Be sure to get the optional Line Pack to simulate your own exciting Apple product launches.

April 1, 2011 12:06 PM

Awesome mini Apple Store tugs at your wallet. PLAYMOBIL^TM introduces your children to the magic of Apple; includes store, figures, and 60+ accessories. Use your own real iPhone 4 as the screen behind Steve Jobs in the Keynote Theater.

One wonders if it will do as well as another product introduced exactly two years ago.

posted by kipmanley (43 comments total)

To quote the honorable EndsOfInvention from 4:56 AM on April 1, 2011:

I get the impression that ThinkGeek's April Fools products have had so many "please make this for real!!" requests in the past that they are now specifically aiming for April Fools products that are actually pretty easy to actually make, so they can do this more often and turn it into a publicity thing.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:10 PM on April 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

I figure the lightsabre popsicles thing could become real pretty easily. I know I'd buy it.
posted by kmz at 12:11 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

The fact that there is a potential market for this makes me sad. (if it did exist, at least the money would go to thinkgeek and not to They Who Shall Not Be Named.)
posted by elizardbits at 12:12 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I only know this because I bought this set for my daughter for xmas and it took me about 4 hours to build. This is the Playmobil School set.

What's amazing is I can't tell if they just photoshopped that original or if they actually built one, and just spray painted the yellow parts white.
posted by mathowie at 12:12 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Lee Valley does this every year, and the mock-ups they do can't be cheap. IIRC, the unmarked tape measure now exists, if not from them, then elsewhere.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 12:14 PM on April 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

To be truly realistic there would be at least 100 people in there, 5 of them trying to buy something and the other 95 checking their email.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:14 PM on April 1, 2011 [7 favorites]

Optional Line Pack available -- gotta love it!
posted by ericb at 12:16 PM on April 1, 2011

This is great. Love it.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:17 PM on April 1, 2011

Still doesn't hold a candle to the awesomeness of the Playmobil Security Checkpoint, although this set needs to be updated with a pornoscanner.
posted by fusinski at 12:18 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Past Years' ThinkGeek April Fools Jokes (2001 - 2010)
posted by ericb at 12:19 PM on April 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

More 2011 April Fools ThinkGeek products.
posted by ericb at 12:22 PM on April 1, 2011

Ah, April Fool's day. That's why when I went on Think Geek this morning to see if they've added any new Heroine teeshirts (I'm wearing my Ada Lovelace today, that's what made me think of it), it was so freaking slow. Bunch of nerds looking to see what this year's prank products are.
posted by padraigin at 12:23 PM on April 1, 2011

Love that Woz on a Segway is the first person in line.
posted by MegoSteve at 12:25 PM on April 1, 2011 [7 favorites]

You know, a lot of the fake April Fools products from ThinkGeek this year seem weirdly plausible.

Maybe it's a sign of the growing pessimism of our age...
posted by schmod at 12:28 PM on April 1, 2011

I appreciate the bonzai kitten myself, though my younger coworker didn't seem to really get it.
posted by maryr at 12:32 PM on April 1, 2011 [5 favorites]

WAAAAANT
posted by entropicamericana at 12:33 PM on April 1, 2011

I only know this because I bought this set for my daughter for xmas and it took me about 4 hours to build. This is the Playmobil School set.

You're the guy who ruins the movie by always pointing out when you can see the strings holding up Mothra, aren't you?
posted by bondcliff at 12:35 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

ThinkGeek's Minecraft Nether Portal should be an iPod/iPhone dock. Black plastic frame with inlaid purple electroluminescent wire.
posted by ryanrs at 12:36 PM on April 1, 2011

maryr: I know, right? I spent a good ten minutes the other day trying to explain limecat to someone. I think it might be time to give up and instead invest in a lawn I can shoo kids from. Which do people prefer these days - rake or broom?
posted by inedible at 12:38 PM on April 1, 2011

I'd buy the shit out of a portal that just moaned and wailed with the screams of the damned and horrid ghasts at random intervals.
posted by The Whelk at 12:44 PM on April 1, 2011

Man...Playmobil toys are getting really specific. Did he just pick up the black bloc dude for chucking a cinder block through the window of the Apple Store?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:47 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Holy crap, if I had an iPad or iPhone, I would write a portal app for you. Whoever does this will make more than a couple easy bucks.
posted by ryanrs at 12:47 PM on April 1, 2011

I'd buy the shit out of a portal that just moaned and wailed with the screams of the damned and horrid ghasts at random intervals.

I don't think MetaTalk is for sale.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:47 PM on April 1, 2011 [20 favorites]

Also a Nether Portal single serving site (a la zombo.com).
posted by ryanrs at 12:49 PM on April 1, 2011

That's awesome.

The fact that there is a potential market for this makes me sad.

