Toy Whimsy

Lots-o-Huggin' Bear - Flash Back Friday

Don't  you remember these commercials from back in 80's?

Oddly familiar isn't it? But WAIT!

There was a Japanese version as well?

Nope. This is a promotional stunt by Pixar...a pretty good one too.

Check him out, from the new upcoming movie Toy Story 3- Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear!

Have a great weekend!

--Laura M.

Iron Man - Flash Back Friday

The new movie Iron Man 2 opens this weekend.  I will be attending an afternoon showing on Mother's Day. I know, I know...I should be getting pampered but nothing makes me happier than to see my little ones excited about something and they get up and cheer every time the commercial comes on TV so I just couldn't say no just because the only day we have time to see it happens to be Mother's Day. 

In honor of the new movie, I decided to study up a bit on some Iron Man history.  Here is a bit of what I was able to learn from Wikipedia:

Iron Man is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character debuted in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby.

Iron Man's premiere was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby. In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero.[2] He wanted to create the "quintessential capitalist", a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel's readership. Lee said, "I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military ... So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist ... I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him ... And he became very popular." He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well Writer Gerry Conway said, "Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can't be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there's a metaphor going on there. And that's, I think, what made that character interesting".[4] Lee based this playboy's looks and personality on Howard Hughes, explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase". "Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes," Lee said.

I had never heard the reference to Howard Hughes, but I do love it and it makes a lot of sense. 

My kids are both currently hooked on the cartoon "Iron Man: Armored Adventures" and I have to say, it is one of the cartoons that I don't mind watching.  Here's a clip.  (Also, the theme song is very catchy and sung by the popular band, Rooney- you can check it out here. )

There are also a lot of new Iron Man 2 toys as you would expect...here are just a few:

Have a great weekend Iron Man fans!  (And don't forget to tell your mom that SHE is the best super hero of all!)

--Laura M.

Fan Boy and Chum Chum Party Ideas - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

Fanboy and Chum Chum is a new cartoon series on Nickelodeon that follows two main characters, Fanboy and Chum Chum, who are super fans of science fiction.  Your son may be a fan of Fanboy and Chum Chum and given the antics on the show, it could inspire a wacky birthday party theme too.

For your Invitation, purchase purple felt and cut the material into an eye mask (just like Fanboy wears) and attach a green card with all of the party details on one side.  Request that your guests wear their purple masks to the party.
For your Party Decorations:

• Using bright purple, green, and orange colors for your balloons, streamers, and table ware all work very well given Fanboy wears a purple mask and a green suit and Chum Chum, his sidekick, wears an orange shirt.  Use bright colors to decorate!
• Hang a pair of oversized underwear on the front door to the party – just like Fanboy and Chum Chum would like!
• Make black and purple masks and hang them from the party room ceiling with fishing wire for additional decor.

For your Party Activities:

• This is a cartoon where the characters where loud shirts.  Have white T-Shirts on hand when the kids arrive to create their own Fanboy and Chum Chum T.
• Hold an Underwear Relay Race. Divide the kids into 2 teams and give each team a pair of oversized underwear.  Each member must put them on, run to the other end of the race, and back again, and hand off the underwear to the next team member.  First team done wins!
• In honor of Boog, who can blow the biggest bubble, like the boy in the bubble? You can either make this a chewing gum contest for the biggest bubble or using real bubbles to blow large bubbles.
• In honor of Janitor Russ Poopatine, hold a Trash Obstacle Course.  Using brooms, mops, dustpans, and easy-to-move furniture, set up a course that the kids must complete by cleaning in a silly fashion.  Alternatively, the Janitor also had a trash collection.  If you are looking to do something good for Mother Earth, have the guests scour the neighborhood for a trash pick-up.

For your Party Menu:

• Serve Mrs. Glops Specialty – since she patrols the school cafeteria so strictly and makes everyone eat their entire tray – serve up spaghetti and meat sauce and make them finish their plates!
• Serve up Chum Chum’s favorite: Ice Monster Bun Buns…cinnamon rolls will do!
• Alternatively, if your child loves Boog, then microwave burritos would be the hit of this party.
• Create a Frosty Freeze Treat – colorful slurpies, shaved and flavored ice, snow cones, ice cream, and anything else that is cold and sweet will do.
• A batch of cupcakes with outrageous and vibrant colors of frosting would be an additional fun Fanboy and Chum Chum birthday party treat.

For your party favor, send your guests home with yum yum gum, their masks, T-shirts, and a canister of bubbles.  Black capes would make an additional fun favor as well.

