Whether it's a knick knack from a collector's kit, swag from a convention, or a limited-edition tchochke from a Kickstarter you forgot you backed four years ago, there's a lot of weird video game stuff out there. Honestly, we crossed the Rubicon once Garrus body pillows became an officially licensed piece of Mass Effect merchandise. Now that there's no doubt we're all barreling headfirst into a world of bizarre video game collectibles, we turned the question to the GamesRadar team: what's the strangest, coolest, or just most memorable piece of games memorabilia you've ever owned? They answered, and frankly it's changed the way we see some of them...
This is the latest in a series of big questions we'll be interrogating our writers with, so share your answers and suggestions for topics with us on Twitter.
Pumpy the heart
He was a heart in a bag. A real heart, probably from a pig judging by the size, and I think was sent to the office for a game in 2010. Honestly, I can't even remember what game he was there to promote, The Darkness 2? It looked a bit sad, slopping around in its viscous goo, so I made it a couple of googly eyes with office supplies and he seemed much happier after that, becoming part of the Official PlayStation Magazine UK gang, and boosting morale whenever I pulled him out of my desk and waggled it at someone. My deskmate - one Leon Hurley - was always concerned with what would happen if the bag was accidentally punctured, but I was far too good of an adoptive mother for that. I left OPM a few months later, and I've always wondered what happened to old Pumpy. Perhaps, ten years on, he still lurks at the bottom of a drawer, waiting to be discovered. Rachel Weber
These two duck hybrids
This is a two-parter. The big dragon duck I got in 2017 at Runefest, the annual Runescape gathering. I don't remember exactly how, but in the process of completing minigames and collecting coins at the event, I managed to earn this inexplicable little lad. I don't know of any Runescape creature that resembles a dragon duck, nor have I seen another duck this toothy, but I love him.
Dragon duck was later joined by the smaller spray bottle duck, which I got at GDC in 2018. Japanese indie developer Takahiro Miyazawa brought several games with wonky controllers to the event, including a 2D shoot-em-up called SchCoCoooCoCo (that's the real name) where you control soap ducks with empty bottles of cleaning products. Like, you pull the spray nozzle to shoot in the game; it's brilliant. As you may have guessed, I played using a soap bottle and received this duck for completing the demo. On my list of gaming accomplishments, I rank this just above soloing all of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Austin Wood
This dumb, pointless Fallout 3 pocket watch
Do you ever find something tucked away in a cupboard drawer when doing a clear-out and think "Why the hell did I ever buy this?". That recently happened to me with this Fallout 3 pocket watch which, for the life of me, I cannot remember why I own, or even how I came across it. Even with its use for telling the time, it feels like a truly pointless bit of tat. As if I'd ever whip out a pocket watch to figure out the hour when I have a mobile phone in... y'know, my actual pocket. And what does this have to do with Fallout anyway? Last I checked, the lone wanderer relied on his Pip-Boy as an oversized handheld clock, and not this paltry little device. Alex Avard
Saints Row The Third’s big purple… thing
Rockstar have done some superb promotional memorabilia over the years. There was the officially branded table tennis ball to tie in with – have you guessed yet? – Rockstar Table Tennis, bottled Pisswasser to accompany the release of GTA IV, and a Bully dodgeball, again created for the game of the same name. All are topped, or more accurately bottomed, by a piece of ‘merch’ which appeared in the office during my Official PlayStation Magazine days from rival publisher THQ, one week before the release of Saints Row The Third. It was a four-foot purple dildo, with a wooden grip on the end. For months it sat untouched until, early in the summer, a random tennis ball appeared under a desk and an impromptu game was invented: purple-dildo office cricket. For weeks lunch breaks were punctuated with this surprisingly challenging activity, until one day both mega-dildo and tennis ball suddenly disappeared. Nine years on their whereabouts remain unknown. Ben Wilson
Fallout wedding cake topper
OK, look. For the record, I'd like to think of this as 'sweet' rather than weird. But I understand that some of you might say a customised Fallout wedding cake topper is… odd. Hear me out, though. We wanted something that wasn't generic and reflected our personalities on the big day. So, in my wisdom, I decided that a Fallout 4 bobblehead would do the trick for mine. To start with, I'm a fan of the franchise and the figures just so happened to be the perfect size. What's more, Vault Boy is annoyingly cheerful like me and can often be found giving a thumbs-up at the slightest excuse (sorry, it's a bad habit). Add some clay glasses, a suit lapel, and a new coat of paint and you're there. My wife and I made it together and the effort had us cursing my supposedly bright idea, but it still sits on a shelf at home beside her awesome cake topper that she crafted entirely from clay (and yes, that's a Krispie cake). Benjamin Abbott
My very own Skylander
When I did my first Gamescom in 2016, I got the chance to try out Skylanders Imaginators, aka the one where you could design your own Skylander. So I did, not really paying too much attention to the little creature I was putting together, safe in the knowledge that it would be for a quick 30 minute demo and I would be back to running around the showfloor after I had tumbled through a quick session.
Except the game's gimmick also meant that everyone who played the demo got a 3D printed version of their very own Skylander. Not right away though. Oh no, this bad boy took 2 months to appear – so long that I didn't even initially realise what it was when I got it. Still, it's quite nice to have a one-of-a-kind Skylander. Ben Tyrer
Three old Gameboys
Okay, admittedly my entry isn't quite as weird as some of the others (even I didn't know about Rachel's heart-in-a-bag), but that's because I simply haven't been in the game long enough to acquire some of the more bizarre PR presents publishers send out. That said, I proudly display my three old Game Boys on my work desk and still use 'em to play Super Mario Bros. Deluxe from time to time.
How was I fortunate enough to come in the possession of two pristine Game Boy Pockets and a rather weathered-looking Game Boy Color with a neat little battery pack grip? I stole them from my brothers. That's right, I opened a box of old stuff at my parents' house while helping them move, and it was like Nathan Drake himself first laying eyes on the Cintamani Stone. One of them was already mine, and besides, I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations on Game Boy theft has long expired, so I'm sittin' pretty. Jordan Gerblick
Brutal Legend boxer shorts
I have many warm feelings in my heart for Brutal Legend, the Double Fine production that taught me to appreciate metal. My girlfriend (now my wife) knew it, and she got me a pair of Brutal Legend boxers for a Valentine's Day present in 2010. They immediately became my favorite. Ever have a pair of underwear that you put on when you really want to have a good day? And then you proceed to have a really good day, without fail? That was them.
I wore them until they were perforated with ratty holes all over the legs and the elastic waistband was starting to tear off. Finally, in 2015 or so, I threw up the horns and retired them to the trash can. I thought about burning them for a truly metal sendoff, but my apartment neighbors probably wouldn't have appreciated the cotton-blend fumes. Sorry I couldn't find a picture of them - just imagine the key art above, faithfully recreated on a pair of underpants. Connor Sheridan
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