Despicable Me 2 Toy Profile of the Week (1): A Few Minions For Your Approval…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Meet Minions Stuart, Phil and Dave,
(of them I’ll post this little rave)

They’re three fun guys full of surprise
and just a few bucks each.
They’ll fit in pocket, purse or bag,
(I think they’d like the beach)

Thinkway has made them all just right
they’ll make you smile a lot
That said, I’d keep mine at home
so mischief happens not!

Pictured, three Collectible Figures from the upcoming Despicable Me 2 toy line (2”-3.5”), Age: 4+; Approximate Retail Price: $4.99 – Available starting in May at a retailer near you.

Toy Fair 2013: If She’s Your Role Model, You Should Read That Fine Print…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Now, this isn’t your average mildly to moderately angry feminist posting about how any and everything Barbie or any other supermodel-thin artificial female-shaped toy represents the destruction of the normal female body image and how the whole plastic princess thing represents the ultimate in corporate brainwashing or whatever. I can’t write that well because my sense of humor won’t let me and I’m here to rant about something else. That and the last time I checked (I had to pee before I wrote this post), below the brain I’m not much of a feminist. Anyway, while looking through this latest catalog I got in the mail, a theme appeared that made my eyebrow go up and stay locked in that “Hmmmm…” position too long. I had to force it down (my eyebrow, not the theme) with my backup electric toothbrush. The original rolled off the radiator onto an old glue trap the other day and that sucked, but didn’t because if I tried to get my eyebrow down using a toothbrush stuck to a glue trap, I’d have a bit more to worry about…

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Toy Fair 2013: A Crowded Coop: Valve’s (Other) Secret Weapon

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

If you’re one of those video game fans who collects assorted goodies related to your favorite games or if you’re just interested in fun finds with a quirky edge, I bet there’s a nice possibility that there’s something from A Crowded Coop on a shelf or hanging on or from something you own. Based out of Monroe, Washington and made up of a couple of professional genius business types with heavy experience in all things toy related as well as being some very talented artistic types with vision to spare, the company creates its own products as well as licenses and distributes other trendy, hip gear the cool kids (and old farts like me) love through a number of retail outlets such as Think Geek and other quality online and brick & mortar emporiums. At this year’s Toy Fair, the company showed off an outstanding line of collectibles from some of Valve’s hit games (Portal 2, DOTA 2 and Team Fortress 2), a new line of beautiful plush toys from artist Justin Hillgrove, another upcoming fun plush line called Whim Whams and more that had me smiling even as I walked up to the booth…

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Toy Fair 2013: Mimoco Revives Dead Presidents As USB Drives, Ben Franklin’s Ghost Pissed Off…

Posted on February 18, 2013 by geelw

I can hear the spinning coffin from here, as ol’ Ben is mighty upset. George Washington and Abe Lincoln get love from mimoco in these two cool limited edition MIMOBOT USB drives (available NOW), but he’s the main tech guy out of all the founding fathers what with his electrical kite flying hijinx, his sense of humor (Poor Richard’s Almanack!) and other er, “modern” things about the man. That and hey – he’s on the hundred dollar bill and look where the other two ended up on US currency. Obviously, Ben’s the MAN, so maybe you Fans of Franklin should bug mimoco to get with the program and get a BF drive on the site at some point. Still, I say pick either or both of these up just so they know you’re serious about waving the flag for Ben in the future.

Toy Fair 2013: HoboNinjas Need Love (and Food and Hugs and So Forth & So On) Too!

Posted on February 16, 2013 by geelw

So, we all know from that Japanese history course we took (what, you cut class all the time? Shame!) that an unemployed samurai is called a Rōnin and if he says a hearty “Heck no!” to that mandatory seppuku clause in his termination contract, must wander the land, masterless until he drifts into whatever fate (or a decent movie director) hands him. But what about the elusive unemployed Ninja? Well, they don’t quite see the eternally wandering thing as good for potential future gigs because how can you hire an assassin if he’s always wandering around stumbling into trouble (decently-directed though it may be). Anyway, somehow, Mackenzie Mayer, chief designer and all around art ninja (I was going to say “guru”, but mixing mythologies creates time paradoxes or something disastrous like asteroid-shaped pianos falling from the sky over Russia) has managed to capture the spirit of the out of work black-clad agents of assorted demise in HoboNinja form as WillNinjas! Once you see these guys, you’ll want to put them to work for you in any number of (legal) ways…

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Toy Fair 2013: Despicable Me 2 Toy Lineup: Gru’s Grunts & Girls Get Great Gear!

