I found myself in a dangerous situation the other night; wandering a huge used book store with a big wad of trade credit burning a hole in my pocket. I’d picked out a couple of obscure texts, a novel recommended by a Doper in another thread, and a forgotten book from my childhood, when I found myself in the much-neglected Toys and Games section of the store. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a vintage Visible Man. You know, the clear plastic model of a human with all the bones and veins and gooshy stuff visible? That one.
Now, many people have told me my user name makes them think of the Visible Man, and I like that, so I picked it up, and bought it, and brought it home with me. And promptly decided that filling this guy with organs was just too cliche. So to speak. Besides, I like having a little skull with a little brain inside to play with on my desk. So my boyfriend and I came up with the idea of filling the little clear plastic man with something else. But we don’t know what yet.
Which is where you come in. Here are the criteria:
[ul]
[li]It must fit into small spaces; nothing more than a quarter inch or so in diameter, so it fills the guy up pretty well.[/li][li]It should be non-perishable. Once the guy is filled, I’m gonna glue it together, and watching something rot wouldn’t be much fun.[/li][li]They should be inexpensive enough to fill a 12" tall human statue for a few bucks.[/li][li]It should be odd. But kinda cool.[/li][/ul]
I’m open to suggestions. And so is the Visible Man. Once I’ve finished this little project, I’ll put a picture up on the web, so you can marvel at the wonder you’ve helped create.
An ant farm would be interesting, but does not fit all your criteria.
I’d probably just cram it up with assorted electronic components - LEDs, transistors, etc maybe a small IC like a 555 timer chip in the top of the cranium.
IF you go to a decent aquarium place, they should be able to tell you how to set up a small, self sustaining environment… maybe a small plant or two, and a tiny snail.
I had an idea that would let you be able to say “oh yeah, that’s the Visible Man… he’s full of piss and vinegar”.
I’ll give you one guess why I decided it’d be a bad idea.
I then thought of “pith and vinegar”, but I think the pith (that’s the proper term for the little bits of orange in juice, isn’t it?) would deteriorate or something.
So basically, I got nothin’. Cool idea, though. I’ll keep an eye our for the photos, no-matter what you decide.
Oh man, this is such a neat idea. Doing pretty pebbles (like the ‘dragon’s tears’ or whatever, in craft stores) would be cute, as would colored sand.
How much does an average Visible Man[sup]TM[/sup] go for? Where might I find him? Consider me inspired. It would be a hoot to personalize the contents and give them to people as presents!
Of course, getting it for trade-in credit at a used bookstore is the heigth of cool.
I’m liking the ideas so far. I don’t think I’ll do the fishtank; too much work. The colored sand is interesting, as are the BBs. I’m thinking of combining the two; covering BBs with paint in different colors, and letting them dry, and filling him in layers.
Oh, yeah, boast about going to Bookman’s, ya bastid! Great selcetion and really decent trade-in credit, too. I miss the Bookman’s in Flag when I lived in AZ.
Nerds candy. They come in all kinds of colours and will totally frustrate you and other people when you have a candy craving but cant get them cuz the Visible man is sealed shut!
Or you can use those fruit candies, the ones that are kind of hard like nerds, but shaped like bananas, oranges, apples and grapes. I forget what they’re called though.
Depending on how well it seals, you can fill him with oil and water (use food colouring to colour the water if you want) and have one of those slushy 2-layered things, in the shape of a man. That would look kind of cool. I’m thinking red water and yellowish oil, or greenish olive oil would look really neat.
Completely off topic - why is the tray-top of my coffee table shifted off to the side?
Another alternative is to find a bunch of noodles with a name that sounds good with “Visible” and stuff him with that. Not quite Kramer’s art work on Seinfeld (Fusilli Jerry!) but neat nonetheless.
Searching - I like the idea of personalizing these things! I have a few ideas for friends already…though I don’t know that i’ll ever bother to actually do it It would be fun, though!
You could make confetti out of Cecil columns and fill him up with knowledge. (How’s that for a bad idea?)
I’d also just like you to know that your Visible Man is great, but I also sure love my Invisible Man. I don’t have to fill him up with anything, and he’s free.
[aside]I was looking to go shopping today somewhere where I had not gone in years, and this thread has given me the perfect idea – thanks![/aside]
Pennies?
Gummi bears? (Or some other non-biodegradable snack food…could you stuff a whole Twinkie in there?)
Silk flowers?
Raffia?
Mini-beanie dolls?
Little plastic figures, like cowboys and indians?
Old ticket stubs?
Sea monkeys would be cool, but I don’t want anything alive. Raffia and colored beads are good suggestions; I’ll check at Michael’s in a couple of days to see what they’ve got.
Oddly, my boyfriend suggested stuffing him with words as well, lel. The only problem I have with that is that they’d eventually settled if they were printed on paper, and I can’t figure out what else to print them on.
Hmm…
So far, colored BBs are the forerunners, but it all depends on whether someone suggests a way to stuff him with vocabulary. I do think that’s a cool idea.
