Tag: toy insider

You Got Me Floatin’: Skylanders Join Macy’s 2014 Parade

Post author By Peter Parrella
Post date November 12, 2014

The Biggest Balloons Ever will fly in the Macy's 88th Thanksgiving Day Parade. — The Biggest Balloons Ever will fly in the Macy’s 88th Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Activision Skylanders fans will be looking skyward for real this coming Thanksgiving Day as one of their favorite characters from the interactive toy and screen based game world will invade the 88^th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Reach for the Sky…
Eruptor, the always ready-to-blow-his-top ball of lava, will fly high over the streets of New York City as one of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. He’ll join a new fleet of largest-ever helium inflatables with massive dimensions of 50′ long, 36′ wide and 36′ high. Macy’s notes, “…artists used more than 40 gallons of florescent paint and five barrels of glitter!,” to get Eruptor’s smoldering countenance just right. The balloons got a successful test run on November 9^th 2014 in the parking lot of New York’s CitiField sports arena. The parade kicks of Thanksgiving morning (Thursday November 27^th, 2014) at 9:00 AM. If you can’t be there in person you can catch it broadcast on the NBC network.

Artist's Concept for Skylanders Eruptor Balloon. — Artist’s Concept for Skylanders Eruptor Balloon.

The Skylands native son will join several other new additions to the cherished Macy’s parade line-up. Heres’ the complete lowdown from their press release:

“Six new giant characters will take to the sky including The Weinstein Company’s loveable Peruvian bear Paddington; the always electrifying Pikachu; the warm giggling Pillsbury Doughboy; the vanquisher of evil the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger; the lava spewing Skylanders Eruptor; and the friendly locomotive Thomas the Tank Engine.

Rounding out the ballooning line-up are returning favorites including Adventure Time with Finn & Jake, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, The Elf on the Shelf, Hello Kitty, Papa Smurf, Ronald McDonald, Snoopy and Woodstock, Spider-Man, SpongeBob SquarePants and Toothless of How to Train Your Dragon. In addition, the balloon cast includes new balloonicles (a Macy’s Parade hybrid of cold-air balloon and vehicle) of the famed-spokesduck the Aflac Duck and Cloe the Holiday Clown, as well as the return of the KOOL-AID Man. In celebration of the 75^th Anniversary of the film classic, balloonheads of The Wizard of OZ characters will also make a special appearance.”

Going Mobile: Skylanders Trap Team Kit for tablet devices.

Shut Your Trap…
Activision has just launched the newest iteration of the world wide Skylanders franchise called Trap Team. Their tablet based mobile version was featured in Toy Insider’s “Hot Top 20” Toys for the 2014 holiday season. A closer look at Trap Team game play can be read in our previous coverage.

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It's Clobbering Time: On Thanksgiving Day 2014 this guy will be dwarfed by his Macy's Parade balloon big brother. — It’s Clobbering Time: On Thanksgiving Day 2014 this guy will be dwarfed by his Macy’s Parade balloon big brother.

Tags 88th annual thanksgiving parade, activision, big toy book. holiday of play 2014, eruptor, hot top 20 toys, macys thanksgiving day parade, parade balloons, skylanders, tablet based video games, toy insider, trap team

Toys & Collectibles

Flick of the Wrist: Hasbro’s One-Step Dinobot Transformer

Post author By Peter Parrella
Post date November 7, 2014

A Single Movement Activates Grimlock's Transformation — A Single Movement Activates Grimlock’s Transformation

Really Big Bots…
The Hasbro Toy Company expands their trademarked, tried and true, Transformers line this season with a hefty battle contender, The “Stomp and Chomp” Grimlock. As envisioned in the most recent Transformers film Age of Extinction, Grimlock is the leader of the DinoBots and one sweet ride for Autobot Optimus Prime.

I encountered this behemoth at the recent Big Toy Book event HoliDAY of PLAY and was immediately impressed by its sturdy build and massive size.

The included Optimus Prime figure does not convert but when placed on Grimlock’s back serves to activate a specific set of actions, like lights, sounds and weapon releases. Grimlock is aware of whether an Autobot or Decepticon is on board and reveals different actions in response.

One Small Step…
I’ve always loved the ingenuity of Transformers designs, but being pretty old school I was expecting the usual puzzlement of realigning this the toy’s components into any sensible shape after initial disassembly. Much to my surprise Grimlock’s T-Rex mode was instantly converted into a robot standing 20” tall with one pull of its back handle. Wow! Once he’s upright check the tail for a disguised samurai sword to arm your bot.

Additional figures can be purchased separately, there are several other one step changer transformers in the company’s movie related line.

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Tags age of extinction, autobot, big toy book, decepticon, grimlock, hasbro, holiday of play, one step changer, optimus prime, stomp and chomp, toy insider, transformers

Toys & Collectibles

Toy Insider Kicks Off 2014 Gifting Season

Post author By Peter Parrella
Post date November 2, 2014

Pete & Andy’s Play Date…
On a gorgeous late October afternoon co-editor Adriana “Andy” Melendez (@sylverwhisper) and I joined other members of the press and blogger community on the 44th floor of New York City’s Hearst Building for a grand event to kick off the coming gift giving season presented by the folks at The Big Toy Book.Com, in partnership with The Toy Insider and Woman’s Day Magazine. Dubbed “The HoliDAY of PLAY” the gathering was aimed at affording social media and online reporters a jump on building buzz for the best toy options of late 2014.

Top Toy Tips…
Attendees enjoyed a couple of hours of hands-on experience and information gathering directly from manufacturers with a focus on the annual Toy Insider Hot 20 and Top Tech 12 lists. These lists (broken into age appropriate categories) and the entire 2014 Gift Guide can be found in the November issue of Woman’s Day magazine, as well as at Toy Insider online.

Following an introductory period of play and networking Big Toy Book Founder Laurie Schacht (@toyinsidermom) addressed the group. She delineated emerging trends in the toy industry using onsite vendors’ wares as examples punctuated by a video featuring highlights from last summer’s Sweet Suite event and soundtracked by my favorite EchoSmith tune “Cool Kids.”

HoliDAY of PLAY Attendees Got First Hand Info from Toy Vendors, and Spun Up 16 Million Twitter Impressions.

Big Toy Book Founder Laurie Schacht Hoists a Bag-O-Swag for a Lucky Winner.

Laurie called up several brave volunteers to participate in a couple of only mildly embarrassing competitions, one of which had participants emote their best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle “Cowabunga Dude!” Winners walked away with nicely filled swag bags. She also treated attendees to the first announcement of the 2015 Blogger Bash and Sweet Suite, which will be held on July 16 and 17 at Pier Sixty in New York City. In a little over 3 hours attendees managed to spin up 16 million Twitter impressions for the #HotToys14 hashtag and hundreds of Instagram images.

SkeletonPete & Andy Say…
It’s an anything goes marketplace, with tech and retro play products holding equal footing. We saw choices ranging from the robotics of the constantly expanding HEXBUG line to the return of the much loved 1980’s Pound Puppies from Funrise. LeapFrog offers the movement motivating immersive screenplay of their new console system, while creative stalwart Crayola straddles the classic vs. digital worlds with their Virtual Designer Pro kits.

Those only represent a smattering of the multitude of possibilities which is why the helpful guidance of the annual Woman’s Day/Toy Insider supplement and Toy Insider is so valuable.

Below is a list of the vendors who presented their wares at the event, with live links to their respective websites – you’re welcome. 🙂

Andy and I will be giving you a closer look at some of our favorites in the coming weeks.