• PC World
• »Audio/Video
• »MP3 Players

There's no shortage of extras for Apple's various iPods, but the one must-have accessory is some kind of protective case. After all, you don't want to scratch the screen or scuff that nice, shiny surface, right? But as stylish as they are, most iPod cases are just some combination of plastic, silicone rubber, and metal--except for those made by a few designers who bravely go their own way to come up with truly iconoclastic cases. Genius or madness? You decide.

1. Lego My iPod!

Think Apple fans are, um, passionate? Then you don't know enough Lego aficionados. Combine the two obsessions and you get sites like PodBrix , where the designer known as Tomi modifies and assembles Lego pieces to create Apple-centric figures and dioramas. In 2005 he created the BrixPod Classic, a case for the first iPod Shuffle that looks like a cross between an original iPod and a Lego brick. Press the fake screen, and the Shuffle stops or starts playing. Like most PodBrix items, the limited-edition cases sold out pretty quickly--so if you're looking for a brick house for your old Shuffle, you'll have to hit eBay.

2. Your Case Is Shedding

Maybe I'm just packing the wrong chromosomes, but I don't quite understand the appeal of Debbie Ann's Cute Cases, which look less like iPod cases and more like miniature versions of Cousin It. With names like Hottie, Retro, Dark Romance, and Golden Beauty, and coming in eco-friendly materials (they're colored with vegetable dyes, and some are made of 100 percent organic hemp), these cases are all variations on a single theme: fuzzy and colorful. How fuzzy? Let's just say that the line called Tribbles is a great example of truth in advertising. Just be careful that your Cute Case iPod doesn't end up in the sock drawer.