Too Much Awesome » Toys

Too Much Awesome Feature Guide [Updated]

Chris Pranger — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:00:07 +0000

We here at Toy-TMA do a lot of writing. Sometimes we do more writing than usual, but we’ve been very good about creating content every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at a consistent pace. Thankfully, a lot of our favorite articles have been viewed over and over again, and even have comments in staggering numbers for a site of our size. However, there are equally a staggering number of articles we’ve thrown ourselves into and week after week never see them on the Top 50 Content list from our analytics. Perhaps the problem is that we don’t have a ready-made guide to help you see what’s our there to read? That’s my theory, therefore here is the Too Much Awesome Feature Guide.

We're a good bunch here, and here are some of the best things we've produced for your enjoyment.

Games You Should Have Played:

The concept is simple enough. Take a game we’ve played and loved and tell other people why they should also love it. This feature began with Ocarina of Time and is still ongoing. What new Games You Should Have Played can you expect to see? Super Mario 64 is demanding a write-up, as is Twilight Princess and Act Raiser. Look for those in coming months.

Super Mario Sunshine

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Beyond Good & Evil

The Sly Cooper Trilogy

Batman NES

Golden Sun: The Lost Age

Tomb Raider 1 & 2

Golden Sun

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Donkey Kong Country Trilogy

Final Fantasy III SNES (VI)

Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Bros 3

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Bad Games That Should Have Been Great:

Take the concept behinds Games You Should Have Played and reverse it. These are games that are misguided in some tragic way, becoming examples of a great concept or lofty promises being released with as a final product that leaves much to be desired. What other Bad Games That Should Have Been Great are in our future? Hard to say, but No More Heroes has a lot to talk about, so keep an eye out for that one.

Pokemon Battle Revolution

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Metroid: Other M

Smash Bros Spinoffs

Turtles In Time: Re-Shelled

Star Fox Adventures

Fable II

Dead Rising

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

God of War III

Resident Evil 5

Retrospectives:

Sometimes there are series that demand a full talk or an older toy or game that we really feel needs to be looked at again in further detail, mostly from our personal perspective. That’s where our retrospectives come from. What’s up next for a retrospective? The Star Fox series has been asking for the spotlight, and thus it shall soon be retrospectified.

Model Trains

Stuffed Animals

He-Man

Return of the Jedi Battle at Sarlacc’s Pit board game

Waterworks

Brian’s Memories with Hot Wheels

The Game of Life

Mille Bornes

My First Diecast Car Convention

Wrestling Toys

Origami animals

Remote controlled envy

X-Men Under Siege Board Game

Marvel Legends Action Figures

Smash Bros: A Retrospective

My Little Pony: A Retrospective

Guys and Dolls: A Male’s Retrospective Of Barbie

Cereal Toys Retrospective

Apples to Apples Retrospective

Backyard Toys

Tonka Trucks Retrospective

Games Pieces Do Not Actually Talk: A Guess Who? Retrospective

Creating My Own Sagas: Dragonball Z Action Figures

Guide to Collectible Star Wars Action Figures

Go Green Machine! A Ninja Turtle Video Game Retrospective

More to Catch: Pokemon Toys Retrospective

Twenty Years and Still Going: A Simpsons Retrospective

Sweet Memories of Childhood Cars: A Matchbox Retrospective

The Glory of G.I. Joes: A Retrospective

The Privileged Childhood: A Power Wheels Retrospective

Still Leading The Way: A Hot Wheels Retrospective

Just Don’t Panic: A Retrospective on Catch Phrase

Like Capture The Flag With Bombs: A Stratego Retrospective

The Plastic Wars: a Retrospective on Army Men

All Out War: A Risk Retrospective

A Retrospective on Trivial Pursuit the Board Game

Victory Never Tasted So Sweet: A Candy Land Retrospective

That Cluedo That You Do: A Retrospective on Clue the Board Game

I Am Scattegories and You Can Too: A Scattegories Retrospective

Computers Must Be Stopped: A Short Chess Retrospective

The Yo-Yo and Why You Should Have One

Build Yourself Some Fun: a Brief LEGO Retrospective

Get Out of Jail for Free: A Brief Monopoly Retrospective

Video Game Retrospectives:

Rare: A Retrospective

Metroid: A Retrospective

My Pokemon Team Over The Years

Zelda: A Retrospective

-Part 1

-Part 2

Crash Bandicoot: A Retrospective

Mario: A Retrospective

Let’s Think Deep:

Our long-form discussions, Let’s Think Deep is a forum for us to discuss issues that we’re feeling regarding whatever we feel needs to be thought deeply about. What is currently up for Deep Thought? The future of gaming is a big topic, probably appearing sooner than later. Be watching for that.

Books and Games

Nintendo Explained By a Lifelong Fan

The PSN Blackout

You versus the world

The Download Conundrum

Wii Regret

I Get Your Genre: First-Person Shooters

The Mind of a Fanboy

Kinect and What It Means

The Great Zelda Schism

The Used Games Dilemma

The Virtual Utopia

The Moral of the Story

Rethinking Remakes

Achieving Perfection

Motion Controls In Games

The Perfect Video Game

What Makes a System Good?

Dante’s Inferno and It’s Place In The World

Articulating Articulation

Schrodinger’s Zelda

Tips From a Grandmaster:

We like to think we’re professional gamers here, but we’re not. Still, every so often we come across a game we feel mastery in to a level that has us begging to share our wisdom. What games will we discuss next? Smash Bros and Mass Effect are showing strong indicators of getting a full Tips article, so be ready for those.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (Part 1)

Super Mario Bros 3

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Batman: Arkham City

Comic Book Club:

Video games aren’t our entire world, even if it feels that way some months. We’re big on comic books, so much so that we want to share some of the comics that have really stood out as examples of stellar work. What Comic Book Club books will be selected for the future? Certainly Batman Black & White will make an appearance, as will the masterpiece manga Akira, plus the Marvel Current Continuity Retrospective needs to be resolved, so stick that on your radar and check back for their arrival on the list.

Marvel Current Continuity Retrospective:

-Avengers Disassembled

-New Avengers

-House of M

-Marvel Civil War

-Marvel Civil War Aftermath

Usagi Yojimbo #141 (Issue 200)

Avatar The Last Airbender, The Lost Adventures

The Walking Dead

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

Scott Pilgrim Book 6

Ex Machina

Superman: Secret Identity

Chickenhare

Scott Pilgrim Books 1-5

Bone

Marvels

Authentically Awesome Anime (Triple A):

Gus came up with this a while ago after he decided that we talk about anime but not nearly as much as we should. Therefore, Triple A came about. What’s likely to appear? FLCL will be there soon, as will Akira and Samurai Champloo, so watch for those.

One Piece: New World Review Part 1

One Piece: New World Review Part 2

Digimon Tamers

Death Note

One Piece

One Piece 500th Episode

Samurai 7

Pokemon, the First Three Movies

Page To Screen:

Gus started another brilliant segment a ways into this last year that really struck a cord with me where we cast the live action version of an animated property, though we haven’t touched on it since. That will change soon! Expect us to cast a live action version of Akira (the right way), Dragon Ball (the right way), and even Pokemon.

One Piece Part 1

One Piece Part 2

Casting for a Live Action Movie

Forget-Me-Nots:

Kyle starting this one, being an article aimed squarely at a toy from our past that we want to talk about. Not just any toy, but our toy, our specific toy that is ours and no one else’s. What can you see us taking a trip down memory lane with next? Perhaps Z-Bots, but that’s an article for another day.

Yu-Gi-Oh Cards and Anime

Pokemon Trading Card Game

Video game board games

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Figures and Zords

Chutes and Ladders

Mutating Michelangelo

Halloween-Turned-Toys!

Tie Fighter Computer Game

Lone Ranger Action Figure

Daredevil Action Figure

TMNT Pizza Power Board Game

1987 Ghostbusters Firehouse

How To Guides:

Sometimes we get the chance to cut loose and dispense advice. This is one of those times. Here are all the times we’ve given you advice on the important things in life. Coming soon: How To Create Video Games.

How To Do Nothing

Doing Halloween Costumes Right

How To Create Your Own Hot Wheels

8 Frequently Asked Questions About The Power Rangers

How To Survive Black Friday

How To Lose With Dignity

How To Operate A Touch Screen Properly

How To Game Correctly

Game Rentals: The Poor Man’s Guide

The Dragonball Z Technique Guide

How To Beat Your Friends In Board Games

Lists:

This is the Internet in 2011. That means a fair number of lists are expected and to a certain degree required for a website to go on functioning. What lists are coming up soon? Keep a look out for 10 Examples Why Mario Games Are Darker Than You’d Think to appear sometime in the next year.

5 Games Lost in the November Rush 2011

The Best [And Worst] of Nolan North

5 Games To Play In The Dark

Top 5 Most Wanted Plot Devices for Avatar The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 1

Five Franchises That Should Get a Sandbox Spinoff

Five Aspects of Otherwise Great Anime That Brings Them Down

10 Weird Items from Oriental Trading

Five Remakes We Should Have Seen at E3

5 Things From Avatar I Wanted To See But Didn’t

Ten Games That Changed Everything

Five Aspects of Avatar Everyone Gets Wrong

Top 5 Franchises That Should Get a LEGO Spinoff

Five Games I’d Like To See On The 3DS Without 3D

5 Games That Would Work Great With The 3DS’ 3D

Ten Aspects of Otherwise Good Games That Bring Them Down

Seven Tragic Video Game Love Stories

Top 5 Franchises That Should Get An SSB Spinoff

Toys of 2010 that were just plain bad ideas

In Response to Game Informer: 10 Underdogs That Defined A Generation

A Toy List For The Financially Gifted

5 Toys From 2010 I Wish I Had When I Was Your Age

Why He-Man wasn’t a great toy

Brian Vaughn — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:00:15 +0000

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe might be historically significant in the world of toys but it just couldn’t compete against its contemporaries.

