toyfair - io9

posts about #toyfair more →
Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
Star Trek's "Red Shirt" Fragrance Wants You To Smell Like Dead Away Teams
The Watchmen Merchandising Wave Cometh
An Overload Of Scifi Toys
New Toys Will Vaporize The Contents Of Your Wallet

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Aidan_
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
I am having very inappropriate thoughts about that woman who I think is supposed to be Ms. Frizzel from The Magic Schoolbus. Anybody else remember Magic Schoolbus from the early nineties?
Reply

Aidan_ was starred Aidan_ was unstarred

♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
02/17/09

@Aidan_: do I ever!

Between the episode where they shrunk and went up Ralphie's nose when he was sick and the episode of Rugrats when Chuckie swallowed the watermelon seeds and the babies thought a watermelon would grow in his stomach (and of course pretended to check it out) I was SURE my adult profession would be shrinking-investigatolist.
Reply

♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
What new devilry is this AQUASKIPPER? Witchcraft, I say! Witchcraft. All manner of hocus pocus is at work here.
Reply

bonniegrrl
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
I might be biased, but I was pretty giddy when I saw the Lightsaber Chopsticks!

[flickr.com]
Reply

bonniegrrl was starred bonniegrrl was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/17/09

@bonniegrrl: Gimme, gimme, gimme!!
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Ruthless, If you let me
02/17/09

@bonniegrrl:
@Grey_Area:

NO, give them to me!
Reply

92BuickLeSabre
02/17/09

@BullLifter and Grey_Area: Children, children.

There are clearly three sitting right there.

Which means almost enough for all for of us.

*grabs the blue ones*
Reply

92BuickLeSabre was starred 92BuickLeSabre was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
The Hex Bots made me think of these new (much less creepy) Bristlebots from Klutz Press. Tiny little things that zip around on toothbrush heads. Author and all around cool person Pat Murphy demonstrated them at a recent reading.

Cute!
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

hewkii9
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
What, no Lego Agents? Or even the Republic dropship/thing that looks like an At-t, or the Home One set?
Reply

hewkii9 was starred hewkii9 was unstarred

Meredith Woerner
02/17/09

@hewkii9: No movie toys in this post, just fun. But keep your eyes peeled for those later.
Reply

Meredith Woerner was starred Meredith Woerner was unstarred

Purple Dave
02/18/09

@hewkii9:
Yeah, my favorite "science-esque" toys from Toy Fair are the two LEGO hologram pieces (the giant Death Star from the Home One set, and the miniature Death Star plans from the Clone Wars Seperatist's Shuttle).

@Meredith Woerner:
LEGO Agents is an unlicensed original IP. No movies. That being said, I only really care about the villain minifigs...
Reply

Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred

Plague
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
Why is someone holding an owl pellet?
Reply

Plague was starred Plague was unstarred

Meredith Woerner
02/17/09

@Plague: no those are eggs.
Reply

Meredith Woerner was starred Meredith Woerner was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/17/09

@Meredith Woerner: Praying Mantis ootheca or egg pod, if I'm not mistaken, with a few hundred little mantis babies waiting to be your friend!
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Alexis
02/17/09

@Grey_Area:

GREAT! Now I feel like there's a billion of them all over me...

Ugh. WTF is wrong with kids? Why would anyone want this?
Reply

Alexis was starred Alexis was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/17/09

@Evlsushi: Aw c'mon, bug zoos are lots of fun and edjamacational!

My dad the biologist encouraged me to catch and care for mantises, spiders, crayfish etc. I always released them afterward. Much props to mother the arachnophobe for bravely putting up with my jumping spider project. "Mom, mom, I just collected my 14th species of Salticidae! Wanna see? I'm naming her after you!"
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Alexis
02/17/09

@Grey_Area:

Normally, I like to be all feminist-sty and defy stereotypes, but... I hates bugs, I do.
Reply

Alexis was starred Alexis was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/17/09

@Evlsushi: Abhorrence of bugs and snakes are pretty deeply ingrained in humans. Probably goes way back to when we were snack-sized prosimians in the primeval forest canopy.

Phobias are weird. I sometimes get panic attacks in crowds of more than, oh say six people. And can somebody explain the widespread fear of clowns?
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
Haaahaha, Yeah I call BS on that skipper as well. Though I have to say when they were going to demonstrate what to do if you fell off I was expecting some sort of mad powered rise out of the water and back into motion. Swimming to shore I probably could've figured out on my own.

The OrbitWheels are a groin injury waiting to happen, but I want them nonetheless.
Reply

Alexis
02/17/09

In reply to Our Favorite Science-esque Toys From Toy Fair
As if those shoes with the little wheels in the bottom weren't annoying enough for kids to wear they invent Orbit Wheels?

