Looks like a standard neck pillow, in soft nylon and filled with gooshy foam beads, but press the little button on the right side once for a vibra-massage and twice for a faster vibra-massage. Press the button on the left and a bright white LED comes on to illuminate your book. Snaps on so it doesn't vibrate off your neck. You add (4) "AA" batteries. LED is rated for 50,000 hours, by which time you should be vibrated to pieces. Spot wash only, on account of... duh. We'll pick one in gray, brown or purple and you'll like it. For ages 5+.

Kids today don't know the value of a dollar, and we think you should use these long days together to teach them an unforgettable lesson in money management and save valuable space at the same time. Call it gambling in place. This tabletop Mini-Pool table measures 15" x 1-1/4" x 9-1/4" in durable plastic with a genuine faux felt-like finish and includes (2) cues, (1) rack, (1) cue ball, and (10) assorted colored balls. They'll thank you someday when they’re old enough to hustle people at nine-ball. Surplus Alert! Ignore the box. The balls are all assorted solid colors and there is no bridge. Isn't surplus wonderful.

It’s like the Electric Slide, but with no dancing required. Our (6)-port USB hub turns your vehicle into an electric ride, providing device-charging for all passengers, even the ones misbehaving in the back. Plug the matte black gadget into the cigarette lighter port and charge away. Has (2) USB hubs in the plug itself, plus another (4) in a box that measures 4" x 1.5" x 3/4" and easily reaches into the back seat on a nearly 5-foot cord. Ignore the $19.99 price on the box--we’ll give it to you for half that.

Actually, it's a Round Stic®, without the “k,” which is the name BIC® gives to its #1 selling ballpoint pen. They're black, and round, with black ink and medium points. Also have separate caps with pocket clips. Hard to go wrong at (10) for two bucks. “Writes First Time, Every Time®,” they say.

Keep your secret hopes and dreams, the ones that may only come true when pigs fly, in this little porcelain box adorned with a wishful flying pig. Or just put trinkets in it. Measures approx 2-1/2” x 2”. Bottom is glazed bright gold, and the top is white with a golden, winged pig perched on it. For extra credit, look up the etymology of porcelain, but don’t blame us—we didn’t name it.

Tom Hanks had Wilson, his volleyball companion, but he'd have been much better off, and rescued much sooner, if he'd had this Marooned dry bag kit from Alpha Outpost. Measures 24" x 13" in neon orange with reflective silver strips. Includes a waterproof flashlight that requires (4) "AA" batteries; intermittent red/white strobe light that will need (2) "AA" batteries; a float-able key chain; whistle; signal mirror; and maroonee info card. Don't get in a boat without it. (Also includes a Marooned patch, but we'd wait to sew that on until after you're back home.) "Wilson!"

Time was, they told us the age of reason it was 7, but kids are smarter now. (It’s probably the chewable vitamins.) Now you can start their science education at 5, with this Stepping into Science kit. Includes (29) experiments about plants and weather, basic physics, air and water, and beginners chemistry. Includes a 48-page manual and (58) items that you augment with simple household supplies. Made in Germany for Thames & Kosmos for ages 5+.

We’re big fans of USB- and battery-powered gadgets, which is why we love this little dual-powered fan. It’s round, 5" dia, comes with a USB cord, tilts up and down like the lid of a waffle iron (and is the size of a large hamburger when it’s down), and has (2) speeds. If you don’t have a USB port handy, it’ll run on (4) “AA” batteries, which you provide. (We can’t give you everything.) In black or gray, with a blue front grill, and we’ll send you the color we think will go best with what you’re wearing the day it arrives.

It’s a two-part five-fer for the BBQ cook or the traveling chef. Measures 10-1/2” long closed, and it opens to 15-1/2”, in heavy-duty steel construction. Snap the pieces apart and one side is a fold-out spatula, the other a fold-out silicone basting brush and long meat fork. Plus, there’s a bottle opener and a corkscrew attached, so you’ll never forget where you put them. One gadget—many large, useful utensils.

