In the last few years a kind of cat and mouse game has evolved between Apple Legal and some of the more daring (and creative) members of the Cult of Apple: tempting fate by selling Steve Jobs collectibles, and risking the wrath of Apple. How long before your Cease & Desist letter arrives?
Here are some of the more popular items created in the past few years.
Perhaps the best known is a bobblehead Steve Jobs figurine standing on a Apple shaped base. Created by M.I.C. Gadget (a repeat risk taker), this soon-to-be-eBay-only find lasted just a short while on the market before they were ordered to stop selling the item because the base infringed on Apple’s logo. A followup version of Ninja Steve tried to skirt that issue by redesigning the base and replacing the iPhone with ninja stars, but that also didn’t last long.
This Plush Steve Jobs doll came out back in 2009. Standing 17″ tall and sporting the requisite black mock turtleneck and an Evil Genius grin, Steve is shown here holding the Book of Jobs. Only 500 pieces were made, the doll sold out quickly and the original vendor, PodBrix, can no longer be found online.
Plush Steve Jobs made the rounds, and even danced with iJustine on the beach…
The Steve Jobs in Carbonite iPhone case is a 2011 phenomenon. Designed by Studio Burb and sold via Society6, this Star Wars related item for iPhone 4 and 3G/3Gs lasted just a few weeks before Apple’s Cease & Desist letter arrived. Originally $35, cases quickly fetched up to $150 on eBay.
Have they no sense of humor…?
Here we get another collectible that’s also functional – the Steve Jobs Bobblehead iPhone Charger. Back in 2008 MII Scultpures created this version of Proud Papa watching his baby getting rejuvinated. The rear of the dock has a USB connector plus audio and video outputs. Steve looks professorial.
iPhone docks are kind of passé, but I’d snap this item up for my collection if it was available.
Prefer a more blocky style collectible on your desk? Then this Steve Jobs Bust may be your thing. In 2010 Dutch design studio Sevensheaven created a 3D printable Steve Jobs companion, which is (surprisingly) still available from Shapeways for $125. A Woz version (somewhat wider) is also offered.
I think every office needs its own Steve Jobs doll (shown here keeping watch at 37signals in Chicago). Who will next tempt fate and challenge Apple Legal?
Adam Rosen is an Apple certified IT consultant specializing in Macintosh systems new and old. He lives in Boston with two cats and too many possessions. In addition to membership in the Cult of Mac, Adam has written for Low End Mac and is curator of the Vintage Mac Museum. He also enjoys a good libation.
8 responses to “Geek Trend: Tempting Fate Creating Steve Jobs Collectibles [Gallery]”
I’m lovin’ my Steve Jobs in carbonite!
AWESOME
Not really sure why all of these companies cave to Apple over a simple Cease & Desist letter.
It would be fun just to collect Cease and Desist letters. Imagine if someone collected an album of them. LOL
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have the pleasure to brief you on our Data Visualization software
“Trend Compass”.
TC is a new concept in viewing statistics and trends in an animated
way by displaying in one chart 5 axis (X, Y, Time, Bubble size &
Bubble color) instead of just the traditional X and Y axis. Discover
trends hidden in spreadsheets. It could be used in analysis,
research, presentation etc. In different business sectors, to name a
few we have Deutsche Bank, NBC Universal, RIM, Vanguard
Institutional Investor, Ipsos, Princeton University as our clients.
NBC presentation on TED using Trend Compass exported Videos. Now on
CNN Money / Fortune (Dec 21st,2010):
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/20…
The following link is for our new Geographical Trend Compass
(Earthquake in Japan – Mag vs Depth vs Time):
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Link on Ads Monitoring on TV Satellite Channels. Pick Duration (Ads
daily duration) vs Repeat (Ads repetition per day).
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Link showing drilling feature (Parent/Child) – Just double-click on any
bubble:
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Link on UK Master Card vs Visa performance :
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Links on Funds:
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Link on other KPIs :
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Link on Chile’s Earthquake (Feb 27th 2010):
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
This a link on weather data :
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
This is a bank link to compare Deposits, Withdrawals and numbers of
Customers for different branches over time ( all in 1 Chart) :
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
Misc Examples :
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
http://www.epicsyst.com/test/v…
This is a project we did with Princeton University on US unemployment :
http://www.epicsyst.com/main3….
A 3 minutes video presentation of above by Professor Alan Krueger
Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton
University and currently Chief Economist at the US Treasury using
Trend Compass :
http://epicsyst.com/trendcompa…
You can download a trial version. It has a feature to export
EXE,PPS,HTML and AVI files. The most impressive is the AVI since you
can record Audio/Video for the charts you create.
http://epicsyst.com/trendcompa…
All the best.
Ashrafwagdy
Trend Compass Team
Epic Systems
http://www.epicsyst.com