Gleaves Posted May 13, 2010 at 05:51 PM Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 05:51 PM This is random, but check out these wickedly awesome toys that transform from kanji into the corresponding animal. The blog Pink Tentacle has a bunch of pictures here. If they can make about 4,000 more of these, I'd give up flashcards. Has anyone seen other clever Chinese-character-related toys like these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted May 13, 2010 at 06:08 PM Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 06:08 PM Those are really cool! Wonder if they are available in the USA? [Embarrassingly enough, my first thought was that the one for 乳 must be really neat....] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleaves Posted May 13, 2010 at 10:05 PM Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 10:05 PM Pretty sure this is the kind of trinket you would need to inport from Japan. I think what we clearly need is a 器 that transforms into a robot, a 忍 ninja, and a 盗 pirate. Followed closely by a 僵 that turns into zombie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted May 13, 2010 at 11:35 PM Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 at 11:35 PM I had the one for '无', but it seems to have disappeared. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:05 AM Report Share Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:05 AM Haha, that's pretty awesome! I like that it's called mojibakeru, with its allusions to mojibake, which no one wants (or perhaps more appropriately, 亂碼)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trien27 Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:12 AM Report Share Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:12 AM “....器 that transforms into a robot, a 忍 ninja, and a 盗 pirate. .... a 僵 that turns into zombie.” 器 = a tool in Chinese, whereas "robot" means "worker" from Czech. "Robot" is translated as 机器人 in Mandarin. 忍 = to endure; to keep it in, 忍者 from Japanese = "ninja", 盗 is "to steal", 盗贼 = thief. 海盗 = pirate. 僵 means "stiff". 僵尸 = "vampire"/ "zombie" in Mandarin. 僵尸 = "vampire" in Cantonese and "zombie" = 喪尸 in Cantonese. The transforming Kanji is from Ban Dai, a Japanese company which produces toys? I used to have a toy by that company which my mother bought in Chinatown, so mojibakeru kanji transformer toys might be imported all over the world soon? Since this is a fairly new toy but I think the concept is very old. [The transformers toys in the USA were an import from Japan in the early 1970's and 80's.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trien27 Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:36 AM Report Share Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:36 AM I had the one for '无', but it seems to have disappeared. 炁 [older form of 气] has lost the "fire" and a bit more, just like in the Simplified Chinese 汽 of 蒸汽, steam/vapo(u)r seem to have lost the 米 from 氣 in Traditional Chinese before adding the water 氵? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted May 14, 2010 at 05:34 AM Report Share Posted May 14, 2010 at 05:34 AM OT: 气 didn't lose anything. 气 is the oldest form. It looks kind of like Ξ. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:21 PM Report Share Posted May 14, 2010 at 01:21 PM OT: and 汽 is the current traditional form as well, there is no form (commonly) in use today of 汽 with the 米. [is "current traditional" an oxymoron?] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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