The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Sex Toys (12 page)

Of all the sex machines widely available to consumers, the Sybian (
sybian.com
) is the most popular and widely recognized of them all, perhaps due to its starring role in a significant number of porn films and its use on a variety of adult websites. It's also an extremely popular machine in the swinging lifestyle (or subculture) and regularly appears as a guest of honor at sex parties.

Looking like the top half of a mechanical bull, the Sybian is shaped like a wide motorcycle seat with a flat base so that the user rides it, or sits astride the machine. It's a fairly large and heavy machine, at 13”x10”x10” and 22 pounds, and the rider needn't worry about it actually moving while in use. It's also (allegedly) rated to withstand 1,000 pounds. The Sybian is covered in padded black Naugahyde, with the attachments in beige “flesh” tone. The area that does all the work is situated right at the seat's apex; where the rider's genitals make contact, a vibrating area stimulates a number of optional attachments. There's no in-and-out thrusting by this machine, but instead it gives intense, variable-speed vibrations or rotating action to attachments that range from a “flat” dildo to dildos of different sizes, and even a double penetration attachment. The user can sit in place, “ride” the machine, or wiggle around all he or she likes.

The Sybian runs on standard U.S. 120v current and also has a 240v version for worldwide use; it simply plugs into the wall socket and you're ready to go. A cable extends from the machine, connecting a very basic control box that controls vibration intensity and rotation. It's a quite loud machine and not recommended if you have concerns about noise, though one solution is to place the machine on a padded surface like a bed or cushion to absorb the loud motor sounds.

The Sybian's attachments are made of rubber—sadly, they're not made of hygienic silicone, so extra steps will need to be taken to ensure cleanliness. Rubber can't be sterilized, so it's not recommended that you share this machine unless you've cleaned the machine and toys with bacteria-killing agents. The attachments can withstand a run through the dishwasher on the top rack for a full cycle, though, unlike silicone, they can't be boiled. To clean between uses, wash with a fragrance-free antibacterial soap like Hibiclens or a 1:10 bleach and water solution, followed by detergent (dish soap) and a hot water rinse. Allow the attachments to dry completely before use; when in doubt about insertion attachments, use a condom on them and be sure the surface of the Sybian has been wiped down with a sterile towelette or solution. The Sybian sells a novelty-manufactured “toy cleaner” as the recommended cleaner—though it's nothing more than dish soap with the ingredient Nonoxynol-9 (an irritating detergent that's been shown to cause cervical abrasions when used in lubricants, and kills HIV/AIDS only in clinical settings).

 

If you're not sharing your Sybian, this is less of an issue. You can just wash its attachments with soap and water for a few uses, sterilizing them completely every fourth or fifth use and being sure to follow the common sense guidelines for sex toys and anal use in chapter 1. Beware of cheaply made Sybian lookalikes that have poorly made attachments (typically unhygienic jelly rubber) and a motor that burns out or can't withstand regular use. The legitimate Sybian model comes with a five-year warranty, the shipping is discreet, and the company has a good privacy policy—but at more than a thousand dollars for a complete Sybian package with attachments, it's an investment that should come with
some
kind of guarantee.

So the Sybian is popular, even though it is somewhat clunky, and the claims about women and orgasm on the company's website are a little dated…but does it work? Most certainly. The Sybian is a swingers' party favor and a porn star for a good reason: It delivers strong, consistent stimulation; it's easily controllable by the user for getting “just right” stimulation at precisely the right times; and it's comfortable to sit on. It's often seen in female masturbation porn films where the orgasms (for once) are authentic. The Sybian has a well-earned reputation for excellent G-spot stimulation and for producing terrific results in female ejaculation. For couples, the Sybian offers lots of play options, most notably in situations where one player just wants to watch, where lovers want to trade use of the controls, or where the rider wants to perform oral sex on their lover while riding. In power exchange scenarios, the machine can be used as an instrument of both pleasure and punishment, when one of the partners is “made” to stay on the machine.

The Sybian company also sells a sex machine for men called the Venus 2000, an electricity-powered stroker with variable-speed vibration and stroke controls. It's basically an 11-pound black box that the penis goes into, where inside it's surrounded by a rubber liner and machinery that tugs, sucks, strokes, and vibrates the penis. There are some pretty funny claims on the website about how the machine creates erections, “trains” against premature ejaculation, and “Maintains Penial Health” (sic), which should all be taken with a good-natured grain of salt. A variety of inserts and attachments is available.

