Working at the Brunswick Centre today. I feel like I’m floating on thin air in the display rac
17th February 2015
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Hot Wheels Grand Prix
"Set up your Hot Wheels Grand Prix today. Then throw out the the challenge. See if Dad can stand the pace."
For more stories behind some of your favorite toys visit Toy Tales.
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Sideshow features the brutish Igor in their video showcase
Iron Man 3 had a veritable smorgasbord of armors, which of course means plenty of fodder for Hot Toys' 1/6-scale line of Iron Man figures. Sideshow has recently uploaded a video of the Mark XXXVIII (38 to you non-Romans) armor, nicknamed "Igor."
If you're a table top gamer, you might see a suspicious resemblance between Igor and a Space Marine Terminator from Warhammer 40,000. I'm not in the business of throwing out wild accusations, so I'll just say there was probably some "inspiration" going on.
The figure itself looks great. It sports LED parts (eyes, arc reactor, palm repulsors), articulated flaps, and articulated fingers. For more information, check out the product page at Hot Toys.
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International Toy Fair 2015: McFarlane Toys Booth
What do WWE, The Walking Dead and Spawn have in common? That's right, McFarlane Toys, and they're next up as we return to our Toy Fair coverage for the last few reports.
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International Toy Fair 2015: Hasbro's Disney Descendants And Friendship Games
We couldn't quite sneak in the last two reports from our Toy Fair coverage before midnight, but for any night-owls out there, our penultimate image gallery is for Hasbro's Disney Descendants, featuring the sons and daughters of Disney Villains, and also the dolls for the Equestria Girls: Friendship Games movie.
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International Toy Fair 2015: Mattel Sneak Peek Event Part II
And so we come to the last of our Toy Fair coverage, which as it turns out, was one of the first galleries we shot! Check out part II of the Mattel Sneak Peek Event to see pictures of Classic Batman toys, Hot Wheels, Mega Bloks and Minions!
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Factory Entertainment: Royal Crown Of The Houses Baratheon & Lannister Prop Replica Pre-Order
Game of Thrones is back on our screens in a couple of months, and what better way to show your allegiance to the Houses Baratheon & Lannister by pre-ordering the Royal Crown prop-replica from Factory Entertainment?
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Sideshow Collectibles: Batman, Punisher And Court Of The Dead Premium Art Prints Available Next Week
Going up for pre-order next Monday, 23rd February, are three more premium art prints from Sideshow Collectibles. Punisher: Brutal Justice and Batman: Sentinel of Gotham, both by Ariel Olivetti and Oglavaeil: The Executioner by Fabian 'Monk' Schlaga, are all 18×24" hand-numbered, limited edition gallery art prints and all three come with an authorized penciled artist signature and embossed seal of authenticity as well as other select features.
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S.H. Figuarts Injustice Superman: Pictures Among Us
Announced at New York Toy Fair 2015, the next Injustice: Gods Among Us S.H. Figuarts is: Superman. Though now Bandai gives us some official pictures of this murderous dictator in some familiar poses. While we don't have a very clear shot of his cape, I can see from the cuts that it will articulate like the Ultra-Act capes. There appears to be three different heads: normal face, clenched teeth death preparation, and screaming-killing-rampage. I'm confident this will have plenty of hands, but you may need to pick up an extra flight stand for super poses.
I'm not sold on the Injustice concept so much, but there should be plenty of fans happy to see this line-crossing iteration of the ultimate superhero. The designers stuck pretty close to the costume (pointy shoulders!), but the face doesn't seem to accurately represent the game's model. Then again, neither did the Batman and Joker figures (and here's the Harley Quinn who is closer to model than all these). And that's fine, this is definitely a more stylized version to fit closer to what S.H. Figuarts typically sculpts.
The articulation and layout for this figure is perfect for the Man of Tomorrow, and his flight poses in the pictures look fantastic. I sincerely hope Bandai can find a way to make a more classic version, though that would be a very tough sell given domestic licenses that probably extend worldwide. Bandai is claiming a July 2015 release with an MSRP of ¥6,264 (around $53).
