15 Ridiculous Skymall Products

Remember the ridiculous SkyMall products you’d find perusing the now-defunct catalog of the early aughts?

The SkyMall catalog went out of business in 2015, but its selection of quirky products lives on in aviation history. Back when the no-electronics-under-10,000-feet rule was still in place, I would peruse the SkyMall catalog to pass the time. What else was there to do when you got so distracted at the gate meeting with Mike Tyson that you forgot to pick up a magazine? God, I miss the 2010s.

It was easily skimmable, though it kept me more entertained than US Weekly could have done on an entire flight. With that nostalgia in mind, I thought I’d revisit some of the weirdest SkyMall products, in no particular order:

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15 of the most ridiculous SkyMall products

The SkyMall catalog had a reputation for selling quirky merchandise at a markup to a captive audience. I always thought the catalog might have been in on the joke—surely they knew their products were on the quirky side, and they certainly laughed all the way to the bank.

But perhaps its eccentricities lead to its downfall. I can only speculate. If you miss it as much as I do, I hope you’ll at least enjoy my list of the 15 most ridiculous SkyMall products:

The Human Slingshot

For $100, you and three of your closest friends can launch yourselves in opposite directions within the safe confines of this rubber band-like contraption. Except the slingshot serves no purpose other than to keep you from running outside of its confines. So, basically, you are just running from one side of this elastic square to another.

If you run in the same direction as your friends, the slingshot will fail, and you’ll all get injured. If you run in opposite directions, you risk smashing into each other and getting injured.

The only reasonable conclusion here is that the human slingshot was invented by the healthcare industry to drive up revenue. If you plan on playing with this absurd contraption, you’d better figure out those kinks in the Obamacare site ASAP. Hence, I’ve crowned it one of the most ridiculous SkyMall products.

WINBOT window cleaning robot

The WINBOT window cleaning bot sounds good in theory but is way overpriced (and untested).

For $400, you can probably get a neighborhood kid to clean your windows for an entire year without a change of batteries or the potential for falling and breaking in half, thus destroying your investment.

The ludicrous price point makes the WINBOT one of the most ridiculous SkyMall products I’ve come across.

 

Lip enhancer

I don’t know what’s more ridiculous—the fact that this lip enhancer exists and claims to work, or the “grandmother” in the video who claims to be a baby boomer looking to enhance her looks.

Save your $19.99-$48.99 for collagen injections. Or do what Tyra Banks does and stick toilet paper under your top lip (see Season 1 of America’s Next Top Model). If it’s good enough for the pros…

Note: It turns out the grandmother in the video isn’t just a spokesperson, but the inventor of this product. Not only did she confirm that she really is a grandmother, but she had a great sense of humor about this post. 😉

Travel Hoodie Pillow hooded pillow

The Travel Hoodie Pillow is definitely one of the weirdest SkyMall products I’ve encountered. I understand why the travel pillow exists (though I don’t find it comfortable at all), but I don’t get why it needs an attached hoodie.

Why not make an entire sweatshirt out of it? Maybe Mark Zuckerberg will endorse it.

What makes the Travel Hoodie Pillow one of the weirdest SkyMall products is that you can really only use it seasonally. No one is flying to the Bahamas with one of these on.

Electronic pillbox

The electronic pillbox in the SkyMall catalog is a headscratcher. For $247.99-$297.99 you get an absurdly overpriced pillbox that isn’t really electronic.

Pillboxes are obviously useless on their own; people need them to keep track of their medication.

I just don’t know how this company can pretend a contraption consisting of paper and plastic can be construed as anything other than a trash bag, let alone something “electronic.” The parts that would be useful aren’t even electronic!

Anyway, the “electronic” pillbox isn’t really electronic, making it one of the more ridiculous SkyMall products I’ve encountered.

The 40-inch foldable photo studio

For the price of a digital camera or Photoshop, you get an elaborate laundry bag and two reading lights so you can mimic photo shoots with a lamp.

