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Product:
Hello Cthulhu Mousepad |
Company:Cafe Press/Tim Tate |
| Web: www.cafepress.com/timmyt |
Phone: N/A |
| Platform: Your desktop |
SRP: US$13
Street Price: same |
Cred Rating: | Special Award:
Object Value |
[CONFLICT OF INTEREST ALERT: Tim Tate, the creator of the Hello Cthulhu mousepad, is Street Tech's new tech guy. We're certainly not impartial (we think little Timmy is quite brilliant and we'd certainly like to keep him happy so he'll stick around), but we think these mousepads (and the DIY e-commerce site they were created on) are just too cool not to share with you. So there!]
For those who aren't familiar with the mythos of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu (popularly pronounced "kuh-THOO-loo") is one of the Old Ones, a race of hellish alien creatures that lived on Earth and in the cosmos before humans arrived and retreated to subterranean and multidimensional spaces when we did, waiting to awaken when the time is right to sweep us all aside. Hello Kitty, you probably know, is the hyper-cute Japanese cartoon character that became the darling of Japanese school girls and kitsch- and irony-lovin' American hipsters in the '90s. Put them together and what have you got? It's evil! It's cute! It's Hello Cthulhu!
Tim produced his mousepads, along with a Hello Cthulhu T-shirt and two sizes of coffee mugs, using Cafe Press, a do-it-yourself e-store. To create a little shop on the site to sell T's, mugs and pads, you simply fill out a form, load your artwork, set your price and you're in e-business. Cafe Press handles all of the ordering, printing and shipping and you get a commission on the sales. You can sell the items at cost (i.e. you get no commission), or set your own retail price.
The site seemed like a great idea, but I was skeptical about the quality of the printing, until I ordered some stuff. It's truly impressive. I got my merchandise in under a week. I got a mousepad and a 15 oz. mug ($13). The quality of the printing is first rate.
The mousepad is full-size and covered by that *good* mousepad material, not that slick, tight-woven stuff that feels like a polyester pants suit. The thickness of the pad is a might thin, but not so much so that it interferes with operation.
The 15 oz. mug holds a butt-load o' coffee. The printing is sharp and holds up fine against dishwashing and microwaving. Sitting on my desk, next to my Hello Cthulhu mousepad and hand blown nuclear mushroom cloud drinking glass (allegedly made from Trinity site sand), I feel like the hippest geek on my block (oh wait, I'm the only geek on my block).
Everyone who's walked into Street Tech Labs and seen my pad wants one. I've bought several for friends and called other friends to tell them they MUST get one. I think YOU need one too!
- Gareth Branwyn [1/10/00]
Other mousepads reviewed on Street Tech:
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