Science & Tech

Elon Musk Has Sold Over $7.5 Million of Flamethrowers

by Dan Casey
Jan 30 2018 • 8:00 AM

When Elon Musk sold 50,000 hats emblazoned with The Boring Company’s logo, he didn’t move on to selling t-shirts, hand towels, or even anime-style pillowcases featuring a bishounen version of himself. No, he did what anyone of us would do (especially if we were Hank Scorpio) and began selling flamethrowers for the low, low price of $500. That’s right, Musk wasn’t kidding around when he said The Boring Company would sell real-life flamethrowers. In fact, Musk has sold more than $7.5 million worth of the wacky weapons thus far. This may seem like an odd choice of merchandise given that The Boring Company is Musk’s venture for building massive tunnels underneath Los Angeles to alleviate traffic woes, but boring gigantic tunnels is expensive work and perhaps they need the flamethrowers to fight the Mole Man’s subterranean minions.

[brightcove video_id=”5722057773001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=”rJs2ZD8x”]According to The Boring Company’s website, its new product is the “world’s safest flamethrower,” and it is “guaranteed to liven up any party!” In the interest of safety, The Boring Company is also selling a fire extinguisher for $30. (It is just a normal fire extinguisher, but it comes emblazoned with a sweet The Boring Company sticker.)

Image: The Boring Company

Those who have cash to burn will have to sign a terms and conditions agreement prior to receiving their flamethrower, which is alleged to begin shipping in the spring. However, given Musk’s track record of staying on schedule with Tesla production, that delivery date is subject to change.

Musk even took to Instagram to demonstrate the flamethrower in action.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeeYW0NA1HU/?taken-by=elonmusk

Of course, despite his claims to the contrary, we know what Elon Musk is really planning for.

Sure it is, Elon, sure it is.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on today’s episode of Muskwatch. In addition to Musk’s unexpected fire sale, hosts Kyle Hill and Dan Casey (that’s me), are giving you the latest updates on SpaceX’s highly anticipated Falcon Heavy launch, huge leaps in cloning technology coming out of China, and much more.

Muskwatch airs on Nerdist.com and YouTube every Tuesday, but you can hack the planet and watch it two full days earlier on Sunday if you’re an Alpha subscriber. Find out how you can get 30 days free (and be 48 hours smarter than your dumb friends) right here.

What do you think of this week’s top stories? What else would you like to see us discuss on Muskwatch? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: The Boring Company; Elon Musk; 20th Century Fox

WHAT ELSE IS ELON MUSK UP TO?

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).