[Via Tamashii Nations]
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Mattel Disney Planes Fire & Rescue: Disney Store Blazin’ Blade Ranger
The Disney Store Blazin’ Blade Ranger is another nice all-metal diecast. Thanks “John H.” for the great photos. All metal body. The regular Blade Ranger has a removeable gas tank. there is also a Mattel one coming … Thanks for the great pics, “John H.” Tweet This Post
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The History Of Faceless Dolls - Updated February 2015 - Part II - Amish Dolls
The Amish have strong religious beliefs which influence their daily lives. Their dress is plain and simple and so are the dolls they make for their children. According to the Amish tradition, the Bible says that you are not supposed to make anything that is in the image or likeness of a male or female. For that reason the dolls are "faceless" like those depicted in the picture of the "Amish Doll Patterns By Jan Steffy Mast" book to the left.In some Amish homes even "faceless" dolls were forbidden. Instead of a doll the children were given a piece of wood wrapped in a blanket. Since very few toys were allowed in an Amish household, boys and girls both played with the dolls. Both boy and girl dolls were made.
If you were to examine an old Amish doll you might see 4 or 5 layers of cloth on the head or the body. If the doll became too dirty, ripped or worn then it was covered with a new piece of material.
On the Welcome To Lancaster County website you'll find traditional Amish dolls, like those shown in the picture to the right, sold in Lancaster Country, Pennsylvania.According to their website, "These unique dolls tend to be rag dolls with the unusual characteristic being that they are not depicted with a face."
"It is not known for sure why these Amish toys are faceless. The most commonly accepted explanation is that the Amish religion prohibits Amish people from being photographed for fear that doing so would encourage vanity and other frowned upon behavior."
"The dolls are always depicted with traditional Amish clothing. Amish children never have the option of dressing their dolls in exotic and colorful dresses, outfits, and bathing suits as is common with mainstream children dolls such as Barbie."
"Likewise, depicting these traditional Amish crafts sans face, discourages individuality over the common good of the Amish community."
"Contrary to this theory that the Amish religion is the cause for the dolls to be faceless, there have been found Amish dolls with faces sewn on or drawn on. These dolls date as far back as the early 1900s. Although the origin of the faceless rag doll may never be known for sure, they remain today associated with the culture of the Amish people."
Most Amish women have been making dolls (faceless and with faces) for their children for generations. This tradition has become a cottage industry for the Amish community. The picture top and right is of a popular "faceless" Amish boy and girl doll.
Over 20 years ago I bought a similar set of "faceless" Amish dolls. My dolls had on burgundy and black outfits but, pretty much, looked like the picture. I would have included a picture of my two "faceless" Amish dolls in this article but I can't remember where they are right now. They're here somewhere.
According to the Amish Dolls page of Wikipedia.com, "Amish dolls are a type of rag doll and a popular form of American folk art, which originated as children's toys among the Old Order Amish people. While some Amish dolls have faces, the best-known ones do not to emphasize the fact that all are alike in the eyes of God."I ran across several reasons for the Amish dolls being faceless. While no one knows for sure there are several explanations.
One is that a young Amish doll was given a doll by her teacher and when she brought that doll home her father replaced the dolls head with an old sock. He told her that "Only God can make people." Since then the dolls have been faceless.
The other version to this is that the doll with a face was given to a young Amish girl at Christmas. Her father became enraged and cut the dolls head off replacing it with a sock saying, "Only God can make people."
While most of the faceless Amish dolls are generally thought to look like those in the picture above to the left there is an earlier version of the Amish dolls that were designed and sold by Lizzie Lapp (1860–1932) of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Her dolls did not have hats or bonnets, had hourglass shapes to their body versus the are best recognized by the hourglass shape to their bodies, and, sometimes, mittens for hands.
Her dolls are very difficult to find. I was able to find the doll pictured to the right on the Garthoeffner Gallery website.Following is the website description for this doll:
16” Tall, Circa 1910; by Lizzie Lapp, a well known Amish doll maker known for her dolls with mitten hands. This doll is one of those without the mitten hands but has the original dress, socks and upturned feet with original face. This doll came out of an old collection just two days ago where it had been for 40 years.
Clothes for most Amish dolls were very bland. Solid colored fabrics may have been cotton, linen, muslin and wool. Sometimes the dresses and outfits were made from old worn clothing - old dresses and shirts. The dolls may have been stuffed with old rags or, once on awhile, straw. The dolls could be either hand sewn or machine sewn. It is not uncommon to see multiple layers of fabric on the head or body of the doll when it got worn. Antique Amish dolls are highly collectible and would be well worn, probably dirty from wear and tear, and with multiple layers of fabric.