You must be sad a lot.
posted by justgary at 12:53 PM on April 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

The Bonzai Kitten was my favorite. If I had money to blow I'd buy them or the light saber pops.
posted by drezdn at 1:08 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

You're the guy who ruins the movie by always pointing out when you can see the strings holding up Mothra, aren't you?

You know, I'm not trying to start a fight here or anything but I think that's kind of an unfair comment.

I've known Mothra for a long time and had the pleasure of working with her on a regrettably small number of occasions, and I would like to state for the record that she has never been less than a complete professional. She's also probably one of the most down-to-earth performers I've ever met and believes - rightly, I might add - that her private life, and that of her family, is her own business and not something the general public has a right to.

It is for this reason that she chose not to comment on the rumors that she had developed a drinking problem and that her use of strings was a result of her being too drunk to perform safely without.

Let me make clear, here and now, that this is complete hogwash. Mothra is an enormous moth of the old school and typically casts a very hard multiple-lensed eye at anyone who shows up on the set with even a hint of the sauce on their breath. I distinctly recall her sharp dressing-down of Rodan, a notorious partier, when he'd stayed out all night and came to work without even going to bed first. He was rightly embarrassed in front of everyone and his behavior showed a marked improvement afterwards.

No, the strings were there because flying around by flapping her huge ponderous wings very slowly was in fact a very physically demanding act for Mothra to perform and Eiji would occasionally employ the use of strings if, after many grueling takes (and there was often a very good reason for the excessive number of takes but I will avoid naming names here), he could see that the old girl was getting tired. This way she was able to conserve her energy, and the safety of herself and the other performers would be ensured. I might add here that it was always his suggestion, and you never heard a peep, or even that weird fucking noise she made sometimes, out of Mothra herself. Consummate professional, like I said.

When you see those strings, what you are seeing is one of a very small number of usable takes, and a brilliant performer who has pushed herself beyond her limits in the name of your entertainment. Just a bit of respect here is all I'm saying.

I also choose not to address the many rumors circulating about Biollante as I don't believe it's productive or kind to harangue someone for their past mistakes when they've owned up to them and are now trying to move on. It's my understanding that she is also currently at a spiritual retreat specifically catering to the emotional and lifestyle needs of whatever the fuck Biollante is.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:08 PM on April 1, 2011 [36 favorites]

You know, a lot of the fake April Fools products from ThinkGeek this year seem weirdly plausible.

Were they the one's who started Pottery Barn Kids then?
posted by juiceCake at 1:11 PM on April 1, 2011

Oh sure, this will get turned into a real product while I continue to wait in vain for the Dharma Initative Alarm Clock.
posted by missix at 1:29 PM on April 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

If I got this I would recreate scenes where Apple store employees swarm me when I'm just there to have a look but not buy anything and then somehow manage to not notice me when I'm actually there to purchase something.
posted by Burhanistan at 1:54 PM on April 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

I read somewhere that the offshore firm hired to manufacture the monolith was really confused by the specification. "Just a black block without any features? Are you sure?"
posted by exogenous at 1:58 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wish this and my kid weren't imaginary.
posted by elsietheeel at 1:59 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sprach Timmythustra!
posted by Burhanistan at 2:02 PM on April 1, 2011

Actually, no I don't. I can just imagine my imaginary kid playing with his imaginary iPhone store and save $150. Woohoo!
posted by elsietheeel at 2:02 PM on April 1, 2011

You think you can get a kid for $150???
posted by Mister_A at 2:09 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

elsietheeel, I would imagine that your overall imaginary savings would be a lot higher given that your imaginary child is imaginary as well. And if everything around me is imaginary, do I get a refund?

OK, back to work for me.
posted by dbiedny at 2:11 PM on April 1, 2011

> Still doesn't hold a candle to the awesomeness of the Playmobil Security Checkpoint, although this set needs to be updated with a pornoscanner.

Damn. I have virtually no interest in collectibles, but I knew when that one came out that would eventually skyrocket in value. I then promptly forgot to buy one and now they're going for $175.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:12 PM on April 1, 2011

Sparkfun's Soldering Iron Kit.

Note. This kit requires some basic through-hole soldering. We recommend the SparkFun Soldering Iron Kit to put this kit together.

posted by drezdn at 2:51 PM on April 1, 2011

FAMOUS MONSTER just knocked that one out of the park fake Apple store.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 3:15 PM on April 1, 2011

must....buy....apple...product.....
posted by the noob at 3:27 PM on April 1, 2011

Needs a mini penny farthing to be complete.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2011

So much awesome in one place, I'm not sure I can handle it. The best news of all? Now I know what to do with all my old Betamax tapes.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 4:29 PM on April 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd buy this. Playmobile reflects life, right? Apple stores are neat.
How do lightsabre Popsicles NOT EXIST? they made the spinning Jar Jar's tongue Popsicle FFS.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:00 PM on April 1, 2011