Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any bigger and crazier, they manage to outdo themselves again. The Bay Area Maker Faire wrapped up Sunday evening, but we have so many story leads that we’ll probably be busy until next year’s event. In the meantime, here’s just a tiny, random sampling of the countless delights that greeted visitors this past weekend.

Setup day was the only time we could get a clear shot of the Hermes space shuttle, [Morris Jarvis’] entry in the suborbital tourist space race.

Early Saturday morning, the line stretches to infinity and beyond.

At the other side of the fairgrounds, scads of locals took advantage of the free bike valet service and scored a $5 admission discount to boot. And this view shows only about half of the bikes present! We only spotted one recumbent parked out here, but quite a few inside as maker exhibits.

So much walking! This kid had the right idea, scooting around in luxury.

It’s not a Bay Area party until the original Doggie Diner heads show up!

Robots were everywhere this year. Of course the R2 Builders Club was on hand…

…but there were no Wookiees present to play chess against this robotic arm.

A row of Anybots, all ready to take up their overlord duties.

Our favorite giraffe joined the rave, replete with his new animatronic head.

The Mondo Spider, like its smaller biological inspiration, manages to be simultaneously fascinating and potentially deadly. It is, however, anything but silent.

Back outside, this MIDI-controlled pneumatic dinosaur alternately entertained and terrified children. We were hoping to witness a one-on-one battle against…

…Saphira, the fire-breathing dragon! Rar!

Nearby, [Haley Duke’s] Swamp Kirin puppet loomed over fairgoers. Kirin, we just discovered, appear to be mortal enemies of efficient JPEG compression.

[Todd Williams’] Land Shark is an animated EL wire-framed skeleton atop a large radio controlled car chassis — a great effect in the dark!

We seem to be on a bitey creature kick. Here, have a Velociraptor head popped out of a commercial ABS extrusion 3D printer.

We posted about the DIYLILCNC mill late last year. What struck us when finally seeing it in person is how it’s anything but li’l. This thing bullies RepRaps and takes their lunch money!

They were even making something in the Maker Shed store. What exactly? We’ll give you a hint: it’s printed with green ink on the back. Man, they got us good. Went in needing just one Parallax RFID reader, and somehow couldn’t leave before spending the equivalent GNP of Guam.

This is here just for blog cred.

Our hats are off — again — to SparkFun Electronics. These guys could’ve easily brought enough merchandise to bankroll their retirement from this one show. Instead, they taught kids how to solder. How cool is that?

FPGA pr0n from Art Magnitude’s ORB v.2, a persistence-of-vision globe on a grand scale.

There was always a line waiting to play with Tangile interaction’s digital graffiti wall.

This way to the egress!

If we’ve overlooked or glossed over your favorite subject or display, it may be that we’re expecting to cover it in more detail in the future. Keep your eyes peeled for more wild stuff here!