I found the doll pictured to the left on the Rubylane.com website. Her description is as follows:Beautiful early Amish doll from late 19th C. or very early 20th C. She is 12" in height with a rag stuffed body and layers of fabric for her round, pumpkin-type head. Some are cut away. From Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, she wears an early dark red wool dress with mother of pearl buttons and applied bands as cuff decoration. Girls' dresses button in the back so at some point she got turned around. Blue rags are visible in her heavy body. Looks like she has old, replaced limbs that were soft stuffed and made in different twill. She probably received heavy play and was made new again for successive generations. What a special doll in her Cranberry dress ! Item ID: 1650
The faceless Amish doll in the picture to the right is also from the Rubylane.com website. Her description is as follows:Here is a nice, large vintage Amish doll from the Midwest with dated label and detailed construction, that is rag stuffed, i.e. homemade. Era: Dated 1960 on original tag Height: 18“ Construction Fabric/Stuffing: Rags are 1950-60's dress scraps. Body-shape, Hands, Feet: applied muslin stub hands to rectangle body, applied boot feet in black taffeta. Body made up of used poly twill with numbers written on it. Head, Hair: cotton flannel gathered ball, i.e. pumpkin head, floppy and heavy. Clothing: original 2 piece child-style Charcoal grey poly pleated dress and matching apron, poly blend patterned black bonnet. Provenance: "Amish-made" in Midwest. In Very Good condition, some soil on hands, over 50 years old. The Amish are just not making dolls like this anymore. All are poly fill stuffing with simple designs for mass production. Item ID: 1631
Stay tuned for The History Of Faceless Dolls - Updated February 2015 - Part III - Marafona Dolls of Portugal.
Part 1 - Corn Husk Dolls and Native American Indian Faceless Dolls
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Star Wars – $27 BILLION & Counting
FastCo has a nice infographic on Star Wars, the money printing machine. Tweet This Post
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set database: LEGO 1560 glory glider
set database: LEGO 1560 glory glider
image courtesy of peeron
image courtesy of bricklink
image courtesy of dgood55
set number: 1560set name: glory glider
theme: town, airport, kellog's, promotional
year: 1990
pieces: 23
price: us$na
minifig: 1
nice town set.
kellog's promotional set
polybag version.
come with a glider.
minifig included a pilot minifig.
great playability.
overall design is great.
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round about: virtual giggles & colorful log smiles
It was the week that was. Not much happened really. The frigid temperatures remained below freezing 24/7. In fact, they remained almost entirely in the single digits. The same dang project I was hoping to finish on Monday is still unfinished as of this post. Several emails still await my reply. I’m really not sure […]
The post round about: virtual giggles & colorful log smiles appeared first on Small for Big.
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Will This Downgrade Hurt Hasbro (HAS) Stock Today?
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ToyBacker Launches First-Ever Crowdfunding Site Dedicated to the Toy Industry
ToyBacker has launched toybacker.com, the first crowd-funding site dedicated solely to the toy industry. The site will serve as a hub for creative toy innovators of all types to share their ideas, gather funding, and bring their products to fruition with the financial support of the consumer. “As crowd-funding companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have [...]
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Transformers: The Movie To Be Shown At Egyptian Theatre In Los Angeles With GI Joe: The Movie - Crew Members To Attend!
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If you're in the LA area on Saturday, March 7th, you may want to see about getting tickets to The Transformers: The Movie! The Egyptian Theatre will be showing the 1986 film in a double-feature with GI Joe: The Movie from the following year. Also in attendance will be crew members from both films, including TF:TM's story consultant Flint Dille. But perhaps most interestingly, while the GI Joe movie will be shown from a Blu-Ray source, Transformers will use a 35mm print of the film! Keep reading for more info!
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Easter Geekwok
Rich Page (UME Toys) will be releasing a special GeekWok just in time for Easter. The Easter Geekwok is a limited edition of 10 pieces worldwide. Each one comes with custom made rabbit ears and one off easter eggs. The 3-inch tall resin is hand painted and signed on the base. If you're interested in picking one up, […]
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Barclays Downgrades Hasbro Despite Anticipation For 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'
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Q&A with Willie Wilkov, Chief Marketing Officer, Tomy International
The Toy Book (TTB): Which licenses do you anticipate will be key drivers in 2015? Willie Wilkov (WW): 2015 is a big year on the license front for Tomy. We are proud to have the opportunity to work with Disney on two new Disney•Pixar movie properties–Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur– as well as the new Disney [...]
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