1. Star Wars
Fun fact: By adding just a touch of grape juice or purple food coloring to your Darth Vader ice cubes, you can ensure that your beverage comes to the Dark Side as the ice starts to melt. Papa Vader would be proud.
Of course, if you refuse to let your beverage join the Dark Side, there are still plenty of Star Wars ice cube trays for you to choose from. Be a rebel with Millennium Falcon cubes, see if your X-Wing ice can take out the tiny defect in the center of the massive Death Star cube, chill out with everyone’s favorite beeping Droid, or see if you can help Han escape his icy carbonite prison before you need a refill. Who knew ice cubes would be the key to reliving the best moments of one of the greatest film franchises in history? Best of all, there don’t seem to be any Jar Jar ice cubes in this galaxy or the next.
2. Chess Pieces
Are you such a chess master that even speed chess has started to seem dull? Then raise the stakes with this ice version—take too long to move and your king will literally start to melt away. Just remember to use a waterproof board or your playing area will be as short lived as your pieces.
3. Alphabet
This alphabet ice tray is perfect for all the Boggle and Scrabble fiends out there. Just pop out a few letters and figure out all the words you can spell in your drink before your letters melt away into illegible shapes.
4. Crystal Ice
These cubes might not come in an unusual shape, but the design ensures that ice from these trays will form the same way it does in the great outdoors: The impurities get pushed to the bottom of the cube so you can have perfectly clean and clear cubes every time.
5. Pi & Science
Want an appropriate way to cool down after making a dozen pies on Pi Day? Then grab some Pi ice trays and turn your post-Pi Day cocktail into a mathematical celebration. If you really want to crank your scientifically geeky cocktail to 11, you might want to grab this Cool Science tray as well that comes with such classics as the infinity, square root, and sigma signs.
6. Ice Ice Baby
If you love terrible early 90’s one-hit wonders and goofy puns then you’re bound to love the Ice Ice Baby Ice tray that references one of the stupidest songs ever made while describing exactly what it is making.
7. Abominable Ice Men
Was your favorite part of Disneyland always the Abominable Snowman in the Matterhorn? Well then, relive those memories without leaving home by letting an Abominable Ice Man move into your freezer to help you cool off your favorite beverages.
8. Shark Fins
If the first thing you think of when you hear the word shark is the unforgettable theme from Jaws, then bring some of the classic film home to your freezer. Just remember, if someone starts screaming that there’s a shark in their glass at your next cocktail party, you don’t need a bigger boat—you just need to cut that person off for the night.
9. Skull and Crossbones
Avast, ye pirate-loving geeks. Sure you can’t get much ice on board your favorite vessel, but when you’re on shore, you might as well get as much Vitamin C as you can to help you fight off that scurvy. And there’s no better way to cool off a pineapple, orange juice and rum concoction than with a few ice cubes that resemble the most famous Jolly Roger flag.
10. iPhone Apps
If you’re such a die-hard Apple fan that you have a hard time using anything that doesn’t reflect the genius of Jobs, then you can finally start enjoying your iced water again. Just add in a few of these iCubes that are based on apps on an iPhone and enjoy your tech-tastic beverage.
11. Superheroes
Whether you’re a DC or Marvel fan, you can make your drinks infinitely much more super with nothing more than the logo of your favorite superhero. Choose from Batman wings, Superman’s S or the Marvel tray that features Captain America's shield, Iron Man's mask, The Thing's head, and Hulk's fist. Just try not to add gamma radiation to your ice cubes—the process of making a superhero in real life is drastically different than what you see in the pages of your favorite comic.
12. Dinosaur Bones
You don’t have to be an archeologist to dig these cool dino bones. While this triceratops and T Rex skeleton won’t end up in a museum, they probably will be a lot more refreshing than those actually discovered underground.
13. Ice Attacks
If you own Agent Mulder’s “I Want to Believe” poster and consider your vacation to Roswell a “pilgrimage,” then there’s no better way to cool down after an invigorating period of sky watching than with a nice cool drink filled with UFO and meteor ice cubes.
14. Aliens
Of course, if you expect our first encounter to result in violence and death, then you might prefer your alien ice cubes to reflect the classic Aliens franchise. If so, enjoy these ice trays bearing the likeness of the famed aliens and their eggs.
Do you guys have some cool ice trays you’re particularly proud of, or do you tend to stick with cubes like the rest of us?