Although Toy Geek didn’t get to attend Toy Fair 2011 in New York this year (*sob*) I have been keeping a close eye on the coverage. And overall… well, it’s about what you would expect. The tech toys are making all of the geeks drool; movie tie-ins are dominating the scene (”Cars 2″, “The Smurfs” and the third “Transformers” all come out this year; and everyone wants to take pictures of the Lego statues.
A few bits of buzz I’ve been hearing: Hasbro’s new electronic version of Monopoly falls a little flat, having done away with the play money and adding a “Big Brother-ish infrared tower that acts very much like an airport control tower, telling all the players what to do when.” That doesn’t exactly scream fun to me.
And the superheros are out in full force. Promotions for “Green Lantern,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Thor” included piles of merchandise, including action figures, boards games and movie collectibles. The stars themselves even came out to check out the goods.
And, like everything else in the world, Toy Fair 2011 has indeed fallen ill with “Bieber fever.” The Biebs’ merchandise includes the Justin Bieber Real Hairstyle doll and the Justin Bieber Rockin’ Tour Bus and stage Concert playset.
What will they think of next?