In any case, those look awesome and I want them yesterday.
Reply

Alexis was starred Alexis was unstarred

92BuickLeSabre
02/17/09

@Evlsushi: I spent about 10 minutes watching the guy on the Orbit Wheels today before realizing that I am now the oldz and they were nothing more than a one-way ticket to Traction Town. Then I shook my head sadly and walked away.
Reply

92BuickLeSabre was starred 92BuickLeSabre was unstarred

Ghede
02/16/09

In reply to The Watchmen Merchandising Wave Cometh
Pfft, that ski mask is lazy, you can remove the need for eyeholes if you use a thin enough material. It is going right next to your eyes after all. Just don't drive while wearing something like that.
Reply

Ghede was starred Ghede was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/16/09

In reply to The Watchmen Merchandising Wave Cometh
When is McDonald's coming out with the Burgers 'n' Borscht Happy meal?
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/16/09

In reply to Star Trek's "Red Shirt" Fragrance Wants You To Smell Like Dead Away Teams
Little known fact: wearing these colognes and a Jayne hat will actually cause you to regain your virginity.
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Smeagol92055
02/16/09

@Grey_Area: But will they take away the burning when I pee?
Reply

Smeagol92055 was starred Smeagol92055 was unstarred

Grey_Area
02/16/09

@Smeagol92055: It's like the way you wear your hat or drink your tea. No, no. They can't take that away from you.
Reply

Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
02/16/09

In reply to Star Trek's "Red Shirt" Fragrance Wants You To Smell Like Dead Away Teams
Red Shirt: The last cologne you'll ever wear.
Reply

collex
02/16/09

In reply to The Watchmen Merchandising Wave Cometh
People, people, people. This is NORMAL. This movie costed an awful lot of money, and as they made it as much for the fans as possible, there is the risk that nobody but the fans is going to see it. So they have to be prepared to make money elsewhere.

You may hate what you see, but bear in mind that this "crap", as you call it, is what will make possible the release of our 4-hour-Black-Freighter-included collector set.

And I want, no need, that Roshrach ski mas
Reply

collex was starred collex was unstarred

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/16/09

@collex: They also have to fight all the people who say things like.. "Watchmen could be terrible, thats why there are torrents!"
Reply

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/16/09

In reply to The Watchmen Merchandising Wave Cometh
I don't believe that any fan of Watchmen wouldn't want any of this stuff. Sure some of it is a little tacky, but if you had a kid wouldn't you want to send him to school with a Watchmen Lunchbox, or do the Jonas Bros suit your needs better. Wouldn't your gray cubicle look a little better with a black and white Rorschach pennant next to abundant yellow Simpsons merch? If you saw a guy fighting a blizzard on his way to work in that Ski mask wouldn't you just have to give him a little nod?

Sure the purist in me thinks this is sort of tacky and a little out of character for such a classy story, but then again I want all of it, its not as tasteless as people rushing out to buy dead Heath Ledger Joker figures, and finally.. A fair bit of the book is Ozy/Veidt figuring out how best to merchandise the disaster he's about to create and he constantly has his toy around him, so it kind of feels almost appropriate.
Reply

TrueCrime
02/16/09

@Garrison Dean: Maybe I could give my kid a Rorshach ski hat to go with his Watchmen lunchbox, so he can tell his friends that he's wearing it because of the rage he felt when Kitty Genovese died. For Halloween, he can be a tiny, 10-year-old Night Owl and he can tell his fellow trick-or-treaters that he can't perform in bed unless he's wearing the costume.

That "fair bit of the book" you describe is actually mocking this kind of merchandising.
Reply

TrueCrime was starred TrueCrime was unstarred

Meredith Woerner
02/16/09

@Garrison Dean: I wouldn't want my kid who is young enough to be holding a lunchbox be carrying a Watchmen one because they aren't old enough to read it yet.
Reply

Meredith Woerner was starred Meredith Woerner was unstarred

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/16/09

@TrueCrime: Heh, true, all good points, but at least it could come from something cool. I saw something on TV the other day with Taylor Swift selling the concept of Boyfriend Jeans to her tween fans. Boyfriend jeans, the jeans that are like the ones you borrow from your boyfriend after porking him and spending the night, which you do when you're 11.

When I was younger there were cartoons for Robocop and Rambo. Did they miss the point a little? Yeah probably, were they inappropriate? Sure. Were they kind of awesome? You bet. This is no different.
Reply

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/16/09

@TrueCrime: Oh and just in terms of the reverse... I have an official Bart Simpson ashtray that I got in Europe which is really really out of character and also totally great.
Reply

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/16/09

@Meredith Woerner: Didn't you carry a lunchbox in high-school, just to be ironic? I know I did.

I didn't have many friends though.
Reply

The_Sporean_Bob
02/16/09

@Garrison Dean: They just didn't understand how awesome you were. Lunchboxes transcend coolness and make you uber.....something.....
Reply

The_Sporean_Bob was starred The_Sporean_Bob was unstarred

Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/16/09

@The_Sporean_Bob: Thats what I kept screaming at them!!! I'm glad you get me.
Reply

TrueCrime
02/16/09

In reply to The Watchmen Merchandising Wave Cometh
And let the point-missing begin.
Reply

TrueCrime was starred TrueCrime was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion