SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Mike Shula has a lot of new toys. He got some because the old toys were getting, well, old. He got some because opponents wanted to play with his old toys more than management was willing to pay to keep them. The Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator still is learning everything these new toys can do, but he likes what he's seen so far -- particularly from a certain 6-foot ...
Panthers offense has several new toys
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2014 SDCC Exclusive TMNT Raphael Figure Video Review & Images
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What's Shipping For The Week Of August 13, 2014
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Masters of the Universe Classics Light Hope Figure Video Review & Images
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TMNT 2014 Movie Figures By MintCondition
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REVIEW: The Mythicals – Cthulhu
Background Toronto-based Monster Factory started a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise funds to produce The Mythicals line of handmade plush toys. The Mythicals started as a series of three characters: Spencer the Dragon, Margot the Unicorn, and Louie the Cthulhu. Thanks to hitting a number of stretch goals, they’ve added some yet-to-be-named Mythical characters: […]
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Toy News Roundup: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Transformers’, and More Hot Toys Than Your Wallet Desires
Today is Sunday and it’s time for the another great edition of the Toy News Roundup. Here we round-up all of the most important toy news of the week from our site, and also link you to any toy news...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]![]()
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Toy News Roundup: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Transformers’, and More Hot Toys Than Your Wallet Desires
Today is Sunday and it’s time for the another great edition of the Toy News Roundup. Here we round-up all of the most important toy news of the week from our site, and also link you to any toy news that we didn’t cover. Let’s see what the big toy news was this week, shall we? ACTION […]
Action Figure Fury - Action Figure and Toy News, Reviews, and More!
Toy News Roundup: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Transformers’, and More Hot Toys Than Your Wallet Desires
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This Sweet Steiff Spaniel Is Worthy Of A Crown!
Best of show! Few could argue that Steiff's early canines are truly top dogs! One of Steiffgal's most favorite 1920's-era pooch pattern is that of Charly, the King Charles Spaniel. In real life, this breed was one of the "it" dogs of the 1920's. In addition to being a beloved pet, a "Charly" was often considered a "style accessory," accompanying well dressed society ladies on their important business of the day.
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Steiff introduced Charly in the late 1920's, a time of great creativity at Steiff. Many dog patterns were also debuted around the same time; this was in part due to the overwhelming popularity of the "grandmother of all Steiff dogs," Molly the puppy, who debuted in 1925. The original Steiff Charly was produced both sitting (10, 14, 17, 22, 25, 30, and 35 cm) and standing (7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 22, 25, and 36 cm); the two versions were head-jointed only. Charly dogs were made from light brown or orange-tipped mohair and white mohair; had extremely long fuzzy ears; large, childlike brown and black-pupil eyes; a very detailed facial seam structure; and a prominent tail. Their filling was soft kapok, meaning that they were lighter in weight and more cuddly than other animals stuffed with crunchy excelsior. Sitting and standing Charly appeared in the line overall through 1939. You can see examples of sitting and standing Charly dogs here on the left.
Knowing a good thing when they saw it, the designers at Steiff recognized that Charly would be a great source for “theme and variation” product introductions, due to his popularity with collectors. As a result, he appeared in various forms throughout the line through 1940 or so. Highlights included:
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A pin cushion, in two styles - a sitting and standing version. Both were mounted on a square mohair pincushion—the sitting version was produced from 1929 through 1932, and the standing version was produced from 1930 through 1932. The standing version is pictured above; the photo is from Christie's.
A puppet. Charly was produced as a 17 cm mohair puppet from 1928 through 1939. If you click here, you will go to a page where you can see a number of Charly puppets and others from the same time frame. This collection website is one of Steiffgal's most favorite; the treasures are truly phenomenal and very well displayed!
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Musical animals. Steiff produced musical Charly dogs in both sitting and standing styles from 1928 through 1931 overall. The sitting musical Charly was made in 17 and 22 cm. His music box was activated by squeezing his sides. For some smaller versions of the standing musical Charly, his music box was a bit more unusual; in order to play the music you would pull the tail, not wind it. Steiffgal cannot think of another Steiff music box character that was activated this way. Standing musical Charly was produced in 17, 22, and 25 cm; a medium sized standing musical Charly is shown above. The photo is from Christies.
