The holidays are right around the corner, so here are some gems from Hammacher Schlemmer's current offerings.

The Handcrafted Hippopotamine Sofa is listed at $95,000 and "requires over 400 hours to make due to the intricate design and the artist’s painstaking attention to detail."

The Mini Monster Truck is listed at $125,000, promises a top speed of 25 MPH, and includes a "nitrous oxide system for immediate acceleration that enables easy jumps over obstacles."

The Exotic Virtual Adventure Run is $8,000 features a concave monitor loaded with "the otherworldly landscapes" of California’s Joshua Tree National Park, the Pacific coastline, a rustic lakefront village, and Area 51.

The Canine's Passive Solar Condominium is $37,000 and designed to evoke "the passive homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright."

But perhaps the strangest item is the Marble Machine Orchestra, listed at $95,000:

This is the mechanical musical apparatus made in Sweden that generates mellifluous melodies with a multitude of marbles. Constructed from birch plywood and steel, it is comprised of gears, pulleys, tracks, lifting fingers, and funnels that work in concert to generate the precisely timed release of marbles which strike instruments. The entire operation begins by turning the handcrank to set the 18" flywheel into motion, which stores rotational energy and provides the musician a way to keep even time. Working similarly to a music box, the machine's marbles strike the keys of the built-in vibraphone, the four strings of an electric bass guitar, a kick drum, snare drum, hi hat, one-stringed modulin, and a sizzle cymbal—the operator pushes/pulls a series of levers to activate/deactivate a particular instrument.

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Gavin and Alice Munro are serious about sustainability. On a two-acre field in England's Midlands, they're growing trees that are trained into forming the shape of furniture, including chairs. Read the rest

Lex is a "wearable" chair, an apparatus that attaches to your thighs and waist. Read the rest

Neiman Marcus sells a hot dog couch for $7,100 plus shipping. Read the rest

It's pop art! It's furniture! It's a stack of plastic coat hangers! Yep, the frame of this chair stacks plastic coat hangers. And not just stack them, Designer Joey Zeldon's Coat Check Chair isn't a chair without them.

By bringing the elements of the closet into the foreground of a person’s daily routine, the Coat Check Chair offers a unique design and a gentle encouragement to stay neat. The hangers’ flexible plastic makes the chair surprisingly comfortable, while its impermanent construction lets users customize in terms of hanger color and pattern. Timeless and practical, the Coat Check Chair can fit in your studio, home, boutique, hotel or gallery, letting your closet join the party.

He reports that the chair can withstand at least 170 lbs., which is what he weighs:

You can get the Coat Check Chair through Kickstarter for the early bird price of $449.

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Look closely at that hanging lamp.

Big Star Wars fanatic? Then, these are the furniture pieces you are looking for.

ELLE Decor:

There’s never been a shortage of officially licensed Star Wars furniture on the market; most pieces, however, have been intended for kids’ rooms. But that changed in the fall of 2018, when designer Kenneth Cobonpue launched his own higher-end, higher-design Star Wars furniture collection, initially for sale only in Cobonpue’s native Philippines. Now these pieces are available for the first time in the United States, at select retailers and showrooms in 11 states across the country plus the District of Columbia. (Alas, online ordering is not yet an option.)

$2700 TIE Fighter chairs, anyone?

See the entire collection, which includes a Chewie rocking stool and a Vader armchair, at the Kenneth Cobonpue site.

(ELLE Decor)

images via Kenneth Cobonpue

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Pro Idee's £369 Paper Bed is made of folds of rigid paper that collapse to a narrow sliver and then expand to 200cm length when needed; the materials are lightweight (total weight, 14.5k) and it can support up to 300kg, and the manufacturer claims it's comfortable, albeit with the addition of a foam pad. (via Yanko Design) Read the rest

Never buy a new pillow insert without first delivering a solid, forceful karate chop. If you're in a rush, my favorite chop is at 2:20m, with others at 1:00m, 1:30m, 1:50m ("it's made to be karate chopped"), 2:50m, and 3:20m. [via] Read the rest

Look at this table. LOOK. AT. IT. Why haven't we put the person that designed this thing to work on world peace or figuring out how to make an air freshener that smells like a turkey dinner? Maybe expanding tables like this are old hat to you, but my mind is absolutely blown. Read the rest

The latest episode of 99 Percent Invisible is about the the 1940 Emeco 10-06 Navy Chair, made of bent aluminum and strong enough to withstand a torpedo blast.

The chair was made to be relatively utilitarian, with an arched top and three slats coming down the back to meet a crossbar. A curved “butt divot” is one of its most distinctive elements.

To show off the durability of his creation, Dinges took it up to the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago, where the Navy was examining submissions, and threw it out of the window. It bounced, but didn’t bend or break.

And so the Navy gave its inventor the contract, and he, in turn, opened a factory and called his new business the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company, or: Emeco.

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The design of the ORIGINX wall-mounted arcade cabinet was inspired by the simple wood and yellow paint of the original Pong arcade game from 1972. The walnut and aluminum tribute is an edition of 50 and available for €2,899.00 (US$3407). From Love Hultén:

The standard version runs on a built-in modern computer, emulating all your favorite games through MAME - but the cabinet can aslo be customized to run the original JAMMA board of your choice. OriginX comes with a 19" 4:3 LCD, and to boost the authentic arcade experience Hultén adds a custom barrel distortion filter to mimic classic CRT monitors.

(via Uncrate)

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Unbox Therapy built this intense gaming cockpit around a Xidax PC, LG 42.5" monitors, the Imperator Workstation Game Chair with massage features, and other components totaling around $30,000. I especially appreciate the "snack cart."

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Seoul-based designer Yang Si Young created the "Library Chair" in answer to a personal challenge: to design a piece of furniture that's also a library; with built-in shelving and a place to read. Read the rest

This luxurious upholstered cat sofa by FelinEva is certainly a favorite of the French maid in the video. Watch her fondle it gently, quietly, as if she herself was a cat, a cat in fishnet stockings.

Will actual cats be as enamored? There's no real way to know until it's in your living room, right? I'd guess my cat would quickly inspect it and then promptly ignore it, because cat.

No mention of the sofa's cost on the website but we have to imagine it's going to set you back a pretty penny.

"Would you rather be a cat sofa?"

Now, if you're in the market for a cat sofa but are looking for something a bit more economical (and less over-the-top), check out the Paws & Purrs sofa bed for cats (and other small to medium pets). It's about $102.

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Woodworker John Malecki created this amazing river table with a massive piece of gnarly claro walnut and a lot of elbow grease. The end result is worth all the effort. Read the rest

The Planet is a personal pod chair complete with speakers and solar panels. It's a melding of the 1960s Lee West Stereo Alpha Egg Chair concept with a Buckminster Fuller geodesic vibe. The Planet sells for (gulp) $3,350. From MZPA:

An ergonomic mattress and such additional conveniences as a storage pocket, led-lamp, USB charging, speaker system and even solar panels – make The Planet a true stand-alone station for work and leisure.

The basis of The Planet is a constructor made up from triangular segments and fastenings. Adding or removing segments, you can change the shape and vary the degree of openness to the world around you.

The Planet (via Uncrate)

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Architect Shinsuke Fujii accepted the challenge from a client who wanted an accessible tall bookshelf that would not be affected by an earthquake. One entire wall of the house is slanted outward to allow climbing without any chance of tipping over. Read the rest