Speck Products iGuy mini

We previously got a kick out of Speck’s full-size iGuy, although more for its novelty than its real-world usefulness. Speck has since released an iPod mini version of the iGuy, and it’s just as fun to look at, if not quite as polished.

The iGuy mini is a posable figure — think “white, iPod-mini-shaped Gumby” — that double as an iPod case. The main body of the iGuy mini is a white silicone case with a clear plastic insert to protect your iPod’s screen; the playback controls, hold switch, and headphone/remote jack remain accessible. Like many Speck cases, the bottom of the iGuy flips out of the way to allow you to access your iPod’s dock connector; in fact, you can even place your iPod in a dock base without having to remove the case.

Up to this point, we could be describing any of Speck’s silicone cases, but this is where the similarities end. The base of the iGuy mini features two stocky legs/feet, wide enough for the iGuy to actually stand, unassisted, with your iPod mini inside; the sides of the iGuy sprout long, baseball-bat-shaped, posable-wire arms that can be positioned to your liking. And best of all — at least from a humor point of view — the lower-rear of the iGuy mini features an anatomically correct bum. In fact, when you flip the bottom of the iGuy mini open to place your iPod on a dock, it looks very much like your iGuy is sitting comfortably on a white, shiny chair/throne/seat.

Like the full-size iGuy, the iGuy mini is fairly heavy as far as iPod cases go, and not the most portable case on the market. It’s also more expensive than other silicone cases. Finally, the mini version’s arms aren’t quite as posable as those of the full-size version. But no other case will be quite the conversation piece.–Dan Frakes