New Starspeeder 1000

From miceage, "In the merch shop was a preview of an item from Celebration-V:
the StarSpeeder 1000, which awaits us with the updated Star Tours."

Damn you, JLU, damn you for making me want you so badly!

See more at cooltoyreview, here

Lego blind boxes

From toplessrobot, It's been a long time since we saw just part of wave 2 of Lego's blind boxed figures -- back in February at Toy Fair, specifically -- but Lego has finally released the full line-up. Obviously, Lego Dracula, Lego Spartan and Lego Maracas-Player are still the stars, but we can't dismiss Lego 19th Century Explorer, Lego Mime or Lego Ringleader, if only because he has a look of sheer panic and terror on his little yellow face. Still no word when these things will come out, but you can see a better look of the figures (in their actual toy forms, as opposed to the inaccurate yet fun promo art I posted above over at The Brothers Brick.

Dump Ronald? No way!

By Ashley M. Heher, AP Retail Writer
CHICAGO — Retire Ronald McDonald? No way.
That's the message McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner gave Thursday to critics of the red-haired clown, who say the character promotes unhealthy eating to kids and should go the way of Joe Camel.

"The answer is no," Skinner told a room full of shareholders gathered for a meeting at the company's headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill.

"He is a force for good," Skinner said, adding that the nearly 50-year-old clown is an ambassador for the McDonald's brand and its Ronald McDonald House Charities. "He communicates effectively with children and families around balanced, active lifestyles. He does not hawk food."

Shareholders applauded Skinner. And they unleashed a chorus of boos when representatives of the advocacy group Corporate Accountability International requested the famous icon be shelved — for good.

"Ronald McDonald is a pied piper drawing youngsters all over the world to food that is high in fat, sodium and calories," said Alfred David Klinger, a retired Chicago physician who volunteers with the organization. "On the surface, Ronald is there to give children enjoyment in all sorts of way with toys, games and food. But Ronald McDonald is dangerous, sending insidious messages to young people."

The Boston organization, which calls itself a nonprofit corporate watchdog, has spent the past two months mounting a "Retire Ronald" campaign.

So far it has received support from about 10,000 people, said senior organizer Deborah Lapidus.

I love my Lotso's Dump Truck

You really can't ask for more satisfaction than what you get out of this twenty dollar set. There are three really cool characters (four if you count the driver), and this gorgeous little dump truck, which includes some cool new wheels and that great bucket piece. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to hawk2009 on flickr for the pic.

I so wish I had stolen this thing from that kid

I mean, the robot is pretty damn cool by itself, with it's reel-to-reel tape eyes, but it also says "brain" on it. Phat.

JLU Lobo!

From martycollector

But the best news seems to be on the back of the card!



We are so behind

Tons of photos of new Star Wars toys

See it all here

Ding-A-Lings!

I recently purchased this DVD set, which has tons of cool vintage commercials on it. One section entitled "toys" advertised these "Ding-A-Lings". I think they look awesome and I'm going to look into finding them. Check out the ad,

Screw Copyrights: More Action Figure Ripoffs

From geekology, From the second installment of cheap action figure ripoffs come GaoRanger DinoThunder: hands down the awesomest thing I've ever heard in my entire life, and I've heard angels doing it. Kidding, it was actually the heavyset couple upstairs and it sounded like they were gonna crash through my ceiling LIKE A CHOIR FROM HEAVEN. I recorded it. It's my ringtone.

See more ripoffs here



See the first installment here

Pure Awesome: LEGO Beach Scene Tattoo

From geekology, This is somebody's back. Somebody's back covered with a tattoo of a LEGO beach scene. It's a lot like a picture of a hand drawing a hand if you really think about it. Except nothing like that. It's more like the Mona Lisa.

I don't know why but I kind of want this stuff

From mattycollector, SDCC Exclusive Version With Color-change Feature

"Orko® includes magic wand, stand, and magic book. This SDCC-exclusive version of Orko® changes color in warm water to all clear -- except his face and the "O" on his chest. His magic book has a color-change sticker that reveals the SDCC logo. Orko® also includes a fully articulated Prince Adam® figure, complete with angry and smirk heads, purple Power Sword®, and Half Power Sword® in purple. The bio on the back of the pack is for Orko® because Prince Adam® is the accessory, Orko® is the figure!"

I think this "Justice League of America presents Starro the Conqueror" is hilarious. I might have to pick it up just for the Starro.



I'm also kind of digging this Plastic Man set

New JLU!

From mattycollector

Future JLU Superman with Starro Spore — In a double dose of firsts, this release will mark the initial availability of an all-new figure, plus it includes fan-favorite Starro Spore as a never-before-offered accessory!

Barry Allan as The Flash with Lightning Bolt — It’s the first time this figure is offered, so you’ll want to catch him before he’s gone in a… well, you know…

Power Ring — Evil twins everywhere will rejoice when Power Ring joins their ranks for the first time as an action figure. Features a giant green hand construct.