The decade that started it all

Growing up the 1980s, mine was one of the first generations to have near unlimited options when it came to franchise toys, games and cartoons. That decade lays claim to some of the most iconic toy franchises in history, including Transformers, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and, of course, He-Man and his little sister, She-Ra. Being surrounded by so many choices, all you could do as a kid was pick the one that had the coolest toys and the best cartoon, and that formula didn’t prove fruitful for He-Man. However, Masters of the Universe deserves some credit from a historical stand point.

He-Man and Skeletor in their prime.

Thank you, He-Man

We all owe the He-Man a lot when it comes to toys and cartoons. Masters of the Universe was one of the first cartoons that was produced pretty much for the sole purpose of selling toys to children. Some parental organizations took exception and called foul but we all know how that debate ended. Surprisingly enough, the reason many cartoons from that era had have the now famous PSAs was as a compromise with those groups. In the end, however, without the He-Man cartoon we wouldn’t have been blessed with the likes of Transformers or GI Joe or any of the countless other cartoons from that time…and without the cartoons there would be no toys.

See this kid. That's not me. It's Screech showing off his He-Man love.

Why He-Man failed as an action figure

I was not a fan of He-Man as a kid and that’s because neither the toys, nor the cartoon, were that appealing. I surrounded myself with GI Joes and Transfomers while my best friend next door had a toy chest full of He-Man stuff. I had a few He-Man figures that I received as gifts but they never got much play time because they just weren’t that cool. More often than not, my He-Man figures were portrayed as the evil giants in GI Joe land, partially due to their formidable size in comparison, but also due to their fantasy theme. I’m sorry but in a cage match between giant robots and a barbarian, the robots win hands down. And let’s say that if He-Man managed to survive a chair shot from Optimus Prime, Duke and the rest of the GI Joes would have swooped in and cleaned up the pieces left behind.

But He-Man did corner the market on well-sculpted mustaches.

Lets look at some of the obvious reasons why He-Man was a less than impressive action figure. First off, He-Man doesn’t have many joints and thus couldn’t really be put in many poses. Prince Adam and his buddies could only move their arms in one direction and only at the shoulder. They also didn’t have any knees to speak off, and they could only twist at the waist. So if you wanted Skeletor to kneel or even sit at the table like a good evil lord, he couldn’t do it. He-Man figures just weren’t as versatile as say, GI Joe figures, nor were they as well sculpted. With such limited movement, your own adventures in Eternia were stuck being wrestling matches. Of course, wrestling matches made sense because the figures were pretty big, so it was hard to have them play well with other action figures.

The zoo that was Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe also featured some of the weirdest characters that looked as good as they also confused. It seems that unless you were He-Man or Man-At-Arms, you were some crazy, hideous mutant with bizarre powers that weren’t really useful, even in fantasy land. For example, Mekaneck, whose awesome superpower was…a long neck. Yeah, that’s who I want in a fight, giraffe man. And who can forget Mantenna? His ability to make his eyes bug out most certainly struck fear into the hearts of men all around the universe. Even though He-Man’s cronies were ridiculous and unfun, several of them do deserve credit playing with our senses in ways that other figures did not. Figures like Moss Man and Stinkor not only gave our fingers something new to touch, but they also attacked our sense of smell…and Stinkor was a character that really earned his name, PU!

Man-E-Faces was one of the better figures but still big and inflexible.

Masters of the Universe did have some interesting vehicles, albeit few, but they were also quite ugly and otherwise unusable. Especially when you look at what GI Joe offered in terms of accessories and playsets, He-Man just doesn’t stand a chance. The Transformers had little in the way of accessories and vehicles…but wait…oh yeah, they were the accessories and vehicles! You could probably argue that Prince Adam “transformed” into He-Man, but to make that happen you had to buy both figures, so when it comes to bang for your buck, Transformers are the clear winner.

Important does not always mean better

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was incredibly popular and important for millions of children around the world. The series deserves the utmost respect for ushering in the era of toy-shilling cartoons that is still chugging along today. However, just because you’re the first to do something doesn’t mean you’re the best, and when it came to the action figures and toys, He-Man just couldn’t keep up. I want to thank He-Man for everything he did for us, but when I go into battle, I’ll be teaming up with Transformers and GI Joe.

How to create your own Hot Wheels

Brian Vaughn — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:00:42 +0000

I always wanted to make my own Hot Wheels. The closest I got as a kid was dipping my cars in paint, but as an adult you can go all out.

Some wishes do come true

When I wanted to get creative with my Hot Wheels, my mom gave me some acrylic paints and a brush. Of course, that was enough for me at the time. I gave my firetruck a proper set of lights, I turned my white rocket car into a red rocket car and my NASA motor home turned into another firetruck (I had a thing for firetrucks). There was a time when just about every car got a new paint job. I wasn’t too concerned with performance, I just wanted them to look cool. Now lets scoot ahead a couple decades and I’m still customizing Hot Wheels cars, only this time I have a budget.

One of the best things about growing up is you can finally afford all the things you wanted as a kid but couldn’t have for one reason or another. For me, that included being able to make my own Hot Wheels. Painting cars was fun and all, but what kid didn’t want to design and build his or her own toy car? Now I can do all the things I ever wanted with minimal investment…and so can you! With a few cars, a drill, some paint, a free weekend and a little creativity, you can start making your own Hot Wheels…true one-of-a-kind toys.

You won't find this car in any toy store.

Taking apart your Hot Wheels

The first thing you need are some cars. Thankfully, Hot Wheels are still a dollar and you can find them everywhere. Grab a few cars you think look cool and be prepared to throw one or two away, a lot of this is trial-and-error. Next, grab your drill and your set of drill bits. You’ll need a 1/16 bit and a 3/16 bit. Flip the car over and you’ll find two rivets, one in the front and one in the rear. With your 1/16 bit, drill yourself a guide hole. You don’t have to drill far, maybe a quarter inch. Once you have your guide hole, use the 3/16 bit and drill straight down on the rivet until you grind it down to the plastic. You’re almost done! Now flip the car back over and push down on the windshield.

If you’ve done things right, the car should just pop apart. If it doesn’t feel like it’s doing what you want, drill a little bit more on the rivet. It will take a few times to figure this out. Grinding down rivets might not sound too hard, but if you drill at an angle or don’t get the entire head of the rivet, you’ll just spread it out more, making it even hard to get the car apart. Once you get it, you should have a pile of parts in front of you that look something this.

Is there anything more fun than taking things apart?

Your own private Hot Wheels chop shop

Now that you have your car apart, you can pretty much do anything you want. The less-involved things include swapping out wheels and interiors. You’ll find many Hot Wheels cars share the same size axles and wheels, so if you see a car with cool tires you can take those and put them on another body, not unlike when you swapped out the bodies and legs of your GI Joe figures…or was that just me?

Of course, if you want to get serious, you’ll want to strip the body down to the bare metal and start there. I should disclaim that everything beyond some simple wheel swaps requires some items that aren’t child-safe, so be aware that you’ll need some safety gear and should be very careful when handling power tools and chemicals. Now that the warning is out of the way, we can get down to business.

To get your car into its birthday suit you’ll take one of two routes. The first route requires some sort of grinder or sand paper. I suggest using a Dremel – the hobbyist’s best friend – it just makes things easier. You can sand down the stock paint on your car and go from there, or you can just dunk your car into a can of paint stripper and it’ll do all the work for you. Aircraft remover paint stripper is some serious stuff that you can find at your local auto parts store. It’s used to remove real car paint but it will also remove other things, including plastics and even your skin…better wear some gloves. After 15 minutes in the can of goo, your car will come out naked and ready for paint.

I pity da fool that don't enjoy painting Hot Wheels!

The emperor’s new clothes

You can paint your car with any type of paint. I suggest you spray the metal body with a coat of primer first, it’ll help the paint stick and make the color stand out more. Acrylic paints will work but for the best results you’ll want to use some type of spray paint. If you want to go the cheap route, just get a big can of paint from your home store and give it a spray. There is also a wide range of model spray paints that you can find at the hobby store. They come in every color of the rainbow…some glossy, some matte, some with glitter and sparkles…the choice is yours. Make it as a crazy and cool as you want.

Congratulations, you just gave your car an awesome, custom paint job! Adding other things to your car from here is just icing on the cake. You’ll find water decals look great on the car and are very easy to work with. And don’t forget the fun of taking parts from other cars and adding them to another to create your own creations. With a Dremel in your hand you can do almost anything. Take a motor from a car and put it on the hood of another to create a blown engine. There are thousands of Hot Wheels cars out there so the combinations of awesomeness are endless.

Putting it all back together

But wait, we need to put our car back together! If you want your new one-off car to be sturdy and be handled, you have to glue it back together. Assuming you’re done grinding and painting, just put your car back together and flip it over. The holes you drilled at the start should lineup with the rivets you ground down to nubs. With the car together, just drop some super glue into the holes and wait. Although, if you want to go pro, get some stuff called JB Kwik at the hardware store, it’s liquid metal. Mix up a small batch and put some in your drill holes. After 10 minutes the stuff will harden and your car will be as solid as one that just came off the shelf.

