For months people have been writing asking how they can support the site… and while I’ve never been comfortable taking money, I’ve finally found a solution I think works for everyone: Meet BuckyBalls!
LINK: GetBuckBalls.
10 words I find fun: kerfuffle, whippersnapper, nipple, discombobulated, grommet, condiments, spork, floozy, boa, and dogapult ... more »
TieDyePie: This is amazing. I’m landing in town for a few days with no agenda, so this is perfect!
heather: hahahahaha! I know he plays the exact same character in every role he’s in, but how can you not love this...
Tex: ive done that in real life. its called tyme travel
Riggor: Ummm Spay on pancakes? Whats next nuetered sausage links?
MazelMesh: a belgian mazel tov!
i love bicycles: someone should have added purple monkey dishwasher at the end
Jesus: Looks like you’re on ebay…. http://cgi.ebay.com/ Fun-Gadget-Laser-Fin ger-Beams-LED-Lig...
Julia: Congrats!
samuel: Cool idea, but that phrase is too memorable to actually count for the record imo.
Anon: MLIA
March 10th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I am so all over this.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
This looks like hours of fun. I’m glad this isn’t shipping to Canada (dude whats the deal) I’d lose my job for sure.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
*announcer voice* PERFECT FOR YOUR ADHD KIDS!!!
March 10th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
if we were playing the “voice over game” you’d hands down win best selling of magnetic balls voice
March 10th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I’m so wishing I had money right now. It’ll probably be a couple months before I get everything set so that I can purchase some of these, but you can be assured that I will eventually. They look like they’d be great fun, especially because I’m one of the previously mentioned “ADHD kids.” The supporting of one of my best sources of fun is just a bonus :3.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Dude, you NEED to go international with these. This and the “need fun” service. PLEASE!?!?!?!? I’m begging you.
March 10th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
These are very dangerous if swallowed… keep away from children.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
My dad is absolutely obsessed with rare earth magnets. He has them in all shapes and sizes and every time I go to my parents he has them set up in some new sculpture on the coffee table.
But I have to ask where the hell did you come up with the name Bucky Balls??
March 10th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
@Anna, the name comes from Buckminsterfullery (probably spelled wrong - I’m tired). Anyway, he invented, among other things, the way in which we make spheres from triangles. You see it most often in geodesic domes. Anyway, if you take groups of 9 ZD BuckyBalls balls at time, they make triangles which can then form a ball as pictured above. Fun right?
@Samuel, I know. In fact, my insurance requires that they not be played with by children under the age of 12. That’s all explained better on the full site which, I think, launches tomorrow. Check it out: GetBuckyBalls.com.
March 11th, 2009 at 8:27 am
QUICK QUESTION:
How many people can’t see the videos when I embed using Vimeo?
And if you can’t see the videos above, what kind of system and hook-up are you using?
March 11th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Jake gave me a set of these a few months ago and my obsession is unhealthy. i sit at a desk all day, so i often need something to do with my hands when i’m on the phone or reading something online. these stupid little magnets are THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO MY ATTENTION SPAN.
they just calm me down. i really don’t know why. it’s SO SATISFYING to make a ball out of them and just squeeze them in my hands.
i highly recommend these for anyone who likes to sit and think.
and they make a snazzy bracelet.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:44 am
so addictive - can’t put them down
March 11th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Call Now, Operators are standing by, and getting dam tired. So, Call Now, let them sit down to take your order, then they can stand up again. I get knocked down then get up again…
March 11th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Jake you make me laugh. Will promptly start building form of “other stuff”
(hmm come to think of it could prob actually use to track project time. Nice. Perhaps I’ll build “form of Fiery Project Management Hell.” That’d prob be sweet in magnet form.)
BTW I can see Vimeo while on the laptop right now but were I on the iphone I’d be missing out, unfortunately
March 11th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
@jakehimself - @juliaroy is always pimping your buckyballs. I’m checkin out twitter on the iPhone, and there your Vimeo cannot be watched.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I’m seriously considering a purchase of BuckyBalls. However, I would never consider buying BuckysBalls. That’s yucky.
