Yet another item that you should go buy now (because you just won’t find it come December) is SillyBandz. Simple in design, but an amazing idea. SillyBandz are just like the rubber bracelets from back when I was a kid, but each is 100% molded silicone so when you take it off your wrist it forms the shape of an animal or design!
The other good thing about SillyBandz is that they come in packs of 24 (four each of six designs) so you’ve got some for yourself and some to trade with friends!
Be aware, there are other companies producing “Character Rubber Bands”, of the ones I’ve seen (and purchased) they aren’t all of the same quality as genuine SillyBandz. Real SillyBandz, for example, made it through a trip in the washing machine while some non-Silly Bands did not..
New designs are being released all the time. Be on the lookout for the two newest series, Beach (which are UV activated and change color in the sun!) and Art Fest (which are Tye Die!)
The Spring series is sure to become a collectors item, as it is the first set to have been “Retired” (and if anyone finds the Ocean set, I really want the penguin!)
Robert Croak (of Toledo, Ohio), the “man behind the SillyBandz” (who may or may not be considering an acquisition of Google..) is a regular poster on Twitter and Facebook
More information about SillyBandz can be found at their website as well as company Twitter and Facebook pages.
Occasionally (in the middle of summer) I’ll tell people “Go buy that now and save it for Christmas.” Nine times out of ten I’ll get an odd glare. That one out of ten can’t thank me enough because they didn’t have to spend something ridiculous on ebay because it’s THE toy for Christmas and no one can find it in a store. One of my choices for this year are Sing-A-Ma Jigs by Fisher Price.
There are four to collect and each has it’s own personality. When you squeeze their stomach they open their mouths and sing a note. Squeeze it again and it’ll sing the next note in the song. Hold it and it’ll hold the note.
Each of these collectible critters has three modes of play, allowing them to chatter, sing by themselves, or sing together (in perfect pitch!) if you have more than one.
Those of you not looking at me like I have three heads will thank me in eight months
First up in the many awesome things on display at Toy Fair this year is Fred.
Fred is the little boy you went to elementary school with who will take any dare. We’re not exactly sure what happened to Fred, but his legacy lives on in a board game!
Each Fred game includes 78 cards divided equally between six categories (such as, Torture, Foul, and Spazz)
Each card contains a dare of varying difficulty. If you complete it, you continue. If you don’t, you lose. Certain cards also award ‘credit.’ The object of the game is to collect four credits before being eliminated.
It’s that time of year again. This week Toy Fair is happening in New York City. (It’s not open to the public, sorry!) I always say they can’t outdo themselves, but all of the vendors and the TIA do a simply AMAZING job every year bringing the whole of the toy universe together under one roof! Below is a picture of the opening ceremonies. More fun toy info to follow (I have to fit some sleep in too)
My First Toy
Ok, so this wasn’t my very first toy, I’m sure even I’ll never know what that was, but in cleaning the basement the other day, I found THE toy.
The one toy that is the reason my collection is what it is today.
As a kid I always had horrible luck with toys, every one I wanted was either never produced or impossible to find. Purr-Tenders Duck, Inspector Gadget Doctor Claw, Dick Tracy’s The Blank, (to name only a few..) and Ray Fillet was no exception.. I wanted him, we couldn’t find him.. We looked everywhere, and when he finally did turn up my mom insisted that we buy two. One for me to play with, and one to keep in the package because it was “rare”. Even at the age of 5, every action figure afterwards I insisted that we buy two. One for me to play with, and one to keep in the package. The rest, was history..
Sadly, my mother didn’t quite see it the way I did, and while I still have all of the figures, the packages on a lot of them got ruined.. Some people just will never get it..
More pictures of some of the other Ninja Turtles I found after the jump..
I couldn’t find the item that I wanted to spotlight this week (I’ve got two of them at that..) and instead of just grabbing something else weird and exciting… Please enjoy this photo of my cat..
Toy Story is celebrating an anniversary next year and in celebration Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are being released in theaters in 3D. In preparation for this Thinkway Toys has released a new line of movie accurate toys!
If you couldn’t tell by now, the Aliens are my absolute favorite, and when I saw this set I had to have one (or two or three..)
The aliens are exact replicas based on original movie footage and the exact size the ones in the movie would have been had it not been, you know.. animated..
Each one has it’s own facial expression (which undoubtedly changes when no one is looking)
The set also comes with a Certificate of Authenticity stating that they’re exact movie replicas.
Keep an eye out for the movie accurate Buzz Lightyear, Woody (with 50 different sayings!), AND Bucket of Army Men as well as many other fun Alien items!
This is the start of (what I hope to be) a weekly spotlight on a cool toy from my vast collection. It might be something odd, rare, supercool, or just whatever I happen to have loaded onto my camera..
Today’s falls under the ‘odd’ category, and while I don’t think anyone would have purchased this item for a child, there certainly isn’t enough merchandise out there related to advertising characters! (a lot of what’s out there was never actually released for sale, and gifted to employees, given away through mail-in offers, etc. which makes most advertising characters worth a lot)
Mr. Clean debuted in 1958 and within six months his product became the best-selling household cleaner on the market. He is now known worldwide for his cleaning products, so when looking for something to spotlight, this was obviously my first choice.
Manufactured in 2000 by The Noveltoy company. Mr. Clean was limited to only 100,000 pieces produced (and is numbered on the front of the box) Sadly it looks like the company went out of business before they could produce any other cool Mr. Clean merchandise.
Fun Fact: Mr. Clean’s first name is Veritably (which was chosen as the winner of a 1962 “Name Mr. Clean” Contest)
Mr. Clean gets rid of dirt and grime
And grease in just a minute
Mr. Clean will clean your whole house
And everything that’s in it
Mr. Clean Action Figure by Noveltoy. Produced in 2000. Limited Edition 03061 of 100,000 UPC 814047001599
I’ll admit I knew about these before Toy Fair. My mom has the whole set. But the people at the booth were some of the friendliest at the show, so they’re worth talking about!
Idbids are “Green Toys. Each plush is made from 100% organic cotton colored with all natural dyes. They promote being kind to the earth and taking “iddy biddy steps” which make “a biggie big difference” in saving the earth.
The three plush (Scout the Cloud, Lola the Flower, or Waverly the Raindrop) can be purchased separately or in an “Eco-Friendly Starter Kit” that includes an organic cotton backpack, field guide (which includes 10 iddy biddy steps kids can complete), color storybook, and access to the online portion where kids can receive a certificate of achievement when they complete their iddy biddy steps, as well as choosing which of three charities to help out.
They’re a great gift idea! And they help the earth too! It’s the only one we’ve got! Check them out at Idbids.com!