Make all your favorite Hollywood movie cars...like Mad Max!

Cheap fun for your inner child

All of this is just scratching the surface of what you can do when you treat Hot Wheels as little 1:64 scale car models. With a little Googling you’ll find some incredible custom Hot Wheels that it’s hard to believe started as $1 toys from the grocery store. I’ve found customizing Hot Wheels is an acceptable excuse to play with a beloved childhood toy because it requires power tools and man’s God-given talent of taking things apart. It’s a challenge, it’s cheap and it’s something you can show off with a smile…I mean, you just made your own toy! Not bad.

If you need some more inspiration, check out 5 Ways to Enjoy Your Hot Wheels. And when you get serious about Hot Wheels, I’ll meet you over at RedlineDerby.com for some real competition.

10 Weird Items from Oriental Trading

Sharayah Pranger — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:00:37 +0000

As a child, there was nothing more exciting to me than when my mom (who used to teach kindergarten) received the Oriental Trading catalog in the mail and passed it onto me. I could sit for hours and just stare at all the ….stuff! What was so fun about Oriental Trading Co. was how oddly specific and unexpected a lot of the items were. Some of them cause one to wonder… what situation would EVER call for something like that? (And moreso… why would you need it in bulk?) I have compiled a list of some of the strangest, creepiest, oddly specific, and just plain old “what the HECK” items I have found while perusing Oriental Trading Co.

(Disclaimer: I am not an affiliate or employee of Oriental Trading, but neither is this article meant to be insulting. I still love them.)

1. Design Your Own White Face Masks

Seeing as they are shaped exactly like creepy expressionless faces, the décor that I can imagine little kids scribbling onto them would only make them creepier. These would give me nightmares if my mom bought some for my next birthday party.

2. Gummy Blood

Hmm, how can we really corner the market on novelty candy? I know! Let’s take something fun and kid-friendly like gummy candy, and combine it with the exact OPPOSITE of all of those words! Voila- gummy blood.

3. Boomerang Candy

If you throw them, do they swing back around and land right in your mouth? Why would you possibly need boomerang candy? So many questions.

4. Happy Easter Hamster Shaped Suckers

I just have a few questions- what in the world do hamsters have to do with Easter? Is the Easter Bunny followed around by little hamsters wearing bunny ear headbands to help him hide the eggs? I AM SO BAFFLED RIGHT NOW.

5. Inflatable Shapes

“Son, for your birthday we got you something really fun!”

“Oh boy, Dad! What is it? What is it?”

“Presto!”

“…..um, couldn’t we just get a piñata?”

“Be quiet and go play with your shapes. Daddy needs another drink.”

End scene.

6. He Lives! Cross Shaped Pops

Are you seriously going to give these to children? What twisted person derives pleasure from allowing children to run around sucking on little sugared replicas of the most torturous execution device known to man?

7. Marshmallow Bunny Tails

Really this is just clever marketing. Any other time of year these are called miniature marshmallows, and people buy them for baking and hot cocoa. At Easter time? Bunny tails! Suddenly we MUST HAVE THEM IN BULK.

8. Cheers to the Grad Bean Bag Toss Game

If this is what your parents got to help you celebrate your high school graduation, they may be trying to send you a message.

9. Super Shape Changer

There is so much weirdness here I don’t even know where to start. I can only see this really working as some bizarre form of punishment. “Another F on your report card, Timmy? That’s it, get in the shape changer.”

10. Inflatable Eels

Honestly, I included these because I really want them. Eel party!

Want more articles about strange toys? Then check these out:

-Toys of 2010 that were just plain bad ideas

-Creepy Celluloids

-Vintage Robot Toys

Five fun, favorite origami animals

Brian Vaughn — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:00:44 +0000

I’m a sucker for things you can make with household materials. Cardboard, paper, rubberbands, whatever…if it’s cheap and available, I’ll try to make something out of it. Why spend money on something when you can get it for free? And origami fits the bill wonderfully.

Folding fun for all ages

We all learn origami at a young age from friends or in school. I used to fold fortune tellers during math time (although my mom taught me them as “flea catchers”). At some point in school, probably around fifth grade, we read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and we all learned how to fold the classic origami crane. For a week the whole class was making cranes during class, at lunch, on the playground and out of that I learned how to fold a butterfly.

My first folding love, the butterfly.

The butterfly became my favorite thing to fold and I forgot how to make a crane. The crane was boring. I was making butterflies all over the place, big and small. The butterfly was great until learned how to make the best origami animal of all time, the jumping frog.

The jumping frog was relatively simple to fold and actually jumped when you pushed its butt. I was only one of a few kids that could fold the frog and I made what I thought was hundreds of them. I gave them out to my classmates and we had frog jump competitions during indoor recess. Unfortunately, by the time I hit middle school I had forgotten how to fold everything…except the butterfly. However, by then folding the butterfly was more of a mental competition than anything. It was easy to fold and I challenged myself by trying to fold it on ever smaller squares of paper. Not only was origami a great way to kill time, it became a great party trick that still works to this day.

Just press his butt and he hops! You can't beat that.

I had more or less forgotten how much I loved folding origami until my wife bought me an origami desk calendar for my office at work. I didn’t think there would be a calendar that could out-do the paper airplane calendar but the Page-A-Day Origami calendar did just that. This desk calendar gives you instructions on how to fold hundreds of things and I quickly felt like an origami master, fascinating not only myself but my co-workers as well. I learned how to fold flowers, boxes, elephants, knights and yes, even my beloved jumping frog.

Five origami animals that aren’t too easy but aren’t too hard

5. The Penguin is another simple animal fold that looks far more complicated than it is. The penguin is fun because you can fold them in various sizes and have your own little march of the penguins. Folding instructions

Foxes, no wait, coyotes...hmmm, it's cute all the same.

4. The Fox is made in with a few basic steps and is very cute. You can actually make the fox and call it any animal you want, so long as it has pointy ears and little tail. Call it cat or a cougar or coyote…it’s all about how you decorate it after it’s folded. Folding instructions

3. The Panda has some more complicated folds than the others but this fat little bear looks great. And who knows, you might be able to teach him kung fu. Folding instructions

What's that? Timmy fell down the well?

2. The Dog is a two-parter which is kind of anti-origami if you ask me, but it’s so darn cute you can’t pass it up. Since the head sits on the body, you can create different poses. There is also a cat that folds similar to the dog, but as a dog person, Fido makes the list. Folding instructions

1. The Jumping Frog is one of the most fun animals to fold if only because it does something more than just sit there. After a dozen folds you’ll have a frog that jumps when you push his rear end. Great for rainy days, kids parties and board room presentations. Pretty neat. Folding instructions

Brian is a freelance writer that blogs and tweets about toys, games and other fun.

Want more on origami and craft toys? Then check these out:

-Folding Paper, Part One: Origami

-Folding Paper, Part Two: Paper Airplanes

The new GI Joe, not just for collectors

Brian Vaughn — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:00:12 +0000

It has been a long time since I’ve had a GI Joe action figure in my hands. I managed to hang on to a few of the figures from my childhood, but overall they’ve all been lost to the ages. Recently I’ve seen the new GI Joe figures on the shelves and wrote them off as just wannabes, undoubtedly being inferior to the figures I had 25 years ago. Turns out that’s not the case.

The new GI Joe, still able to wage war in your backyard.

Yo Joe!

GI Joe, along with Star Wars, LEGO and Hot Wheels, was one of the few toys I really cared about as a kid. GI Joe could do no wrong. The cartoon was awesome, the figures were cool and the vehicles were great. I could never have enough of them. Eventually, as with all childhood toys, something new came along (ie, Nintendo) and soon GI Joe was nothing more than a fond memory. Although in my mind, GI Joe was a toy that could never be equaled, and as we all know, toys never die, they just get remade. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion and when I saw these figures in the toy aisle I knew they couldn’t be anywhere near as good as the figures I had growing up. However, I decided to give these new figures a fair chance and got one to compare. I’m doing my best to keep childhood bias aside, but I admit, that’s a hard thing to do.

A new era of action figures

Knives...check. Guns...check. Killer bird...check.

The first thing that struck me about the new GI Joe figures was their price. I picked up Zartan for a whopping $8. Like I said, I haven’t purchased any action figures in a while, but $8 seems steep for a GI Joe guy. However, you do get a lot of bang for your buck, at least with Zartan. Zartan was a figure I always wanted as a kid but never had. Zartan was awesome because he came with a disguise face mask and also had some color changing stickers. Pretty cool. His character on the cartoon was also pretty tough because he could turn invisible and bossed around the Dreadnoks.

It’s all about the accessories

This new version of Zartan comes with a lot of stuff. He has his disguise, same as before, only this time it’s an entirely different head that you snap on and off of a ball joint neck. Zartan also comes with a lot of equipment, and if you’re any sort of GI Joe fan then you know that all the guns and backpacks were as much fun to play with as they were easy to lose. Zartan comes with two machetes, a pistol, machine gun, shoulder sack, a disguise vest, a scary looking hood and a giant bird on a stick. I don’t remember Zartan ever having a pet hawk, but I’ll take it.