In all seriousness, thanks for giving us some good, clean fun. I have a couple of birthdays coming up and these are the perfect price.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
@Membership Blueprints: I’m curious why you think BuckyBalls are yucky. Does it sound dirty to you? It’s actually the name of a form (a sphere made of triangles, which you can make out of these balls) designed by Buckminster Fuller. You know Epcot Center at Florida’s Disney World? That’s a BuckyBall.
I’ve invested a lot of time and money (all that I’ve got really) into this project, but it’s not too late for little changes.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Howz about BUCKYBEADS?
March 12th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Dude, you’ve got to put that ad you made on TV. HAVE TO!
March 12th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Don’t change the name, it sticks in your head. Same as the line, “puzzled by puzzles that only go together one way.”
March 12th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Nope, the name is great, I wouldn’t change it!
March 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
It’s also a form of elemental Carbon, 60 atoms in the shape of a geodesic sphere, the subject of many nanotechnology investigations.
March 16th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Membership Blueprints didn’t say buckyballs were yucky, but “Bucky’s Balls” were yucky. (Get it?)
March 20th, 2009 at 1:23 am
I got my Bucky Balls today! They are amazing!
March 20th, 2009 at 6:59 am
@milleniajc YAY, anyone else got Bucked? I know they started showing up in New York on Tuesday, but haven’t reached LA yet. Anyone who’s gotten theirs (and sees this) let us know what you think. Do they meet or exceed your idea of fun in a jar? I’d like to think they’re the physical manifestation of everything Zoomdoggle stands for… agree or disagree?
March 21st, 2009 at 4:21 am
[...] We all have loved playing with magnets when we were young. But what if i give you 216 tiny magnets and ask you to play with them. Now that you are all grown up, you probably won’t like the idea. Right? Wrong. Check out this video on what all you can do with these over 200 tiny magnets. And if you like it you may even order your own from Zoomdoggle. [...]
March 21st, 2009 at 10:32 pm
You have got to go international… and I’ll buy several, who cares if there is shipping costs… just don’t go free with the two or more?
Canada wants these!
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Hi, I must have these balls! I need them, so does my husband. I noticed on the shopping cart page that there is a discount code field…
IS there a discount code somewhere? I must get two sets, one for me and one for my husband but in our current situation this is a very irresponsible thing to do. I am going to do it anyway! Like I said, I must have these balls!
Thank you
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I LOVE THESE~! I finally got them on Saturday and by the time I finally put them down, my fingers hurt from playing!!! They are so much fun and well worth the price. I had to buy 2 sets because I never want to have to give them up so that someone else can try them out. They are that addictive. Great stress release. Love your website. :o)
April 4th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
@Jenni - you can use promo code “clownpenis” it only takes of about $2 per order of buckyballs, but its better than nothing!
April 24th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Why do you advertise at $20 + SH when it’s actually $25 + SH? That’s cruel. I need that $5 for beer tonight so no-go on the buck.
April 24th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Oops, my bad. Yeah, the price had to change, but I forgot to change this post. Tell you what: Use promo code Colbert to go back to the old price, just until I can change the graphic. Consider it my way of saying “I love Colbert,” “I like you,” and “I think you’re really going to enjoy these balls.”
April 30th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Both codes have expired…any others? I want to buy 2 sets for my teenagers but would like the price originally advertised…
May 5th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I ordered my about 5 days ago and their not here yet but I can’t wait for them to be here
May 6th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Still waiting Jake!!! These are undeniably the best toy on earth, mars, and Venus but they haven’t gotten to my home town yet nor have they been shipped.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
this is going to be great when they get here
May 11th, 2009 at 1:27 am
someone sounds extremely impatient… jeez.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
yes yes I am
May 30th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
not that I would ever do such a thing, but what if someone would to actually swallow one of these? How dangerous are we talking about? (Think of the children!)
