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Over the span of a frigid four days, a warm, blinding light shone from the furthest reaches of Hell’s Kitchen. A lure of fun and commerce of high technology and simple pleasures all brought together under the massive roof of the Jacob Javits Convention Center as the amazing Toy Fair trade show began its 114th year.
Toy Fair 2017 Jacob Javits Convention Center, NYC
Pop Stuff Mattel: Bow down to our vinyl overlord. By far the most breathtaking product peek had to be the scary awesome Hello Barbie. An innocuous looking version of the classic blonde with the ability not only to speak to its owner, but to acquire knowledge from listening to a child, hoarding the chat into “the cloud” then modifying its conversation accordingly. In other words, Barbie is learning… kinda like the HAL 9000. This is what we get for criticising her when she said “Math is hard.”
Besides Hello Barbie and her plainer, yet ‘Vive Le Difference’ sisters in the “Super Style” collection, Mattel showcased their brilliant Virtual Reality redux of the classic View Master Viewer and Star Wars Hot Wheels. Also, some great Monster High activity sets and charmingly odd new Frozen figures and the Cate Blanchett Wicked Stepmother from the upcoming live-action Cinderella was fabulous.
Universal: We had a meeting with Minions! At Universal’s fun brunch, both their big blockbusters, Minions and Jurassic World were featured in figure form, but it was clear the company expected the little yellow fellers to take down the dinos in the toy market.
Bandai: Japan’s best-known toymakers bring their latest offerings, including their newest Mighty Morphin Power Rangers merch and Sprukets kits. Surrounded by Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Attack on Titan, Rurouni Kenshin, Godzilla… Just leave me here, I’ll be fine.
McFarlane Toys: We had a tour around the blood-soaked McFarlane Toys booth guided by the master himself, Todd McFarlane, as he showed his amazingly detailed DiY diorama sets from The Walking Dead, showcased prepackaged in buckets of entrails, eyeballs and other effluvia.
Lego: After their hit animated movie of 2014, Lego was the one for toy-tie-in lovers to watch. Sadly, the anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens products were nowhere to be seen and we got some nifty sets for the classic series instead, along with clever pop culture sets for Jurassic World and Scooby-Doo.
Funko: Continuing to charm with their collections of superdeformed vinyl figures of pop culture coolness, the Attack on Titan, Big Trouble in Little Tokyo, {Very} Big Lebowski and Groots of various size were highlights.
SuperHero Stuff: The one place I don’t feel ashamed about wanting adult Underoos, cos they’ve got ‘em! Looking for that pair of Batman boxers you always dreamed of? Look no further. Want a furry Chewbacca hoodie? Here ya go. Looking for a slinky Batgirl t-shirt with detachable cape? What size? Wanna gift your significant other with a Wonder Woman corset, SHS won’t let you down.
Having a Birthday Rosy red and cuddly as ever, Raggedy Ann continues to charm after a full century. Thomas the Tank Engine chugs along at 75 Etch a Sketch – The world’s most mesmerising (and frustrating) magnet art toy turns 55.
LMD’s Faves Sphero 2.0: More than just a remote controlled ball, Sphero 2.0, AKA Ollie, is actually an interactive and programmable robot - waterproof, pet proof and ready for any adventure. This groovy little gizmo combines style and user friendly technology with its Ollie, a tough remote controlled ball with durable treads that you steer through your smartphone (iOS, Android and Windows platforms) to spin, flip, speed and race. This year it also gets a personality as Ollie turns to the Dark Side with a cool black version.
Tokidoki: Our devotion to the delightful world created by artist Simone Legno never wavers. This year we saw the fruits of Tokidoki’s excellent collaboration with the MLB, resulting in creations that almost make me care about baseball. We also were shown their excellent Peanuts collab products as well as Neon Star.
Bleach umbrellas – The very last thing I saw as I was leaving Toy Fair on the final day was one of my faves. Pacific Solution Marketing is the US seller of the coolest umbrellas I’ve ever seen. Painstakingly crafted to look and feel just like the swords from the characters of one of our anime faves, Bleach, the details in accordance with each character’s “Zanpakutō” was amazing, and most importantly, the umbrella itself is study enough to stand up against any Senbonzakura attacks.
~ The Lady Miz Diva March 1st, 2017
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