Over at
thethrillhammer.com
and
thepowerpulse.com
, Daphna and Allen Stein have worked with a team of twelve engineers and roboticists, as well as with the folks at Sybian (
sybian.com
) and Advanced Medical Robotics (
erotichine.com
), to make Thethrillhammer and Thepowerpulse. Both machines are designed to appeal to an exclusive clientele, are highly stylish, and look as if they arrived from the future on a UFO—though in fact both are thoughtfully designed sex machines created specifically to give women sexual thrills.

Thethrillhammer is a big, expensive, imposing-looking machine that the user gets into, rather than sits on, and is the most exclusive of all the sex machines; each machine is tailor-made for the individual customer. It is a giant, sci-fi-looking adjustable chair that's a cross between a dentist's chair and a gynecological exam table. In its most basic incarnation the machine includes a thrustable, rotating, and vibrating dildo, plus a controllable webcam—the machine can be used over the Web with
Thethrillhammer's Flash interface. It's quite simply the world's first Web-controlled sex machine.

To ride the machine, the user relaxes into the chair while an operator employs the functions of “thrust,” “rotate,” “vibrate,” “camera zoom, tilt, pan,” and advanced options such as preset patterns. The control interface is Flash, so it can be operated from any computer or operating system that has a browser. As with the Sinulator, end users can control the maximum amount of stimulation so they can still enjoy a pleasurable low volume of vibration, thrust, or rotation, while the person doing the controlling can get their rocks off by jamming the volume up to the max.

 

Thethrillhammer consumer models (most are for commercial porn use) are described as “custom machines for kinky people who might also have a medical fetish” and sell to a high-end sex toy market of private clients. Indeed, their roboticist hails from making machines for the sophisticated tastes of House of Gord, “The home of ultra-bondage...the ultimate in restraint, trussing, cocooning, human furniture, packaged girls and suspension” (
houseofgord.com
). Estimates for custom machines start at more than $4,000; they can be modified with virtually “anything the client desires.”

On the retail end, this is an exclusive machine for people with money—and that's fine with the Steins. “Sinulate has the commodity end of the market nailed,” they said in an interview; “we want to complement them and appeal to the individual buyers who want a tailored experience, and businesses that want to offer something more to their clients.” Thethrillhammer has
a similar nonadult background as Sinulate Entertainment, and both companies are friendly entrepreneurs looking toward their shared future in the teledildonics field, pushing for standardization in Web-controlled sex toys. For now, setup is limited to custom installation, though clients run Thethrillhammer smoothly on their own after startup. An air compressor supplies the rhythm, so noise is a consideration, yet the entire unit is powered on regular electricity.

Thepowerpulse is marketed as a “luxury sex machine” and, at a glance, this is, without a doubt, true. Designed by an artist and fabricated by the woman-owned and operated Thethrillhammer team, it's a gorgeous piece of artwork that looks like it should be either in a design museum or on a spaceship's pleasure deck. Brushed aluminum and stainless steel are the signature of this machine, which delivers an in-and-out thrust of up to 250 strokes per minute, has variable-speed vibration, is quiet and runs on standard wall-socket electricity, and in addition to extralong power cords, also has a wireless remote control. It stands on its own adjustable four feet, uses the Doc Johnson Vac-U-Loc system for dildo and vibrator attachment, and retails for about two thousand dollars.

I
f you're the kind of person who thinks that life's pleasures should be a decadent indulgence to be truly appreciated, you're not alone. While the rest of the sex toy business has been churning out the cheapest products made from disposable materials, a growing number of naughty entrepreneurs have taken on a different perspective altogether, creating super-exquisite haute couture sex toys. Many new toy manufacturers want to distance themselves from “novelties” as much as possible, and often have backgrounds in engineering, design, and art. Welcome to the wonderful and fast-growing world of highly refined pleasure instruments.

Whether you think “only the best will do” for your sexual escapades, or you see yourself as needing a solid rose quartz dildo reposing in an exquisite locked box on your bedside table, or you're a couple whose fantasies only begin in vistas of decadence that require the proper accessories, or you want to get your lover the most mind-blowing sexy gift imaginable, there's likely a high-end sex toy to fulfill your desires. If you
can imagine it, it's probably available—though not without a hefty price tag (of course). Yet for people who want their sex toys ringed with real diamonds and gleaming with personalized monograms, money isn't the object: Pleasure is.

While in the rest of the sex toy world, silicone is the expensive, most-desired material available, in the world of high-end sex toys you can find playthings crafted from exotic materials like steel, silver, platinum, gold, glass/Pyrex, and wood, or even carved from precious stones. Anal beads made from freshwater pearls? No problem. Real fox-fur tails for your butt plug? Sad for the fox, but available with the click of a mouse for your foxy little ass.