While accessories and guns are great to have, it also means there’s a lot to keep track of while in the heat of battle…er, play. One big hang up I had with Zartan’s add-ons was the time and difficulty it took to swap it all out. If you want him to go from scary face paint guy to disguised army guy, you have to take off his head, put his vest on and then put his other head on. Trying to get this Zartan figure changed was like dressing a 4-year-old…he just wouldn’t cooperate. You shouldn’t have to dress your GI Joe, this isn’t Barbie. If I had this figure when I was a kid, I would have geared him up the way I liked most and he would have stayed that way. The sculpt of the disguise head is really cool too (and comes with removable goggles), so I probably would have just turned Zartan into another good guy with swords and a gun, using the extra face as a generic “severed head”. Wardrobe issues aside, his bag does have the cool distinction of being able to carry the extra head, and if I can say so myself, when the other head is in there and staring back at you, it’s a little creepy.

Getting the bends

The best part about these new era GI Joes is their articulation. These guys bend in more ways than you can imagine and I could have only wished to have a figure like this when I was eight. Original GI Joes bent at the knees and elbows with rotating wrists and shoulders while twisting at the waist. This Zartan figure also has double-jointed knees so not only can he kneel but he can touch his toes to the back of his head without a problem. Plus he has jointed ankles so he can point his toes…how useful would that have been for my Cobra Eels?!

All that flexibility is really cool and fun, but the GI Joes seem to have lost their patented kung-fu grip and now twist mid-torso. It’s a little awkward to see a man twist 180-degrees above his belly button, but most of all, this change means the figures no longer use the tiny black rubber bands as they did all those years ago. Back then that little inner-torso rubber band let you disassemble your GI Joes with relative ease allowing you to mix-and-match body parts, which led to all sorts of fun and interesting play time plots.

Zartan, a little more than before.

The torch has been passed

Despite all these changes, today’s GI Joe action figure is still a really good toy even if they are a bit on the expensive side. They look good, they move good and they still have some awesome accessories. By all rights these toys can do twice as much as the figures from the 1980s and that can only be a good thing. However, the fanboy in me is sad to see GI Joe become a little less fantastic with their designs. Yes, GI Joe was all fantasy from the get go but the bright colors and simple designs of the original series made them charming, fun and open to some imagination. Regardless of what has or has not changed in the world of GI Joe toys, it’s great to see that these figures are not just for collectors. You can play with them now just like you did when you were a kid.

You can check out more photos of Zartan over on Flickr.

Brian is a freelance writer that blogs and tweets about toys, video games and other retro geekery.

Want more articles about the Good Old Days of toys? Check these out:

-Forget-Me-Nots: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Figures and Zords

-The Glory of G.I. Joes: A Retrospective

-10 Awesome Ninja Turtle Action Figure Outfits

Ten Radical Ninja Turtle Action Figure Side Characters

Chris Pranger — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:00:53 +0000

While searching through the archives at the Virtual Ninja Turtle Museum for really cool Ninja Turtle outfits, I came across a ton of really, really awesome action figures that I couldn’t mention due to the limitations of the list parameters. Therefore, it’s time for another list focusing on only the side characters released via the toy line. The rules are very simple here. The only figures I’m considering are figures that aren’t the four Turtles, April, Splinter, Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, or Krang. So basically, any figure that isn’t considered part of the main cast. That said, here they are, and we can thank the original comics for a bunch of these.

10. Triceraton:

A space triceratops? Oh boy, this is gonna be a good lsit!

An anthropomorphized triceratops is pretty cool, but give him some powerful looking blasters and metallic body armor and we’re set for a winner. I had a Triceraton in my collection of action figures and found it to be a perfect villain character since it looked tough and could fling Turtle figures using its horns. Also, anyone who read the original Mirage Comics run of TMNT can attest to how brutal the Triceratons can be, so what better foe for the Turtles to battle? Also, you could pop off his tail, leading to some epic battle wounds. Sold.

9. Hothead:

Why don't we get this amount of detail on kids toys anymore?

I’d never heard of Hothead until Tournament Fighters for the NES, a staggeringly bad fighter with pitiful few fighters and terrible controls. Of the seven fighters, one was Hothead, a dragon. I was never lucky enough to get the Hothead action figure as a kid, but just look at him! It’s a dragon action figure! That’s sweet! And from the looks of it he’s a shogun-style dragon, giving him a classy quality. This is a figure that could work as both a friend or a foe, or even neither, making it versatile. Really though, any figure could go either way, and that’s what made these Also Rans so needed.

8. Doctor El:

Ah yeah, let's hear it for crazy ideas turned into great toys!

We jump from a dragon to an elephant? Yup, and he’s a witch doctor at that. Late in the action figure line was a breeding ground for some truly bizarre additions to the Turtle clan, allowing something as strange but perfect as Doctor El here. It’s the concept here that sells me on the figure, as a witch doctor is a unique character to throw into the mix of already strange characters. Now I had a reason to take Safari Mike into the jungles, or more specifically, I had either an ally or an enemy for him to fight once he got there. Plus, just look at that headdress. Pure win.

7. Monty Moose:

I would totally join the Mounties if Monty was real.

Like the Triceraton before him, Monty Moose was a beast of a figure with antlers. True, seeing a moose dressed as one of the Mounties is incredibly silly, but it resulted in an action figure with vibrant colors and striking features, so I was totally okay with it. Besides, a moose was absolutely not the first option you’d think of for new animals to mutate, so having one appear and be excellent was a treat. Now the mountain-related missions had a perfect addition to the cast, and with action figures, more is always better, no matter how silly the combination.

6. Ray Fillet:

He's like a manta super hero!

Oh yeah, this guy was one of my favorites as a kid. Let’s begin with the name as a starting point for why. Just say “Ray Fillet” a few times. Doesn’t it feel good to say? Okay, maybe just me as a kid, but then comes the second aspect of the figure: He’s a manta ray and therefore has something resembling wings. Sure, mantas are most at home in water, but I didn’t let that stop me from saying Ray could glide through the air on occasion. I even had a Turtles book with this side character appearing, and it was one of my favorite books just because I hardly ever saw the other characters appear, so it was always a treat when they did.

Yet another character who could have survived on his own.

5. Mondo Gecko:

This epitomizes the 90's.

Skateboards! Yes! The majority of my plotlines revolved around Mike and his trusty sidekick, Mondo Gecko, fighting the Foot Clan all by themselves and foiling Shredder without much trouble. The Mondo/Mike team-up made so much sense to me back then and just as much sense to me now seeing as how Mondo appears very much like the outward appearance of Mike’s personality, assuming Mike was a gecko instead of a turtle. Mondo would stand atop his skateboard and cruise around, even gaining flight when it felt like the right thing to do. I have pictures somewhere of me adding Mondo Gecko to Turtle scenes, purely because I considered him the Fifth Turtle instead of that lame Venus chick that showed up in The Next Mutation.

4. Usagi Yojimbo:

Go read Usagi's original comics! They're just as good as TMNT comics!

If you haven’t read any Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Saki, go rectify this error right now. You’ll see a Comic Book Club about the series soon, but for now, SAMURAI RABBIT! Usagi Yojimbo is what makes the Turtle action figures so great, allowing for a crossover to happen mid-comics and then yield wonderful action figures as a result. Usagi is a ronin who travels the land kicking all of the butts with samurai skills, and here is no different. It really is tough to think of something cooler than a samurai rabbit. How can that be topped?

3. Space Usagi:

"AHH! I LOVE MY LIFE!" -Childhood Chris

How about a SPACE SAMURAI RABBIT?! Once I got Space Usagi I felt that Shredder was no longer fit to be an ultimate villain character, at least not while Space Usagi upstaged him in dramatic capes and helmets. He even came with a carrot gun. That’s just- there are no words for how great that is. I’d spend hours just looking over the standard Usagi and then to the space version, noticing the differences and similarities. Pretty much this was just a reskinning of the other version but I didn’t care, Space Usagi was radical.

2. Fugitoid:

The most versatile robot this side of Rosie.

But then along came a robot with attachments galore. Fugitoid first appeared in the comics alongside the Triceratons as an intergalactic fugitive on the run for…something or another, I forget what. In my day-to-day plots, Fugitoid was just a seriously cool robot with a chest that opened up, allowing you to plug in a blaster to the open chest cavity. In fact, you could place the special chest blaster in the chest, plug in his other accessories to the pegs jutting from his arms and legs, and still allow him to hold a space pistol. He also moved unlike any other figures I owned, making him feel special for some reason. But even Fugtitoid couldn’t quite live up to the single greatest figure ever created in the Ninja Turtle toy line.

1. Ace Duck:

Seriously, U of O should drop Donald and use this as their mascot.

He’s a duck. With a bomber’s jacket. And a removable pilot’s hat. And a revolver. And a belt with egg grenades. And he has wings. WINGS. What have I said about action figures that can fly? I hate heights, but I could never get enough of toys that I could make fly using just minimal effort via imagination. Ace Duck looks like he should have had his own comic series, TV show, and action figure line. I want to know more about this character. I only saw him once in the cartoon, and that shot was little more than a TV cameo. I wanted more! But sadly, I’d never get more, save for the adventures I invented in my bedroom. Ace Duck gets my seal of approval for Best Action Figure Ever.

See how awesome Ace Duck can be with a little imagination?

So which figures did I leave out? Did you have some favorites from the classic toy line that you played with over and over again? What about Genghis Frog? Or Metalhead? How about Wingnut? Tell me your favorites. In the meantime, I think it’s about high time Ace Duck flies again. Away I go!

