TheFW » Toys

10 Things You Didn't Know About G.I. Joe

Tim Finn — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:50:47 +0000

With 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' coming to theaters, now is a good time to look over the almost 50-year history of the world's most popular action figure and take stock of its origins, mysteries and innovations. Use this handy guide and now you'll know all you need to win half of your tri

8 Weird Playmobil Sets

Nick Nadel — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:01:33 +0000

Ah, Playmobil. Basically Lego’s weird cousin, Playmobil offers all of the imaginative environments and changeable figures of Lego without having to actually build anything. Created by German inventor Hans Beck in 1929, the basic Playmobil sets and figures have remained virtually unchanged for decades. It’s this quaintness, and a commitment to recreating real world locales [...]

Etch A Sketch Inventor Dies at Age 86

Donald Deane — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:33:22 +0000

Andre Cassagnes, the man responsible for inventing the venerable Etch A Sketch, a toy that inspired countless children ever since it was introduced in 1960, has died at age 86 in France. According to the Ohio Art Co., the toy’s manufacturer, Cassagnes died in a Paris suburb on Jan. 16 due to undisclosed causes. “Etch [...]

Hasbro Introduces Easy-Bake Oven for Boys

Donald Deane — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:21:54 +0000

Ever since it was introduced in 1963, the Easy-Bake Oven has been marketed exclusively to girls, leaving aspiring boy chefs out in the cold. But that's about to change thanks to a campaign led by a teen girl on behalf of her four-year-old brother, who loves to cook.

Teen Launches Campaign for Gender-Neutral Easy Bake Oven

Amanda Ferris — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 21:23:35 +0000

Thirteen year-old McKenna Pope is fighting mad at Hasbro, and this little activist wants some positive changes now. The eighth grader, who hails from Garfield, New Jersey, has started a petition on Change.org asking Hasbro to make their Easy Bake Ovens more gender-neutral.

10 Weird Fad Toys Every Kid Had to Have for Christmas

Danny Gallagher — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:22:51 +0000

You can always spot a parent around the holiday season. Their hair is a frazzled mesh of cow licks and stray strands as if it’s been pulled by a crowd of frantic people. Their eyes dart around in all directions desperately seeking something that could suddenly appear at a moment’s notice. They break down and cry during commercials that advertise “the hottest toy of the holiday season.”

Toy Company Debuts New Gender-Blind Catalog

Tom Blunt — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 20:31:44 +0000

Scandinavian Toys”R”Us licensee Top-Toy has taken a new approach to making sure kids get what they really want for Christmas: a fully gender-blind catalog that erases the line between boys’ and girls’ toys. For many decades the tide has slowly been turning on forcing kids to play with toys and games considered fitting for their [...]

Swedish Toy Company Defies Gender Stereotypes for Unique Christmas Catalog

Amanda Ferris — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:45:36 +0000

In a pleasantly surprising move, a Swedish toy company called Top Toy has made a giant leap for gender equality amongst children. Top Toy's Christmas catalog features an interesting twist: the boys are the ones who are playing with dollhouses and the girls are happily playing with the Nerf guns.

Own Your Own 'Success Kid'

Emerald Catron — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 21:45:50 +0000

This is a timelapse video of the process involved in taking the “Success Kid” meme and turning it into a tiny sandstone statue. Don’t you want a tiny “success kid” you can keep in your pocket like a lucky rabbit foot? The tiny figurine is made by Shapeways, the same company who brought the F [...]

Meet Hugo, the Freakiest Toy Ever

Donald Deane — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:15:36 +0000

Toys in the ’70s sure were awesome, but let’s face it — they weren’t always well-thought-out. In that spirit, we present ‘Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces,’ a large plastic doll that surely qualifies as one of the most disturbing toys of all time. If you owned one, you have our sympathy. Hugo was produced [...]

G.I Joe Voted Best Toy of the Last Century

Carl Pettit — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:03:58 +0000

G.I Joe has been selected the best toy of the last century, according to the people who voted online at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis’s webpage. The poll, which ranked the best toys for the last 100 years, was set up by staff at this fun museum in order to see which childhood plaything would come out on top.

