These People Want Your Money: A Life-Size Air Hockey Rink
Project: AIRBLADE: Extreme Hockey
Cash Ask: $700,000
Concept: AirBlade is a life-size air hockey rink that people can play roller hockey on. The company has created smaller prototype rinks to prove air hockey can be applied on that scale, but their final goal with this Kickstarter campaign is one big playing surface -- the Airblade Extreme Pro Rink -- which basically combines a full-size surface with a rollerblading halfpipe and an LED scoreboard.
via Kickstarter
Creator: Mark Sendo, CEO of AirBlade. He first had the idea for a life-size air hockey rink in 1999 and, God bless him, he hasn't given up that dream. He's signed a contract with Ford Field to host an AirBlade tournament in May and he's supposedly working with major sports networks to make the championship game Pay-Per-View.
Worth Funding? Come on, it's a LIFE-SIZE AIR HOCKEY RINK! Any amount of money that can bring us closer to a future with these suckers in parks across America is money well spent. That said, you're not going to get your own rink for your money. You can get the equipment you need to play on one, but unless you're willing to put up a $349 pledge and travel to Michigan, you might not get a chance to use that equipment for a long time. This is one of those Kickstarters where you're not so much buying something as being the change you want to see in the world.
Suggested Pledge: If you're an individual who can't wait to skate on the AirBlade rink, you might as well pony up the $349 for VIP access in May. But if that's too rich and you just want to put a dent in the imposing $700,000 ask, there's a token $10 donation.
Ultimately, this Kickstarter will live or die based on how many corporate sponsors they can get in the next 12 days. So: $5,000 to get your company's logo projected on the LED playing surface or $10,000 for a dasher board. Come on, P&G and Pepsico: between the two of you, you've got the $400,000 and 55 brands to make this happen.
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