Chatter Telephone - Flash Back Friday

I love the chatter phone.  I can remember pulling one around my babysitter's house when I was a child.  Here's some history from wikipedia:

The Chatter Telephone is a popular pull toy for children one to three years old. Introduced in 1962 by the Fisher-Price company as the "Talk Back Phone" for infants and children, the Chatter Telephone is a roll along pull toy. It has a smiling face, and when the toy is pulled, it makes a chattering sound and the eyes move up and down. The toy has a rotary dial that rings a bell, and was conceived as a way to teach children how to dial a phone. The original version was made of wood, with polyethylene receiver and cord. In 2000, Fisher-Price changed the rotary dial for a push-button version with lights in an effort to modernize the toy, but consumers complained and the rotary version returned to the market the following year.

From its introduction through the 1970s, the Chatter Telephone was Fisher-Price's best selling product. It has been cited as one of the company's offerings that helped save Fisher Price in the 1990s following a failed attempt to market toys for older children in the late 1980s,and enjoys continuing popularity. It is available both as an authentic reproduction and in a modern form.

Of course we have some available now if you have a little one who needs some classic fun!

Have a great weekend!

--Laura M.

Easy Bake Oven - Flash Back Friday

Ahhh the Easy Bake, most girls' first foray into the world of culinary delights.  The daughter of a home ec. teacher, my mother would never allow me to have the oven.  My grandfather cheated and did buy me some of the mixes one year, but my mom made me bake them in our real oven which I considered just cooking- not playing.  Her sneaky trick must have worked though, because baking is one of my favorite activities. 

Here's some history on the Easy Bake oven from Wikipedia:

The Kenner Version:

The Easy-Bake Oven was introduced in 1963 by Kenner Products, a Cincinnati, Ohio based toy company. The original Easy-Bake Oven was designed to resemble a conventional oven, an appearance later abandoned. Today's Easy-Bake Ovens resemble microwave ovens.

The Easy-Bake Oven was invented by Ronald Howes, a prolific toy inventor known for working with Kenner Products. He said he was inspired to make the oven after hearing Kenner salesman report how chestnuts were roasted by street vendors in New York City. In addition to his creation of the Easy-Bake Oven, Howes also was involved in the creation of or refinement to a number of other Kenner Toy products, including Spirograph, Give-a-Show Projector, and Close-and-Play Record Player.[citation needed] Howes died on February 16, 2010 at the age of 83.


The Hasbro Versions:

The Easy-Bake Oven and Snack Center was introduced in 1993; as of 2008 due to product recalls, it is the sole model offered on the manufacturer's website. It is powered by a 100 watt light bulb that was sold separately from the oven. Another, sleeker design was introduced later.

A decade later, the Real Meal Oven was released. It won the 2003 Best Toy Parenting magazine Toy of the Year Award. Unlike previous versions, this oven could bake two pans at once. The neutral colors were appropriate across genders. The pans were bigger, and it could bake both desserts and meals. Also, this model featured a heating element and did not require a light bulb.

In 2006, a different version of the Easy-Bake was released, featuring a stove-top warmer, and a heating element. Like the first version by Hasbro, it had smaller pans and only could bake one pan at a time.

The new front-loading Hasbro design, a substantial departure from the traditional push-through arrangement, was apparently ill-conceived, as all (approx. 985,000) such units were recalled over safety concerns and reported injuries.

The oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2006

Here are a couple commercial blasts from the past via YouTube:

Of course the Easy Bake is still going strong, and you can find one here for your little baker.

Have a great weekend!

--Laura M.

The Yo-Yo - Flash Back Friday

Today we have one of the oldest toys every, dating back to ancient Greece!

Here's a little bit of history on the Yo-yo from wikipedia:

Ancient History:

"The earliest surviving yo-yo dates to 500 BC and was made using terra cotta skin disks. A Greek vase from this period shows a boy playing yo-yo. Greek records from the period describe toys made out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta (clay). The terra cotta disks were used to ceremonially offer the toys of youth to certain gods when a child came of age—discs of other materials were used for actual play. Philippine historical records indicate that 16th century hunters hiding in trees used a rock tied to a cord up to 20 feet in length to throw at wild animals beneath them—the cord enabling retrieval of the rock after missed attempts."

Modern History:

"James L. Haven and Charles Hettrick of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, received the first United States patent on "...an improved construction of the toy, commonly called a bandelore..." in 1866.

However, the yo-yo would remain in relative obscurity until 1928 when a Filipino American named Pedro Flores opened the Yo-yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California. The business started with a dozen handmade toys; by November 1929, Flores was operating two additional factories in Los Angeles and Hollywood, which altogether employed 600 workers and produced 300,000 units daily."

