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.

Toys banned in some California fast food restaurants

(CNN) -- A California county on Tuesday became the first in the nation to ban toys from fast food kids' meals high in calories, fat, salt and sugar.

Santa Clara County supervisors voted 3-2 to ban the plastic goodies as promotions in meals with more than 485 calories.
County supervisor Ken Yeager said Tuesday that the ordinance "prevents restaurants from preying on children's love of toys to peddle high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium kids' meals," and would help fight childhood obesity.
"This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes," Yeager said. "Under this ordinance, restaurants are still permitted to give out toys. This ordinance merely imposes very specific, common-sense nutrition standards for children's meals that are linked to these incentives."

The ordinance will ban restaurants from giving away toys with meals that have more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium, more than 35 percent of total calories from fat or more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar. It would also limit toy giveaways on single food items with more than 200 calories or more than 480 milligrams of sodium.
But the decision, which affects about a dozen fast food restaurants in unincorporated areas of Silicon Valley, has angered the California Restaurant Association, which fought the proposal with ads in local newspapers. One asks "Who Made Politicians the Toy Police?" and shows a child in handcuffs in front of a cop.
KGO: County bans kids' meal toys

The group commissioned a poll of local residents that found 80 percent didn't think the toy issue was an important one.
"From our perspective, we were echoing what our customers had to say. Obviously we felt that this proposal was excessive and I think purposely provocative," said Daniel Conway, the association's director of public affairs.
Conway said the association was disappointed local officials didn't come to them before creating the ordinance.
"We try to proactively engage with policy makers at the local level, the state level and the federal level," Conway said. "At the national level, our industry just played a critical role in passing a national menu labeling standard, so that now customers in many restaurants will be able to have in front of them the exact nutritional content of the various menu items."
Yeager said at a press conference Tuesday that he hopes the ordinance will spark other counties and states to pass similar legislation.

Restaurants will have a 90-day grace period beginning May 11 before the ordinance goes into effect.

We've all been there

From Gizmodo

Own a piece of history

From brianstoys, From packaging to catalogs, the vintage Kenner Star Wars line is known for its bright images and graphics. For the most part photo art, or photographic prints that have been hand-altered in some way, were the master pieces of art used to create the images seen in boxes and catalogs around the world. However, photo art required the use of original photography, for Kenner almost never used illustrations or drawings for their images.

The task of taking the photos that would ultimately be used to produce photo art or that would perhaps remain unaltered was given to an outside design firm. While Kenner would ultimately provide guidance and have the final say on approval, it was up to the photographer at the studio to provide the photos, under the guidance of the design firm.

The photographer in charge of virtually all vintage Star Wars photography work at the outside design firm used by Kenner was Kim Simmons. He was ultimately responsible for images that would be used for packaging, comps (or mock-ups), some publicity images, and some of the slide presentations. Fortunately, for Star Wars collectors and enthusiasts alike, Kim meticulously kept nearly all of his work that was not given to Kenner as final art pieces.

Now you can own a piece of history by ordering from our exclusive selection of limited edition prints based on Kim’s work. Each print is hand-numbered and will never be offered for sale again once the allocated quantity of each individual print size has been distributed. These are no ordinary prints either. They are printed on the highest quality Fuji archival photography paper with metallic ink, and have been created from high resolution drum scans of each original negative or transparency and are unparalleled in quality. Don’t pass up this once in a lifetime chance to purchase your very own piece of Star Wars history!

Order it here

Rumor Report: "Antique Force Detail" Chases The Vintage Collection?

From rebelscum, All of our "rebel spies" are working overtime today with the latest info sliced from the holonet. Keeping with the tradition of special "Ultimate Galactic Hunt" chase figures from recent years, we've gotten top-secret details of a special line of figures that collectors can track down when The Vintage Collection hits hard this summer.

Previous UGH chase variants have included silver versions of the mini-holograms from The Saga Collection in 2006, the gold coins from The 30th Anniversary Collection in 2007, and the "1st Day of Issue" sticker variants from The Legacy Collection in 2008.

Relying heavily on the nostalgia factor for the classic Vintage Star Wars line, this chase series features the modern-day action figure stylings, but now decked out with "Antique Force Detail"...a paint deco that is inspired by the classic color schemes of the Kenner toys.

In a year focused on collectors, longtime fans will no doubt fondly recall the toys from their youth as they view this special gallery, shown here for your viewing pleasure.

Check them all out, here

New Disney Star Wars figures

Some cheap LEGO stuff at Target this week!

I saw the Wreck Raider (above), which is a very worthy set, with a couple of bucks knocked off its worth. Great vehicle, a diver and a shark man! If Ben doesn't have it yet, I recommend it (before Saturday, when the sale ends).

Also, Prince of Persia sets are now showing up at TRU. Ostriches! Camels! Cool new hats!

Mattel Creates New Toy to Turn into Movie

From worstpreviews, Toy-maker Mattel recently challenged its designers to come up with a new toy line that could simultaneously be turned into a TV show, feature film and game. And just recently, the company picked the winner of the challenge.

The yet-unnamed toy line will be an alien civilization that's been living in the depths of Earth's oceans. "It's actually a great idea, with the caveat that they need to coordinate the story and have it all make sense well beforehand," said Jeff Gomez CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment. "Yes, there's brand equity in the name Hot Wheels. But it's the characters [in Battle Force 5] that young boys are identifying with, and that are driving TV ratings and the sales of the Hot Wheels DVDs. And that's likely what’s influencing Mattel's decision-making on further transmedia implementations."

At this point, Mattel has already partnered with producer Neal Moritz (Fast and Furious, I Am Legend), who will soon start looking for screenwriters.