Want more articles about action figures? Check these out:

-The Toys Are Back In Town Yet Again: Toy Story 3 Toys

-I Am Still Iron Man: Iron Man 2 Toys

-Creating My Own Sagas: Dragonball Z Action Figures

Too Much Awesome Podcast: Episode 5

Chris Pranger — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:00:18 +0000

Kyle and I may not be birds, but friends of a feather, that is quite true.

Today we have the fifth episode of the Too Much Awesome podcast with the return of Kyle Martinak. In this episode, Chris and Kyle discuss the general topic of childhood trends, including what Kyle calls “Schoolyard Currency,” Pogs, Super Soakers, Nerf, Mr. Potato Head, Toy Story 3, and video games. Plus, Chris makes a point of wishing Bob Chipman, the Game Overthinker/Movie Bob, was his friend. So sit back, relax, and listen to two boys reminisce about their childhoods.

Within the episode we reference Kyle’s recent article on his Unattainable Toys, his older article on Silly Bandz, Episode Three and Four of the podcast, Kyle’s Review of Toy Story 3, my article on Toy Story 3 Toys, and the Eight-Part Mario Retrospective.

You can download the new episode here.

And as promised, here is how I’ve set up my shelf for Kyle for the past few months without a response:

There, now I can sleep easy and change their configuration.

My Top 10 Most Unattainable Toys

Kyle Martinak — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:00:34 +0000

Sure the Technodrome made you Commander Cool, but what other toys couldn't I have as a kid?

Remember a Christmas or birthday when you wanted that one special toy, but no one got it for you? Now you understand…it was ridiculously expensive, or impossible to locate. You were disappointed then, because there was no such thing as ebay or Amazon, and instead you got a sweater.

Well, now I’m going to take a long look back at the items that even made Santa say, “I…um…YOU WANT WHAT?!” Any kid with one of these babies was instantly cool in my eyes, no matter how much he smelled. I bet every one of them is easy to find nowadays, too.

Keep in mind, this is my personal list, in chronological order of their production. These were impossible to find, and expensive as heck for me and my parents.

10.) The U.S.S. Flagg playset (G.I. JOE)

This thing ate my Ghostbusters Firehouse for breakfast.

Okay, yes, this one was a few years before my time. It was released in 1985, and is to this day the biggest action figure playset known-to-geek. It was well over seven feet long, and could store GI Joe vehicles and figures. A friend of mine had one when I was very young, and let me tell you something: there is nothing quite so epic as an all-out, vehicle-on-vehicle battle between whole armies of figures on your own personal aircraft carrier. Unfortunately for me, my parents didn’t have $90-110 lying around, and they certainly didn’t have space for the Flagg to lie around. It was bigger than my bed, after all. If you had this as a kid…I kind of hate the kid version of you. The adult you is still okay, though.

9.) The Super Soaker 50

The latest in hydraulic shenanigans at the time.

This was the only toy that I wanted, my brother wanted, and my dad bought…for himself. Apparently, computer companies in the early 90’s employed some screwballs who enjoyed water-gun fights in the office. So, I didn’t get the original Super Soaker, first named the Power Drencher (good call on that change, eh?) that came out in 1990. Instead, I was given the consolation prize: the smaller, orange-colored version of the same gun, dubbed the Super Soaker 30. Water fights were all the rage back then, and they haven’t really come back since that golden age of pressurized warfare.

8.) The Talkboy (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)

Looking back, this thing was so dopey. I feel embarrassed for my younger self.

The movie was a total rehash of the first, but as a kid I thought it was amazing cinema. Apparently, Macaulay Culkin’s crazy piece of technology that let him pose as an adult was never meant for mass-production. It was a non-working prop. But after many letters and phone calls, a working version was created by Tiger Electronics in 1993. Keep in mind that this “toy” was just a tape recorder, with a few dodgy features like an extendable microphone that extended about half an inch. This is why my dad put his foot down and said, “Kyle, if you want a tape recorder, you’ll get a tape recorder. If you want a toy, you’ll get a real toy.” Thank you dad, for being wiser than me at that age. Luckily, I did end up getting the weak little ballpoint pen version for a quarter of the price.

7.) Talking 12” Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story)

Available at all Al’s Toy Barn outlets in the Tri-County area.

Thanksgiving of 1995 meant the best toy shopping for Christmas. That was when I told my dear, unsuspecting parents that I wanted the most movie-faithful Buzz Lightyear that their money could buy. Predictably, we drove all over Oregon’s Willamete Valley looking for that goofy space ranger because retail stores didn’t order enough. Imagine sifting through fifty Woody dolls, and finding a Mr. Potato Head at the bottom of the bin, as a cruel joke. Pixar even took a shot at those retailers in the sequel when Tour Guide Barbie explained, “Back in 1995, short-sighted retailers did not order enough dolls to meet demand.” My demands were met, however, and I’m proud to say that I owned the first-run Talking Buzz, which in mint condition in the box can go for over $500 today. Something touching here: I recently donated my Buzz to a young child, who hopefully treats my rare little friend with care. *sniff*

6.) Batman Forever Triple Action Vehicle Set

I must not make jokes about Batman’s wonderful little toys. Every time I do, Joel Schumacher gets another movie deal.

This was a pretty cool one. Sure, Batman Forever was goofy, and a little heavy on the Jim Carrey (I didn’t even order that side of Tommy Lee Jones’s face), but the toys were pretty awesome. I distinctly remember my Bruce-to-Batman figure from the movie, and I wanted so badly to sit him in this beautiful vehicle. Batwing, Bat Boat, and Batmobile all in one, this was available around Christmas 1996 if I remember right. Again, too big and too expensive for my parents, but easy to find in any Target. I found one online for about $120 yesterday, and I still kind of want it. I mean, come on! It’s all three in one!

5.) Spider-Man Web Blaster

Silly String Plus: now with over-elaborate comic book tie-in.

Did anyone else write a three-page argument to their mother about the benefits of shooting Silly String from your wrist? No? You guys weren’t trying hard enough. No written diatribe could convince my parents to arm me with Peter Parker’s ingenious device. This was right around the time I got into comics, around 1996 or so, and I decided that this toy was the closest I would ever come to being Spidey. The great part is that they keep remaking this little gem. Eventually, Hasbro wisely toned down the messy, aerosol-based ammo and created suitable replacements for worried parents. These days, child Spider-men shoot water, rubber webs, and foam disks out of their wrists, just to name a few. None come close to the original, though.

4.) Dr. Judy Robinson (Cryo-Suit) Action Figure (Lost in Space)

Yeesh. I should blow this thing up on the 4th of July this year, while playing the Lenny Kravitz cover of “American Woman.”

Please don’t make fun of me, but I was a huge fan of this movie when it came out in 1998. It released two weeks before my birthday, and is the film credited with knocking Titanic out of the #1 slot. It was also a terrible film, and all involved wished it didn’t exist. In late 1997, the toy line came out and I devoured it, buying every bit I could. The Judy Robinson figure, modeled after Heather Graham, was the unicorn. I didn’t even want to play with it; I just wanted to find it. By the time my grandmother found it at a swap meet, it was a year later. I eventually had two of them, because I naïvely thought that one would be an expensive collector’s item in the box. I still have it, as a mark of my toy-collector’s shame. It can easily be found online for less than four dollars.

3.) “Power of the Force” Electronic AT-AT Vehicle (Star Wars)

That’s how Vader strikes back…with impractical, articulated legs on his tanks!

This behemoth turned mere battles into all-out wars. When Star Wars toys made a huge comeback in 1997, my parents warned me against putting gigantic hulks of plastic on my wish-lists (especially if they made loud, disturbing laser sounds). An interesting thing about this vehicle: it comes with two figures, that of the AT-AT driver and General Veers, the leader of Vader’s ground forces. Star Wars vehicles usually didn’t come with appropriate driver figures at the time, so I thought it was a nice touch. Find this giant robot camel online, and you’ll probably spend $80-$100 on it, mint in the box.

2.) The All-Powerful Nintendo 64

Goldeneye (Kyle), Banjo-Kazooie (Gus), Ocarina of Time (Chris), and everyone else’s favorite game of the late 1990’s was available for one machine.

Ah, yes. There are Youtube videos dedicated to the rapture of owning an N64. First available in 1996, the 64-bit video game shrine brought Nintendo back to the top, after the strange days of Sega Saturn failed to properly impress gamers in North America. This was the first major purchase for me that wasn’t entirely made of molded plastic. It was also the first that I was forced to pay for myself. I saved up for 18 months to buy my used 64, with one controller and one game (Goldeneye) in 1998. Many summer days blew by as my brother and I became pros at Super Smash Bros., and eventually I became the podracing champion of the galaxy in 2000 (I’ve since retired). Pick one of these up if you missed out on it back in the day, they are durable as heck and have more fantastic games than any other system out there, in my opinion.

1.) Lego Millennium Falcon

Someday, I’ll get it. My girlfriend says we can put it in our wedding registry! Um, would you all please excuse me? Gaaaawwww…

Okay, here’s the thing. They have been improving this set for years, and every time they came out with a new version, it was more expensive and more impressive. The latest version, the Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon, became available back in 2007, and is currently waiting for me at the nearest Lego store for $500. For that, you get the 5,000 pieces to build the three-foot-long ship and populate it with five minifigures. Did I mention that this is the biggest (as well as the coolest) Lego set ever? It will be mine…after I pay back my student loans…

Looking for more Top Ten Lists? Check these out:

-Top 10 Best Zelda Items

-The 20 Greatest Mario Enemies Ever

-The 10 Most Ridiculous Ninja Turtle Action Figures

Backyard Shenanigans: Simple Backyard Toys for Spring

Chris Pranger — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:00:11 +0000

Is this exciting? As a picture, no, but as an activity, slightly more.

