Ok, look. I spend the majority of every work day sifting through emails and websites, and in the course of that search I have seen everything from pink NES belt buckles to Mario themed kicks. After seeing enough of this gamer-inspired swag, the usual reaction is a small smile and perhaps a murmur of "cool..." but since there's so much of it out there, very little elicits a strong reaction any more.

 

I told that story as a point of contrast to the moment I first saw the Rock Band Mushroom Drums, which actually made me yell expletives and hurriedly spam links of it to the rest of the staff. This isn't gamer crafts cool, or Hot Topic fashion cool, but REAL COOL, in a way that makes me want to fork over any cash I have to get a set of these for myself. Of course I can't, because they aren't for sale, but somehow that makes them all the better.

 

Mad props to Jennifer & Vance over at Behold the Mundane -- you guys took my breath away with your concentrated awesome. 

 

[Thanks Vance!]