Mimobot
mimobots (pronounced mee-moe-bots) are a line of collectible Art Toy USB flash drives launched in 2005 by mimoco LLC, headed by Evan Blaustein. Designed by contemporary character artists and produced in limited runs of usually between 500 to 3,500 units, mimobots merge the aesthetics of art toys with the function of USB flash drives. Their memory capacities range from 512MB to 4GB and each mimobot is preloaded with bonus original and removable content including animation, music, games, video, screensavers, or other surprises. The mimobot line can be found at stores like the MoMa, Kidrobot, Giant Robot, Colette, and other LifeStyle institutions worldwide.
mimobots have been produced in 3 categories: original mimobot characters, artist series collaborations, and licensing partnerships.
Original mimobot characters:
CoSMoS & Go (Core Series) – Protobot0, Protobot1, Isadore, Jolibear, Vera, Magma, Galaxor, Ta2b designed by contributing artist Yahid Rodriguez (Mexico)
Artist series:
Artist Series ’06 - mimoco has collaborated with influential contemporary character artists in the vibrant Designer Toy community, including: Shawnimal Smith (Chicago), TADO (UK), Jon Burgerman (UK), Circus Punks/Jim Koch (US), Devilrobots (Japan), Worldwide Biggies/Dino Alberto (NYC), and Lili Chin/Brian McCarty/Phofo (LA)
Artist Series ’07 – Mori Chack (Japan), Hanazuki (Amsterdam), and Sket One (New Haven, CT)
Licensing:
In partnership with Lucasfilm, the first series of Star Wars mimobots includes Darth Vader, R2-D2, Chewbacca, and an Imperial Stormtrooper.
Original mimobot backstory
mimobots are happy, memory-loving creatures who hail from the planet Blõôh in galaxy 4210 where a massive memory-loss epidemic is spreading. To find a cure they have enlisted the help of humans by creating mimobots clones and “flashporting” (transporting) these clones to Earth on a memory recovery mission. In a symbiosis of sorts, humans using mimobot clones to store personal data on the clone’s internal flash memory, send vital “memergy” back to Blõôh. With the help of RALF computer, this memory transfer is the mimobot’s only hope to help cure their collective amnesia and save them from the dreadful fate that lay before them.