Only days after revealing the first images of G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie toys, Hasbro’s own G.I. Joe website has shown new thumbnail images for a large run of G.I. Joe: Retaliation toys, including more figures, vehicles, and role play items!  Also shown are the Hasbro SDCC Exclusives – two versions of Jinx, and a Decepticon Shockwave deco H.I.S.S. Tank.

The page can be found here, and also on the GeneralJoes page!

(more…)

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Posted by SuperFly • Comments Off

One of my favorite lines going right now is Hasbro’s Marvel Universe. Marvel characters in my favorite scale. Doesn’t get much better than that.

So, it is with great anticipation that I look forward to what David Vonner and the rest of the intrepid Marvel Universe team is going to unveil at Toy Fair 2012. I’m trying to manage expectations, ‘though. If memory serves, there hasn’t been very much shown at Toy Fair the past couple of years, with a much bigger splash coming in the summer at Comic Con. However, there’s bound to be a few surprises. But, what?(…)
Read the rest of Pre-TF2012: Marvel Universe

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Posted by Jeff Cope • Comments Off

 -Children’s Fund pledges $10,000 donation to encourage participation from children nationwide; company plans to construct largest LEGO® Lemonade Stand to raise money and awareness-

ENFIELD, Conn. – February 2, 2012 –LEGO Children’s Fund and LEGO Systems, Inc. announced today that they will partner with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), a non-profit organization dedicated to finding better treatments and ultimately cures for all kids with cancer.  Together, the groups will seek to drive record participation in National Lemonade Days, the Foundation’s national fundraising weekend, June 8-10, 2012.  LEGO Systems will build the world’s largest Lemonade Stand out of LEGO® bricks to kick off National Lemonade Days, location to be announced, to raise additional funds for the fight against childhood cancer.

The partnership launches this Saturday, February 4 as Toys“R”Us stores nationwide will host a free in-store event to commemorate the launch of LEGO Friends, the company’s newest addition to its collection of themed building sets. Children are invited to build mini LEGO lemonade stands then take them home to add to their LEGO cities. For each LEGO lemonade stand constructed in store, the LEGO Children’s Fund will donate $1, up to $10,000, to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The in-store events take place from 12-2pm and provide registration information for those children interested in participating in National Lemonade Days later this year.

“We’re excited to partner with LEGO Systems to help drive awareness for Lemonade Days and the fight against childhood cancer,” said Liz Scott, Alex’s mom and Co-Executive Director for ALSF. “Each year we hear from parents that participating in National Lemonade Days helped show their children that a small act can make a big difference in the community, even when it comes to a challenge as serious as childhood cancer. We’re excited that together with LEGO Systems and its foundation we will continue to advance our mission to find a cure for all children with cancer.”

ALSF emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, four-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501 (c)3 charity, has raised more than $50 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream, funding over two hundred pediatric cancer research projects nationally.

“When we first heard Alex’s story, we were inspired by her creative ingenuity to redesign the traditional lemonade stand into a powerful fundraising vehicle,” said Michael McNally, brand relations director for LEGO Systems. “LEGO Systems is encouraging this same ingenuity in children everywhere by helping to build 2012 Lemonade Days into the biggest National Lemonade Days weekend ever.”

To learn more about participating in  National Lemonade Days or for further information about Alex’s Lemonade Stand please visit http://www.AlexsLemonade.org/

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Posted by JuliusMarx • Comments Off

If you’ve watched the news today, you may have seen the weather forecast for Denver. Snow, wind, snow, wind, snow…you get the idea. The NOAA has predicted between 12″ – 24″ of snow for the Denver area, along with near-blizzard conditions overnight through tomorrow.

Fun.

So anticipating that schools will be closed tomorrow and wanting nothing to do with household responsibilities, my son and I settled upon our own homemade snow measurement system…

The Han Snowlo Project.

(…)
Read the rest of The Han Snowlo Project: Part I

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Posted by The Superfly • Comments Off

I’m starting to wonder if anything is going to be left for Toy Fair itself. Yesterday, MTV Geek revealed a bunch of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, which was another of the lines I was most looking forward to coming out of Toy Fair.(…)
Read the rest of Pre-TF2012: The Return of TMNT

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Posted by Jeff Cope • Comments Off

I get the sense this was leaked and not supposed to be out yet.  So watch it while you can.