You could use this jumbo clip to close your bag of chips, and you could write your name on it, or slip your business card into the slot on the front, so your family and co-workers will know to keep their grubby little fingers off your snacks. It's a giant 6" wide x 5" plastic clip with a large magnet on the back and it'll clamp down and hold on your fridge as many as (25) sheets of paper all at once, if you're not into salty snacks. Stick it to the fridge or file cabinet and use it to hold shopping lists, overdue expense receipts, love notes or gentle threats to family, co-workers or both. We'll pick one in red or blue, neither of which will match your fridge or file cabinet, probably.

This buckish knife from Alpha Outpost is a heavy-duty—and weighty—single-blade pocket knife. Hang it at your side, but you might want to use the built-in belt clip so it doesn’t drag down your jeans. This is a solid piece, understand? Measure 8” long open, 4-3/4” closed with a 3-3/4” locking blade that’s 1” across at its widest. Handle is a wood-and-metal combination, and it’s got a hole to hang keys from.

Rubber ducks are for toddlers' bath time and inner tubes are for amateurs. Real river runners jump on the back of a bald eagle and ride the waves in patriotic style. The bird's determined gaze will help tame the rapids, and the colorful American flag wings will make it easier for the rescue team to find you. On second thought, maybe just use it in your pool. It wouldn't make you any less patriotic. Measures 50" long x 40" wide (which is actually bigger than a real bald eagle) x 32" tall at the bald spot. Paddle not included.

Or in the air again? Or do you just like to be prepared, like any good Surpie does, for when regular travel returns? This soft-sided, black vinyl bag is a compact 21" x 13" x 6", well within carry-on rules, and easy to toss in the trunk or back seat. Zippered around the outside, it has a 7" long pocket, a zippered side pocket at 15" x 7", and another 13" x 9" pocket. Includes a shoulder strap and carrying handle. Not a roller, but an easy tote at under 3 lbs tare weight. (That means "empty"--we learned it from the side of a truck.)

It's not Swedish and not from Santa Barbara, but your beer won't care. Neither will your egg salad sandwiches, because the Santa Barbara cooler bag from Sweda will keep them all as cool as you'll feel carrying it to your picnic, tailgate, cookout, campsite or boating trip. Heat-sealed, insulated and padded, this khaki bag measures 15" wide x 18-1/2" tall with a front pocket and big handy handles. Exterior is water-repellent with a vegan leather bottom, which is more than you can say for yours.

This is our super-compact umbrella, but we think the word bumbershoot needs to be kept alive. So we’re going to say it again: bumbershoot. This one is black polyester and measures 9” long x approx 1-1/2” dia with a wood-like handle. Opens to 36” dia with a 21” long handle. Stores in a black sleeve.

Back by popular demand! Stick the dull, but leaded end of your wooden pencil into the left nostril of this nose and twist clockwise. You will be rewarded with a shiny sharp point on the pencil and a curl of shavings on your desk, lap or floor. Pretty good performance for a life sized, flesh colored piece of hard plastic!! We'll send you (3) in assorted skin tones. If you want to sharpen things up around the office or home, send for this item, and prove you have a nose for great deals!!

Brand new 2' x 2' x 5/16" aluminum frame LED panel lights. 5000k (Bright Daylight) and operates on 120vac with the included driver. These panels fit into standard drop ceiling tiles and draw under 40watts of power making them ideal as replacements for larger fixtures. 30,000 hour life span. Did we mention they are dimmable. Super Eco friendly and make an incredible light table. These will require some wiring as the driver just has wire leads and no plug on the end. 

Please Note: Item is not available for expedited shipping. Retail store customers: available by special order only.

Easy to do, and important these days. We’ve been pointing this non-contact infrared thermometers at just about every forehead we see. Reads in one second with a digital display in C or F. Measures body temps of 89.6 to 108.5 F (32.0 to 42.5 C) with a resolution of 0.18 F (0.1 C) and color changing backlit display to warn you when hot is too hot. Normal operating temperature (ambient air) range is 60.8 to 95 F (16.0 to 35.0 C), and the device should be held between 0.4" and 2" inches from those foreheads. Want to fry an egg on your car dash? Switch it over to surface mode to check, well, surface temps. Couldn’t be easier to use, or more important in times like these. Plus, when this is all over, you’ll never have to stick a thermometer under your tongue, or anywhere else, again. Approved by the FDA as soon as you add a pair of "AAA" batteries.

