Spring-powered stainless steel and bronze toy car with walnut box

Located in Eindhoven, designer Wouter Scheublin created this gorgeous stainless steel and bronze toy car.

We don't know much more about it other than it comes in an equally beautiful walnut box, is powered by a spring, and was made in a limited edition of 20. I don't know if any are available, or how much they cost, but his contact information is located on his web site.

If you like this, you might also be interested in the Kikkerland zeCar, which is readily available.

Unlike Scheublin's car, the zeCar is powered by a stainless steel flywheel which is connected to the wheels via a series of gears. A gentle push spins the flywheel and supplies the zeCar with the energy it needs to move. You can choose to have the traction be the front, or the rear wheels. You can also slide it upside-down on the flywheel and two free spinning wheels. Zecar is not a race car. It has lots of torque, and so can move up gentle inclines, but it moves rather slowly. It sells for a very reasonable $13 USD.

[ Thanks Adam! ]

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Somewhat mysterious singing bird music box

OK...so maybe not everyone has the $5.8 million dollars required to by something like the pair of singing bird pistols attributed to Frères Rochat. That doesn't mean you can't dream of a miniature mechanized singing bird of your own. Here's a beautiful example that can be yours for a fraction of the price. What that is...well...it's probably changed by now, so I'll let you see for yourself.

The ebay description is a little mysterious, but based on the current number of bids and the amount, I would say that there are people out there who know exactly what this is and that is worth something.

Quality automaton Music Box possibly from France or Germany. Gilded finish bronze box, bombe sides, fleur de lis decoration. A slide switch releases an hinged oval panel on the top. Bird stands for the duration of the tune. Found in the original cloth lined storage box along with the key (for winding) that is fitted in the hinged cover. Black exterior. Unsigned.
Music Box is 4"W x 1-1/4"H x 2-1/2"D.

Here's the full listing with many nice photographs of this somewhat mysterious singing bird box.

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Articulated metal figure in bronze and steel

Shown here is the beautiful human figure titled "Artform No. 1" by artist Mark Ho. The initial model -- bronze and stainless steel, like the one shown here -- was 6 years in the making!

The figure is fully articulated, stands 17 inches high, weighs in at 16 lbs, and is made up of over 500 parts. This is a limited edition run of 25. Each Artform No. 1 figure comes with a clever magnetic base which can be activated and de-activated, allowing you to pose and "freeze" the sculpture into any shape the human form is capable of.

See more animations and photographs of this amazing metal figure at ZOHO ARTFORMS web site.

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