REVIEW:

Mini Cyalume Sticks

by C.Martin

After reading about these in the Sandbox, I decided the time had come to track them down and try them out. After much searching on the internet, I found that for Joes, cyalumes come in two sizes: 5/8" long and 1 1/2" long.

Unfortunately, the smaller size are not widely used and prove very difficult to track down. The 1 1/2" size however, are plentiful- most commonly found with fishing supplies, where they are used to attach to bobbers for night fishing.

My new toys in hand, or rather my custom Burt Gummer's hand, I set out to test the mini cyalume's customizing potential.

My first mistake was in selecting a night shoot.

Obviously, it was a little too dark. I re-oriented myself, and the lightstick, and was able to catch this eerie shot.

With a flash, Burt became visible, but the glow of the cyalume was almost entirely lost.

Overall, at $1.49 plus tax for two of these, I think they're fun, and will make for some neat pics. Next time I'll try 'em out at dusk and see what we get.

In the meantime, I've emailed several on-line Joe retailers suggesting they carry these- I don't like the idea of having to buy 50 at a time myself!

I also emailed 21st Century Toys, BBI and Intoyz and suggested they consider glow-in-the-dark replica cyalumes. We'll see how that works out.

FOF Rating:

Overall Value: Fair

Usefullness: Not very- unless you take a lot of pictures and know what you're doing.

Coolness Factor: Working Joe-sized Cyalumes? 'Nuff Said.