The 11 coolest glow-in-the-dark toys ever made

From toplessrobot, The first marriage of zinc sulfide into plastic isn't recorded in history, but it's still a happy day for kids everywhere. It's the day that someone figured out that you could make plastic glow-in-the-dark, a scientific breakthrough that has benefited the world of toys almost exclusively. From that glorious day, kids started getting action figures that, when left out in the light for a while, would radiate an otherworldly luminescence for hours in the dark, opening up a new way to play -- and more importantly, a whole new time to play (i.e., after we were told we had to go to bed). Eventually, some scientist will likely figure out that glow-in-the-dark toys have been slowly poisoning us all for years, but until then, we might as well enjoy them -- and remember the 11 coolest glow-in-the-dark figures ever made.

See them here

A galaxy of new toys rings in 30 years of 'Star Wars'

By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY

The Empire Strikes Back is turning 30, and its birthday party will be held this summer in Orlando.

Celebration V, a convention of Star Wars fans that Lucasfilm hosts every few years, will have a special focus on the 1980 film during its weekend run Aug. 12-15.

Carrie Fisher is the first celebrity guest confirmed. "Princess Leia is going to be there, and she's always a huge, huge hit," says Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm's head of fan relations.

Details can be found at StarWarsCelebration.com.

And no birthday party would be complete without toys, a staple of Star Wars fandom. Hasbro is releasing a series of new toys Aug. 1, including a new version of the AT-ATs — those giant, snowbound metal dinosaurs from the opening Empire battle sequence on the frozen planet Hoth.

The toy retails for about $100 and is 2 feet tall and almost 21/2 feet long. "It's absolutely suitable for play with a kid," says Howard Roffman, Lucasfilm's head of licensing. "But if you're a collector, it's also a trophy piece."

A decoration for a desk? "A big desk," Roffman says.

Hasbro also is putting out full-scale Boba Fett helmets with electronic sounds and phrases — probably all of the bounty hunter's lines, since he had only a handful.

And a collection of new Hasbro action figures based on the Empire characters will be released. They'll be new designs but with vintage packaging and photos of the 1980-era toys on the back. Hasbro also is repeating a giveaway from the original Empire release. Fans can mail in proofs of purchase from the action figures to get a free Boba Fett.

That toy will be a vintage design, with one big exception: The original was touted as having a firing rocket on its back, but at the last moment, those ejecting plastic nubs were declared a safety hazard and glued in instead.

"That was a big disappointment at the time. They couldn't do it within the safety standards," Roffman says. "But they have been able to make it work now." The rocket part is a little larger, to avoid the threat of swallowing and choking.

Roffman jokes: "It took 30 years for the dream to be realized."

Dumbest figure set ever?

From cooltoy review

I must have a Zibit

Check out a video of it in action here

Big Trak is back

From bigtrakisback, 2010 is the year that the world's most well loved robot toy returns, with a 21st century makeover! Dubreq Ltd (creators of the famous Stylophone pocket synth) are bringing the Bigtrak back from the dead with a new line of robot space toys for the modern toy market. Based on the famous 1980's robot vehicle, the new Bigtrak range will use 21st century technology to expand and enhance the basic Bigtrak play concept of pre-programming a toy vehicle to perform a task.

Goodbye for now, my babies

My setup at the new house has no wall for these shelves, so I'm putting the MOC display in a big storage container for a while. The timing is actually good, as Zack was just starting to understand that he could have those things, and I don't want to be a dad who dangles toys in my kid's face and tells him he can't touch them. But still, I'll miss these spaceships. Especially when I have the urge to pick one up and fly it around the room (insert vocal space jet noises).

JLU Aquaman

As with the Super Powers collection, the DC Universe's lamest superhero actually makes for a decent action figure. The orange on this guy had just a tiny bit of shiny finish, which looked pretty neat; also he had those fins coming off the back of his calves, and the fashionable severe blonde flat top.

But that price! Ouch. To be clear, I'm not 100% sure it was on the right peg, and the price-checker couldn't read it. Given the bizarre range of DC figures out right now, I'm hoping there's some large-scale line I've forgotten about and the tag was for that, because that's a serious jump. Not an impossible one, unfortunately.

And here's the back. So it's good news if you never got a Barda (and I don't think I did), but did the fans really pick another Batman variation? That seems hard to believe.

I saw a single-carded Green Lantern that had a different set of five on the back, and the group included a single carded Deadshot. Still, at $8.99, I can't tell if that's good news.

Some of the new JLU coolness headed our way

See a ton more examples, here

LOLWUT?!: German 'Identify The LEGO Star Wars Minifig By Putting It In Your Mouth' Show

From geekology, This is a segment from some German variety show in which a unisexual teen identifies LEGO Star Wars minifigs be swishing them around in his/her mouth for a little while. Unfortunately, 4 out of 5 proper ID's isn't very good AND YOU WILL MAKE THE OLYMPIC MINIFIG IDENTIFICATION TEAM. Stick to Duplo, child!

Impressive Lego lightsaber duel

McDonald's 2010 Star Wars Happy Meal TV Commercial (worst toys ever)

DO NOT WANT: Sexy Fembot LEGO Models

From geekology, Flickr user rediv (aka Alan M) went and made himself some sexy LEGO fembots. Why? I dunno, he's sick in the head or something. Or maybe he just needs somebody to talk to (get a fish, God!). Isn't that right, Mr. Tickles? You're my friend, aren't you? Mr. Tickles? MR. TICKLES? OKAY, WHO THE F*** FED MY FISH AN OMELET?!