Tetris is easily among the most popular puzzle games ever made (in addition to being part of an ingenious Soviet plot to corrupt the youth of the Western world... okay, maybe that hasn't been proven... yet) yet it hasn't seen a tremendous amount of merchandise over the years. Paladone Toys has seen fit to correct that with a handful of really stunning items which include a stackable desklight, alarm clock, ice cube tray, and heat-sensitive mugs.

The obvious show-stealer here is the desklight, which consists of seven interchangeable light-up pieces (presumably powered from the lowest piece). It's so mind-bogglingly awesome that it defies conventional explanation (an eldritch awesombination, maybe?). The clock, by contrast, is amusing in a cutesy way and definitely has some appeal. Likewise I imagine that the ice cube tray would be tremendous fun up until you lose when your cup overflows. The mugs seem rather boring compared to everything else but they're still a neat little collectible. Oh, plus there are Tetris cufflinks for the professional gamer.

Paladone may not be terribly well known (mostly because many retailers list their products as coming instead from their distributor, Diamond Select Toys) but they do some absolutely amazing stuff. The company seems insanely creative and you'd probably have a fair deal of fun just browsing through their catalog.

Most of the items mentioned here are available for pre-order with release dates in the near future. The lamp is priced at US$50, the clock at US$40, the ice cube tray at US$12, and the mug at US$10. There are also magnets, cufflinks, and other small items that I haven't seen listed.

[ Pre-order  Desklight | Clock | Ice Cube Tray | Mug from Entertainment Earth ]