The Self-Catching Ball

Self-catching balls are perfect for the kid practicing their ball-throwing skills. Available in sizes from "baseball" to "basketball," they are soft and safe, but are full of subtle and clever machinery.

Plastic gears and flywheels allow a ball to reshape itself in flight; a baseball might turn oblong to steer itself into the ground before hitting a window, for instance, while a casual basketball game may have a ball that extends probes to make it easier or harder to land in the net.

They are named for their returning mode. Once these hit the ground, the balls can form ad-hoc locomotors to return to the thrower, waddling, bouncing, or rolling back and ready to be thrown again.

Thirty-minute charge time. Cost: 25 Eurodollars. Please do not get ideas, edgerunners.