June 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I ordered two. One for me and one for my finacée. Probably gonna order more later in the year as xmas gifts for my family. These are amazing
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:42 am
I just bought these from thinkgeek.com and payed for 5-7 day shipping, they came the next morning lol. SOOOO fun. I’m getting better at making things with it. I also want to know how you get this many magnets this cheap because i was looking up wholesale magnets and this many cost about $50. so when I saw this I bought it. also someone else is selling something like this called the Neocube for I think around $40, So good price. you should sell replacement magnets for a dollar or something because i have one slightly misshapen one.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Hi there,
i click on the link to buy for $24.95 but on the order page it is $29.95 - hate to bicker over $5.00 but i live in Costa Rica and that is a lot of money for me! This is a gift for my mom. . . .
Is there some code I should use? I tried colbert from above but it didn’t work.
thanks so much!!!
September 7th, 2009 at 7:36 am
New code: “Geek”. Yup.
September 7th, 2009 at 10:36 am
thanks jake
September 8th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Hello, I think this is one of the neatest things I’ve seen in my 57
trips around the sun!
Will the inventor, or staff, please tell me what is the “pole pattern”?
Cordially, M. V.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
hey guys these buckyballs rock!
gonna buy some tomorrow and i tried the geek code
is this like the “official” comment page for codez or is there another page?
-DF
November 14th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Can we buy this is Canada?
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:27 am
is it true if i buy 2 u will ship it to russia for free?
December 5th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Um … you were letting folks buy them at a discount for awhile back in May of 2009, because you had not updated this website with the new $29.99 price. You still haven’t updated it! It kind of bites to think you’re getting them for $25, when you actually need to pay $30 to get them. False advertising, dude … and for the record, totally illegal, so please fix it before you get in trouble with someone!!!
(Please don’t interpret that last statement as a threat, it wasn’t. It was meant in the spirit of a “heads-up”.)
That being said, I ordered mine through Amazon, since there was no price difference, and I had other stuff to get through them anyway.
December 7th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Heather, I see what you’re saying, but it’s not false advertising… it’s just outdated. Surely that happens from time to time (you see an old add or, in this case, article or post that doesn’t reflect current conditions). All of which is just a fancy way of saying “I’m too lazy to change old posts.” Thanks for heads up though. An ever bigger thanks for buys. Perhaps the biggest thanks of all though for commenting; even when a comment isn’t exactly what I’d like to hear, I’m always happy to be hearing something.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:47 am
There is a killer deal going on with these at http://www.thinkgeek.com/bbe8/
You can buy 2 and get 1 free using the code JINGLEBALLS
Then you get another $10 off using the code 9LBB
So that takes the price for 3 BuckyBalls + shipping from $96.96 to only $56.37!!!
I ordered mine last night, can’t wait until they get here, and they will make awesome Christmas presents!!!
December 11th, 2009 at 7:45 am
sadly the thinkgeek.com offer now seems to be invalid. I tried to order three sets as Christmas prezzies but could only get $5 off with the 9LBB code. thanks for that info, though, Diocia! $5 is as good in my pocket as it is in theirs.
December 13th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
@jakehimself - any chance of matching that http://www.thinkgeek.com offer?
December 29th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Heather,
For the record, false advertising is making claims that are unfounded or unsubstantiated. Like “putting Buckyballs in your gas tank can increase fuel efficiency by 25%!” That’s false advertising (unless you can prove that it does).
No court will allow (nor would any attorney touch) a case involving an old advertisement with an incorrect price, unless the company has a price guarantee that says something to the effect of “we’ll meet any advertised price (even if it’s our own).”
Cheers!
PS - I’ve got blisters on me fingers from these damned things!!!!
January 28th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Lovely little magnets! Being a material scientist, I am fascinated with crystalline structure, and enjoyed recreating the simple cubic structure that the balls were sent in. My question, since I am a little over 30 years from my original crystallography studies, is:
Can these little fellows be arranged in either of the hcp orientations, ABA or ABC, one of which is BCC structure?
MEL MS, MS, PE
100128.1622
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
Where do I find buckyballs with the original glass case? The new one is a plastic cubic case, so every time I need to put down the buckyballs I have to make a cube shape. That’s not so simple indeed.
Sorry for my engrish!
June 7th, 2010 at 11:58 am
I LOVE BUCKYBALLS!!! My dad got them for me as a christmas present… I love them!!!