Toys

Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash

Star Wars is an ever-growing franchise. Because it’s featured across all kinds of media, there’s something for most people to enjoy. For instance, whether you’re a movie, video game or comic book enthusiast, there’s something for you.

With this expanding franchise comes an expanding fanbase. There’s nothing like the Star Wars fanbase, which tend to be incredibly passionate about it. This is probably why merch are very popular, causing the franchise to release more. In fact, some of the Star Wars Lego sets in the market, especially rare vintage ones, can fetch for a lot of money.

In the realm of toys and mini figures, there are many kinds. Below are some things you can learn about these types of merchandise.

Creepsters is the eighth and newest campaign from writer Nasser Rabadi to be added to his ever-growing library of horror-themed novels and comics. Arguably his best work to date, Nasser assembled a creepy team of designers, artists, and toy companies (yes, that’s right, an actual toy company) to produce his idea and make it a reality.

Synopsis: While digging for buried treasure on Perdida Cove Beach, 12-year-old Max discovers a mysterious creature he names Chomper, whose friendship will lead him into a world of danger, adventure, and heroism.

When Chomper's siblings wreak havoc in Max's seaside town, only Max and his new friend can save his sister Emma (and the town!) by combining forces to fight the sinister Creepsters that wash up on the beach after an alien object splashes down into the ocean offshore.

LEGO System A/S  has made many a fan happy, adult and child alike, by producing unique brick models of some of fandom's favorite franchises. From Star Wars to Harry Potter, from DC Comics to Marvel, movie scenes and props all come alive on your own table with you in control of the creativity.

The Infinity Gauntlet, the centerpiece of the last two Marvel's Avengers movies, is one of the latest of a set of pop culture prop pieces, released alongside similarly trade dressed packages of helmets of Darth Vader and The Mandalorian, and the 1966 Batmobile (which we did on a live build stream here).

One of the most active fanbases around the world is Star Wars fans. Seeing them get together for new movie premiers and events is inspiring because of how excited they get about the whole franchise. 

Star Wars has made a massive dent in pop culture, with icons like Darth Vader and the Millennium Falcon. But probably the most memorable thing about Star Wars is the lightsabers. If you’re a fan, then you might already have a lightsaber or you’re planning on getting one from the actual brand or other dueling lightsaber makers, such as Galaxy Sabers, and toy customizers. 

What Are Dueling Lightsabers?

In the Star Wars universe, Obi-Wan mentioned how he saw the lightsaber as an elegant weapon for a civilized age. Also, from the movies, you can see just how the Sith or the Jedi use it.

We saw this hinted at in the last LEGO BATMAN animated movie, FAMILY MATTERS. It was more than just an Easter Egg when Batman received assistance from a young boy named Billy Batson, as was revealed in the movie's after-credits scene that showed Billy boarding a mysterious subway car that whisked him away.

The Prototype Car, Now Worth Upwards of $100,000, Is the Only Redline Enamel White Hong Kong Version Car Ever to be Discovered - Considered the Holy Grail of Hot Wheels Collectibles

West Palm Beach, Florida – (February 5, 2020) – One of the rarest finds in toy collecting history was discovered by America’s Toy Scout, Joel Magee.  A Hot Wheels Camaro dating to 1968 and verified as the first Hong Kong enamel white example ever found was acquired by Magee and now stands alone as the only one in the world. The white prototype Camaro is three of the most desirable Redline Hot Wheels collectible cars in the world.  Found in a set of several other Hot Wheels cars, it wasn’t until Joel examined the collection and consulted a Hot Wheels expert that he was able to confirm that the lone white Camaro was, in fact, the rarest of rare.

At first blush, Robin Gerber's BARBIE FOREVER: HER INSPIRATATION, HISTORY, AND LEGACY might appear to be another beautifully designed coffee table book, packaged to appeal to fans of the Mattel maven whose fashions and careers have delighted and motivated children for decades -- six of them, to be precise! My expectation was the cursory introduction, maybe four or five pages of text delivering a succinct history of the doll and her creator, and then a veritable book full of photographs of Barbie through the years.

There's a new villain haunting the dark streets of Gotham City -- and he knows the secrets of the entire Bat-family!

Who is this mysterious Red Hood (JASON SPISAk), and how is he so familiar with Batman (TROY BAKER), Nightwing (LOREN LESTER), Robin (SCOTT MENVILLE), Batgirl (ALYSON STONER) and even the latest member, Batwoman (TARA STRONG)? That's the mystery they have to solve before Gotham is blown to smithereens, as the Red Hood has set five bombs to go off in town, each guarded by an Arkham Asylum super-villain. 

The Great Train Show made a stop in Belleville, Illinois this weekend, bringing with it something for train enthusiasts of all ages -- from wooden tracks and LEGO to modern and antique HO scale locomotives.