Posted on February 16, 2013 by geelw

Despicable Me was quite a surprise for me, as I wasn’t expecting much before I saw it and ended up charmed by the animation and characters. Of course, so were a few many million other moviegoers, which means, yes indeed – it’s time for a sequel. If the teaser and trailers are any indication, you can expect Despicable Me 2 to be even funnier than the original, as Gru’s Minions seem to be the focus this time out. This also means in terms of licensed products, toy companies such as Hasbro, Thinkway Toys, Basic Fun and others are going all out to get fans of the film into stores and online shops to snap up some really cool new items. I got to see most of the upcoming lineup during Toy Fair off-site at a more relaxed downtown location and everything looks (and sounds, where applicable) great and is coming soon to a retailer near you.

Gallery below the jump along with some more scribblings on the collection from yours truly…

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Toy Fair 2013: Zeenie Dollz – Or: Earth (Saving) Girls Are Easy (To Like)…

Posted on February 15, 2013 by geelw

With all the big toy-themed sites covering almost nothing but the big, hot new products from Toy Fair, there are literally thousands of toys that get little to no love on the show floor from the press. Since I don’t get many invites to the major events (thanks to PR people and companies themselves that want big sites with bigger hits to drive fans into stores on launch days or pre-ordering their products like mad), I tend to dip around the show floor after my big deal appointments looking for quirky and interesting stuff you won’t see latched to a hype train. I’ll be covering a bunch of cool toys for just about everyone in a few columns here, so I may as well start with the last letter of the alphabet and work my way around randomly. Say hello to Zeenie Dollz!

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Toy Fair 2013: Those Rabbids Are Everywhere (No) Thanks To McFarlane Toys…

Posted on February 13, 2013 by geelw

McFarlane Toys has been invaded by Ubisoft’s kooky Rabbids and after a fierce battle, this seems to be le result: a bunch of goofy Rabbids toys you probably don’t want around your home because they’ll come to life while you’re asleep and wreck your stuff up good. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but if you do decide to buy these homely (but nefariously stupid and crafty) critters, lock them up in a glass case like the one you see in these pics. That’s recommended by the rep at the booth, by the way – I heard he had one in the hotel room he was staying at the first night of the show and the entire mini-bar was gone when he woke up! Evil, I say… eeeeeeeeevil!

Oh, It Certainly WASN’T A Slow Day…

Status

Actually, today was pretty busy for me at Toy Fair, but after three days I’m near totally beat, so no new updates until tomorrow! I’ll be at the show another day until about 2:30 or so, as I have an appointment at an Electronic Arts event shortly afterward. It’s not too far away, so I’ll most likely walk the 15 blocks rather than waste the transit fare. I’ve Got a lot of catching up to do, what with the cool Despicable Me 2 toys I saw downtown a few hours ago looking pretty hot for fans of that upcoming sequel, a bunch of pics and more jumpy videos to post from the show floor (oh, for a nice GoPro camera!) and plenty of stuff to write about. Oh yeah – I got in some new games to review as well and I have a GRID 2 hands-on preview and Skylanders Swap Force impressions to post.

I think that’s it… no, wait, I sent some interview questions to Natsume about Carnage Heart EXA yesterday – I just need to wait a bit before they boomerang back this way.

Man, I need a nice vacation… and more stuff to play with. Wait…. maybe the games are the vacation?

Toy Fair 2013: Carrera’s Mario Kart RC and Race Sets Speeding To Retail This Year

Posted on February 11, 2013 by geelw

There are a ton of Mario-themed goodies here at Toy Fair, but a few of the coolest have to be some of Carrera’s upcoming lineup such as this 1:16 scale RC car (it’s HUGE) and this awesome Mario Kart 7 race set. Both are coming later this year and both would be perfect for that Nintendo fanatic who absolutely loves everything Mario Kart. The company has a few other nice Mario Kart racers, but I’ll post those a bit later from the asset disc I received. Start saving those pennies, folks…