two Weeks", Michael is in rare form during his 2 week notice. He uses a Snapper Hand to totally annoy his direct reports. Please view the episode at the 1:44 mark, right as the episode begins, and watch Michael’s mastery of the Snapper Hand. Click here to view the episode.

Michael makes the technique look easy; we wonder how much practice he needed before that scene. He executes a perfect "paper snatch" from his salesman Jim. As the scene progresses, note the snapper hand hanging out of his suit pocket. Did we mention that all this is happening while he drinks a scotch and Splenda, which Michael says, "Tastes like Splenda, gets you drunk like scotch."

So, hats off to The Office and Michael Scott (actor Steve Carell) for the masterful Snapper Hand technique.

Go here to get your own Snapper Hand (you’re on your own for a scotch and Splenda).

I Weally Miss My Widdle Doggie at Work

So you're one of those incurable doggie lovers, but your workplace isn't one where a woof-woof would fit in. What's a canine lover to do? You could howl like a coyote, run in circles, wait at co-workers sides hoping someone will scratch behind your ears or, most intense of all, sit with your tongue hanging out and beg for their food while they eat lunch. Those are all really excellent ideas, however they don't rate very highly on the acceptable-workplace-behavior scale.

A more practical approach to address your longings for your woofy is to roll over to Office Playground's Dogs & Cats page and fetch some of our fun stuff with a canine theme. Maybe you'd like to impress co-workers (and yourself, and Cesar) with your dog training abilities -- in that case Mr. Mutt is your man... errr, dog. Or it could be that you'd like to see your loyal companion sleeping quietly by the side of your desk -- sounds like you need a Sleeping Dog. And when you need to bounce back from the dog-eat-dog environment that today's economy fosters, what could be better than the master of springiness, the Slinky Dog.

Stop being an ordinary paper pusher and use a Dog Stapler to conjure up thoughts of Fido, waiting faithfully at home, chewing up something new and expensive while you're gone. Don't sit and stay miserable! There's no better time than now to chase that doggie separation anxiety away; run over to the Playground and unleash your yearnings!

The Find It Expert

Find It puzzles are one of the most addictive and entertaining games we have here at Office Playground. Some of my co-workers introduced me to the Find It puzzles this past summer. One of the perks of working at Office Playground is that we get to play with sample products. I’ve found most of the hidden objects in all three of our Find It puzzles, so I now consider myself a Find It expert.

I started with the Find It - At The Beach, not even knowing we had other versions of the game. I was immediately hooked. I used a slow twisting and rocking technique to find over half of the hidden objects in less than a day. Most of the objects were easy to find with some time. At the end of my first day searching, I still had to find a few objects my co-workers had never found after their months of searching. It wasn’t long, though, until I found things they had not. The bathing suit, rock, sunshine and penny were some of the most difficult to find. The penny is supposedly the most stubborn of them all. Its weight, shape and size prevents it from appearing on the outer areas. I became rather obsessed with finding the penny and the rest of the objects. I did some research and discovered a special maneuver that uncovers the penny. I tried a few times and ended up finding the rock, which no one in the office had found yet. After some patience and persistence, I finally found the penny! Only a small amount of the penny was visible, since most of it was still covered in the tiny plastics beads, but it was certainly recognizable as a penny.

Later, I learned that there were other Find It games and we had samples of them too! I found the Find It - At The Zoo to be much more challenging than the Find It – At the Beach. It was difficult to decipher which animal I was looking at, especially if its head was still buried in the beads. The shape and the weight of many of the animals made them rather easy to find, but others were made out of unexpected materials or in a unique form. The kangaroo remains hidden.

The Find It - Original contains a diverse combination of objects, but they are very familiar. After experiencing the other Find It games, this one seemed easy. I could find several objects right away. A handful of the objects took longer to find than most, but became visible quickly. The only troublesome ones were the wing nut, popcorn kernel and the bow. I’ve searched for the bow for hours. I have come to the conclusion that the bow isn’t in my particular puzzle.

On my desk, I currently have a Find It tower of all three puzzles stacked on top of each other. It has caught the attention of co-workers passing by my cubicle and it has yet to tip over!

Customize Your Zen Garden

The Deluxe Zen Garden sat on my desk next to the Beach in a Box. One day the beach items from the Beach in a Box migrated into the larger Deluxe Zen Garden sand tray and a gateway to creativity was opened. I began to add other trinkets to the beach scene such as a little bucket, shovel, sand castle and sailboat. A blue can lid made a perfect pond. I collected tiny faux flowers, miniature animals and trees. Last spring a flower garden appeared in my Zen garden with miniature flowers, a tiny water fountain and an unoccupied chair for an imaginary figure to enjoy the serene setting. My Zen Garden continues to create smiles as others stop by to see my newest creation. Coming soon, a pirate invasion!

Ten Reasons Why Office Toys Make Great Gifts

• 1) Affordable - Many of our office toys are reasonably priced under $10.
• 2) Enjoyable - Playing with office toys is a fun lighthearted distraction from the daily grind.
• 3) Impressive - A memorable office toy will remind the recipient how terrific you are for giving it to them.
• 4) Humorous - Office toys provide much needed comic relief around the workplace and at home.
• 5) Stress Relieving - It is very soothing to release tension with a tactile office toy.
• 6) Practical - Many office toys are quite handy to have on your desk and serve a useful purpose.
• 7) Colorful - You can brighten up any workspace at home or the office with cheerful and lively office toys.
• 8) Cute - Lots of people love appealing things and we have many adorable and charming office toys.
• 9) Informal - The casual nature of office toys makes them simple and easy gifts for business associates.
• 10) Popular - Office toys are well-liked and folks love to spruce up their desks with these hip and cool items.

Office toys are the ideal gifts for all kinds of people and you'll find a large selection of office toys at www.OfficePlayground.com. For nearly 10 years, Office Playground has been committed to providing you with the best office toys available. We are trustworthy, competent, friendly and passionate.

If you're interested in getting some really awesome gifts at extremely affordable prices and receiving them quickly, please explore our web site or contact us for suggestions or with any questions. We're standing by to help.