My son has a TARDIS nightlight, which I am pleased with because it sets him up well to be exposed to good science fiction early in life. I’m always looking for similar cool ideas for him, so I was very excited to take a look at 3D Cartoon LED lamps in the form of Ironman and Minions…perfect for my son!
The lights give off a brightness that I would say sits somewhere between a nightlight and a full bedside light. It’s not bright enough to read by them, but they’re a touch too bright to keep right next to your bed. We’ve used one in my son’s room as a way to light up the far side of his room, and my son determined this meant we needed one in our room as well. He picked up Ironman and set him up on my wife’s bedside table, showing he wants to share the geekiness with us. Sarah was a bit less amused than I was by her new nighttime companion, but we’ve actually found the light is extraordinarily handy. If one of us is out late, or goes to bed before the other one, the Ironman light gives off enough light to let the night owl avoid tripping over the dog without being so bright that the sleeping person is disturbed.
The construction on these is actually pretty clever. Ironman (or the Minion) is a clear piece of acrylic with detailed etchings that highlight clothing, Ironman’s Arc reactor, etc. The lamp itself is a wooden base with a strip of LED lights in a cutout, and the character sits in the slot and lights up from below. If your child is super interested in how things work, you can actually see the circuit board and LED lights in the bottom. If, for some odd reason, you prefer to work on your computer by the dim light of LED, the lamps are powered by a USB cable, so you can plug into a computer or a regular USB power plug. Inexplicably, the lamps shipped with Apple branded USB adaptors, but any USB adaptor seems to work fine. The detail on the etching is excellent, and they really look cool when the light comes up from underneath.
Overall, these are neat and unique lamps, and at $30 they’re not unreasonable for what they offer. If you need a more powerful nightlight for your child, or are looking to gently light a room with something more interesting than a simple lamp, check these out!
Source: Manufacturer provided review sample
What I Liked: Detailed etching for the characters; light is not overly bright; very simple setup
What Needs Improvement: Acrylic is a bit of a fingerprint magnet
