Autobots, transform and...cuddle?

This blog keeps getting ignored for many reasons; none of them particularly good. Apologies to my reader!

Just briefly, while Transformers 4 is still in theaters, I want to highlight my favorite Transformers thing that I own. Granted, I don't really have a lot of objects to choose from, but I'm pretty sure that this would be my favorite even if I did. I give you: Slumblebee

This is a 2007 plush, yet still transformable, version of Bumblebee produced for the first live action film.  I love this thing! Most Transformers toys cannot be described as huggable, so I quite like this toy's ability to do something different with a character who is more likely to be metal and pointy. He was a birthday present and he spends most of his time as a robot, which makes his car form a bit rumpled, but that's okay.

They also produced Softimus Prime!

Labbits

 Let's talk about big kid toys. I don't have much in the way of collectible toys (aimed at adult collectors rather than children), but possibly my favorite of the ones I do own are from Kid Robot. Specifically, I love Frank Kozik's Happy Labbits. My labbit was a gift several years ago from a friend. We first saw them in our local record store and not long after that, Evan the labbit was given to me. There are several versions of this figure, each having a different selection of objects that can be placed in its mouth. Mine has a popsicle, a hot dog, a bit of plant, and a gas mask.

 I much prefer Happy Labbits over Smorkin' Labbits, but they all have their charms, I suppose. While we're on the subject of labbits, I have a small plush blind box one as well. As you can see, it's purple and has a mustache. I see from the website that they have expanded the facial hair offerings of labbits to beards as well as mustaches. I confess that I prefer my original vinyl labbit.



 Kid Robot also sells the Yummy World (formerly Yummy Breakfast/Dessert) of Heidi Kenney. I have one of these as well: a small, fuzzy strawberry. I admit that in buying this blind box, I was hoping to acquire the waffle, but they are all pretty cute for sentient food toys.

Pop? POP!

The downward spiral of collecting is the phrase "well, maybe just one won't hurt." Sometimes I look at the list of Funko POP! figures I think I would like to have and I wonder how much longer it will be before they all invade my house and refuse to part with their nice, very space-consuming boxes. Currently, I have just one POP figure. I've been watching this trend for a while, seeing Funko end up with more and more character licenses. Some of them are cute, some of them are creepy, but they are certainly very popular. Their distinctive beady (usually black) eyes are certainly a big part of what gives them their charm and/or their creepiness factor, depending on your perspective. After much consideration, following the uttering the phrase "well, maybe just one won't hurt," I settled on the newly released Ghost from the 3rd series of Game of Thrones figures (#19).

I'm not finished with the book series yet, but I'm fond of the Starks and their wolves, and choosing red-eyed Ghost as my (first? only??) POP figure was easy. I have to admit that I am quite pleased with him. He is not a bobble head, but you can change his head's positioning. The detail in his fur is great, and he has nice balance despite his seemingly top-heavy design. (back) I admit that he's the kind of toy that is tempting model for photo expeditions (small, sturdy, distinctive). I don't know how long Ghost will be the only POP figure in my collection, but I'm quite pleased with him!

Animagic...al

Sometimes I go to toy stores and I find something for $5 that I know absolutely nothing about and still have to buy immediately. This is how I acquired a pack of Animagic Rescue Pets. The website for the brand is here. Animagic comes to us from the UK's Vivid Toys and Games.

The pack gives you 5 plastic animals, all of which feature an "injury" spot that disappears with the application of heat (AKA your finger).  I was drawn to these toys mostly for the rabbit, and I sorted through the sets to find which other pets besides that particular rabbit I liked the best.  This particular cat and dog sold me on this package.  The sets are assorted, rather than being figures #1-5 in package A, #6-10 in package B etc.  The reverse side of the packaging lists all the possible pets.

This earns an A in packaging from me! Always tell the customers what the options are!!

It looks like I've gotten Flopsy, Daisy, Millie, and Biscuit.  You can probably count, so you may notice that this is only 4 pets rather than 5.  That's because the 5th one is the real reason I had to buy this set: it's hiding in this box:

This little cardboard carrier has a lot of detail printed on it and surely would provide a lot of play value after it has stopped serving its purpose as a blind box.  Fun fact: I can very nearly get all 5 of the animals in this box, though not while it's closed! Let's find out what's in the mystery box...

Yep, it's a pink, metallic rabbit!  I was a bit surprised to find this waiting for me inside the box, but I'm pleased with it.  It also makes me wonder if all of the mystery pets are metallic and/or pink.  I quite like this set, though I think the scale of the horse/pony is a bit strange, and I do wonder about the wisdom of the color changing injuries (i.e. if the discoloration were activated by cold and removed with heat, the animals could appear healthy during normal play, rather than injured UNLESS heat is applied).  The commercial for them is here.