Not long ago I found myself at my Norwegian professor’s house for a barbeque with other Norwegian students (ja, jeg kan snakke norsk, er det bra?), and during said barbeque the weather was just nice enough to make full use of his backyard for some bocce ball. I had never played, but apparently I was very good. Afterward it got me thinking about some other backyard games I’d played in my childhood, and since summer is peaking right around the corner, why don’t we cover some of these activities? Alright, let’s go!

Step One: Get a Yard

So we can start with bocce ball since that’s the most recent game I played. The game is incredibly simple with two teams lined up, each with four large ceramic balls (minds out of the gutter, please). One person tosses a smaller white ball and the teams attempt to toss their bocce balls closer to the white ball than the other team. Very, very simple. I’ve found the best method is to throw with a high arc rather than a roll. Most backyards are likely to bounce your bocce everywhere, but a high lob will result in your ball thumping down into the grass, thus losing momentum and stopping basically wherever you threw it. It’s simple science! Plus, it’s also very cheap to get into.

In the same vein is the game of lawn darts, though I forget is these are still outlawed. Why would they be outlawed? Because you’re hurling small javelins around. Eventually some kid got injured and the game was banned. If you can’t come upon one of these elusive deadly versions, I’d suggest Tic Tac Throw, a version of lawn darts that uses bean bags instead. You toss them into a tic tac toe board and try to get a tic tac toe, obviously. Safer than darts but still fun.

Maybe this is why croquet doesn't conjure images of excitement in kids' minds.

While horseshoes are simple enough, you really need a sand pit to play them correctly, and if you don’t have that in your backyard, then I don’t see much of a point. Croquet is another sport that requires your yard to have some form of shape before attempting play, but it’s simple enough to find a patch of grass flat enough or at least devoid of bumps enough to allow decent play. Naturally though, kids will see large wooden mallets and use them for anything other than croquet. It’s just the way nature works. As soon as you explain how you can strike one ball through another and it’s all over, you’ve lost them to the dark side of physics.

Step Two: Get Some Friends

Probably the best game for kids to play in their backyard is tag. If you don’t have a backyard big enough for tag or your kid doesn’t have enough friends for tag, well they just have a miserable childhood, don’t they? There are dozens of variations of tag from the simple “You’re It” version we all know and love to the more hardcore “Freeze Tag,” the advanced “Band-Aid Tag,” or even the ultimate huge party game, “Ghostbusters Tag” where four kids are the Ghostbusters and go around tagging the other kids, Ghosts in this scenario, sending them to an area designated the Containment Unit. When there is one kid left, he can free everyone else by running up to the Containment Unit and pressing something everyone decided is the Release Button and becoming a hero to the group. Then again if you’d rather not infringe on copyrights, just go with a simple Flag Tag where everyone has two flags clipped to their side and everyone attempts to be the last person who still has a flag on their side. They’ll get hours of really good exercise just trying to grab a little rubber flag from their once-friends, now naturally their most-scorned adversaries.

This has nothing to do with tag, but it was the first thing that popped up in Google for "tag," plus it has tigers.

This is just a short list of things to play with in a backyard, but give your kid the chance and they’ll think of something else to do. In the inevitable instance that it’s raining and you’d rather not have your kids all wet and muddy, declare that the floor is lava and let them spend the afternoon hopping from item to item in your living room. It’s really a choice between destroyed furniture or kids coated with mud. Tough call.

What Do You Want?

Chris Pranger — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:16:46 +0000

This doesn't particularly have anything to do with a monkey, but monkey's always make things better.

As you may have noticed, there’s been a short break in the usual postings both yesterday and today. Some uninteresting things were going on behind the scenes, but new stuff will be appearing by the end of the week (we hope).

More importantly, I want to take this small hiatus period to ask a very straightforward question: What do YOU want to read about? What toys or video games have we not covered or not covered enough? Is there a Top Ten list you’re dying to see or a retrospective that we just haven’t got to? I really would like to know so that we here at Toy-TMA can give you articles that you’ll really enjoy rather than just The Chris Pranger Show sponsored by Amazon.

Also, is there anything the site can do better in general? Are we lacking something, or are we doing just fine? This is your chance to leave a comment and let us know directly how we can improve our site to better serve you, the reader and loyal customer. I mean, that’s what it’s all about anyway. You’ve got your task, away you go!

Too Much Awesome Podcast: Episode 2

Chris Pranger — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:00:33 +0000

In today's episode, we give you some of our personal tips about board games, as well as some handy suggestions for the toy industry.

After a slightly longer wait that we meant, we finally have the second episode of the Too Much Awesome Podcast starring Kyle Martinak and Chris Pranger. In this episode, we talk about video games a little more, toys once more, and make sure to go into greater detail about board games. Specifically, we gives some of our personal strategies to winning at board games, as well as some suggestions for Monopoly and the most effective way to play Clue.

The audio is a higher quality now that we made sure not to use Kyle’s laptop, and we were careful to keep the time only slightly over an hour. Let us know what you’d like to hear more about from the podcast and we’ll be sure to listen. We’re still finding the best mix here, so help us out with a comment.

To download Episode 2, click the link here.

The Most Popular Educational and Learning Toys As Of This Moment

Chris Pranger — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:00:56 +0000

This right here is one of the most popular education-based toy around. And it's a video game system.

If I were pressed to defend the educational value of video games, I probably couldn’t do much other than say they can teach reading, math, problem solving, community interaction, cause and effect, and hand-eye coordination skills, so really I’d have an uphill battle talking about their benefits (wink). However, there are a handful of very popular toys being sold this very second to parents wishing to give their kids a little boost in the learning aspect of playing while still making sure the toy is fun (gotta love parents). But just what are some of the most popular educational and learning toys right now?

Yay! A noise-maker for kids!

Heard of LeapFrog? You probably have since they’re selling tons upon tons of electronic toys aimed at teaching kids. It just so happens one of their best-selling products is a video game system called the Leapster. It looks like a mutant Game Boy but plays like something with the explicit purpose of learning in the foreground. However, you can easily fool a kid into forgetting he’s learning something when the character in the game is Batman. LeapFrog also has a wide variety of other electronic-type toys with the Learn & Groove Musical Table for kids (a thing that makes noise), the Spin and Sing Alphabet Zoo (a thing that makes noise), or the Scribble and Write (I’m sure it makes some sort of noise, it is a child’s toy after all).

Responsibilities! Exciting!

If, perhaps, you’d rather not futz with noise or electronics in general, our good friends Melissa & Doug have more than enough toys made of wood and magnets. Sometimes simple can be best, and Melissa & Doug tends to make very high-quality toys that last and last. It’s hard to beat a magnetic alphabet set or a magnetic responsibility chart. Sure, kids hate responsibility, but disguise it with magnets and they’re sold.

Dang that kid looks happy. I want some of those blocks!

Fisher-Price is still around and doing just fine, by the way. Do you remember them from your childhood? I sure do. I had all sorts of plastic blocks and shapes and steering wheels and things of that nature from Fisher-Price, and I’m happy to say they still make all those things with their Brilliant Basics Baby’s First Blocks staying as a bestseller. Their Sesame Street Silly Sounds Remote may not really be in the same category though. It may say “Sesame Street: on it, but it also says “Silly Sounds” which is code for “Lots o’ Noise.” Just get the blocks.

Hooray for bugs! What, you don't like bugs? That's science!

It’s also cool to see that the Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden is up near the top in sales. Why is that? Bugs, while super gross, are also super cool. Plus, it’s impossible for kids to find bugs in the house, so they have to go outside. If they can find tons of bugs inside, you’re teaching your kids something wrong. I was always happy as a kid with a bug net and a jar to keep my findings in. I assume kids haven’t changed too much since my childhood.

This is an incomplete list of the bestselling Education and Learning toys, but it’s a good start for sure. If all else fails, I can’t think of a single kid that’d say no to “Imagination Time” with their loving parents. In fact, I might just call my dad and see if he’s up for a game of it right now.

Talking Cars, Space Ships, and Classic Americana: The Most Popular Die-Cast Toys

Chris Pranger — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:00:18 +0000

They also make great gifts for your dad.

I’m taking another day off video games to go into one of my favorite things from my childhood: Die-cast cars. The term can be applied to a lot of things, such as Hot Wheels and the like, but I actually won’t be bringing Hot Wheels into this since, well, that makes for an article in of itself sometime next week. Okay, not the classic thought of what makes a car a Hot Wheels car at least. I can’t lie, I’m talking about the most popular die-cast cars right now, so Hot Wheels are going to show up in some way or another.

Hot Wheels Showing Their Stuff

How are they showing up? The highest selling die-cast cars at the moment are Hot Wheels toys based off Disney and Pixar’s movie Cars. Y’all might be familiar with that movie, but if you’re not, the whole premise is centered around a car named Lightning McQueen that wants to be the DinoCo official car by winning all sorts of races. So pretty much the whole world is populated by cars. It’s actually a really good movie with Owen Wilson playing Lightning McQueen. The odd thing here is that the most popular die-cast car isn’t Lightning McQueen; it’s Mater, the junky tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy. I…I don’t make these things up. I wouldn’t make that up if I could.

