Life’s stressful enough without our stress relief balls freaking us out yet the more we squeeze these creepy stress aids, the more anxious we get.

Caomaru means “round face” in Japanese, and these pliable polyurethane resin stress relief balls come in four different molded expressions. If you’ve ever wanted to go full Kids In The Hall’s “Head Crusher” (or “Face Pincher” if you prefer) with an actual crushable/pinchable head/face, Caomaru is the stress relief ball for you!

Caomaru comes in a variety of pastel hues including black and beige (for you equal-opportunity haters), and they clean up easily with a little soap and water. You’ll never scrub the stains off your soul, however.

The Terrible Horriball

They say conquering anxiety is all about facing one’s fears… said whomever thought up the Horriball. “When your victim gives this seemingly innocent stress ball a squeeze,” according to The Greenhead, “clear bubbles filled with flies, rats, worms, or cockroaches covered in a bloody-looking liquid pop out of the holes!” Yeah, we’ll just keep our anxiety and leave now, mmkay?

Weakened At Bernie’s

Aww, isn’t that cute, DC Universe character Harley Quinn has a cuddly taxidermied and possibly zombified beaver named Bernie who speaks only to her… don’t you want one too? You might change your mind after getting up close & personal with the sticky icky Bernie “action figure”, part of the Designer Series from DC Collectibles.

This Bernie figure doesn’t talk but he does have one distinct talent, if you can call it that: when squeezed, a bloated bubble of guts bulges out from his mangled midriff. Relax your now-trembling fingers and the freaky fistula retreats back inside Bernie’s belly. Rinse, repeat, see a psychologist.

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It took 60 years for Toys ‘R’ Us to rise to a Category Killer corporation… and fall victim to bankruptcy when economics told it to put the toys away.

Toys ‘R’ Us can trace its roots back to 1948 when Charles P. Lazarus opened a children’s furniture store in Washington, D.C. When Lazarus began to add toys to his offerings, business boomed. By 1957 he’d changed the store’s name from “Children’s Supermart” to “Toys ‘R’ Us”, and embarked upon an epic expansion program. At its peak, Toys ‘R’ Us was a classic “category killer” – a business that dominated its market niche to the exclusion of any competition of any size.

By the 1990s, however, things began to change: large competitors like Walmart and Target made inroads on in-store sales while online venues such as Amazon.com beckoned consumers with lower prices and greater shopping convenience.

Although the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September of 2017, Toys ‘R’ Us has been on the decline for some time and we may expect many more posted photos of closed and abandoned stores such as this one in Montgomery, Alabama, snapped by Flickr member The Caldor Rainbow in May of 2016.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming

Toys ‘R’ Us began to move away from their classic brown-roofed and rainbow-striped livery as the new millennium dawned but by then the company needed more than cosmetic solutions to its issues. That said, Flickr member C-Bunny managed to evoke an atmospheric solemnity in this May 2011 shot of an abandoned Toys ‘R’ Us store in Jacksonville, Florida.

Don’t Give a Hoot

Strange bedfellows indeed… but that’s just how they roll down in Fairview Heights, Illinois.

Flickr members Mike Matney (Mike Matney Photography) and Lydia (mereshadow) captured this “hootable” sign that, according to Matney, was taken down all or in part around 10 years ago.

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Acting out scenes from storybooks or animating real activities, these deceptively simple-looking, folded-paper toys leap, bounce, roll and hatch into action when played with.

Japanese designer Haruki Nakamura was inspired by the ancient art of kirigami, a variation on origami that involves cuts as well as folds, but takes it to the next level with his playful animals.

The specific behaviors of the toys often follow the natural reactions of a given animal, like an armadillo rolling itself up for protection when threatened.

Combining kirigami with karakuri, the art of mechanical puppets actived by touch, led him to these neat hybrid creatures that one can poke, prod, press or drop into action.

In some cases, the activities are innocent and entertaining, like a turtle popping into its shell or a chick hatching from an egg. Others are humorously sinister, showing wolves in sheep’s clothing or a tortoise being eaten by an alligator. For now, alas, these works are only available in Japan.

Designed by architects from BIG, the new LEGO House is itself huge: a 130,000-square-foot ‘experience center’ welcoming people of all ages to play with and appreciate this ubiquitous toy.

“It has been a dream for me for many years to create a place that will give our visitors the ultimate LEGO experience,” said former president and CEO of LEGO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. A mesmerizing set of drone videos below show the building under construction and upon completion.

“With LEGO House, we celebrate creativity and the strength of learning through play. When they play, children learn the basic skills that they need, such as creativity, collaboration and problem-solving abilities.”

Located on the company’s main campus in Billund, Denmark, the building looks like it was made of 21 supersized blocks. Inside, differently colored zones denote different functions — red areas are for creative skills, blue for cognitive skills, green for social skills and yellow for emotional skills.

The venue includes paid attractions as well as experiences that are free and open to the public. Approximately 250,000 guests are expected annually, with around 2,500 visitors on peak days. Fans of their visit can take home something tangible from the experience as well:

The LEGO House opened its doors to the public in late September, coinciding with the release of a 744-piece kit of the building itself.

You don’t get a sense of just how large and complex Lego’s latest kit really is until you see it someone’s arms, or taking up the entire table surface in front of them. A gift for true enthusiasts of both the toy brick company and Star Wars, the Ultimate Collectors Series Millennium Falcon is the single largest and most expensive Lego kit ever sold, presented in a huge box full of 7,541 pieces. In fact, the box is so heavy that Lego teased on Twitter that they’d have to add wheels and a handle so customers can get it out the door.

The LEGO @StarWars Death Star fits in our yellow bag, but we have to apply wheels so shoppers can carry the next #LEGOStarWars set! ? pic.twitter.com/dd1d76B0W1

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) August 29, 2017

An update on the last Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon, which was released in July 2007, this new set expands it by over 2,000 pieces, adding a stunning range of details that will delight discerning fans. You can even swap out the deflector dishes to either look as they did in the original Star Wars trilogy or in The Force Awakens.

It comes with 10 minifigures, including Leia, C-3P0, Han and Chewbacca from the trilogy and Finn, Rey, BB-8, ‘Old Han’ and two porgs from The Force Awakens. You can even spin the original Han and Leia’s heads around to reveal optional faces outfitted with air respirators.

Fans who missed out on the 2007 model still pay up to $3,000 in the rare occasion that one pops up on eBay, and Lego expects the new set to sell out, so if all of this news has you swiping everything off your dining table in anticipation, you’d better run out and get one as soon as it goes on sale October 1st.