Toys

Atari has been through many ups and downs. The company will hopefully be able to pull itself up and join the ranks of popular console video gaming.

So here's my childhood: Get up. Watch cartoons. Play. Go to school. Watch after school cartoons. Play. Go to bed, safe in the assurance that when I grew up, I woudln't have to work because we'd have jetpacks, flying cars, cooked food on demand, and robots.

Now that I've left 50 in the taillights, and ponder the weight the advent of microwaves and Uber Eats has put on me, I finally get one more step closer to the future that I was promised in comic books and LOST IN SPACE.

The robots are here!

Yes, they've been here for a while, I suppose. But for the most part, consumer-obtainable robots have been pretty much RC cars with special effects.

If Tim Burton were to remake THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS as a dramatic modern tragedy, it might come close to the emotions felt across the country as we await word from toy-selling colossus TOYS "R" US that they will be shuttering their stores across the country.

Should expectations bear out, the 60+ year old company will be the latest brick-and-mortar chain to fall victim to online competition, as parents turn to sites like Walmart, Amazon, and eBay for their purchases. Even the suppliers of toys have become competitors against their customer, with companies like LEGO and Mattel offering direct sales through their websites.

In January, TRU CEO Dave Brandon stated on the company blog that the chain would "continue to operate stores in all major markets across the U.S. and around the world." Two months later, that statement seems to have been overly optimistic.

A few days ago, we reported that Bandai would no longer be doing the Power Rangers toys.  Today Hasbro released the following press release:

From Comicbook.com:

Saban Brands is making a big shift in its toy business and has decided to part ways with Bandai.

Bandai America has created the Power Rangers toys for 25 years, but Saban Brands announced today that it will not be renewing its partnership with Bandai as of April 2019. The official statement is included below.

It's September, which means the toy industry is in full court press for the dollars of parents who want to be sure they get their kids the hottest toys on the market.

This year one of those toys taking up the airwaves is RC Pocket Racers, a remote-control rechargeable car about the size of your average Hot Wheels or Matchbox car. All that sounds pretty cool, because it would be kind of fun to put such a vehicle on your original designed orange plastic tracks and send a car around it under its own power.

Collectible blind boxes have really gotten big in recent years.  I am usually pretty reluctant to buy them, because I am specific about exactly what I want when it comes to collectibles.  My wife is a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, so I had bought her two TNG Blind Boxes...and they were both Deanna Troi.  Not exactly getting my money's worth there.

It seems like a long time ago that a television show was cancelled because executives didn't believe they could sell action figures to girls. Now, DC's Super Hero Girls have successfully pulled off something those execs never would've thought possible:

Winning "Action Figure Toy" of the year!

Saw this posted on Star Wars Facebook feed and thought it was kind of cool.

Your first look at The Last Jedi product packaging dropping out of hyperspace on September 1 for Force Friday II

Let's not kid ourselves. As much as Batman has been used for merchandising, it's always been that the toys were based off the character. With BATMAN UNLIMITED, it's clearly a case of the story being designed to foster a base for the merchandising. It's an advertisement wrapped in entertainment.

The plot: Mr. Freeze (ODED FEHR) is providing asylum to Penguin (DANA SNYDER) at his arctic retreat. But drilling in the region prompts Freeze to respond by siccing a giant monster of his own creation on the crew.

That Freeze can do this gives Penguin an idea, and he encourages Freeze to return to Gotham City and turn it into an icy wasteland for himself, while creating an impossible enemy for Batman. But first they must break out some Arkham inmates (which do not include The Joker, although he gets two cameos voiced by Troy Baker).

Featuring Luke, Slave Oola and the Rancor from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, soon you'll be able to adorn your shelf with a Rancor, its snack and the one that got away.

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From Diamond Comic Distributor's Inc:

Recreate the iconic Rancor battles in Jabba’s Palace from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi with the figure pack, featuring a 6” supersized Rancor POP! and two 3 ¾” vinyl figures of Oola, Jabba the Hutt’s Twi’lek slave dancer, and Luke Skywalker wearing his black Jedi costume and wielding a bone.

The Rancor monster was a creature that lived beneath Jabba's palace. For punishment (or just pure entertainment) the notorious gangster would occasionally send it a snack through a trap door in the floor.

By this point, your house and emails have already been bombarded with Super Spectacular Toy Catalogs, Door-Buster Sales Schedules, Black Friday Secret Deals and Cyber Monday Email Tips for you to get the most out of your holiday shopping. And you've probably already noticed that the toy market has already been defined as to which toys are the ones you have to go get.

Lost in the miasma of metamorphing robots and not-quite-for-real pets is one of the simplest yet most enduring type of toy: the stuffed animal. But for a market that's been super-saturated with everything from the zoological to the crytpozoological to even the microbial, it takes something unique if a plush is going pique a child's interest.