One of the first high-tech holiday gifts to show up on my doorstep was a surprising one. I am used to plain-looking USB drives, usually in black or silver but the one I opened looked like a short white Star Wars Storm Trooper. He was complete with tiny arms and legs and was holding his Storm Trooper weapon.

This was sent to me by Mimoco (www.mimoco.com), makers of the MIMOBOT designer USB flash drives. It seems that I have been missing out on a new trend. After doing a little research, I found that these designer flash drives have become all the rage. They are sold online as well as in museum shops, toy stores, and department stores.

They are coveted by collectors and are often produced in limited editions for flash drive connoisseurs.  Mimoco makes quite as line-up of these pop culture flash drives. They have several licensed figures like Hello Kitty and Star Wars. They also collaborate with artists like David Horvath,Gary Baseman, FriendsWithYou (shown below) and tokidoki. After looking at their website I found myself longing for a Pink Meletta by tokidoki and a Hello Kitty.

The Star Wars collection is also pretty cool with a six series lineup: Luke (in his Hoth gear), Yoda, Lobot, Snowtrooper, and Wampa. (The Yoda is really adorable!!)

Each MIMOBOT is offered in a range of storage space from 2GB-16GB. They range in price from abou $24.95 to $8.95. The USB drive is fully functional and it comes pre-loaded with images, wallpapers, avatars, and sound software that is character specific. The software on my SnowTrooper drive didn’t seem to work properly, so I sent an email to Mimoco and they responded within hours with replacement software. I must say that I was really impressed by the speed and accuracy of the response. I now have Star Wars wallpaper, sounds, and avatars. Any Star Wars fan would love this!

Since these flash drives are fully functional, you can use them as you would any regular flash drive. In using the drive, my only complaint is that it is too easy to lose the cover  and you don’t want to do that as the cover is an integral part of the design. I must admit that any of these designer drives would make a great holiday presents. Whether you give it to someone who is a collector, to someone who enjoys Star Wars and the other themed series, or to someone who would simply use it as a personalized carrier for their data, they are certain to be unique presents. I have a feeling that a lot of these designer USB drives will be appearing under Christmas trees this holiday season.