# Desk toys **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2019, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412 "2019-08-29T13:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/21 "2019-08-29T20:26:45Z")
I have a great desk toy called “the internet.” I’m using it now! ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/22 "2019-08-30T01:03:13Z")
Karl Marx piggy bank with a note that says, “like my course? Consider donating. Want to rid the university system of a tenured radical? Contribute to the retirement fund.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/23 "2019-08-30T01:09:49Z")
I have a Magick Wish Doll I got in New Orleans years ago. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/24 "2019-08-30T01:28:42Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I have a great desk toy called “the internet.” I’m using it now! This. Also, at the moment, one white-and-yellow cat. He thinks I’m the toy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/25 "2019-08-30T19:44:43Z")
I work from home now, my office is full of desk toys collected over the years. When I worked in an office I had considerably fewer, only because we tended to reshuffle the offices pretty often and moving all that crap got to be a pain. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/26 "2019-08-31T00:45:08Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Is that like an inside joke? Or do you work in rubber duck factory? 😉 It’s literal. Everyone just started collecting them. I has the first three, but was soon passed by another guy in the office. The funniest part was we hired someone new and she brought her own and immediately had more ducks than any of us ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/27 "2019-08-31T13:54:21Z")
I have a diorama of tiny dinosaurs and other odd creatures (including Pokey the horse, Gumby’s companion) gathered around a Terry Francona bobblehead, threatening mayhem if he doesn’t finally pilot the Cleveland Indians to a World Series title. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/28 "2019-09-01T01:11:09Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > Sorry, I became so enraged at “a significant amount of down time” that I blacked out. > > How does one get such a job and are you hiring? government job ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/29 "2019-09-04T00:36:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s literal. Everyone just started collecting them. I has the first three, but was soon passed by another guy in the office. > > The funniest part was we hired someone new and she brought her own and immediately had more ducks than any of us I have a Karl Marx rubber duck. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/30 "2019-09-04T01:22:01Z")
[Android 18.](https://i.imgur.com/BZq0gsF.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/31 "2019-09-04T01:48:13Z")
No toys as such but I used to have a [Buddy Christ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Christ) mini statue. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/32 "2019-09-04T02:07:26Z")
From my last desk job, about 15 years ago: a [binary-coded decimal clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_clock) (e.g., 13:31:03 would look like .::. : in LEDs) and a solved spherical jigsaw puzzle of [_The Simpsons_’ season 9 cast poster](http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/characters/poster). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/33 "2019-09-04T11:49:48Z")
As a computer nerd/electronic hobbyist I have various components and what not sitting around to play with. Some cell phones in various states of completeness, a Wyze camera that I’m doing horrible things to firmware-wise, a Raspberry Pi Zero, etc. But as for toy-toys not much right now. I have a fidget spinner for some reason. For finger play I have a cheapo combination luggage lock that I sometimes pick up and “crack” by feel. Oh yeah, real secure. Some back-of-the-page-a-day-calendar mazes to glance at and solve mentally. You know … junk. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/34 "2019-09-04T17:08:00Z")
Yo-yos. I have about a dozen spread around. Some are cheap, but most of them are fairly nice and rather expensive. I know about three yo-yo tricks. When somebody picks up a yo-yo and tries to play with it (usually very poorly), I say, “Here. I’ll show you.” I then do my three tricks in 20 seconds and hand it back to them, refusing (just like a magician) to show them again or do any others. Most people are gob-smacked. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/35 "2019-09-06T06:01:10Z")
I have a buckyball cube and a fidget cube. I also have about eight tins of crazy Aaron’s putty. I don’t like when it gets too soft so I buy more. The staff took my anatomical rubber duck. I also used to have a magnetic toy that was femurs and vertebrae as well as a collection of body part stress balls (heart, brain, prostate etc) Sometimes I miss the old days when the pharmaceutical reps could bring us crap without having to worry about being corrupted. Now I won’t even take a pen. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/36 "2019-09-09T21:37:46Z")
My collection of desk toys has ebbed and flowed over the years. My current employer prefers a minimum of “stuff” on our desks, so most of my yo-yos and such are home at the moment, but in the past few months I’ve acquired: [ul] [li]a rubber ball that lights up when it bounces (company swag)[/li][li]a [Koosh](https://www.amazon.com/Koosh-Balls-Multi-Color-Gift-Bundle/dp/B00PYCR71Y/)[/li][li]a blue and green [tangle](https://www.amazon.com/TANGLE-Set-Jr-Original-Fidget/dp/B0753VMXGC/)[/li][li]a mini container of Play-Doh[/li][/ul]Those are in addition to two small fans, a [desktop whiteboard](https://www.amazon.com/Quartet-Whiteboard-Desktop-Computer-GDP186/dp/B01M2DADUX/), two cell phone stands, and a [mini Bluetooth speaker](https://www.amazon.com/Bose-SoundLink-Micro-Bluetooth-speaker/dp/B0748N1BZD/)…but they’re all gadgets/accessories more than toys, I suppose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412/37 "2019-09-09T21:52:53Z")
I have a Cray\* on my desk. 🆒 \*It’s a calculator Cray handed out at an SC conference many years ago during the launch of the X1 (so really old). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desk-toys/839412.md?page=1)