Vendors displayed their wares up and down the length of the Belle-Clair Expo Center, with something in a price range for everyone. You could pick up display pieces for as little as a dollar, or drop several hundred on a rare engine or a brand new set. And beyond the vendors, several St. Louis area train clubs were on hand with their highly detailed arrays of tracks and scenery, as well as a few surprises we didn't expect, including some video producers who catered to trainspotters with DVDs and Blu-rays.

Click the video below for a virtual experience and meet some of the people behind the event.

I grew up in an era where baseball cards were things to chase, where sealed packs kept you from knowing what you were going to get. The cards smelled like bubblegum and the bubblegum tasted like cardboard.

So the "mystery package" concept isn't new to me as a collector. But the "mystery toy" package is something of a more recent development (said mystery toys found in cereal and Cracker Jack boxes notwithstanding). Hot Wheels has their mystery car concept, and Zerboz delivered mystery plastic superheroes for a while.

The most recent development in this collectible craze is Lost Kitties, from Hasbro. I know this because I have the LOST KITTIES COLLECTOR'S GUIDE, written by Maggie Fisher with design work by Hasbro. That is, from this book's title, I know there are these things called Lost Kitties and that they can be collected. As to how well I am guided in that effort, well, that's another matter.

1:8 Scale ECTO-1 Build-Up to Debut at Official Ghostbusters Fan Fest in June

[June 7, 2019 – New York, NY]  Eaglemoss Hero Collector, designers, manufacturers and publishers of high-quality collectibles from across the many worlds of pop culture, gets all spooky in June when it introduces the Build the Ghostbusters Ectomobile subscription program at the first-ever Ghostbusters Fan Fest, presented by Wizard World at the Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Culver City, California on June 8.

For the first fifteen minutes of BUMBLEBEE, I found myself over-analyzing things. The battle for Cybertron, for instance, was fought between Autobots and Decepticons who transformed themselves into vehicles already. Why? They did not have vehicles there to blend in with, they traveled under their own power, they had programming (in English) that had to have been put in by somebody, and, most distracting, their "mouths" moved when they spoke when their voices were sent through speakers, so there was no reason to use movement to articulate sounds. In fact, being advanced electronics, it was more likely they would communicate directly, wirelessly, through technology akin to Bluetooth.

And then I got it. It wasn't that BUMBLEBEE was cheesy like an 80s movie. It's not that BUMBLEBEE was even an homage to cheesy 80s movies.

Goliath Games proves you don't have to have a completely original concept to introduce an interesting and playable toy. Sometimes, all you need to do is take something that's been around a while--and put a new spin on it.

Granted, it's not the first time someone has set out to renew interest in the basic toy that uses centripetal and centrifugal force (see, it's science!) to entertain children. There have been different takes through the years on the flying disc and the hula hoop.

Of course, this time we are talking about that most primal spinner, The Top!

No, not this classic supervillain from The Flash. The toy you spin and watch. Then spin again and watch again.

It's actually a lot more fun that it sounds.

Retro games have been out on the market for some time now. You can find them in any store's toy aisle, with classic titles like Pac-Man, Asteroids, and others. The catch: they're almost all Plug-and-Play. Which is fine if you don't mind sitting within four feet of the screen.

Enter AtGames and their new line of Flashback Blast!

To illustrate what makes these games different, we ran one of the units through an experienced video game tester.

As kids, we loved new movies not just for the films themselves, but for the inevitable merchandising which would help us reenact some of the thrills at home. Whether through Happy Meals or coloring books, there were dozens of avenues that would help keep us entertained, while building significant profit and interest back in the original property. Often underestimated even to this day, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the most famous merchandising efforts, and the amount of profit and interest they have returned to the starting brand.

Not So Long Ago

Rainbow Brite is one of those pop culture icons of nostalgia that was quite the big deal back in the day, a part of the zeitgeist of the times just as much as Atari arcade games and Rubik's cubes. Where Strawberry Shortcake relied on scents as the selling point, Rainbow Brite was (rather obviously) more color-oriented.

When I saw the Paulina Ganucheau cover, and read the advance promotional material, I hoped this would be a brilliant reboot of the character that would still retain the appeal to an all-ages audience. What I got on the inside was not what I expected, and yet still lives up to my hopes.

The Limited Edition “RWBY Alpha Beowolf Battle Statue” Will Be Available This Holiday

RTX Attendees Get Sneak Peek And Exclusive Buying Opportunity At Con

With an AQUAMAN movie soon to hit theaters, it makes perfect sense that Warner Brothers and LEGO would want to capitalize on the interest with an Aquaman LEGO adventure. AQUAMAN: RAGE OF ATLANTIS finds the sea king (voiced by DEE BRADLEY BAKER) giving up his crown after his half-brother Orm (TREVOR DEVALL) reveals the fine print of the Atlantean constitution declaring only a full-blooded Atlantean can hold the throne. This comes on the heels of Aquaman's humiliating defeat at the hands of Lobo (FRED TATASCIORE) at a dry lake bed known as Area 52, a military installation designed for the simplification of processing alien weaponry, now gone defunct because the simplification process proved overly complicated causing the entire operation to relocate to Rebirth, New Jersey.