Man Builds Enormous K'Nex Machine

Emerald Catron — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:45:03 +0000

It’s pretty obvious what this guy likes to do with his spare time. This enormous K’Nex ball machine has over 41,000 pieces, 21 different paths, 450 feet of track, eight motors, five lifts, and a computer-controlled crane. It’s like watching the world’s most elaborate game of Mousetrap.

Carnival Game Expert Can Clean Out a Carny's Plush Toy Stock

Danny Gallagher — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 20:30:21 +0000

Peter Dragos, a native of Detroit, Michigan, gets a lot of strange looks from carnival barkers when he walks down the midway. That’s because he’s a natural at carnival games. In fact, he regularly has to bring plastic bags and shopping carts with him to carry home all of the stuffed toys and trinkets he [...]

Secret Life of Woody the Cowboy Revealed in Hilarious Photos

Kyle Dowling — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:10:11 +0000

We're going to be blunt with you: the Woody you've grown to love over the years since the first 'Toy Story' movie isn't all that you see on the screen. There's more to him. The dude has a secret lifestyle which this creative photographer has brought out.

Footage of Plastic Army Men Shows That Desktop War is Hell

Danny Gallagher — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 18:15:42 +0000

To survive war, you’ve got to become war. As this video shows, it also helps if you’re tiny and made of hard plastic! Francois Fenelon once said, “All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers.” Does that apply to plastic Army men as well? The battles between the tan and green Army men [...]

Does a Yo-Yo Work in Space? An Astronaut Demonstrates

Tom Blunt — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 15:00:13 +0000

You might think that in zero gravity a yo-yo would be a totally worthless toy. Thanks to astronaut Don Pettit, currently orbiting Earth in the Internatinal Space Station, we get to see why it’s actually a hundred times more fun. Don’s been living and working up there since December, and in his spare time he’s [...]

The Furby Is Back and More Annoying Than Ever

Jeremy Taylor — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:55:50 +0000

The Furby is coming back. All the rage in 1998, toy maker Hasbro promises the new version of the animatronic furball is even better than before. This latest Furby edition will be able to communicate with other Furbies and will “learn and change,” just like its predecessors. But it will be softer and more cuddly [...]

10 Celebrity Hobbies That Might Surprise You

Carl Pettit — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:15:43 +0000

Sometimes we think our favorite celebrities only exist on this planet for our own amusement. In fact, many of them do have lives away from the limelight. When they’re not acting, singing, dancing or just being fabulously rich and famous, some of your favorite stars take part in some pretty interesting extracurricular activities. Here are [...]

Join 'The Hunger Games' With the Katniss Barbie Doll

Mithun Divakaran — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:50:29 +0000

If you can't afford to buy the village where 'The Hunger Games' was filmed, here's a piece of memorabilia that's far more affordable. Mattel, the makers of Barbie, has unveiled a collector's edition doll of Katniss, the franchise's lead protagonist.

Etch-A-Sketch Responds to Mitt Romney Gaffe

Jeremy Taylor — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:48:39 +0000

Last week, Mitt Romney's campaign adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, likened his candidate's plan to retool and change message once he secured the GOP nomination to the classic toy the Etch-A-Sketch. "You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again," Fehrnstrom said during the now notorious CNN interview.

While changing courses for a general election is pretty standard practice, it's not something a presidential candidate's adviser is supposed to brag about. Let alone explain so colorfully, as Fehrnstrom did.

Watch 'The Hunger Games' Recreated With Beanie Babies

Donald Deane — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:15:50 +0000

Given the massive success of 'The Hunger Games' film adaptation -- it raked in $155 million over the weekend, making it the third biggest opening of all time -- internet parodies are already starting to stack up. But perhaps the funniest of all is a recreation of the film starring adorable Beanie Babies. Remember those?

