droolicious : strangeco

The Ten Most Awesome and Odd Toys Seen at the San Diego Comic Con

SunnyChanel — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:22:00 GMT

If you happened to be in the mood for hanging out with a 100,000 people dressed as Storm Troopers, the living dead, Princess Leia, along with the occasional odd-man out sporting jeans and a t-shirt (egad!) then you really should have been at the San Diego Comic Con last week. When not being seduced by the eye candy that is the outrageous outfits of the attendees, if you’re lucky, you can push and shove your way into the countless booths to check out upcoming toys and ultra special show exclusives. Below are are ten of the awesome and odd toys (for kids) spotted at the SDCC.

1. Rody Doll Gear!
He just ain’t just for rockin’ anymore. Coming soon, Kaching Brands along with MINDstyle will be debuting the Roby lifestyle products. Mini Rody banks, Rody shaped caps, keychains, Plush dolls, wallets and even Rody shaped slippers. Oh my.

2. The Toffee Doll
For your future Goth, may I present The Toffee Doll. Huckleberry Toys, the makers of the Gwen Stefani, Ali & AJ, and of course the Ashley Tisdale dolls will soon grace us with some stylish sweet and oddly creepy yet compelling Toffee Dolls. They’re like a mash up of a Blythe doll, a Keane print and something possessed by Satan. But still, pretty awesome. Don’t know if my kid would like her, but I think I would. There will be a whole series of them, most donning floppy bunny ears and fashionably printed outfits. These little lovlies will be available this Fall. (Price TBA)

3. My Little Pony - The SDCC Exclusive
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of My Little Pony. It always struck me as being a bit too girly and frilly for my tastes. But the limited edition 2008 SDCC Collectors Exclusive Pony was just too cool to pass up. Yeah, I stood in line at the Hasbro Toy Shop booth for pert near a half hour to get my hands on not one but two of these dolls (one for daughter to destroy and one for me to put away for her college fund). The piece was $9.99 and you can get yours for about twice as much on eBay right now and you won't have to stand in a big line, that's worth the extra $10 for sure!

4. Mighty Muggs - SDCC Exclusive STILL AVAILABLE
Taking a cue from the designer toy culture with their Dunnys and Munnys, Hasbro created the easily adaptable Mighty Muggs. They’ve branded a whole bunch of these figures with pop culture references such as Iron Man, Commander Gree, Peter Parker/Spiderman, all of whichwere all sold as exclusives at SDCC. Picutred above is the super cool looking Indiana Jones Fertility Idol (yeah, I picked one of those up too). I guess that one wasn’t one of the popular ones since you can still pick one up here for $14.99.

5. New Ugly Dolls Born!
At the Ugly Doll booth, which featured visits by lifesized Ugly Dolls and also daily signing sessions with the creators of these beloved plushies, you also got the chance to be on the first on your block to buy some of the new Uglydolls who’s coming out party was the SDCC. Above check out their new family member Puglee…part Pig, art Ugly and that equals a whole lot of cute. Also making their debut were Plunko and Poe. $20 here

6. Cactus Sandy by tokidoki
You know when you see a toy or doll and you buy it thinking “oh my son and/or daughter will LOVE this!” You excitedly purchase it and relish the thought of what a fabulous parent you are because you bought your child something so thoughtful, wonderful and cute. I had that sensation when I purchased the Sandy Plush doll designed by uber popular designer tokidoki for STRANGEco. She’s cute, she’s green and she’s a wee bit prickly (but the thorns are softer than they look). I presented the doll to my daughter expecting hugs, kisses and a big “I love you mommy”. Instead I got a shrug of her shoulders, a big frown, and then she promptly threw it on the ground. Well, losers keepers, Now I have MYSELF a new doll. ($19.95)

7. Conduct Happiness Pea
The Conduct Happiness booth was busy with big kids buying their “Pea Standing Up” , “Pea Pea Dance”, and “Pea in the Tub” shirts and onesies for their little kids, but what really caught my eye was their cute Pea Plush. Simple and cuddly, this item isn’t on their webstore yet but I hope is soon, cos peas are oh so good for you. (price N/A)

8. Oink Le Rouge Plush by Somewhere City
STRANGEco have some friends in high places. Oink Le Rouge was made in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art and is part of their Somewhere City series. This adorable plush is made from a really soft, cuddly and durable terrycloth material. Perfect for young and old alike. ($24.99 here)

9. Blast Off With Rocket World
These creatures are outta space. Literally. The animals of Rocket World are on a mission and have their own flying saucer to get there. The IWG Astro Krieg Flying Saucer Attack Crafts goes for $49.95 and will take your astronaut Titus the Grizzly Bear, Hannibal the Mountain Gorilla and Affonso the white Rhino ($13.95 each here) to lands far, far away. But you’ll have to wait until late August to get these space travelers and transport, so spend that time charting their journey.