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Posted by JuliusMarx • Comments Off

Twice a month the gang from Mattel are kind enough to answer five questions from AFi readers.  The Mattel marketing and PR team, have replied with the answers to our latest round of questions that AFi readers have posted in our forums.

Questions have been a little light this month so hopefully you guys will have more after Toy Fair in a few weeks.

Let’s get to the questions and the answers!

Q1.  Can we expect the All Star line to feature 4 figure waves only, or will there be multi-packs of some kind?

A1.  The All Stars will differ wave to wave. We know fans like consistency but due to the nature of this retail line, expect it to change up number of figures per wave as well as number of new and re-releases quite a lot wave to wave this year.

Q2.  You recently announced changes to the schedule for MOTUC and Club Eternia.  Will there be any other delays/reshuffling on any of the other Matty collector lines?

A2.  You should absolutely expect more changes on all of our online toy lines. It is actually quite nice we have had so few in the past. Running an online toy line is prone to slight delays and these should be expected as a normal part of the line from time to time.

Q3.  Recently, the response to early reviews of the Voltron Red Lion & Lance were very positive. We know that the pilots and lions are bundled together, but does Mattel have any plan to sell the pilots separately, as originally planned? Many have voiced a desire to purchase the pilot action figures, but cannot afford to purchased the entire set of lions. Maybe a boxed set of all 5 pilots with the alternate helmets and key stands, minus the collect-n-connect sword parts?

A3.  This is something we are looking into but no plans to announce yet. Stay tuned. We have heard you!

Q4.  With the continued success of Marvel Universe, paired with the relaunch of Marvel Legends, does DC and Mattel have any plans yet for a new 4″ DC line?

A4.  No, we do not have plans at this time but it is always something we are looking into.

Q5.  Why does Mattel keep using grey plastic for white costumes – Captain Cold, Hawk, even White Lantern Flash all look much too dull. Will this be corrected for future products?

A5.  Usually it is that ongoing conflict between artistic choices and logistics for the line. We will pass this comment to design to see what can be done.

If you’d like to ask a question for the  February 15th submission then feel free to post your questions in our Mattel Q&A question submissions thread!   Remember they can be about any Mattel product including MOTUC, Ghostbusters,WWE any of the Mattel DC lines, Voltron and Cars. Twice a month we draw our submission question directly from the ones that AFi readers post. 

You can submit new questions in this thread.

You can find our past Q&A’s here.  And you can discuss the answers on our Mattel board.

Thanks again to the team at Mattel for taking time to answer our questions!

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Posted by JuliusMarx • Comments Off

It was 20 years ago today, Feb 1st 1992 that Image Comics founders Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri,  Whilce Portacio and Jim Valentino joined together and formed Image Comics.

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Posted by JuliusMarx • Comments Off

February 1, 2012 Ozark, Missouri – Our friends at Shark City Ozark, known for their screen accurate replicas of Bruce the mechanical shark, have officially launched their 2012 line up. Available for the first time at Big Bad Toy Store, each piece is designed, created, and manufactured by hand right here in the USA. following up on last year’s hugely successful Bruce NTT maquette, their spring line up includes the 18″ shark replica, 25″ Ultimate Bruce Collection shark (piece #1 of 4), massive 1/6 scale end battle scenes Bruce bust, 25″ mako shark, and the gigantic Killer Shark, which measures over 37 inches long!

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Posted by JuliusMarx • Comments Off

In the weeks before Toy Fair 2012, many companies have reached out to major media outlets to help the tease their new product.

Just this week we have seen:

Hasbro revealed their GI Joe: Retaliation movie figures to USA Today.

MTV Geek got an exclusive look at Playmates new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.

Wired Magazine’s Geek Dad blog  got the first look at the upcoming Lego Lord of the Ring products.

Check out all the links above for more information and more pictures.  We will continue to bring you all the up-to-the-minute Toy Fair 2012 news as part of our ongoing coverage.

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Posted by JuliusMarx • Comments Off