Transforming Lego Game Boy Is the Best Toy You Never Had

Mithun Divakaran — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:58:54 +0000

Imagine all your favorite childhood memories combined into one awesome toy. That's exactly what LEGO fan Julius von Brunk did when he created the 'Domaster & Tetrawing' - an amalgamation of the Nintendo Game Boy, the game 'Tetris' and Transformers - that is actually a transforming "Nintendobot." Check out how the Tetris cartridge transforms into the 'Tetrawing' robot below. It'll put your LEGO skills to shame.

Moving Short Film Follows a Toy's Road Trip Through Google Maps

Jeremy Taylor — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:19:05 +0000

In this clever video by Tom Jenkins, Google Maps is used to free a toy car from the desk top and take it on a road trip across the country. Check out the innovative short below. [via Viral Viral Video]

Go 'Back to the Future' With Official Marty McFly Hoverboard

Mike Sampson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:55:56 +0000

Twenty-three years ago, as 'Back to the Future, Part II' first hit theaters, kids everywhere got their first look at a toy from the future. It was the Mattel Hoverboard, the skateboard without wheels that uses futuristic technology to float inches above the ground. Rumors swirled in the '80s and '90s that the Hoverboard was real (rumors fueled by director Robert Zemeckis) but, alas, much to the disappointment of children everywhere, the Hoverboard was just another piece of movie magic.

But now, just three years shy of 2015 - the "future" of 'Back to the Future, Part II" - Mattel has finally announced the Hoverboard for sale.

Little Girl Has a Lot of Opinions on Toy Store Gender Politics [VIDEO]

Alex Staub — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:07:52 +0000

Riley, the clever little girl in this video, has an epiphany in a toy store that turns into a mini-rant about the way that companies "try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff instead of the stuff that boys want to buy." Looks like toy companies ought to give the youngsters they market their products to a little more credit.

Nintendo and Etch A Sketch Combine to Create Greatest Toy You Never Had [VIDEO]

Danny Gallagher — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:49:13 +0000

Two staples of every red-blooded American kid’s childhood are Ohio Art’s iconic Etch A Sketch and the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Now, they have become one awesome toy we wish we had as kids. A crafty inventor hooked up a NES D-pad controller to a pair of motorized knobs attached to an Etch A Sketch. Thanks [...]

Kathie Lee and Hoda Inspect the Infamous 'You & Me Interactive Triplets' Cursing Doll [VIDEO]

Donald Deane — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:49:23 +0000

On the fourth hour of ‘Today,’ Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb take a close look at the ‘You & Me Interactive Triplets’ doll that allegedly utters an naughty word. The toy’s manufacturer has argued that it’s simply making baby talk. But when Gifford and Kotb try the doll, it sounds like anything but. In [...]

Check Out Some Unique Holiday Gift Ideas for Kids [PHOTOS]

Donald Deane — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:50:34 +0000

Struggling to decide what to buy for a child this holiday season? Then check out this collection of unique holiday gifts for kids of all ages courtesy of 'The Early Show.'

Gift ideas include the Scruble Cube, a game that combines the Rubik's Cube with Scrabble, dolls from the StinkyKids collection, chopsticks for kids with animal toppers and a device that makes rainbows.
Check out some neat holiday gift items for youngsters below.

Cursing 'You & Me Interactive Triplets' Baby Dolls Upsets Parents [VIDEO]

Donald Deane — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:45:14 +0000

Some believe that the ‘You & Me Interactive Triplets’ dolls currently being sold at Toys R Us stores doesn’t just use use adorable baby talk. They think the doll is actually saying a dirty word. One of the dolls included in the ‘You & Me Interactive Triplets’ playset allegedly utters a phrase that contains some seriously [...]

Car-Themed Wedding Cake Makes Eating It Difficult [VIDEO]

Jeremy Taylor — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:38:41 +0000

Many couples choose to have unique, offbeat weddings, and one couple in particular decided on something complete different for their wedding cake. Sitting on top of what can only be assumed as an automotive-themed wedding, sits a semi-truck next to the bride and groom figurines.

The working lights on the truck suggest anyone attempting to eat it has probably hit the cash bar hard.