I guess I can't make fun. My favorite die-cast car was a beat up old jeep.

So what else is popular these days? Star Trek. That means the USS Enterprise is getting bought by the galaxyful in the form of a 1:50 scale model on a nifty little display stand. If I had one of those as a kid, I’d have done nothing else but run around my house flying it from the kitchen to the living room and beyond. I was never into Star Trek at any point of my life, but anything that could fly was considered awesome to me. I assume the same still holds true for kids everywhere.

Something a Bit More Classic

Thus far we’ve had die-cast toys based off talking cars and space ships. There’s an actual car in the die-cast model best sellers, right? You’re dang right there is. High up on the list is the Burago-made Lamborghini 1:18 scale model, met closely by the 1957 Chevy Corvette made by Yat Ming. Kids that want these models are just classy folk and know style. If a kid walks up to his grandpa and says he wants a 1957 Chevy Corvette die-cast model for his birthday, I guarantee it’ll make that man weep tears of joy. I know it’d have that effect on my grandpa at least, and he’s awesome.

This is the USS enterprise, not a 1957 Chevy Corvette. If you can't tell the difference, I've severely over-estimated this generation.

All of these cool-sounding die-cast models must cost a fortune, right? Wrong. Everything I’ve mentioned here is priced under $30, with some, like the Mater toys from Mattel, priced under $6. Kids wanting a die-cast model of something are well within modesty when they request such an item, so treat ‘em well. Stay tuned next week for a larger article on Hot Wheels. Better go out and stock up in preparation.

Let’s Think Deep: Articulating Articulation

Chris Pranger — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:26:18 +0000

Infinite articulation or zero? Time to Think Deep.

It’s been a few weeks since I Thunk Deep, so it seems about right to try my hand and brain at something a bit new and completely different than the last Let’s Think Deep article. As you may recall, last time was an elementary foray into quantum physics.

This time I’ve been thinking more about action figures and exactly what about them makes them so wonderful. Generally you’ll hear the phrase “points of articulation” thrown around like it has some sort of inherent meaning. But hey, does it? How many points of articulation does an action figure need? Can you have too many? Let’s Think Deep, shall we?

A Trip Down Memory Lane

When I was a kid (it really wasn’t all too long ago, assuming I ever stopped being one), I wasn’t all too concerned about how pose-able my figures were. I had my Ninja Turtles, some G.I. Joes, and a random assortment of toys from everywhere. For the longest time things were good. I didn’t have any sort of rules for playing in terms of what could and could not happen. If I wanted something to fly, then sure, it could fly. I was under the concept that any of my figures could gain flight whenever they put their arms up, though that was only during specific plotlines or if they had trained to do it and such. Anyway, I’m on a random tangent there. Let’s get back to thinking deep.

Very few points of articulation, but so cool. Why was that?

The point I was going toward is that posing my toys was never very important. Heck, even having them stand up wasn’t required most of the time, as usually they’d just be lying down when they weren’t in my hands. Besides, it’s pretty difficult to make an action figure stand up on pillows or a mattress. It was very rare when I’d throw a fit about one of my figures failing to stand up when I wanted it do, and even less when they couldn’t bend to my needs. I controlled them well enough, so what more could I ask for?

Bust A Move

Well, after a while I demanded a bit more move-ability from my “actors” so that they could pull off more complicated actions and illicit slightly more emotion in dramatic scenes (“But Goku, Shredder just killed Spiderman! We can’t let him get away with this!”). I found myself wanting a few basic points of articulation (oh, and so there’s no confusion here, “articulation” relates to any place on the action figure that can bend and move). Here’s what I needed to be happy: The arms needed to move up and down and bend at the elbow, the hand needed to be capable of gripping a weapon or item, the head needed to be capable of turning left and right, and the legs needed to move at both the knees and the hip. That was the standard, though I later started to refine my needs further.

Suddenly just up and down wasn’t enough for my arms and legs. I wanted them to be on a ball-joint so that there was full range of mobility when arms and legs met with the torso piece. Also, I wanted a swivel at the waist so the legs could turn in a separate direction from the arms for more dramatic poses. As of now I like to have the head and chest on a ball-joint, feet to be on ball-joints as well, and hands capable of rotating at the wrist and elbows. All of a sudden I was demanding a lot, but it wasn’t to last.

This was my absolute favorite action figure ever. It starred in more adventures than I care to remember.

I got into the Marvel Legends line of action figures and suddenly I discovered that articulation looked somewhat ridiculous when applied to some characters. I got a Daredevil action figure that could move at just about every point that you’d think a person could move a thing, which was a selling point for me when I bought it. But when I got it home things didn’t seem so great. He looked absurd being able to twist around to any pose I wanted. Nothing looked natural for him, no matter what I did. Part of this problem may have been that his limbs were on the small side and thus the awkwardness of him stood out all the more. I later got a Beast figure from the Marvel Legends line and found him to look better, but still, something about the crazy amount of articulation messed with me.

It got me thinking more about what I really wanted. I think it came down to what I needed the figure to do. When I was a kid I got a toy from the movie Small Soldiers, which if you remember correctly is about toys that are implanted with computer chips and become sentient. I saw that the toy has knee and elbow joints on him, so I bought it thinking the toy would be just as cool as I remember it being in the movie, (though I was aware it wouldn’t move on its own). When I got it home and out of its wrapping I made a startling discovery: The articulation wasn’t real. The knee and elbow joints were only a decoration indented in the plastic since the toys in the movie looked like that. I felt pretty ripped-off, but whatever, I had a new toy. His arms and legs still moved, but they couldn’t bend. He was also taller than my other toys, so all of this combined to mean that he was a villain that had very little brainpower but was incredibly strong and deadly. I was forced to adapt my needs to fit him into my scope of fun. I never could have any real fun with my Daredevil action figure though.

Where does the line get drawn? What do toy companies consider articulation? A classic Ninja Turtle action figure has seven points of articulation according to my count (arms, wrists, legs, and head), whereas a G.I. Joe has twelve (arms, elbows, wrists, head, waist, legs, and knees). Most of my Dragonball Z figures had between five and fifteen points, but my plastic army men had zero. What constitutes one point of articulation anyway? Does a pivot joint count as multiple if it can move up and down and side to side? If so, does Stretch Armstrong have infinite points of articulation, or just one big point? At what point does the whole concept of articulation break down?

And why exactly do we want our toys to articulate anyway? What’s the need? Part of it is to pose the figure in a stance, though part is to recreate a specific motion that the character may be known for. If you have a Goku action figure, you probably want it to be capable of posing in the Kamehameha stance (hands cupped together off to one side before forcing both hands forward). However, of all the Goku action figures I had, not a one was capable of replicating that pose. Not even anything close to that stance, either. Somehow I had G.I. Joes that could do Kamehamehas but not the actual character known for doing the attack. I also had a bunch of Pokemon figures that were literally chunks of plastic, meaning they couldn’t move whatsoever. That didn’t stop me from having Pokemon battles with each and every one, somehow replicating the hundreds of attacks from the video games using a large amount of imagination and learning to settle at that.

I’m not sure if we can ever really get action figures to a point where they can pose in all the ways we’d like them to. The human body is a miracle of function, whereas an action figure with a chest joint is a revolution in articulation. The best I can do is decide what I do and don’t want in my toy. I don’t need finger and toe joints on action figures, but I do need the head and neck capable of looking upward. I don’t need the knee joint to actually be a kneecap connecting two joints together, but I do want the foot to be able to bend up and down at the ankle. I’m very picky at this point, but I know I’m not the only one, otherwise we wouldn’t have deluxe versions of action figures costing more than the regular versions that can hardly move at all.

So where does it end? Where does it start for that matter? What do you want to see an action figure do and what could you do without? Time for you to leave a comment and let me know.

The 10 Most Ridiculous Ninja Turtle Action Figures

Chris Pranger — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:06:16 +0000

Mutagen Man just barely didn't make the cut. So who did?

A while back I did an article about my favorite action figures of all time: Ninja Turtles. I hardly scratched the surface regarding what they did with the Turtles. Some of the toy line saw awesome Turtles. And then there are these, the 10 Most Ridiculous Ninja Turtle Action Figures.

10. Sergeant Bananas:

This gorilla is actually a ranking officer. Note the banana gun, as if you didn't expect that.

When the Ninja Turtles were hitting their peak, every year saw new figures added. But for the most part we weren’t just getting the same characters in different outfits. We actually saw a lot of new characters added purely for the toy line. Sergeant Bananas is one such example. Now there are so very many mutated animals, like a giraffe that plays basketball or an elephant witch doctor, but what sets Sergeant Bananas apart is his blatantly unoriginal name. He’s a gorilla that also happens to be in the army. “Meh, let’s call him Sergeant Bananas.” This is about as normal as things stay.

9. Muckman:

Take notice of the clothes pin on his nose. He's so disgusting he can't stand himself.

Muckman is described as “Tolerating the Turtles,” which sounds like he’s just kinda there most of the time. He’s basically a rotting garbage man and he reminds me a whole lot of the Toxic Avengers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they intended a Ninja Turtles/Toxic Avengers crossover that never went through. Nothing sounds cooler than playing with a compost heap action figure, right?

8. Dwarf Don:

If you ever wanted a Ninja Turtle with a beard, bam, wish granted.