The Duncan Era:

"Shortly thereafter (ca. 1929), an entrepreneur named Donald Duncan recognized the potential of this new fad and purchased the Flores Yo-yo Corporation and all its assets, including the Flores name, which was transferred to the new company in 1932. Duncan's first yo-yo thereafter was the Duncan O-BOY. Duncan is reputed to have paid more than $250,000, a fortune by depression era standards. It turned out to be a sound investment, making many times this amount in the years to follow.

Declining sales after the Second World War prompted Duncan to launch a comeback campaign for his trademarked "Yo-Yo" in 1962 with a series of television advertisements. The media blitz was met with unprecedented success; thanks in great part to the introduction of the Duncan Butterfly, the yo-yo was more accessible to the beginner than ever.

This success would be short-lived, however, and in a landmark trademark case in 1965, a federal court's appeals ruled in favor of the Royal Tops Company, determining that yo-yo had become a part of common speech and that Duncan no longer had exclusive rights to the term. As a result of the expenses incurred by this legal battle as well as other financial pressures, the Duncan family sold the company name and associated trademarks in 1968 to Flambeau, Inc, who had manufactured Duncan's plastic models since 1955. As of 2010, Flambeau Plastics continues to run the company."

Here are some awesome commercials from the 70s including an awesome one (the first one in the batch) with professional yo-yo masters!

I totally had a camera like that!  Who else is with me?

If all this yo-yo talk has you hungering to take up your childhood passion once again, we have tons, in all colors, makes, and models, here for you to enjoy-- check them out!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

--Laura M.

Operation - Flash Back Friday

Everyone knows the game Operation.  But do you know the patient's name?  It's Cavity Sam! Here's some more about the game from wikipedia:

Operation is a battery-operated game of physical skill that tests players' hand-eye co-ordination. Made by Milton Bradley, it has been in production since 1965, the year in which the game was invented by John Spinello.

The game is a variant on the old-fashioned wire loop electric game popular at fun-fairs and the flammer stores around the United States. It consists of an "operating table", lithographed with a comic likeness of a patient (nicknamed "Cavity Sam") with a large, red light-bulb for his nose. In the surface are a number of openings, which reveal fictional and humorously-named ailments made of white plastic, and more recently green rubber.

We carry a few different versions of the game:

How about a commercial break?

And another (I think Joey Lawrence is in this one!):

And you have to check out this guy's Halloween costume!

Ahhh that's just good family fun!  Have a great weekend!

--Laura M.

Mad Men Barbie Dolls - We Saw This One a Mile Away

Back a few months ago we here at Toy Whimsy were lamenting the fact that there were no Mad Men Action Figures.  Someone must have heard our cries of anguish - and that someone must have been Barbie herself.  In the New York Times today, there comes news of a Mad Men/Barbie agreement to be part of the publicity behind the new season.

Soon, the show will enter a realm of the pop-culture pantheon that its creator, Matthew Weiner, says has surprised even him: Mattel plans to bring out versions of Barbie and Ken styled after four “Mad Men” characters.

The dolls are part of a premium-price collectors’ series for adults that Mattel calls the Barbie Fashion Model Collection. Although there have been Barbies and Kens based on other TV series, among them “I Love Lucy” and “The X-Files,” the dolls will be the first licensed line for that collection, Mattel says, with a suggested retail price of $74.95 each.

Mattel is licensing rights to the characters from Lionsgate, the studio that produces “Mad Men” for the AMC cable channel. There will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each doll, to be sold in specialty stores and on two Web sites, amctv.com and barbiecollector.com.

The characters to become dolls are Don Draper, the show’s leading man; his wife, Betty; his colleague at the Sterling Cooper agency, Roger Sterling; and Joan Holloway, the agency’s office manager who was Roger’s mistress. 

Here's a little sneak peek at the dolls:

 

My birthday is in July.  I see a set of these for my desk in my future!

This partnership shouldn't be too much of a surprise seeing the success Barbie is having with the Twilight series.  So what is next?  I'd love to see some True Blood Barbies.  What pop culture Barbies would you like to see?  Leave us a comment!

--Laura M.

Magic 8 Ball - Flash Back Friday

Invented in 1946, by the son of a "clairvoyant", today I found myself wondering how many bad decisions have been made on the recommendations of the Magic 8 Ball. Still made and sold by Mattel, the Magic 8 Ball is today's flash back Friday toy.

