Last week a couple of people from Bust Magazine attended a My Little Pony party at the Chelsea Art Museum. All of Hasbro’s My Little Ponies were in one room with the wine and food, so that was the first stop on the party train. In another room were the ‘25 Ponies for 25 Years‘ - ponies created by pop culture celebs to be auctioned off by CharityFolks.com in support of Give Kids The World Village. Check out some of my favorite designs:
Designers:
1. Toki Doki
2.Kimora Lee Simmons
3. Catalina Estrada
4. Claw Money
5. Junko Mizuno
6. Junie Moon
It’s hard to believe that GUND has been around for over a century! Since 1898, GUND has been creating unique, high quality teddy bears and other plush animals. GUND is the leading soft toy manufacturer in the U.S.
German immigrant Adolf Gund founded the company in 1898 in Norwalk, Connecticut, and GUND was one of the first companies to design and produce teddy bears in the early 1900’s.
GUND’s trademarked under-stuffing technique makes their plushes extra soft and huggable. GUND has always been committed to product safety, and the company set an important industry standard by devising a way to attach eyes securely to plush animals, preventing them from being pulled out by small children.
In the 1980’s the famous GOTTA GETTA GUND advertising campaign led to the company’s recognition as a leading consumer brand. Today the company makes all kinds of unique characters and licensed plush under the GUND and GUNDbaby brands.
Wondering how you can clean your GUND stuffed plush? The company has provided detailed Cleaning Instructions to ensure that your GUND always looks its best.
For the past couple of days I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my newest favorite plush toys - Plaja Pets! Jason from Small World Toys was kind enough to send me a bunch of the mini versions and two of the large versions to review. I didn’t know what to expect, as I wasn’t sure what toy I was going to receive to review from Small World Toys. So I was more than just a bit surprised to open the box and see plush animals with detached heads and tails!
The award-winning Plaja Pets are the newest addition to the Small World Toys collection. Plaja Pets are plush toys with play value. Not only can they be mixed and matched, but you can stick a head or a tail on the refrigerator door or anything else magnetic.
I should have known what to expect when I left my boyfriend alone for five minutes with the new toys:
He just couldn’t resist, and proceeded to create all sorts of cute-crazy creatures by tearing off the heads and tails of these furry cuties. Plaja Pets are designed with detachable heads and tails (using embedded magnets) so that kids (and grown-up kids) can mix and match as they please.
Plaja Pets were voted as one of the “Most Unique Toys of 2007” on About.com, and the company was the iParenting Media Award Winner in 2007.
Each Plaja Pet has a unique name and story that tells about their life on the Plaja Islands. Kids love to read these little stories about their new unique toy. Visit www.plajapets.com to mix and match your own electronically or see photos of the Plaja Pets all around the world!
Plaja Pets come in a large (8”) and miniature (4”) size and are great for anyone over the age of 3 (the magnetic tails are a choking hazard). I’m also seeing the possibility of another use for adults - a stress reliever! Just rip off a head or a tail! I’m sure it’ll make you feel better (even if you immediately feel bad and put it back, like I did).
You can read more about Plaja Pets and their creators in the story published by Amanda Reinarts of MSU, “The Peddlers of Plush”.
Here are a few pictures of my Plaja Pets:
Mini Plaja Pets:
Large Plaja Pets:
Vappu the Goldfish
Dermot the Rabbit
Which Plaja Pet is your favorite?
Join the Fashion Angels as they travel around the world! These magnetic playsets are perfect for fun for kids ages 4+ on the go. Each collectible magnetic tin comes with 80 magnetic fashions, 4 scenes and a storage pouch, so your child can spend hours creating fashionable ensembles without losing pieces along the way.
On October 23, 1958 the Smurfs made their first appearance in a story of Johan & Peewit in “Le Journal de Spirou”. Their creator Peyo had worked previously at a number of drawing jobs. But the introduction of the Smurfs into Spirou would change his life.
At first, the Smurfs were just secondary characters. But they soon became stars in their own right. After a few mini-albums, their tales began to appear as full albums. Then the film “The Smurfs and the Magic Flute” appeared, with music by Michel Legrand (he also sang in the chorus !).
Music provided the next big step also, when the Dutch singer Vader Abraham released the first Smurf single. It was a massive hit in Belgium and Holland, followed by the rest of the world. Soon, figurines, plushes, toys, (hit) records and above all the TV shows brought them right around the world. In 1981, the celebrated cartoon duo Hanna & Barbera (who created Tom & Jerry and later the Flinstones and Yogi Bear) started work on a TV series for the NBC network in the USA. No fewer than 256 episodes were produced, which are currently showing in roughly 30 countries.
