So I was introduced to a super fun new backyard game called Kan Jam a few weeks back. It’s a four person frisbee game that kept me and my friends entertained for hours. Instead of explain to you how the game works, here is a nifty little tutorial…
So you basically throw a frisbee towards the can that’s 50 feet away from you. Your partner can help try to slam the frisbee down the top or in to the side of the can for points if you can’t hit it directly. I was pretty much obsessed with the game and decided I needed to own it. I went home, searched online, and found it on Amazon. List price, $40.
As you can see from the picture above the cans are nothing special. Just a thick piece of plastic that rolls in to a cylinder. The game also comes with a frisbee. I already own a frisbee and don’t really have a need for a second one. We could obviously afford to pay the $40 asking price to own it, but I couldn’t just bring myself to add it to my Amazon cart.
Instead, I stole the idea.
Dang. Does that make me as bad of a person as I think it does? I just couldn’t justify the $40 purchase when I knew I could make myself the game for a fraction of the cost. So on Friday I went out on an epic journey to find the best material possible to make the game. First, I stopped at Home Depot to see what kinds of plastic sheets they had. Turns out, they don’t have any. Next stop, Joanne Fabrics. Nothing. Okay, maybe I wasn’t going to find rollable plastic sheets.
Off to Big Lots I went. They had a 26 gallon garbage can for sale for $7. I nearly bought the thing, but decided the diameter was too large and it would make the game too easy. If I was going to copy Kan Jam, I wanted my version to be as close to the original as possible. As I wandered through the store I stumbled upon a $6 cylindrical plastic laundry basket that was absolutely perfect. It was the proper height and width. I made my purchase, spent about 20 minutes at home modifying it, and BOOM! I just made myself Kan Jam.
I brought my home-made set to a friend’s lake house this weekend and we spent hours playing. It was a total blast and I don’t think having the original Kan Jam would have made the game any better.
So, my question today is simple. Am I a thief? Do I have a moral obligation to purchase the game?
Part of me thinks yes. I mean, Kan Jam was made by two guys and it’s super fun. They deserve to be rewarded handsomely for their ingenuity. But then again, who hasn’t replicated someone else’s idea before? Am I obligated to buy a Hamburger from McDonalds instead of make one at home? Does Girl Ninja have to buy that shabby chic picture frame from Pottery Barn when she could easily antique a thrift store frame for pennies?
I guess the big takeaway from today’s story is this: If you are going to create something, make it too complex for a simpleton like me to replicate.
Have you stolen anything lately?
(side note: I never go to Big Lots and still have absolutely no idea what one would go there for, nor do I know how to describe it to someone else. It’s like Ross, meets Walgreens, meets Albertsons, meets People of Walmart)