10. Mr. Toast Presents Vampire Toast
Mr. Toast brings breakfast to bed with his collection of bread plushies. At the SDCC they offered up a show exclusive of the Vampire Toasts “a little slice of awesomeness”. There were 1,000 of these made and they cost $10 each and were made just for SDCC. If you want a non-blood sucking slice or just to find out more about bread products in general go here.

Editor Picks: Top 5 from the Swag Bag

editors — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:37:00 GMT

Sometimes we get overwhelmed with the product submissions here at Babble, but we like to give attention to everything that crosses our desks. So what’s a busy editor to do? Take home a big bag of the most interesting looking stuff and put the kids to work. Here are five that stood out during toddler testing:

1. Oink Le Rouge and Memo Wee from Strangeco

The first things pulled from the bag were these over-sized plushies by Strangeco, co-produced with the Museum of Modern Art. My kid loved Oink Le Rouge, while her little buddy couldn’t stop squeezing Memo Wee. These terry cloth cuties are two of the characters in the Somewhere City series.

All ages.

Buy it from Amazon for $29.99

2. Horses My First Puzzles

A spontaneous “Ooooooh,” occurred when one tester opened up Horses My First Puzzles sold at Little Jet Set. This travel pack looks like a kiddie lunch box and comes with five toddler-sized puzzles in separate baggies (which all got mixed up fairly quickly). The beauty of this set is that if you’ve got a puzzle lover like we do at our house, there are five different ways to entertain them on a long plane, train or car ride. And they can carry this toy all by themselves! As if.

Ages 2 and up.

Buy it from Little Jet Set for $19.95.

3. ABC in NYC by Robin Segal

Everyone’s favorite book in the bunch was ABC in NYC (Murray Hill, 2008) I was blown away by what my daughter recognized only being a resident of this fine city for two years, most of those blissfully unaware. When she id’d the taxi and the subway station I knew we didn’t have a car culture kid. But my personal favorites were the less obvious NYC scenes. For letter “H” there were knockoff Guess handbags being sold on the street and “S” offered up a “Slice of Sicilian.”

The All 'Bout Cities series also has ABC in Washington D.C.; both of these books are ideal companions on your family vacations. While in the nation’s capital your kids can look out for “Pennsylvania Avenue” and all of the swarming “news crews.”

All ages.

Buy ABC in NYC and for $12.95 at Little Jet Set, ABC in Washington D.C. at Little Jet Set for $6.48.

4. ¿El Canguro Tiene Mamá¿ by Eric Carle

Still in books, we loved Eric Carle’s Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? in Spanish, ¿El Canguro Tiene Mamá¿ (HarperCollins, 2008) Although it was extremely embarrassing to learn my two-year-old knew more words en Español than I.

All ages.

Buy it from Amazon for $6.99

5. Wow Wee Indoor/Outdoor Flyer - Butterfly

This flying robot (which is also for older kids than our testers) was not able to reach its full potential since we were inside a small apartment. Instead, after revving it up for a few seconds, the butterfly buzzed around the room and scared the crap out of our cocker spaniel while making dad laugh hysterically. The little ones were alternately fascinated and frightened. So, big hit with dad, not so much with the kids (or dog).

Ages 6 and up.

Buy it from Amazon for $19.99

Didn’t Make the Cut:

Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks

“We watch this later,” was the definitive word when presented with Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks DVD. We haven’t yet, and I am still wondering what exactly a Musketruck is. – April Peveteaux

The Babble Review: Wish Come True

editors — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:53:00 GMT

While Jen over at Strollerderby was mourning the loss of the Weebles, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a We Wobble with sound, aka Wish Come True by Friends With You. With names like Buddy Chubb and Mr. TTT these little guys may give off the Japanese toy import vibe, but they are made right here in the USA by Strangeco.

The Wish Come True is two-pronged entertainment: For the older kids there is a secret online contest wherein your adventurous grade-schooler wins real-world prizes. For the littlest ones there is the cute factor. In addition to the not-falling-down aspect, these colorful little fellas make a pleasant jingle (hence, ‘with sound’) as your tot runs around with them. And they will, as the little bulbous bodies are perfectly sized for toddler hands. In fact, our tester grabbed two and ran off, refusing to unhand them for another twenty-four hours. All of this entertainment for under ten bucks…now that’s retro. - April Peveteaux

Ages 18 months and up.

Get it from Friends With You.