Batman Beyond with Batarang — Available for the first time as a single, Batman is ready to battle the bad guys when stocked with this staple from his arsenal.

Mr. Terrific — Also making his big debut as a single, the ever-present T-spheres have been completely redesigned.

All LEGO Pac-Man Arcade

From geekology, This is a tabletop Pac-Man game made entirely out of LEGO blocks. Except for the electronics, those were made from sugar and spice and everything nice. Or are they snips and snails and puppy dog tails?? Neither moron, they're metal and plastic.

Aside from the obvious electronics, everything is LEGO. It uses a Jamma 48-1 board to play a variety of 80's arcade game including Pac-Man, Donky Kong, Space Invaders and many more.

No LEGO pieces were cut or altered to make this.

I'm not even gonna lie, I'm impressed. And I'm not just saying that because I plan on smashing the back out and stealing all the quarters, but I'm not standing here with a hammer just because it looks good. It really does though. Go on, take a picture. That'll be $5. I HAVE A HAMMER.

Cool

From yakface, The brickmasters at Eurobrick.com have posted a new images today revealing a Special Edition Clone Wars set featuring Cad Bane's Speeder (8128). This set, coming exclusive to Target, contains 318 pieces and include mini figures of Cad Bane, the Assassin Droid, Shahan Alama, a Senate Commando and Senate Commando Captain* (aka Captain Jayfon). Click the image above for a closer look.

*Could this be the same Senate Commando Captain included in the rumored Senate 2-pack we posted this past weekend? Time will tell but I'd bet yes.

Burger King JLU toys, who knew?

There wasn't too much going on at that toy show I attended on Sunday. I stumbled across these JLU toys from Burger King that I never saw before. They seem to be from 2003. I passed on the Hawkgirl and spaceship toy because I didn't want to spend the $ and they were pretty lame. Actually, they're all pretty lame. I just got caught up in the moment a la, "Wow, more superhero toys from Burger King!"




This was one of those things where you have to push the button really fast to get the object (cloud?) to open up to reveal an object (Martian Manhunter). After many attempts to photograph it this was the best that I could do.

J. C. Penny Wish Book!

From x-entertainment, Only it's not the Sears Wishbook, it's the 1986 JCPenney Christmas catalog. And I'm writing about it in April. We're off to a roaring start.

Such forty-pound holiday catalogs are still around today, but they can't possibly mean as much. In 1986, they were treated with more reverence than bibles. This wasn't merely "one way" to help a kid decide what he or she wanted for Christmas. It was the way. We couldn't go online to make Amazon wishlists, and though some had the notion, few of us ever went browsing toy stores on an early December weekend, pen and pad in hand, writing down things that might've been interesting to play with on the morning of the 25th. Practically every gift I ever asked for was found in the pages of a Sears Wishbook. (Or a JCPenney Christmas Catalog. Errgh.)

Endless glory. Page after page after page of toys we recognized, toys we'd never seen before, toys we absolutely had to have. All of the products were beautifully photographed and often showed real kids playing with them, as if to taunt us in some sneaky, "this could be you" sort of way.

1986 was a good year for kiddy stuff, as you will see. Below are twelve of that year's best, representing stuff I had, stuff I wanted, and in one rare case, stuff that teaches us how human hearts pump blood. If being six-years-old again seems like an attractive proposition, what's seen below will cause disgusting salivation that will make everyone hate looking at you.



[Excerpt], M.U.S.C.L.E. was an acronym for "Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere." Shitty acronym. Sold in 4, 10 and 28 packs, we gobbled them up, carried them all over the place, and at least in my circles, used them as currency. The figures depicted everything from maniacal warriors to dudes with teacups as heads, and the goal was less about collecting your favorites and more about collecting as many M.U.S.C.L.E. men as humanly possible.

Go here for awesomeness!

Obsolete Set Is Obsolete: LEGO Space Shuttle

From geekology, Just in time for the shuttle's retirement comes the official LEGO Space Shuttle set. *sniff* It's enough to bring a tear to my eye. Psyche, I only cry when pets die and at the end of movies. I'm looking at you, 'Iron Man 2'.

The $100 1,204-piece set stands 17.5 inches tall, with a 10-inch wingspan. It includes launch pad, detachable fuel tank, booster rockets, robot arm, retractable landing gear, opening cockpit with two minifig astronauts (male and female), opening cargo compartment, satellite, and even a ground vehicle.

You know what the problem with today's youth is? Everything. And mostly because kids don't want to be astronauts anymore. When I was growing up every single child wanted to be an astronaut. If you ask a group of kids today what they want to be when they grow up you get a unanimous, "on Jersey Shore". And that's exactly why we should blow up the planet while there's still time.