There were a few figures made for a set of I suppose you could say “Barbaric” Ninja Turtles with Leo, Bebop, and Rocksteady all being barbarian warriors of some sort. However, Donatello got the short end of the stick and was cast as the dwarf. It’s strange because I remember there being a mini-comic packed in with this figure that set up a story that included Mike as a knight, but there was no Knight Michelangelo for some reason. I was always disappointed by that.

7. Spock Don:

Technically First Officer Donatello, but you know better.

Yes, there was a Star Trek/Ninja Turtles crossover toy line with the four turtles dressed as the main four characters from Star Trek. Odd that they didn’t have Shredder dressed as a Klingon or something, but no matter. I could include all four of the Star Trek Turtles here, but just seeing Donatello with Vulcan ears puts things over the top.

6. The Mutant Raph:

Of course he's a mutant! It's the second word in TMNT!

For a few years there were also a bunch of crossover figures with Ninja Turtles and Universal Studios Monsters. Some of them were really cool looking, like the Swamp Thing Leo, but something about The Mutant Raph was overly silly. I was always annoyed because he had some cool accessories but his claws didn’t hold them very well, so they’d just sort of slip around in his grip. Regardless, he was still a fairly cool action figure, but that’s only because any figure with claws was considered cool.

5. Tie: Killer Bee/Needle Nose:

Bee with a chainsaw...

...or mosquito with exhaust pipes? Too tough to call.

I can’t decide here which is more ridiculous. On one hand the Foot Clan has a giant bee with a chainsaw and a seat for a Foot Soldier to hitch a ride. So what’s the Turtles’ answer to a giant bee? A giant mosquito, apparently. Just the thought of a mosquito that large freaks me out to no end. What if Shredder could manufacture thousands of these giant bugs? Why wouldn’t he do that all the time? Even weirder, Needle Nose has a windshield to protect the Turtles from I’m assuming gunfire and smaller bugs splattering them in the face. Something about that just seems wrong.

4. Crazy Clown Mike:

Sure, because we needed a mutant ninja clown at some point.

Ninja Turtles are cool. Clowns are not cool. So when you mix the two, which attribute shines through more? Well, in this case the clown half is more apparent, making this one strange thing to see. If you got this one as a gift (and I did), how did you play with him? Did he attack the Foot Clan with his arsenal of balloons and a pie? Oh, and don’t forget his legs extended as well. I’d think Shredder would just be terrified of this one. A clown ninja does have a scary factor to deal with.

3. Bandito-Bashin’ Mike:

Because all Mexican stereotypes have little cactus buddies.

Okay, Ninja Turtles were putting themselves in any manner of themed costumes, with the two biggest being military garb and athletic uniforms. But then along came the Wacky Wild West line with Donatello the cowboy, Leonardo the Indian chief, Raphael the frontier scout, and Michelangelo the…bandito-basher, whatever that is. The amount of racism here is just over-the-top. He’s obvious a Mexican stereotype. He even has a knife made from a chili pepper. His weapon is a chili knife! What the heck?! There’s no way this would fly these days.

2. Farmer Don:

Forget the Foot Clan! What about the corn?!

I had Farmer Mike who came with a tractor, a shovel, and a pitchfork. I liked him a lot, but I had no clue there was a Farmer Don as well. Let me tell you, Farmer Don made Farmer Mike look awesome. That should be enough to tell you how absurd this action figure is. Donatello even has a corn-cob pipe in his mouth and a crow with a wife-beater sitting on his tractor. There are no words. And this is only number two. So what’s the most ridiculous Ninja Turtle action figure?

1. My First TMNT:

AHHH!!!

The product description explains that the doll is filled with warm water to make it feel “alive.” Action figures are supposed to be cool representations of boyhood fantasies. They should have weapons and vehicles and general chaos surrounding their features. “Warm” and “wiggly” are not adjectives I would use to pitch an action figure to kids unless the action figure is some sort of worm or snake. Just the thought of bathing Raphael is creepy on levels I’m not ready to deal with quite yet and it tops my list for most ridiculous.

So that’s my list. Did you see some of your favorite Ninja Turtle actions figures up there or do you think I missed some? Let me know with a comment or two. There’s also a good chance I’ll give a run-down of the 10 coolest Ninja Turtle action figures, but who knows?

Where the Wild Things Are: New Toys Come with the Movie

Chris Pranger — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:14:27 +0000

This costume is coming to a Halloween near you.

Where the Wild Things Are is a classic book by Maurice Sendak. Every child should have read this book by now. Have you? If not, go read it right now. I’ll wait. I’m having a tea party right now, so I don’t mind.

As with all literature, we must eventually turn it into a movie so that, you know, everyone will get a chance to understand the story even if they can’t read. The same is true for Where the Wild Things Are. Expect the movie in October and expect it to be good (seriously, I’m sold after viewing the trailer). Also expect toys and dolls to tie in as soon as humanly possible.

There have been opportunities in the past to get Wild Things merchandise, but more is naturally being made to coincide for the movie. Probably the best new toys coming out come from a Japanese company named Medicom.

The new toys? Collectible figurines that…well, they don’t move. And they’ll cost you a pretty penny. A set of 8 will set you back at least $250. The same is true of the Kubricks versions of the figures, though they’re slightly cheaper and do move when provoked.

I’d prefer to go the old school route and snag a Moishe Plush doll for between $10 and $30. Then I get to snuggle my own cute Wild Thing and dream of a land where anything is possible. However, the high quality Max doll is going for $150. Ouch. Snuggly Moishe for $10? That’s as wild as I’d like to get.

This movie release is an indicator that classic and vintage toys are coming back, in a big way. Geared towards parents who grew up in the 1980s, the trend recreates the best parts of growing up, when toys were still built with integrity.

Now go read the book again!

“The Dark Knight” Toys

toy-tma — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:34:55 +0000

With the recent release of Batman: The Dark Knight breaking the record for opening weekend box office sales, it’s no surprise that the movie’s toys and collectibles are flying off of shelves across the country. The official toys are coming from Mattel, who has released a line of action figures, role-playing toys, vehicles, and playsets.

Some of the most popular toys are the Wayne Tech Mega Cape Accessory, a cape with a five foot wingspan that retracts into a back harness. The Shift Attack Sports Coupe comes with both Batman and Bruce Wayne figures, and the coupe turns into a missile-firing attack vehicle. And the Rapid Fire Utility Belt has a motorized blaster of foam missiles and also comes with a cape.

Collectors, however, are flocking to the Joker toys. Heath Leger’s renowned performance and untimely death have made the toys all the more appealing. The Japanese toy company Medicom has also released some hip designer vinyl toys.

The Many Benefits Of Juggling

toy-tma — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:40:04 +0000

Juggling has been around for millennia. There is evidence that it was practiced in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and it was practiced extensively in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. It’s also captured a special place in the hearts of the American public, as a popular circus act and sideshow attraction.

But few realize the valuable and far-reaching benefits that learning to juggle can have, both physical and mental. Juggling is a physically active pastime that has been shown to improve hand-eye coordination and motor skills, as well as ambidexterity, as the hands must move independently of one another.

Those who learn to juggle also improve their cognitive abilities. Juggling is actually very mathematically complex, and jugglers must understand the patterns of the flying balls, set targets for where to throw and do so accurately, and must keep a steady rhythm throughout. Kinesthetic and physically active learners tend to be more adept at juggling, picking it up quickly before passing the skill on to others.

A landmark study showed that mastering juggling can actually increase the amount of grey matter in certain areas of the brain, dealing specifically with processing and storing visual information.

Juggling has also been used in schools nationwide to reach through to high-risk or truant students. Juggling is a way to get through to hard-to-reach children and motivate them to try something new. Learning how to juggle helps the children develop crucial learning skills that can be transferred to any other activity or challenge. Juggling teaches focus, practice, careful observation, and problem solving. The students must break the ‘problem’ down into its component parts, then gradually combine the parts to perform the act. It also teaches about perseverance, as the students must work through the dropped balls in order to succeed.

Juggling also functions well as a stress-relief activity. Juggling, because it requires careful coordination of body and mind, promotes a state of being called ‘relaxed concentration.’ Afterwards, the mind feels refreshed and less stressed.

2008′s Biggest Toy Trends

toy-tma — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:20:28 +0000

The world is changing, and the world of toys is keeping pace! Toy manufacturers have their fingers on the pulse of society, and are catering to emerging interests and concerns. Here are some of the hottest and most exciting trends in toys:

- Toys Go Digital – Largely inspired by the incredible success of Ganz’s Webkinz, toy manufacturers are starting to build online worlds around the toys they sell in stores. Neopets rivals Webkinz in popularity, while even dolls such as Barbie and Bratz have created extensive websites to stimulate kids’ imaginations. With the advent of online toys, kids and parents are spending more time with their new friends!

- Toys Go Green – Parents don’t want to feel like they’re giving their children synthetic or harmful toys, or that they’re setting a bad example for them. In response to this, most leading toy companies have expanded into eco-friendly toys that are made of organic or recyclable materials and use less packaging.

- Due to recalls and scares in recent months, there has been a significant backlash against toys made in China. Distributors are increasingly looking for products made in the United States or Europe.

- Another backlash in the toy world has been against the rise of edgy or ‘trashy’ dolls. Wholesome toys like Webkinz have enjoyed incredible success, while Barbies and similar dolls have toned down their edgy attempts to appeal to teens and tweens.

- Of course, safety is still of the utmost importance to concerned parents. Parents are asking questions about the materials and manufacture of the toys they buy, and toy companies have been forced to respond. Many of the most successful manufacturers now not only meet but exceed safety regulations.

For more, click here.