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2000 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable poke'mon Electonic Dashboard:

This idea involved an LCD panel display on the dashboard of these popular cars. Drivers flipped a toggle switch and the dash was instanly converted into a replica of Nintendo's Game Boy. Users popped the "blue", "red", or "yellow" cartridge into the center console and the game was on. Drivers in different vehicles could even link up for head-to-head play during rush hour. After nearly a dozen accidents in the parking lot at Ford's Flat Rock, Mich.,proving grounds, the idea was scrapped.

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Living Pikachu

A team of scientists in Nreylianderwondt (pronounced "Mayfield"), Sweden, were called upon to breed a real-life Pikachu that could be raised as a household pet. These hardy geneticists combined DNA from a mouse, budgie, cocker spaniel, raccoon, tabby cat, and a llama with a Honda portable generator to create a new animal that was "as close as is humanly possible" to the Little Yellow One. The plan had to be aborted when the resulting creature broke free of its bonds and went on a three day rampage.

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Charmander Live-Action Role-playing set

This toy came with a detailed Charmander suit that included a 14.5-ounce butane canister "tail" and a box of kitchen matches. Upon donning the suit, you cranked open the valve on the tail, struck a match and WHOOSH!!!!!! Junked when several testers got their own tails scorched.

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Arenamon

If Pokemon (Pocket Monsters) are hugely successful, then why not take the idea to a larger scale? Arenamon (Arena Monsters) is a game similar to Poke'mon played with a gaming machine roughly the size of a Sony Jumbotron. At more than 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide and 1,497 pounds, the "Game Gaint" controller was too large to carried by young children and had to be mounted to a wall. The cartridges took nine professional weightlifters to load. Unfortunately, the required 348 AAA batteries needed to play the game for 15 minutes made the game too expensive.

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Poke'mon 90210

This tie-in with the Fox TV network came about as a way to stay in touch with Poke'mon players as they grew older and potentially moved on to other pastimes. Set in swank Beverly Hills, this seres followed a group of high-school-aged Pocket Monsters as they struggled with post-adolescent traumas like dating, school, surfing, acne, and those annoying Foul Ordors.

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The Surge Poke'mon Can Collector Game

This "otta Drink 'Em All!" game involved different Poke'mon characters printed on cans of everyone's favorite caffeine-plus-carbos drink. The game played just like the popular Poke'mon TCG. Users kept the " Dead Soldiers" after slugging the soda. This tie-in was voted down after focus groups who stopped playing the game reported the sensation of "Spearow doing a Peck attack on my skull all night long." Also a no-go on the tie-in front: Ash Ketchum For America's Incinerator Operators.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poke'mon Ultimate Collector Cards

Made of various rare and expensive materials, these cards were to be the year's most highly sought-after Poke'mon collectibles. A 14-karat-gold Pikachu card studded with 3.5-karat diamonds was valued at more than $15,000 before it hit the shelves. Similar cards made of silver, titanium, and high-tech carbon fiber were planned. One card, made of solid uranium purchased from shadowy figures in the Ukraine and sold in a nine-pound lead-lined box to prevent radiation leaks, vanished during test marketing.