One byte at a time. Or maybe just a nibble if you’re trying to cut back. A nibble is what programmers call half of a byte. It’s also what the folks at Velleman call this Arduino-compatible microcontroller which has all of the pins as a standard Arduino, but the Nibble is enhanced with (4) built-in buttons and (4) blue LEDS for easy prototyping. Plus, it comes fully assembled and pre-programmed with a memory game. Just plug it into your computer’s USB port and you can start having fun and learning right away.

And so will you if you have this foldable storage box/wastepaper basket/toy box/whatever-container. Measures 10" x 10" x 1/2" thick when folded, but it pops open to a 10" cube with a solid bottom and little carrying handles on the sides. In red and cream canvas over boards you can't see. Reliable sources tell us these are in regular use in nursery schools for toys, books and supplies.

You will survive, too, just like Gloria Gaynor, and in the woods, even. But only if you have this U.S. Army manual, cleverly titled: SURVIVAL, Department of the Army Field Manual FM21-76. It's 287 heavily illustrated pages of techniques for staying alive (add your own BeeGee jokes here) including orientation, food & cooking, fire- and shelter-making, rafts, animal, insect and plant recognition, and much more. This is the 1970 edition, but staying alive in the woods hasn't changed a whole lot since then. In soft-cover.

From Nite Ize®, these extra-light NextGlo™ Visibility Markers and ID Tags have S-biners (double-headed carabiners) to hold your keys and clip them to something (like a pack or belt loop) while you’re on the go. No more fussing with split rings; these quick-change clips save your fingernails and your time.The NextGlo material charges in minutes under any light and lasts for hours so you can find your tent zipper, backpack or last piece of pizza at night.  You pick: the set of (2) ellipsoidal ID tags that you can write on, 1-1/4" x 5/8" with one orange, one yellow; or the single larger 2-1/4" x 5/8" glower in an extruded X shape, our choice of orange or yellow.

Use straight pins to position specimens in this slope-sided 11-1/4" x 7-3/8" x 1-3/8" deep aluminum dissection tray. A 3/8" layer of white wax covers the bottom. Excellent addition to the laboratory or classroom.

Yes, there’s a scientific explanation, but we prefer to think this magnetizing/demagnetizing tool relies on magic. Stick a screwdriver head in the bottom, it’s magnetized. Stick it in the top, it’s demagnetized. Fun for the whole family. Measures 2” square x 1-1/4” with stair-step ports for blades of different sizes. Never drop a screw again.

Our mini-coffin, in unfinished pine with brassish hinges and a clasp, is 6" long x 1-3/4" deep x 3" at the shoulders. You definitely want to think outside of this box, but it's perfect for gerbils, mice (just because you killed them doesn't mean you can't give them a nice send-off), Halloween and Day of the Dead displays, and tiny vampires. We use ours to store doornails.

Fluxx, the card game with the rules that keeps changing, is now available in an anatomical version, with (100) cards depicting bones, blood vessels, brains, hearts, lungs--all of your favorite organs and more. For ages 12+ and especially for medical and nursing students.

So you don't have a gas jet in the garage? You don't think Margie and Ted are old enough to handle the high temperatures of a Bunsen burner? Our alcohol lamp is the answer. It burns alcohol (available at the hardware store), and is hot enough to boil water, to soften glass tubing for bending, and to generate the chemical reactions generally called for in science projects. The lamp is shaped like a long-necked ink well, 3-1/2" tall x 3" dia at its widest point and comes with a wick assembly and a handy little glass lid/extinguisher.

Thin-sheet-metal workers, that is. As in crafter/jeweler/model-maker types. You get a 3-pack of very nice, bendable, metal foil sheets, 5" x 7" x .005" thick, (1) each in copper, brass and aluminum.

Eye dropper, tongue dropper, test tube dropper, petri dish dropper, anywhere dropper. Use this 3" glass dropper, with a rubber squeeze bulb to drop small amounts of liquid wherever you think they should go. You will have to measure by counting drops, though, because there are no markings on it. Also, it is called "3" because that is about how long the glass tube is. Overall, it is 4" long.

