The worst thing about blind packaged items is the chase pieces. Oftentimes they are limited to a specific number, and in some cases individually numbered. Rarely do you ever see these, and I can safely say that some companies don’t even seed these into the production run, so the only way to get one is direct from the manufacturer (be it by winning a contest, knowing someone, or the like.) As a Toy collector, this sucks! because it effectively means you can’t possibly complete the collection without having an in or spending a pretty penny on eBay..
So I am really excited to say that Moose Enterprises actually stands by their posted figures and places their chase pieces into the production run.
How can I make this statement? I randomly bought a pack of Trash Pack at Toys “R” Us and this was inside!
Trash Cat is limited to 10,000 pieces worldwide and is individually numbered on both the tag and the cat himself!
Because of my find, I ended up going out and hunting down more.. Nothing Super Rare, but I got some that glow in the dark!
Of course now this means I need to track down the other Limited ones (Soggy Tomato – 5,000 and King Rat (It’s Gold!!) – 1,000) before Series two comes out next month.. Keep an eye out for the Dumpster Playset, Mini Dioramas, and for Easter, Trashies in Eggs!
Trash Pack Series 1 Two Pack UPC 630996680193 MFR ID 68019
Trash Pack Series 1 Five Pack UPC 630996680032 MFR ID 68003
Trash Pack Series 1 Twelve Pack (includes two glow in the dark Trashies)
UPC 630996680049 MFR ID 68004
Trash Pack Garbage Truck UPC 630996680087 MFR ID 68008
Trash Pack Collectors Case UPC 630996680056 MFR ID 68005
Trash Pack Collectors Tin UPC 630996680063 MFR ID 68006
One evening while procrastinating on the internet (no surprise there) I came across this blog post over at Operation: Write where blogger “Jaybird” reminisces about spending hours playing the “Punch the Monkey” game at the now defunct Treeloot.com to try to win the fabulous Plush Monkey prize.
I too, spent many hours fighting this evil tree, spending hours just to get to the mini-game only to get the same result.
I spent some time trying to track down a playable copy of the minigame, just so you could understand what one had to go through, but alas, even the Internet Archive hated that monkey..
After countless clicks, and days upon days of playing (no cash either by the way..) I finally scored enough hits on the Monkey to beat the game!
Sixty-Eight weeks later (It was over ten years ago, it certainly felt like that long) This arrived in my mailbox!
and yes.. it really did take me eight months to find it..
Yet another item that you should go buy now (because you just won’t find it come December) is SillyBandz. Simple in design, but an amazing idea. SillyBandz are just like the rubber bracelets from back when I was a kid, but each is 100% molded silicone so when you take it off your wrist it forms the shape of an animal or design!
The other good thing about SillyBandz is that they come in packs of 24 (four each of six designs) so you’ve got some for yourself and some to trade with friends!
Be aware, there are other companies producing “Character Rubber Bands”, of the ones I’ve seen (and purchased) they aren’t all of the same quality as genuine SillyBandz. Real SillyBandz, for example, made it through a trip in the washing machine while some non-Silly Bands did not..
New designs are being released all the time. Be on the lookout for the two newest series, Beach (which are UV activated and change color in the sun!) and Art Fest (which are Tye Die!)
The Spring series is sure to become a collectors item, as it is the first set to have been “Retired” (and if anyone finds the Ocean set, I really want the penguin!)
Robert Croak (of Toledo, Ohio), the “man behind the SillyBandz” (who may or may not be considering an acquisition of Google..) is a regular poster on Twitter and Facebook
More information about SillyBandz can be found at their website as well as company Twitter and Facebook pages.
Occasionally (in the middle of summer) I’ll tell people “Go buy that now and save it for Christmas.” Nine times out of ten I’ll get an odd glare. That one out of ten can’t thank me enough because they didn’t have to spend something ridiculous on ebay because it’s THE toy for Christmas and no one can find it in a store. One of my choices for this year are Sing-A-Ma Jigs by Fisher Price.
There are four to collect and each has it’s own personality. When you squeeze their stomach they open their mouths and sing a note. Squeeze it again and it’ll sing the next note in the song. Hold it and it’ll hold the note.
Each of these collectible critters has three modes of play, allowing them to chatter, sing by themselves, or sing together (in perfect pitch!) if you have more than one.
Those of you not looking at me like I have three heads will thank me in eight months 😉
First up in the many awesome things on display at Toy Fair this year is Fred.
Fred is the little boy you went to elementary school with who will take any dare. We’re not exactly sure what happened to Fred, but his legacy lives on in a board game!
Each Fred game includes 78 cards divided equally between six categories (such as, Torture, Foul, and Spazz)
Each card contains a dare of varying difficulty. If you complete it, you continue. If you don’t, you lose. Certain cards also award ‘credit.’Â The object of the game is to collect four credits before being eliminated.
It’s that time of year again. This week Toy Fair is happening in New York City. (It’s not open to the public, sorry!) I always say they can’t outdo themselves, but all of the vendors and the TIA do a simply AMAZING job every year bringing the whole of the toy universe together under one roof! Below is a picture of the opening ceremonies. More fun toy info to follow (I have to fit some sleep in too)
My First Toy
Ok, so this wasn’t my very first toy, I’m sure even I’ll never know what that was, but in cleaning the basement the other day, I found THE toy.
The one toy that is the reason my collection is what it is today.
As a kid I always had horrible luck with toys, every one I wanted was either never produced or impossible to find. Purr-Tenders Duck, Inspector Gadget Doctor Claw, Dick Tracy’s The Blank, (to name only a few..) and Ray Fillet was no exception.. I wanted him, we couldn’t find him.. We looked everywhere, and when he finally did turn up my mom insisted that we buy two. One for me to play with, and one to keep in the package because it was “rare”. Even at the age of 5, every action figure afterwards I insisted that we buy two. One for me to play with, and one to keep in the package. The rest, was history..
Sadly, my mother didn’t quite see it the way I did, and while I still have all of the figures, the packages on a lot of them got ruined.. Some people just will never get it..
More pictures of some of the other Ninja Turtles I found after the jump..
I couldn’t find the item that I wanted to spotlight this week (I’ve got two of them at that..) and instead of just grabbing something else weird and exciting…Â Please enjoy this photo of my cat..
Toy Story is celebrating an anniversary next year and in celebration Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are being released in theaters in 3D. In preparation for this Thinkway Toys has released a new line of movie accurate toys!
If you couldn’t tell by now, the Aliens are my absolute favorite, and when I saw this set I had to have one (or two or three..)
The aliens are exact replicas based on original movie footage and the exact size the ones in the movie would have been had it not been, you know.. animated..
Each one has it’s own facial expression (which undoubtedly changes when no one is looking)
The set also comes with a Certificate of Authenticity stating that they’re exact movie replicas.
Keep an eye out for the movie accurate Buzz Lightyear, Woody (with 50 different sayings!), AND Bucket of Army Men as well as many other fun Alien items!