I bet Annie Leibovitz doesn’t travel anywhere without one of these.

Its lack of practicality makes the 40-inch foldable photo studio one of the weirdest SkyMall products you can buy.

 

 

Night vision camera watch

Who needs an iPhone when you can get a watch that takes pictures in the dark? Did I mention an iPhone does both?

Nevermind that. The SkyMall catalog’s night vision camera watch is a bargain at $199.95 (the cost of an iPhone with a 2-year contract).

I guess it works for the anti-tech crowd. For everyone else, the night vision camera watch is one of the more ridiculous SkyMall products. 

World’s smallest automatic umbrella

Cute idea, but at 9 inches in diameter, the world’s smallest automatic umbrella will hardly keep you dry during a storm.

It’s lack of function or form makes this one of the most ridiculous SkyMall products.

 

 

 

iPad pen

An iPad pen isn’t a bad idea in and of itself. It’s the fact that it costs half as much as an iPad, or the same as some lesser-known tablets, that makes it ridiculous.

I’ll keep my $169.95 and use my index finger to navigate an iPad.

 Since this post was published, Apple introduced its own Apple Pencil, which costs just $70, making this iPad pen one of the more ridiculous SkyMall products for the price alone.

The 14-gallon no-spill portable gas pump

Never mind that you could buy almost 50 gallons of gas at today’s price point. It’s more important to plan for when you run out of gas by investing in this thing than to actually make an effort to keep the tank full.

You’ll definitely use this when you run out of gas after running out of cash after buying this thing.

The 14-gallon no-spill portable gas pump costs $170, making it one of the most ridiculous SkyMall products I’ve found.

Magic Wand remote control

“With a flick of the wrist, this is the remote control wand that can change channels, volume, or manage other controls on your electronic devices.”

It’s been a while since I’ve operated one, but I’m pretty sure that sentence describes what a regular remote control does. Maybe the selling point is that it “comes in a silk-lined box.”

World Time alarm clock 

“What time is it in Athens? Rio? Denver?” Check your iPhone.

That’s what the free, pre-installed app is for. There are better uses for $24.50 during your travels than an alarm clock the size of a flashlight.

It’s not the price but rather the lack of usability that makes the world time alarm clock one of the most ridiculous SkyMall products to buy.

 

What on Earth?

The “What on Earth?” collection takes bizarre to a whole new level. First, there’s the fixation on the name Bob. Is an overwhelming majority of this world’s population named Bob? This line of t-shirts would make you think so. With witticisms like “Bob is Bob spelled backwards,” and “Of course I’m right, I’m Bob.”

I seriously think I have a shot at a lucrative career in t-shirt making.

Aside from the Bob collection, there are his & her tattoo t-shirts for the Sons of Anarchy crowd (great show, and if you’re a fan, don’t insult SAMCRO by wearing these).

Lake Girl hoodie and accessories

Is there a popular book series targeted at thirty-somethings called “Lake Girl”? Why are there three different Lake Girl products? And who wants to be identified as such?

Unless there’s an “ers” at the end of that Lake, there’s no need to be printing it on merchandise and charging through the roof for it.

The Lake Girl aesthetic never took off and it’s understandable why – these were some of the weird SkyMall products sold.

Food pillows

“We dreamed we ate an ice cream sandwich, and when we woke up, our pillow was gone…”

I’d love to get a copywriting gig at Skymall. More importantly, I want to know who

 

Bottom line

The catalog is no more, but its products live on in infamy. SkyMall lives on in an online format and continues to offer its share of whacky merchandise. If you’re in the mood to review some crazy SkyMall products, the online store isn’t quite as eccentric and might even have a few practical things in stock.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for in-flight entertainment without electronics, consider picking up one of my travel book recommendations instead.

This certainly isn’t the worst of it, and there are plenty more bizarre items in the online catalog that have yet to be discovered. What are the most ridiculous Skymall products you’ve come across?

This story was originally published on November 18, 2013. It has been updated with current information