Purchasing a world globe - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 06:29:32 am
content: Growing up, I remember my father had a globe of the Earth in his home office. I would spend hours spinning and looking at various places on that thing.I'd love to get something similar but a lot of places seem to just sell cheap plastic-y versions of it.Does anyone know of a source for an elegant (but accurate) Earth globe, preferably with resellers in Australia? Perhaps with a wooden or metal base.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 06:35:09 am
content: One suggestion would be to look for a good used one, if you don't mind the possibility of some political boundaries being out of date.A lot of older globes were probably better quality than those made today, except for the ... better ones made today.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 06:40:09 am
content: a good one would have removable magnetic continents so you can redraw borders once a yearor a build in printer in the base so it could draw updated versions of its self. Kind of like making it like a white board. So it can erase itself. It can do conflict zones in red ink

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 06:43:11 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on August 05, 2025, 06:40:09 amNah, make it out of whiteboard material with the continents outlined and include a set of marking pens.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 06:44:18 am
content: yea it needs to be able to draw //////

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 06:47:39 am
content: Do you want an elegant looking globe to sit on the desk and look nice, or do you want an unbreakable one for people/kids to be able to play with?You can get nice ones that have a liquid layer inside and slowly rotate if there is some sunlight on them. (they have a hidden solar cell and motor inside).They have all sorts of versions and other planets, some with just an image of the Earth, others with country text etc.https://movaglobes.store/en-nzBut they are pricy, $300-800 depending on size. Not something you want kids playing with.There's other companies making cheaper copies, I dunno how good they are.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 07:12:49 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 05, 2025, 06:35:09 amI don't mind if the boundaries are slightly off, but I also don't want it to look like someone just downloaded a flat map off Google and wrapped it around a cardboard sphere.Am I overthinking this? Are there any reputable globe makers left?Quote from: Psi on August 05, 2025, 06:47:39 amElegance over unbreakable. I don't have kids, never will.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 07:29:18 am
content: OK, the Mova Globes are pretty cool! Can't just spin them like normal globes, but stunning to watch

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 07:39:58 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on August 05, 2025, 07:29:18 amYou can spin the outer case on the base a little, but yes, they rotate themselves so might not be as suitable for a reference source if you want to look at something stationary.You can't really keep spinning them faster and faster and see how fast you can get, like we used to do to the old globes, hehe.Well.. maybe you could but you would wear away the plastic in a ring around the base. They're not really intended for much manual rotation.

author: ksjh
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 08:10:17 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on August 05, 2025, 07:12:49 amWell, in Germany, we haveRäthgloben 1917 Verlags GmbH. They produce their own range of globes as well as the National Geographic globes for Germany. And there is alsoCOLUMBUS Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, according to thier web site, the oldest still producing globe manufacturer. Both offer hand-made and machine-made globes both in plastic and glass versions. Not sure about international versions, e.g., with English text.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 09:00:52 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 05, 2025, 06:35:09 amIf you're going to get an antique globe I think you really need to make sure it shows at least one or more of the Ottoman Empire, the Polish corridor, or the Confederate States, just for the WTF effect of someone casually spinning it to see what's on there.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 09:08:56 am
content: haha alternative history/scifi globes

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 09:17:26 am
content: I did a Google search for 'world globe' and there was quite a selection. $100 - $600 for a pretty nice globe.

author: ksjh
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 09:21:26 am
content: Quote from: 5U4GB on August 05, 2025, 09:00:52 amNot sure you really need all this modern stuff on a globe:https://globus1492.gnm.de/

author: kite31
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 10:21:35 am
content: Quote from: ksjh on August 05, 2025, 09:21:26 am@Halcyon is from Australia. He might feel something is missing.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 10:58:43 am
content: Quoteyou sure it wernt his secret bar

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2025, 12:44:06 pm
content: There's always thishttps://youtu.be/N1hN73onPwAWhat I would like now is one of those super old school three-legged globes that open up to reveal a luxurious collection of Scotch...

