Sometimes the best ideas are the most simple. Have you ever built a house of cards, only to watch it fall apart? Yeah, it is a discipline that I don’t have, but if you want to create constructions of cards that is stronger than simple gravity, you might want to look at the Skallops by E&M Labs.

I first discovered the Skallops at PAX, and this is where I took the pictures that you can see here. No, I did not make them myself, especially the one with the tentacles. I consider myself good with Lego Technic, and I’m even writing a book on it, but it would take me a while before I could get good at Skallops.

As you will discover on the official Skallops sit, the Skallops themselves are these wooden things that are shaped like fans. Then there are slots put in at every 15 degrees that you can stick ordinary playing cards in. The Skallops can also fit together with one big slot, in a perpendicular fashion.

I really hope that the Skallops becomes as popular as Lego and we’ll be seeing a lot of models everywhere. I believe they were originally a Kickstarter project that got its funding.

If you want in on this action, you can get a Junion Kit (1 Deck of 52 cards + 52 Skallop pieces) for $19.95. A Starter set (2 decks + 104 Skallops) for $37.95 and a Builder Set (4 decks + 208 Skallop pieces) for $69.95. It is available at the Skallops Shop.