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The New York Toy Fair Changed Our Lives This Year!

They said the dulcet tones of “Pop Goes the Weasel” could be heard as far inland as Newark, New Jersey. And that the plaintiff cries of children who wanted to play “just ten more minutes” before their bedtimes rang out until late into the evening hours. I am of course referring to the New York International Toy Fair which I got to attend earlier this week.

And no, it was not as insane/cool/exhausting/ridiculous as you think it was. IT WAS MORE.


Daron Worlwide Trading

“I AM MASTER OF THE TOYS TO COME (to the US marketplace in 2-6 months)! BOW TO ME, THE SURVEYOR OF ALL THINGS PLAY!!!” I screamed into the oncoming traffic on West 36th Street.

Once I had a chance to take a deep breath, I entered the realm of mirth and immediately had my first celebrity sighting.

If I look a little nervous, it’s because I asked him what it was like to work with Tom Hanks in the movie Big… which ended up being a BIG mistake. Dude is seriously bitter and clearly wishes he had the connection with the Hanks man that Wilson had in Castaway. I tried to calm him down by asking him for a fortune.

“Good luck in a month or two?!” Way to be specific, Zoltar.


DFRobot

I knew going into the day that I was going to see a lot of Star Wars merch. I was ready. I was excited…

I was seriously contemplating jail time in order to steal this life-sized Lego Rey.

Even Kylo looks less mopey when constructed out of friendly plastic bricks.

“But what about that awkward moment when you want to hang out with R2D2 and also eat some popcorn,” You ask? Well of course, this:

Underground Toys had a weird amount of food-based Star Wars paraphernalia, but the thing that won the “Oh, of course this exists (even though it’s something that never would have occurred to me)” prize was the BB8 tea set.

The other movie-based toys I was SUPER JONESING to see was the soon-to-be released Funko Pops for the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot. And they were, indeed, glorious.

Then the winds changed and I gently sailed into the Inlet of Bizarre…

“It’s a change purse,” the guy from Zipit told me. I thought maybe he had been under the convention floor lights a little too long.

Just when I was about to call the medics to get the gentleman a long cool drink of HELP, he showed me what he was talking about.

I also almost passed by the Az I Am Girlz booth when I saw a sign that said “The World’s First Yoga Doll.”

And, indeed, the doll has a PATENTED design which allows you to pose it in any yoga position that exists. Best part, IMHO? The yoga mat DOUBLES AS A SLAP BRACELET.

And no collection of toys is complete without something really gross.

Waba Fun makes the ridiculously addictive Kinetic Sand, but their new product is called Mad Matter which is kind of like if modeling clay and Kinetic sand had a gross, gloppy baby. I’m not going to lie, though… I really wanted some for myself.

This year’s Toy Fair was lit like:


Mackenzie Teel for Speed Stacks

Can’t wait till next year!