Tiny 10 cm woolen Nomotta woolen miniatures. These were made in both sitting and standing patterns from 1935 through 1937 overall. Their bodies were "pom-pom" style while their ears were made from mohair and were lined in felt. Despite their demunitive size, these petite treats were distinctly "Spaniel" with their dear looks and prominent tails!
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A charming child's purse. Charly Purse was produced in 22 and 25 cm from 1927 through 1940; in this version, Charly was head jointed and his belly was hollow like a pouch and lined in velvet. You can see the Steiff's original Charly purse is shown above. It is interesting to note that this purse was reissued as a North American Limited edition replica in 2005. For more about this fun and functional item, please click here!
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A pajama bag. Charly Nachthemdentasche or "Charly Night Dress Bag" was produced in 30 cm from 1930 through 1935. In this version, Charly's head was sewn onto a 30 cm x 30 cm mohair zippered bag that was designed to hold children's sleeping clothes during the day. This unusual item is shown above; the photograph is from Pfeiffer's Steiff 1892-1943 Sortiment.
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And perhaps the rarest Charly of all - a Pupp Animal Doll. This version was 28 cm and dressed in a playful purple outfit. He appeared in the line only from 1929 through 1930. In 2010, a Pupp Charly realized over $8,300 at auction at Christie's in London; he is pictured above.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's wonderful Charly dogs has made you feel like King for the day.
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
A puppet. Charly was produced as a 17 cm mohair puppet from 1928 through 1939. If you click here, you will go to a page where you can see a number of Charly puppets and others from the same time frame. This collection website is one of Steiffgal's most favorite; the treasures are truly phenomenal and very well displayed!
Tiny 10 cm woolen Nomotta woolen miniatures. These were made in both sitting and standing patterns from 1935 through 1937 overall. Their bodies were "pom-pom" style while their ears were made from mohair and were lined in felt. Despite their demunitive size, these petite treats were distinctly "Spaniel" with their dear looks and prominent tails!
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's wonderful Charly dogs has made you feel like King for the day.
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
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SDCC 2014: So So Happy/Skelanimals
The San Diego Comic-Con booth belonging to So So Happy and Skelanimals was split in half, with each brand taking up a wing of the long set of tables. Much of So So Happy's merchandise was apparel with a few character backpacks, plushes and those cosplay onesies we saw previously at this year's WonderCon. The onesies are now also made to cover the Skelanimals characters along with So So Happy's host of monsters. It was pretty fun to see fans walk up to the booth dressed in them. They got such special attention; it was sweet! One of the hottest items on So So Happy's side was a limited edition iJustine-themed hoodie. The Skelanimals portion was host to the booth's con-exclusive, the Cute-as-Hell Diego plush, along with other goodies like the die-cut Kit purse, which seemed very popular.
Check out our gallery to see more of what the booth had in store!
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Contest Time: Win Adventure Time's Changing Faces BMO
What time is it? Contest time!
Ok, I had to write that. Now that it's out of my system I feel better. Yes, now that it's August, we're having another contest to shower our readers with toys.
As you can see, this month's prize comes from the wacky cartoon, Adventure Time. Thanks to Shadow of the Nerd, we have a Changing Faces BMO figure to give to one lucky reader. So since BMO is a cute game system, our theme for this contest will be video games.
To win, all you have to do is leave a comment answering, What are some of your favorite video games? Get your comments in by August 17.
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Mikuzukin doesn't seem to be scared of wolves
Last spotted at WonFes, Max Factory's Mikuzukin figure now has two proper previews. You can see some promo shots of her on the figma blog, and another gallery at Kahotan's Blog. I've been looking forward to this figure even before it got a paint job, and I'm not disappointed at all.