How does it work? For that we turn to Wikipedia:

It is a hollow, plastic sphere resembling an oversized, black and white 8-ball. Inside is a cylindrical reservoir containing a white, plastic, icosahedral die floating in alcohol with dissolved dark blue dye. The die is hollow, with openings in each face, allowing the die to fill with fluid, giving the plastic die minimal buoyancy. Each of the 20 faces of the die has an affirmative, negative, or non-committal statement printed on it in raised letters. There is a transparent window on the bottom of the 8-ball through which these messages can be read.

To use the ball, it must be held with the window initially facing down. After "asking the ball" a yes-or-no question, the user then turns the ball so that the window faces up, setting in motion the liquid and die inside. When the die floats to the top and one of its faces is pressed against the window, the raised letters displace the blue liquid to reveal the message as white letters on a blue background. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary (or recommended) to shake or jostle the ball before turning it, as doing so can create air bubbles that may visually distort the answer.

What about a commercial?  I couldn't find a commercial, but I did find a video (NSFW- Language) of some guys microwaving a Magic 8 Ball. And I found a clip from Scrubs, "The Human Magic 8 Ball"

I do like that show.  I also found this commercial for All State Insurance with the President from 24.

I don't know what it is, but now I want to buy both a Magic 8 Ball, and some new car insurance.

Here is a list of the possible outcomes from asking the Magic 8 Ball a question:

● As I see it, yes

● It is certain

● It is decidedly so

● Most likely

● Outlook good

● Signs point to yes

● Without a doubt

● Yes

● Yes - definitely

● You may rely on it

● Reply hazy, try again

● Ask again later

● Better not tell you now

● Cannot predict now

● Concentrate and ask again

● Don't count on it

● My reply is no

● My sources say no

● Outlook not so good

● Very doubtful

So, 10 good replies, 5 either way, and 5 negatives.  Interesting.  Good to know if you are going to base some of your decision making on this tried and true method.

"Will my readers have a great weekend Magic 8 Ball?"

"Signs Point to Yes"

--Laura M.

Phineas and Ferb Party Ideas - Guest Blogger Lisa Kothari

Phineas and Ferb is a very popular TV show. Are your children fans of these two step-brothers who will do anything to escape summer boredom? There's something to their schemes, humor, and pet platypus, Perry, and the cast of characters, like Candace the sister ready to out them at every turn, and the mad scientist, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.  This would make an excellent summer party theme for kids, but can also be fun for those kids with winter birthdays that want a taste of summer vacation.

For a Phineas and Ferb Invitation: use colorful orange, green, and blue card stock and create a surfboard invitation card.  Write all of the party details on one side of the invitation and on the other side make sure to use a Phineas and Ferb glib statement to begin the thematic fun: Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today...Party Hardy!

For your party decor, use the colors orange and green for your balloons, streamers, and table ware. 
Create a beach scene either in your backyard or in the party room with a sea of balloons in pearly white, blue, and green, surfboard pictures, shells, sand (if outside), beach balls and toys, and whatever else you have around your home to bring it alive.
For your party activities, watch episodes carefully to inspire your party games and fun:

• When the kids arrive, provide them with Phineas and Ferb T-shirts for the guests to wear during the party and to take home with them as a party favor.
• Hire a face painter to draw summer scenes on the kids' faces: surfboards, roller coasters, parade floats, and more would be fun.
• Once everyone has arrived, begin the games.
• Find the Lawn Gnomes that Dr. Doofenshmirtz has hidden.  Hide chocolate gnomes (or other types of miniature chocolates) for the kids to find during a two-minute scavenger hunt.
• Have the kids sing and perform Glitchi Glitchi Goo, Phineas and Ferb's one-hit wonder song. 
• Mt. Rushmore Carving.  Just like Phineas and Ferb try to carve Candace's face into Mt. Rushmore, give the kids modeling clay and see what faces they can carve.
• Can your party guests melt chocolate with lasers?  Divide the kids into pairs and give each a chocolate bar and a laser pointer and see what happens?  Is there any way they can melt their chocolate bars?
• Hold a Bigfoot Race.  Divide the kids into two teams and give each team a pair of large shoes that they must put on and race from one end and back to the team.  First team done wins!
• Set up a Bowl-a-Rama game for your guests using empty soda bottles and plastic bowling balls. 

  For your party menu:
Serve up grilled cheese sandwiches (a Candace favorite), platypus crunch (trail mix), and a large bowl full of Jell-O in orange and lime flavors.
Phineas and Ferb try to create a giant ice cream maker to help their friend. Have the kids make their own ice cream.  Alternatively, create an ice cream bar for the kids to make their own concoctions to enjoy.
For your party favor, send them home with shoelaces, of course, and their T-Shirts.

--Lisa Kothari
Peppers and Pollywogs, Inc.
www.pepperspollywogs