Marketed by Parker Brothers in 1970 the original Nerf was designed to be the first “indoor safe” ball, and years later millions of them are still be sold much to the delight of children and board office dwellers. But in the 80s they couldn’t leave well enough alone: In 1984 the animated series Muppet Babies took the world by storms, and suddenly everything needed to be cute. And thus in the 80s Parker Brothers introduced Nerfuls — which have since become a cult collectors item. Read more…
Nothing could be more cute than a well deserving Pound Puppy toy in the 80s looking a caring child to be an owner: But what if your child is a cat person? Well that’s where the spin off Pound Purries came in (as shown in this advert from 1986). While not as a popular as their dog friends from the other side of the pound these little wonders featured and for just $3.50 more you could get a name tag, stickers and an owners certificate! Read more…
These Robo-Q Transformers toys from Japan are ultra cute! They’re each just a bit over an inch high and come with a radio controller. Manufactured by Takara Tomy there’s an Optimus Prime and a Bumblebee model available: Read more…
Snout Spout: His knock out nose knocks evil out! You can tell the design department of Mattel was bored to death of Masters of the Universe by 1986 when this commercial came out. I can just see some poor child at Christmas yelping “Mommy why did you get me an elephant? I wanted He-Man!” Don’t get me wrong as a toy it looks very clever but our pachyderm friend seems somewhat out of place with the other members of the Masters of the Universe. In fact the character wasn’t even shown in the series until after the toy came out (you can tell that merchandising was more important than story telling). Read more…
This video shows two things: The first is how a show like Jem can come out of nowhere and give a well established brand like a Barbie a run for the money — and the second thing is just how much cultural mindspace MTV owned back in the 80s when it was new. Inspired by MTVJem and the Holograms went on the air in 1985 and suddenly Barbie who had been around since 1959 seemed slightly old fashioned. Read more…
Both of these spots are from 1986 and solve the unique challenge that while toy ads sell to kids, toy store ads must sell to adults. The Toys R Us ad does a nice job of this as it’s appealing to the kid inside all of us, I especially the oversized robot which comes in about 5 seconds into the spot. The Lionel Playworld spot takes more of a Footlose approach to the problem, but for all the shoulder pads and singing you don’t get the feeling that they’re really having a good time of it: Read more…
Introduced in 1976 Atari Breakout was a breakthrough game — it’s interesting to note to that future Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak worked on the prototype (who was hired by Steve Jobs). This Japanese piggy bank celebrates this legendary arcade game — and what’s cool about it is that you can actually play a function version of the game on it. I also rather like the fact that all the decals on the piggy bank are in Japanese: Read more…
Introduced in 1984 by Galoob Sweet Secrets were purse shape toys which would transform into dolls — this 1986 spot shows them turning into a puppy, teddy bear and a girl with long blond hair. There was also a related line of jewelry that would transform into a panda, a koala and a “pretty friend”: Read more…
Hello Kitty is a master multitasker and that’s why this Hello Kitty USB Hub is so brilliant: It allows you to consolidate your clutter by allowing you to plug in two USB devices. Yes I know in terms of the geeky side two isn’t that many, but how many other hubs might you own that feature a cute kitty sitting on top of a mushroom? Read more…
The Daruma doll (達磨) are a classic Japanese toy — you fill in one eye upon starting a quest, and then you color in the other eye once you finish. This cute digital variation of the doll actually stores 2 gigs of memory — which makes it the perfect companion for overachievers: Read more…
I recently came across these two Kenner toy commercials from 1986 for M.A.S.K. (which stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand and shouldn’t be confused with the 1995 animated series based on the the Jim Carey film The Mask) and was surprised to discover that this classic 80s kids series was in fact anime! The series was produced by DIC, but the actual animation was produced by three Japanese studios: KK C&D Asia, Studio Juno, Studio World and Ashi Production. Of course they weren’t alone back then, many anime studios did work for American series — the best example would be ThunderCats from that era. Read more…
You can relive your memories of the early days of anime with this Mobile Suit Gundam USB Memory device. It will hold up to 4 gigs, which might just hold a few digital backups of your old VHS tapes or photos of your giant robot collection: Read more…
No it’s not Meow Mix, but the Meow Mixer! This Hello Kitty Kitchen Hand Mixer comes with a red or blue dress, and they claim that it’s easy to clean the metal mixer part. Although if you are a hardcore kitty fan I couldn’t imagine you actually using said device clearly it would be on display or kept in an unopened box to ensure the collectibility factor.