Tiny, Squishy Squinkies

I resisted Squinkies for a long time. No, really, I did.  They are small and there are lots of characters and licenses in the line, which is normally like a siren song for me, but I held out for a while.  Until I stumbled on the Pixar animal pack.  Oddly, the piece that made me HAVE TO BUY this is the one piece OF COURSE I couldn't find for photos: the balloon basket from Up!

Kevin and Dug!  Plus Nemo, Squirt, Flick, and Atta

And once I had these in my hands, I spotted another pack of Disney creatures, so they came with me, too.  I am not the most hardcore Disney fanatic, but a lot of the animal-centric movies were my childhood favorites, as well as all the toys made to go with them.  You should see my 101 Dalmatians collection...

Squinkies come in tiny spheres that are easy to open and close. They are vaguely reminiscent of the clear plastic bubbles that vending machine toys tend to come in; a similarity which Blip Toys hasn't ignored, producing a number of bubblegum machine type storage toys for these figures.  The major difference is that vending machine bubbles are never easy to open and close. (So many childhood finger injuries...)

The bubbles are sometimes solid colors, allowing for surprises. It's easy to see why kids like these.  They are small and bright, with a squishy-soft feel and vaguely tacky surface. They are just the kind of toy that's easy to lose and difficult to keep free of pet hair, and I love them.

My Marvel Squinkies

MY favorite thing about them is the many licenses and characters, which are all produced at vaguely the same scale.  Now, LEGO is the reigning champion of that prized quality, in my book, but I enjoy it in other toys as well.  It lets me do things like this...

The details tend to be a little imperfect, but that's okay. I like them as they are, and part of the main draw for me is that I don't think I owned a lot of these character in other forms, so I'm quite happy with these!

Pro-Doh

It's time for the first post in a series!  All of these will be about toys I played with as a child that I want to highlight. In particular, I want to talk about some toys that I never see mentioned online.  I'm starting with Pro-Doh!

Front of the box for the Playful Animals set, which was purchased on
clearance at Toys R Us for $4.99 circa 1997.

From the makers of Play-Doh (so, Hasbro), Pro-Doh existed briefly in the mid-90s (as far as I know).  The premise was that the kit contained white, air-drying clay that you used with a plastic mold to make your own figures. It was white so that you could decorate the figures with markers.

Playful Animals Pro-Doh set mold, creates 6 different figures
 (2 dogs, 2 cats, mouse, and parrot)

You also got a plastic playset scene and a play mat that went with your creations.  There were 3 versions of this kit described on the box.  The other 2 were a house/dollhouse and a castle.

Essentially, Pro-Doh was part toy, part craft. I know I haven't really gotten to talking about some of my other major favorites, like original Littlest Pet Shop, but just take my word for it that figural animal toys are my favorites. So, this set was really perfect. You could create new toys whenever you felt like it...at least, until the Pro-Doh ran out.  Though later I used the mold to make animals out of polymer clay, which you can't color on with markers, but it's certainly more durable and less prone to cracking. This is a really great set and it was definitely worth its clearance price! I'd love to see something like this make a comeback.  

Bonus photo: some of my creations:

I would like to think I've gotten better at coloring since then.

Furby Boom: First Impressions

Today, my brand new Furby Boom arrived at my door. I would like to point out that I held out for months on buying one, and also that I found a giftcard, which I put towards picking up one of the cheaper colors (and I am all for choosing your favorite out of any toy line, but for $10, I just couldn't spend it). So, 2nd favorite color choice it was:

I haven't devoted much time to it yet, so here are my first thoughts.

• The new app has a lot of features, and I like that it wants to explain how to play, but I really wanted a skip button for a lot of it. I just tried to chant "target market" in my head. Obviously more explanation is good for actual children.  Still though, I think I would have preferred to stumble through it trial-and-error style as kid.

• The plush fur quality is not equal to that of Furby 2012. Boom sheds a bit and it is less pleasant to touch.

• I don't love the plastic feet. Not an upgrade.

• The interactions with the physical Furbling toy are well-done. I don't think my 2012 gets along with his Party Rocker friend quite so well, though this might be my lack of patience for letting the Party Rocker be awake...

• Boom and 2012 definitely respond to each other, seemingly about as well as two 2012 furbies.  Though perhaps this is just my lack of knowledge of Furbish.

• Time will tell, I'm sure.  They are definitely similar toys and I will try to stop comparing them.  My 2012 furby is perfect and how do you improve on perfection??

Best Things: will play with 2012 Furby, app has lots to do, Furblings are great, good packaging

Worst Things: plush fur downgrade (shedding), App wants you to name it in Furbish (#nope)