Jo Borrás

At some point, people get sorted into tool brands the same way they’re sorted into Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws or whatever the hell the Harry Potter houses are called: It usually happens beyond your control, often for reasons you don’t entirely understand, and once you’re in, it’s pretty tough to get out. If you’ve got someone in your life who’s been sorted into the lime-green house Ryobi built, here are five fringe favorites they (almost) certainly do not have.

HINT: one of them is a bug zapper.

LEGO’s 2,359-piece Volvo EC500 excavator has been sitting on store shelves for more than a year, but there’s a pretty great bit of timing hiding behind a 13% off deal on the fully functional Technic set: the first real-deal Volvo EC500 Electric excavator is now in customers’ hands, with regular series production expected to start next year.

There’s a pond on my family’s northern Wisconsin farm that, years ago, had a wooden platform strapped to some empty oil barrels floating out in the middle of it. It wasn’t much to look at, but trust me when I tell you: it was the ultimate kid swimming launch pad. That old dock is long gone, however, and we’ve been looking for a replacement that was modern, sturdy, and (of course) fun for all ages. Enter: the Retrospec Siesta Dock XL 10’ inflatable platform.