When you could just order this 480-pack of 1/4 watt, 5%-tolerance resistors. You'll get (30) pieces each of 10, 22, 47, 100, 220, 470, 1K, 2.2K, 4.7K, 10K, 22K, 47K, 100K, 220K, 470K, and 1M OHM.

That would be us. Nuts from America? That would be these made-in-the-USA locking nuts, 1-1/16" hex with an 11/16" - 12 thread, and just under 7/16" thick.

You're buying the drinks and this wacky, yet debonair, bird with a top hat and plastic base (7" tall OA) can't get his fill of water. Get him started, and he dips his beak into your glass repeatedly. How? Fluid inside his glass body condenses from the evaporative cooling of the water off the bird's beak, making it top heavy and dunking it back into the water. The condensate rejoins the liquid pool in the bird's bulb, and he tips up again. Process continues indefinitely. It works, but it's not any more than moderately well made, and not any more than moderately priced. WARNING! The fluid and dye inside the bird can permanently stain, and the bird's glass body can easily be broken. Children are fascinated by the bobbing bird, and the educational possibilities are great. But they should watch him, not fondle him!! Manufacturer warning states this item is not intended for children 8 and under.

Almost big enough to pick up mortals: 9-7/8" long, 1/2" at its widest, with a mouth that rests open at 1-3/16". Stainless steel and non-magnetic, with a rounded serrated tip that's 5/32" wide. Good for giant splinters, crafts, jewelry, electronics, or sushi.

It’s the Forever Belt of late night fame, the no-holes ratcheting cinch for your expanding waist. Features a 32-position gear rack on the underside in 1/4” increments in lieu of holes. In 1-1/8” wide black leatherette, it can be cut to length and will fit waists from 22” to 44”.

These are the so-called miracle shears. They were designed for use by paramedics and others needing quickly to cut wire, light sheet metal, or other tough stuff that might stand between them and their quarry. They are normally demonstrated cutting a penny in two. Which they will do. But not as a steady diet. Let's dispel a few myths. While these are Pakistani stainless, we're not talking any miracles in manufacturing. They are good for their purpose, and real handy to have in the old tool box. But their purpose isn't making pennies into 5-mil pieces, and you will twist or break them at about the same time you find out that you've done the same thing to U.S. laws! For sheet metal or wire or fishing leaders or tin cans or whatever, be our guests.

This plasma ball from TEDCO Toys® has a 6" dia glass globe atop a 4-7/8" square x 3-1/2" tall base and throws swirling arcs and dots at the inside of the globe, just waiting for the electricity in your hands to make them go bizzare-o. It might even make you scream, "It's alive!" Mesmerizing, to say the least. Steady-on and sound-sensitive modes. Comes with an adapter and 6-foot cord.

In several senses. These snazzy cigarette cases are made for the original, unfiltered short smokes (or roll-ups) and measure 3-1/2" square x 3/4" deep, or 3/8” deep per side when open, with those little elastic keeper bands. Quite suitable for carrying other stuff like business and debit cards, cash and bus passes. Plus, they make you feel like William Powell or Myrna Loy, depending. In gray, black, and zebra, all with an acrylic mirror on one side and a push-button latch. We’ll pick, cuz they’re all Thin-Man stylish.

Rare earth magnets are usually killers for their size, and these thick nickel neodymium discs are no exception. The price, on the other hand, for (3) 7/16" dia x 1/4" 5-lb lift or (2) 15/32” dia x 3/16” 8-lb lift magnets each stored on a 2" dia steel disc, is a rare exception.

Because your steady hand isn’t really as steady as it used to be, is it? No, and if you’re like us, it never really was in the first place. Why not admit it and get these 60-yard rolls of 1-3/8” wide, blue painter’s masking tape. Made in the European Union, where they hate wiggly lines.

So you can decorate it, you crafty thing. This tan-colored papier mache mask is 8-3/8" tall x 5-3/8" wide at the eyes, pretty much the size of your average human face. The side curves around so the mask is 1-3/8" deep. The material is 1/32" thick and very sturdy. Not crafty? Left unpainted, the mask has a certain spooky charm.