Michael Pick, who boasts over 1 million subscribers on YouTube, decided to quit his 9-to-5 job at Lockheed Martin to become a “casual engineer” – someone who makes fun videos about building cool stuff.
Now a full-time YouTube content creator, Pick boasts 1.25 million subscribers and holds three Guinness World Records for his oversized versions of his favorite childhood games, including the world's largest Nerf gun, which fires oversized Nerf darts.
“I grew up reading the Guinness World Records book and thought it would be fun to break a record one day,” Pick said. “I had Nerf guns as a kid and they were really fun childhood toys, so that's a big reason why I chose to break that record.”
Since then, he has built an official Guinness World Record for the world's largest Xbox X Series, and, although not Guinness certified, he has also built an oversized Nintendo Switch, which runs all of the mega-sized games.
Michael Pick of Huntsville, Alabama, built an extra-large Nintendo Switch in 2023. This one is not certified by the Guinness World Records. Photo courtesy of Michael Pick.
He started the project in 2021 while working full time at Lockheed Martin. With a degree in Computer Science from Tennessee Tech University, he set out to develop his first super-cool, super-sized toy.
“I designed an oversized Nerf gun on the computer using CAD, then spent five months building it, working in my garage on weekends,” he said.
The gun is 12 feet 6 inches long and weighs 250 pounds. What's more, it can fire darts 250 feet. In fact, Pick's “fastest electric foam dart gun firing speed” was set in September 2023 at 2,643 rounds per minute.
Officials from Guinness World Records wrote: “Michael's giant Nerf gun transforms a familiar toy into a powerful machine. The giant darts built for his oversized creation are capable of shattering glass mugs and even hitting watermelons head-on.”
Pick shared a photo of the Nerf gun, but to see it in person requires a lengthy plane ride. “It's currently on display at the Guinness World Records Museum in Denmark,” he said. “I haven't been there yet, but I plan to!”
Michael Pick of Huntsville, Alabama, has been recognized by the Guinness World Records for building the world's largest Xbox X Series. It's 6 feet 8 inches tall, 3 feet 4 inches wide, and 3 feet 4 inches long. It weighs 250 pounds. Courtesy of Michael Pick
The Xbox Series X is 6 feet 8 inches tall, 3 feet 4 inches wide, and 3 feet 4 inches long. It weighs 250 pounds. Guinness says it's “about the size of a standard refrigerator.”
In a 2021 article on their website, Guinness described Pick's process: “We started with a wooden exterior and created a super-sized replica of the Xbox's elements, including the connection ports on the back and other identifying features. Michael said the most challenging part of recreating this gigantic gaming system was designing the curves on the top of the Xbox Series X and recreating the illuminated logo.”
While the Xbox doesn't work like the standard model, it's still functional. “By taking a relatively small regular Xbox Series X and putting it into a larger version, you can click a button and it sends a signal to an Arduino microcontroller, which activates a motor and tells it to press a button on the original regular-sized console,” Guinness explained. The Xbox took about two days to plan and a month to build.
“I currently hold three world records and I plan to break more,” Pick said.
To learn more about Pick and his work, subscribe to Michael Pick's YouTube channel or check him out on TikTok @casual.engineer or Instagram @casual.engineer.