Although their creator Pierre Culliford - better known as Peyo - is no longer with us since Christmas 1992, the Smurfs have never been so popular. Over 10 million copies of Smurf CDs have been sold in the last 3 years alone. The books, activity books, figurines and toys are amongst the most popular in the world. The TV series is regularly re-issued as video collections in dozens of languages, as well as CD-i and in storybook form.
And with the new style and the increasing range of Smurfimedia coming out, the little blue men are sure to have plenty of surprises for fans in the years to come. -Smurfs.com
Celebrate the Smurfs’ birthday this year by buying your favorite Smurf figurine!
Judo Smurf Figurine
Blue Cottage Figurine
After the recent release of Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, kids are clamoring for Indiana Jones toys. Hasbro created toys so that kids can pretend to be Indy. The new toys include the iconic Indy whip, a sword and a cool playset among others. Here are a few of the Indiana Jones - themed toys that were released this year.
continue reading "Indiana Jones Toys"
The National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention has arrived here in Kansas City. Now if you’ve read my previous article about Barbie and Bratz, you know that I am not a big fan. However, in light of the convention being in town, I thought it would be fitting to talk about Barbie doll history (it’s quite interesting).
Although I still believe she gives girls the wrong idea about how they should look, I also believe that Barbie has come quite a long way. From instructing girls to lose weight by not eating (1965 Slumber Party Barbie) to undergoing physical changes to be more realistic (1997) to portraying independent, professional women, Barbie is far from the girl she used to be.
On a side note, before we launch into Barbie facts, do you have some ideas for alternatives to Barbie dolls? If so, please leave your thoughts at the bottom of this post.
continue reading "Fascinating Toy History: Barbie"
I have to admit, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that as a child, I had an ungodly amount of stuffed animals. At the peak of my stuffed animal collecting, I had over 250 furry friends! My favorite brand of stuffed animal was Pound Puppies, made by Tonka. The Pound Puppies craze led to a TV special, an animated TV series, a feature film, and other offshoots of the brand, including Pound Purries and Pound Ponies. But I never thought that any of the additional products measured up to the classic cuteness of the original Pound Puppies.
With their droopy eyes and floppy ears, what’s not to love? I still get warm fuzzies when I see Pound Puppies. The first one my parents bought me was a little wrinkly brown dog with round ears, as pictured below (first row, bottom left).
I used to drag him around by a shoestring, letting my cat chase him. Twisted, I know. When my mom got a real dog, I was crushed to find my precious puppy’s face chewed off! Luckily, my mom went out and bought an identical Pound Puppies toy so that I would have my pack of Pound Puppies back intact (I had all of the variations).
Retroland does a fantastic job of detailing the history of Pound Puppies. The Pound Puppies were discontinued but they re-emerged in 1996, winning the affection of fans yet again. They continue to fetch high prices on the collector market to this day – proving yet again that a dog, especially a cuddly stuffed version that doesn’t need food or a walk (and will let you drag it around your house all day by a shoestring), is truly man’s best friend. They even have the power to rescue someone from the monotony of daily adult life.
Check out the official Pound Puppies website. While you’re there, you can adopt virtual puppies and interact with them online for free.
I want a Munny. I want a Munny very badly, actually.
Most of you are probably going, “What the heck is a Munny?” And that’s not surprising. Unless you’re already into designer figures or you frequent comic book stores, you’re probably not on the up-and-up when it comes to the urban vinyl toy craze.
Worry not, faithful readers. I am here to educate.
continue reading "Grown-Up Toys: the Art Toy Movement"
If you were a little girl in the 80’s, chances are you owned a My Little Pony figurine or two. Or twelve.
Between my older sister and myself, our room probably housed somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or so. Some of those were dupes, though, because we’d fight over certain ones (particularly any of the Twinkle-Eyes ponies). We also had the movie on VHS, and would watch the TV show before school while we ate our breakfast. I vaguely recall having a My Little Ponies lunch box as well (with matching Thermos, natch).
According to Hasbro, the colorful plastic ponies were first released in 1982 and enjoyed immense popularity throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, even outselling Mattel’s Barbie line at one point. The toys were discontinued in 1992 in the U.S., but were re-launched globally in 2003 and have enjoyed steady popularity for the last five years.
continue reading "Toys We’d Forgotten We Loved: Episode 2- My Little Ponies"
