An Air Swimmer is an inflatable flying remote control toy fish manufactured by the William Mark Corporation ( who later created Feisty Pets), which realistically swims indoors through the air. [1] [2] [3]
The inventor, Blake English, won the “Rising Star Inventor” award at the 2011 Toy and Game Inventor Conference (TAGIE) Awards [4] [5] The toy itself won the "Best New Product” award at the 23rd 2011 Kite Trade Association International Show. [6] It also featured in Episode 2 of the 2011 On the Verge technology news entertainment show.
The first toys of this type were flying shark and clown fish. At the 2012 Toy Industry Association fair the skies were patrolled by Angry Birds. [7] In 2012 a Zombie Shark was added to the toy line. [8]
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fins are also used to increase surface areas for heat transfer purposes, or simply as ornamentation.
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expressed as its lift-to-drag ratio. The lift a wing generates at a given speed and angle of attack can be one to two orders of magnitude greater than the total drag on the wing. A high lift-to-drag ratio requires a significantly smaller thrust to propel the wings through the air at sufficient lift.
An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflatables depend on the presence of a gas to maintain their size and shape. Function fulfillment per mass used compared with non-inflatable strategies is a key advantage. Stadium cushions, impact guards, vehicle wheel inner tubes, emergency air bags, and inflatable space structures employ the inflatable principle. Inflation occurs through several strategies: pumps, ram-air, billowing, and suction.
Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. It is known for creating and marketing many popular toys for nearly 70 years, including the Hula hoop, Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky sack, Wham-O Bird Ornithopter & Boogie Board, many of which have become genericized trademarks.
Nerf is a toy brand formed by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, with other Nerf products including balls for sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. The most notable of the toys are their dart guns that shoot ammunition made from "Nerf foam". Their primary slogan, first introduced in the 1990s, is "It's Nerf or Nothin'!". Annual revenues under the Nerf brand are approximately US$400 million.
Newton's Apple is an American educational television program produced and developed by KTCA of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and distributed to PBS stations in the United States that ran from October 15, 1983, to January 3, 1998, with reruns continuing until October 31, 1999. The show's title is based on the legend of Isaac Newton sitting under a tree and an apple falling near him—more popularly, on his head—prompting him to ponder what makes things fall, leading to the development of his theory of gravitation. The show was produced by Twin Cities Public Television (TPT). For most of the run, the show's theme song was Ruckzuck by Kraftwerk, later remixed by Absolute Music. Earlier and later episodes of the show featured an original song [ Was it original? It was certainly the identical music from Suburb's Music For Boys, a Minneapolis new wave band ]
Inflatable castles are temporary inflatable structures and buildings and similar items that are rented for functions, school and church festivals and village fetes and used for recreational purposes, particularly for children. The growth in the use of such devices has led to a rental industry that includes inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and games. Inflatables are ideal for portable amusements because they are easy to transport and store.
Ivor Lott and Tony Broke was a British strip which originally appeared in the comic book Cor!! on 6 June 1970, before moving to Buster when the two comics merged in June 1974. The comic strip lasted until the final issue of Buster on 3 January 2000. The comic was originally drawn by Reg Parlett and later continued by artists such as Jim Crocker and Sid Burgon.
Shark Week is an annual, week-long TV programming block created by Tom Golden at the Discovery Channel, which features shark-based programming. Shark Week originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Featured annually, in July or early August, it was originally devoted to conservation efforts and correcting misconceptions about sharks. Over time, it grew in popularity and became a hit on the Discovery Channel. Since 2010, it has been the longest-running cable television programming event in history. Broadcast in over 72 countries, Shark Week is promoted heavily via social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Episodes are also available for purchase on services like Google Play Movies & TV/YouTube, Amazon Video, and iTunes. Some episodes are free on subscription-based Hulu and Discovery+.
Air Hogs is a line of toy airplanes, helicopters, rockets, and cars manufactured and owned by the Spin Master company of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are radio controlled, free-flying, and air-powered aircraft. Several of these, especially the remote-controlled (R/C) ones, are designed to be easily flown without any need for assembly.
Spin Master is a Canadian global toy and entertainment company marketing consumer products for children. Its brands include Bakugan, Gund, Etch A Sketch, Erector Set by Meccano, Air Hogs, PAW Patrol, Aquadoodle, Tech Deck, Hatchimals, Rubik's Cube, and Zoomer. Spin Master employs over 1,600 people globally with offices in Canada, United States, Mexico, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, India and Australia.
Reuben Klamer is an inventor best known for creating and designing the classic Milton Bradley board game The Game of Life.
3rd & Bird is a children's television series created by Josh Selig. Selig's company, Little Airplane Productions, animated the series and opened a new studio in London to produce it. The show revolves around a community of birds and their adventures. It was broadcast on the BBC's CBeebies channel from 1 July 2008 to 31 July 2010. Described in its initial press release as "a charming new animated series all about community", the show's format generally involves one or more of the characters encountering a problem which must be solved using the social skills which pre-school children must develop in order to make their way in the world.
Certain species of fish and birds are able to locomote in both air and water, two fluid media with very different properties. A fluid is a particular phase of matter that deforms under shear stresses and includes any type of liquid or gas. Because fluids are easily deformable and move in response to applied forces, efficiently locomoting in a fluid medium presents unique challenges. Specific morphological characteristics are therefore required in animal species that primarily depend on fluidic locomotion. Because the properties of air and water are so different, swimming and flying have very disparate morphological requirements. As a result, despite the large diversity of animals that are capable of flight or swimming, only a limited number of these species have mastered the ability to both fly and swim. These species demonstrate distinct morphological and behavioral tradeoffs associated with transitioning from air to water and water to air.
"A Christmas Carol" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It is the sixth Doctor Who Christmas special since the programme's revival in 2005, and was broadcast on 25 December 2010 on both BBC One and BBC America, making it the first episode to premiere on the same day in both the United Kingdom and United States. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes.
A Nerf Blaster is a toy gun made by Hasbro that fires foam darts, discs, or foam balls. The term "Nerf gun" is often used to describe the toy; however, it is often used as a blanket term for any foam dart blaster, regardless of whether or not it has the Nerf brand name. Nerf blasters are manufactured in multiple forms. The first Nerf blasters emerged in the late 1980s with the release of the Nerf Blast-a-Ball and the Arrowstorm.
Angry Birds is a Finnish action-based media franchise created by the Finnish company Rovio Entertainment. The series focuses on the angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs, their enemies. Inspired by the game Crush the Castle, the game has been praised for its successful combination of fun gameplay, comical style, and low price. Its popularity led to many spin-offs; versions of Angry Birds created for PCs and video game consoles, a market for merchandise featuring its characters, Angry Birds Toons, a televised animated series, and two films; The Angry Birds Movie and its sequel The Angry Birds Movie 2. By January 2014, there had been over 2 billion downloads across all platforms, including both regular and special editions.
Tekno the Robotic Puppy was a popular electronic robotic toy which originally launched in late 2000. Tekno sold over 7 million units in its first season and went on to sell over 40 million units in its original 4 years of production. The worldwide popularity for Tekno led to prominent awards and widespread media coverage which included newspaper articles, television and film appearances, and a stand-alone feature on the cover of Time magazine.
Fins are usually the most distinctive anatomical features of a fish. They are composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body with skin covering them and joining them together, either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as seen in sharks. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the spine and are supported only by muscles. Their principal function is to help the fish swim.
A. Eddy Goldfarb is an American toy inventor. The creator of over 800 toys, he is best known for inventing Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, Battling Tops, KerPlunk, Stompers, and Vac-U-Form.