Hello Kitty is catching the urban vinyl toy trend with this latest Hello Kitty Urban Vinyl Mini Figure 2-Packs Wave 1 Set which is due to come out this month. Featured in this set are Duckies Mimmy, Soap Kitty, Piano Kitty, Flower Power Mimmy, Peace & Love Kitty and Boom Box Mimmy. I guess you’ll have to wait for set two to see if they do a Walkman Mimmy or a VHS Kitty…
As a Star Blazers fanboy at heart I have to admit that I feel slighted by the slew of high quality Gundam merchandise I’ve been seeing hitting the streets of Japan. Well as if to answer my prayers I just spotted this amazing new replica of Leader Desslok’s wine goblet that just came out: Read more…
This latest Narikiri Hello Kitty Collection 3 features our favorite cat cosplaying as both Godzilla AND the evil three headed monster King Ghidorah! Each kitty figurine attaches to a keychain to conveniently scare your friends while opening doors (that or charming them with your cute accessories). Read more…
Oh sure any fanboy can put an anime emblem on their car — but it takes a very special otaku to tattoo their beloved Porsche with the characters from Lucky Star and Hatsune Miku! Read more…
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam there will be a special full scale replica of Char Aznable’s helmet released this month. I think this has to be one of the most distinctive hat designs in the history of anime, on par perhaps with Darth Vader’s infamous helmet: Read more…
Like chocolate and peanut butter — the two tastes of iPhones and Pocky go great together! This ever so cute Pocky iPhone Cozy was designed by Yummy Pocket of Montreal, Canada. Read more…
What makes this blanket strange to me isn’t that it’s a Hello Kitty blanky, but the fact that it’s a heated blanked that plugs in the USB port on your computer! The website selling this pink goodie recommends that you either use it for “over air-conditioned offices” or “during the winter months when you’re sitting in front of your computer”. Although for the record we should note that a good old fashioned analog cat can keep you warm by sitting in your lap: Read more…
Frankly for me Stargate was like frozen food, if there was nothing else around at the time I wanted to watch some sci fi I’d have to settle for it! I’ll be honest it was the low budget feeling to the show, and also I got that “hidden secrets of Atlantis” thing out of my system years ago. However sadly it seems I’ve overlooked the Stargate F-302 which has a pretty nice design to it — now that I’m seeing it outside the show! So I’d have to say that this limited edition model isn’t too shabby: Read more…
Before the San Diego Comic-Con 2009 fades into memory we present these highlights from the show — presented by the talented artist and toymaker David Foox:Read more…
Oh sure any toy can give you the fanboy dream of being Captain James T. Kirk! But how many goodies can give you the illusion that you’re in 1960s Hollywood working in the props department on that cool new sci fi show Star Trek? And that’s what this Star Trek Hero Prop Type-I Phaser Kit is all about — this isn’t some toy you rip out of the case and start shooting your office buddies with for mere amusement. Instead you get the pleasure of taking vintage parts and crafting a prop that looks like it came from the set of the original series: Read more…
From the Netherlands comes Boardy — a clever origami USB stick that you create from recycled paper. This clever design has mostly been used for advertising campaigns, allowing for advertisers to include electronic info on the USB stick while being eco friendly with the packaging. Here’s how you fold one together: Read more…
