Have you ever ever needed an iPhone case that appears like a pair of Crocs? You understand, the ugly-but-comfy slip-on sneakers lined in holes that you could optionally enhance with colourful push-pins? You haven’t? Effectively, apparently some designer at smartphone case maker Casetify noticed a pair of Crocs and thought to themselves, wow, that may make for a fantastic iPhone case!!
No, we’re not kidding.
Casetify this month launched a brand new collection of iPhone instances that look precisely like Crocs sneakers, full with their trypophobia-inducing holes and units of pushpin decorations that can help you personalize your cellphone case with issues like flowers, rainbows, smiley faces and…uhhh…a stick of butter. A bit of toast. A snail. A motel keychain??
I’m sorry, however what the precise **** is occurring right here?
These instances are promoting for $52!
Whereas TechCrunch doesn’t usually cowl smartphone instances or equipment, after we noticed this new product line we knew we needed to make an exception due to its actually oddball nature. Is that this press launch a prank? Is that this an early April Idiot’s? Vaporware? Have we time-traveled to the Eighties for brand new product concepts?
We remorse/are blissful to tell you that these instances are actual. Now we have them in hand and have put them by means of their paces.
Right here’s what we are able to report. The instances themselves are available black, lavender, cream and pink. They’re smooth and versatile with their silicone finishings, as described. Additionally they have bumpers on the corners and the promised raised bezel to assist defend the display screen. Casetify says they supply as much as 4 ft of drop safety.
However in fact, nobody is shopping for these instances for his or her safety capabilities. They’re shopping for them for the “aesthetic” in the event that they’re shopping for them in any respect.
Accessible just for iPhone 14 Professional and Professional Max, the instances have both 13 to 14 holes designed to carry the pushpins. These are offered in units of 5 pins that promote for $22 — this isn’t an inexpensive joke to take part in!
Picture Credit: Casetify
At launch, there are 4 primary units out there: a “cottage core” set with a mushroom, snail, strawberry, flower and duck; a “retro west” set with a Dalmatian-spotted cowboy hat, matchbox, cowboy boot, motel keychain and 70s-looking happy-faced flower (no, I don’t understand how the flower is western both); a “diner breakfast” set with the aforementioned butter and toast, a smiley face, checkered coronary heart and the textual content “thanks!” as you’d discover in your diner examine; and the “peace love earth” set with a teddy bear, heart-shaped world, happy-faced daisy, yin yang image and blissful rainbow.
Picture Credit: Casetify
There may be additionally a Restricted Version “Barbie” set with pink Barbie pushpins like Barbie’s face, model, jacket, heart-shaped glasses and the 12 months “1959.”
That one sells for $82! Eighty…two…{dollars}.
I don’t even…why?!?…
We requested Casetify the way it got here up with this um, “distinctive,” concept.
The corporate advised us that it’s designed many revolutionary merchandise over the previous few years, like its mirror instances, pillow instances and bounce instances, and it thought these new pushpin instances would merely supply its clients “new methods to specific themselves with their on a regular basis tech.”
“The primary pin units we’ve produced had been developed with our best-selling prints in thoughts, and likewise considering trending merchandise amongst Gen Z and millennials,” a spokesperson stated.
Once we requested what was the take care of the butter, they famous, “is perhaps surprising to know that food-related objects promote very well haha!”
Picture Credit: Casetify
Okay, however butter? Actually? Is that due to that viral butter bench? Have cellphone instances now tied themselves to area of interest TikTok traits?
Plus, there’s the cottage core set that’s additionally seemingly impressed by the web development that romanticizes nation life and residing in concord with nature — an aesthetic that grew in reputation because of TikTok’s subcommunities pushed by its customized algorithms. Now it’s jumped from the display screen into your pocket.
In any occasion, regardless of having big pins protruding of the again of the case, it wasn’t too arduous to shove the embellished case into your pocket or pull it out. The instances and the pins are pretty clean, so whereas they tug slightly in your garments, it finally ends up not likely getting any extra caught than, say, your Popsockets grip, for instance.
In the meantime, truly adorning the case with pins wasn’t too troublesome both. Pushing the pins in did require slightly effort, significantly on the underside row for some motive, however as soon as in they felt pretty safe.
The pins may be combined and matched primarily based in your temper, Casetify says, however the debut alternatives had been pretty restricted. In fact, we needed to strive jamming some Crocs Jibbitz (aka Crocs pins) into the holes of the case simply to see. In spite of everything, if the instances supported Jibbitz, that may have opened up a big selection of customization choices! However sadly, the rounded-backed Jibbitz we had readily available — these sparkly Howdy Kitty charms — had been simply too giant. Bummer.
Casetify says it’s planning to launch extra pin units and instances sooner or later, together with by means of upcoming model collaborations, just like the one it did a number of months in the past with Barbie, which precipitated the Push-In case line. We don’t know which aesthetic neighborhood shall be subsequent to get the pushpin therapy, however there are many “-cores” to select from.
