Cool Thing of the Month

GeoMags
Don't you just hate it when your boss or a co-worker wants to come over to your house for a play-date… but you don't have any new, fun toys to play with? It's a big, embarrassing problem. The department head doesn't want to play with your bogus plastic Lincoln Logs or your ersatz Legos. And Sally from Accounts Receivable is tired of your sister's lame Barbie collection. Fortunately, you can avoid becoming the laughingstock of the office by taking out your credit card and ordering up a nice big set of GeoMags.

Seriously, I love these things. Super-strong magnet rods and shiny nickel-plated steel spheres connect together to form an infinite variety of structures: cosmic pyramids, Buckmeister Fulleresqe half-domes, dodecahedrons, and skyscrapers, to name a few. The latest additions to the line are GeoPanels, colorful geometric figures that'll open up a whole new dimension of possibilities.

Unlike the usual cheesy "executive toys" and insipid "stress relievers" occupying space on your desk, a GeoMag creation can become a reflection of your own personal style. Or in an unassembled state, a collection of mag rods and steelies will provide guests with something to do with their hands while discussing the quarterly budget with you. Placed on your conference room table, Geomags can become part of a team-building exercise, as groups compete to create the most imaginative structure.

A beginner set of GeoMags runs about forty bucks, but your creativity will be stunted with the limited number of pieces included. I highly recommend springing for the full-on GeoPanel-220 set at $99.99. Available at finer toy stores, direct from the importer (great web site), or at ThinkGeek. Trust me, you want to order the biggest set of Mags available, maybe two sets. Remember, you have to keep up your rep around the office.