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 01:51:28 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on August 05, 2025, 07:12:49 amYou could get a flat-earther globe, that would be pretty simple, just a sheet of paper

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 01:55:00 am
content: Quote from: kite31 on August 05, 2025, 10:21:35 amWell in that case he definitely needs to get a south-up globe. Unfortunately I'm getting zero hits on this, at least ones for sale, so it may end up a DIY job.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 01:59:31 am
content: You probably couldn't go too far wrong with something from this established and well-respected publisher of maps,Rand McNallly.Prices from $80 and up.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 02:09:59 am
content: Quote from: 5U4GB on August 06, 2025, 01:55:00 amNot sure where the problem lies. Almost all of the mounted globes I have owned or seen can easily be rotated on the gimbal to place the south pole up. Perhaps the only exceptions are the ones that have interior lights and skip slip rings for power.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 05:19:13 am
content: Quote from: kite31 on August 05, 2025, 10:21:35 amYou took the words out of my mouth! Not sure I can accept that.Quote from: Analog Kid on August 06, 2025, 01:59:31 amTheir floor globes look pretty nice as well. Looks like shipping might be an issue however.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 03:25:50 pm
content: https://bellerbyandco.com/our-globes/

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2025, 12:09:01 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on August 06, 2025, 03:25:50 pmNice, but those prices are ridiculou$.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2025, 12:11:11 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 07, 2025, 12:09:01 amGet two of these ones, you should always have a spare.

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2025, 12:22:20 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 07, 2025, 12:09:01 amThose prices might be warranted if they guarantee 100 years of free updates whenever world border lines change.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 07, 2025, 01:32:49 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 07, 2025, 12:09:01 am

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2025, 03:47:15 am
content: I bought a Mova globe for my better half (geography teacher) last Christmas.It is mesmerising, works in reasonable light levels and is silent.I'd get the 'satellite' view globe with no country boundaries to go out of date.I find it akin to watching a 3D printer produce an object.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 04:09:04 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 06, 2025, 01:59:31 amI got a 404 error on the Rand McNally link.Rand McNally is a good source for maps and atlases: I miss their bricks-and-mortar stores in downtown Chicago.Another American source for globes is Replogle.When I was very young, my mother bought me a large wall map of the world, just in time for the African colonies to gain independence and obsolete the map.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 07:19:07 pm
content: Might have been my bad, leaving off the "s" from "globes:https://randpublishing.com/globes

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 07:31:51 pm
content: That link works.Apparently, most of those globes are manufactured by Replogle (another Illinois company).

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 10:24:17 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on August 08, 2025, 04:09:04 pmI remember that from the globes that we had in my early years in grade school too. But then I realized the countries changed so often that it was futile to buy a globe and have it remain accurate for very long.I remember when the National Geographic magazine used to put large fold up maps of the world or of specific regions of the world in their magazine every three months or so. In about 1968 or 1969 they included a map of the moon due to the interest in the first moon landing.The fold up flat maps had more distortion than a globe but you could update them a lot faster and cheaper than replacing globes!

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2025, 10:47:17 pm
content: The two common types of world maps (not including different projections) are "relief" and "political".Relief maps show mountains, deserts, etc., but do not emphasize political boundaries.Political maps are what the "four-color theorem" is about.In years past, we could see how much of the world was claimed by the UK, France, etc. by the colors.I would regard relief maps as a better investment.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2025, 06:26:11 am
content: Quote from: TimFox on August 08, 2025, 10:47:17 pmI like the Philips globes because they show both: the relief normally, but turn on the internal light and the current political boundaries are shown.I suspect Halcyon would regard them as "too plastic", which is a valid opinion.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2025, 06:36:00 am
content: lol you can also make a globe that shows the deep past or future (pangea, etc). Guess at the topography post-oceans when the sun is in the red giant or white or black dwarf phase. No political borders to worry about then.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2025, 11:50:39 am
content: Buy an inflatable beach ball, and hand draw/paint thePiri Reis mapon it.

author: Ground_Loop
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2025, 01:09:39 am
content: Interesting. My grand mother asked me what I wanted for a wedding gift, now decades ago. I told her I wanted a large “art piece” globe and stand. Still have it.

author: UnijunctionTransistor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2025, 03:01:45 am
content: Quote from: Psi on August 07, 2025, 12:11:11 amThose things are so massive that you can almost feel the gravitational field.