Mikuzukin (a portmanteau of Miku and Akazukin, the Japanese name for Red Riding Hood) is a design featured in Project Diva 2nd. It's a wonderful reinterpretation of Miku, putting her in an extremely cute outfit - and the skirt's just short enough to show the all-important zettai ryouiki. Jump on over to Kahotan's Blog or the official Max Factory preview to see all the little details. She'll be up for pre-order soon, and yeah... I'm getting in on that for sure!
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Release Details from Science Patrol
Science Patrol has announced some details about several of their upcoming vinyl releases (all expected to be released later this month). All of these figures are made in Japan and are Japanese soft vinyl. They're produced and painted by Science Patrol. The red lantern looking guy (left) is Monochochin. This is the red "Izakaya" colorway. […]
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Transformers Expo 2014 - Prime 1 Studio Products Display Images Optimus Prime, Grimlock, New Busts, More
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More images are in from Transformers Expo 2014 with looks a the Prime 1 Studio Products display at the show. Get a look at images of their large scale products featuring Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Bumblebee, Starscream and the movie style Matrix. They are also showing some looks at new smaller figure statues and what appear to busts that will be coming soon. Read on to see all the new products and other shots from what looks to be an amazing event.
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New Images Bold Forms BF-01 Gladius Not-Megatron Triple Changer Prototype
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Just in are some images of the Bold Forms BF-01 Gladius Not-Megatron Triple Changer! Get a look at the prototype and design shows for the triple changing Voyager sized Megatron! The G1 stuled figure turns from robot to tank to handgun that is reported to be highly articulated. Read on to see the first looks at the figure.
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Mastermind Creations Spartan Reformatted Concept Images Reveal New Not Impactor Project
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MMC announced a new figure at Auto Assembly this weekend. His name is Spartan, and not IMpactor. He shares the same basic design as MMC's upcoming Commotus figure, with an alternate mode inspired by the Metal Slug video game.
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Wonder Festival 2014 Summer: Good Smile Company - miscellaneous
Continuing with Good Smile Company's (and associates) apparently near-infinite display at WonFes, we arrive at some Attack on Titan figures and a bunch of Sonicos.
GSC usually does a decent job with Sonico figures in that I don't hate them outright. This year you can see Sonicos from Wing, Gift, and Max Factory among others. There's even a Pochaco that isn't terrible!
Moving on to Attack on Titan, you can see the upcoming Eren Yeager and Levi to go along with Mikasa. It'll probably be a close contest between these and Kotobukiya's entries. I think I like the poses on Koto's figures better, but both sets look awesome. GSC also has that freaky-looking Colossan Titan. It looks like this will be a super-large-scale figure, which is fitting. Still I wish it had legs.
Other highlights include Max Factory's Guts and Femto from Berserk, both of which look awesome. Kristina also got some shots of some mecha, which isn't normally in the GSC repertoire. Check out the gallery for more!
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Toy Review - Transformers Generations Voyager Sky-Byte
The dub for Robots in Disguise in 2001 grabbed a lot of people's attention while it aired, but little has had ongoing staying power with most fans. Sky-Byte is one such element, thanks in no small part to the voice performance of Peter Spellos. Having previously been updated in a Botcon box set, as well as getting a new life in IDW's comic continuity, the character's popularity is well acknowledged. It's not too surprising for Sky-Byte to get a retail update in the 30th anniversary Generations line, but was Voyager really the right size class to put it in...? Keep reading!
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Arc Clone Trooper: Echo Phase II Armor
Sideshow Collectibles has announced another sixth scale Clone Trooper from their Militaries of Star Wars collection. The Arc Clone Trooper: Echo Phase II Armor is available to pre-order for $149.99 and is expected to ship in May 2015. Given the official designation CT-21-0408, the Clone Trooper known as ‘Echo’ earned his nickname early on for […]
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Top Aust bike stunt talent headed to Big Boys Toys
Big Boys Toys continues to ramp up the action with the announcement that Yamaha sponsored Aussie street bike stunt-rider Dave Mckenna will be topping the bill in the Action Arena for 2014. 26 year old Dave Mckenna is a legend-in-the-making, voted Australia’s #1 freestyle stunt rider for making his Yamaha MT-09 perform extreme stunts on almost any piece of track, tarmac or street venue. Big Boys ...
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