As we pointed out last week, we weren’t invited to International CES, the biggest Consumer Electronics Show of the year. Only the manufacturers and press got to go and we like to think of ourselves as the average-Joe consumer (helps us to review things more accurately).

Nonetheless, we’ve been following closely and we’ve put together a collection of our favorite new products that were displayed at CES. Some of these are brand new and some are actually updated versions of products that we just haven’t had a chance to try out yet. Some of these we liked for their practical applications, while others were just so offbeat and creative that we had to give them some attention.

1. Lego Mindstorm EV3

For years parents and toy marketers have been talking about how playing with toys like Lego encourages budding engineers but for some reason (possibly because we have no 12 year olds on staff) we didn’t know that they were talking about robotics engineering. Lego Mindstorm goes beyond the traditional bricks to include hinges, wiring and a connection to the computer so that you can build robots and get a leg up on the juvenile programming competition. This newest version includes a EV3 intelligent brick, with a faster processor, sensors and the ability to be remote controlled from an iPhone or iPad so you don’t even need to have a computer handy.

2. Televisions the Size of Texas

Ok, this might be a bit of an exaggeration. But this year’s CES did showcase more enormous screens than ever before. Although the biggest we heard of was 110 inches, there were plenty of other new features that adorned even the teeny-tiny 32 inchers. We’re talking curved screens, HD, full internet hookup, control from smartphones and our absolute favorite: a TV that you can control with your eyes (although it also comes with voice control for the Luddites out there).

3. Brother Entreprenuer PR1000e

You probably can’t guess it from the name, but this is a sewing machine. To be more precise: It is a 10-needle embroidery machine with an HD LCD touchscreen preloaded with design software that includes 110 designs and 28 size-adjustable fonts. My childhood games of Little House on the Prairie would have looked very different if I’d known that this kind of thing existed.

4. Oculus Rift

Although the title alone would have made this one of the coolest products at CES, it could also hold its own if it was called Big Bird. This is actually the result of a Kickstarter project that raised $2,437,429 for a commercially viable virtual reality headset. It’s much smaller than the virtual reality games that you find at arcades: it’s contained in a set of oversized goggles, rather than a helmet. If all of the reviewers out there are right, then this will take first person gaming to a whole new level. It’s one step closer to being able to really explore a new world that game designers create. But be careful: rumor has it that it can make first-timers a little queasy.

If we’re really lucky, you may not have noticed that our favorites listed here may not be the most practical of the new gadgets that were on display. But they certainly are some of the most fun. There’s plenty of information out there about more fun and crazy gadgets but don’t forget to also look for some of the more practical, such as new developments in everything from home printers and washing machines, to biomedical and financial tools.