Hello Kitty and Sanrio celebrate 50 years at Build-A-Bear

Sanrio is celebrating 50 years of bringing the world a dose of cute. To celebrate, they are teaming up with Build-A-Bear Workshop to allow fans to make-their-own Sanrio friends. Chococat, Keroppi, and My Melody will be joined by Hello Kitty at the store. The partnership starts on August 20 and lasts until supplies run out. Hello Kitty and Sanrio characters will also be featured in the online virtual worlds of Build-A-Bear. “We are excited to celebrate this special milestone by partnering to introduce an extended variety of make-your-own Sanrio friends,” said Founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Maxine Clark. “Our Guests will delight in the opportunity to share some fun with Hello Kitty together with all her new friends.” Guests can actually RSVP buildabear.com/rsvp to make an appointment during August 20-22. With the RSVP, guests can gt two free Sanrio tiny clips with purchase of a new Sanrio

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Square Enix rolling out “Halo: Reach” action figures this fall

Play Arts -KAI-, Square Enix’s line of premium-quality action figures, revealed a new series of figures based on characters from Halo: Reach yesterday. The company will produce figures of six characters in Halo: Reach: Noble Six, Emile, Jun, Carter, Kat and Jorge. The releases will be split into two separate “volumes,” with three characters per volume. Volume 1 is scheduled for a Fall 2010 release, while Volume 2 is slated for a release in early 2011. No price has been set. “The Square Enix Merchandise Division is dedicated to creating collectible action figures that combine high production value and excellent articulation,” said Kanji Tashiro, Merchandise Director of Square Enix, Inc. “The HALO series has captivated fans across the globe, and we are thrilled and honored to be making action figures for its latest entry. We’re confident that even HALO fans that are not familiar with our products will be pleasantly

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Cuddle up with a vampire thanks to Vamplets!

While I was at Toy Fair in NYC a few months ago, I came across an adorable new toy for kids. Called Vamplets, these cute and cuddly baby vampire plushies each with their own names and personalities. Thanks to the wonderful people at KidStuff, I was sent my very own baby Vamplet to get to know! Her name is Midnight Mori who has a cute personal statement: “A demon in diapers, bossy and restless, a fanatical leader you don’t want to mess with!” She has an adorable little pink bow with a skull on her head, and cute skull and cross bones diaper. I was also sent a little bottle filled with “blood,” and it’s one of those fun ones that when tilted the bottle empties. Along with the plush just being cute, they also have a great community website at Vamplets.com! There you can register your baby vamplet, learn

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Get Thundercats statues for your figurine collection

I don’t believe the 80s will ever go out of style. Pop Culture Shock Collectibles are helping you never let go. They announced that they will be releasing a series of 1/4 scale mixed media statues based on Thundercats! The statues will be released sometime this year. “It should come as no surprise that I’m a big fan of 80’s properties” stated Jerry Macaluso, President and Founder of Pop Culture Shock Collectibles. “Street Fighter™ allowed me to bring iconic characters to people’s homes in the most striking format I could conceive. Now, Thundercats will get the star treatment once again that this killer animation classic deserves. We are extremely excited to be working closely with Warner Bros. Consumer Products on this project and can’t wait to show fans of the series what they will soon be able to bring home.” There will be more news on the statueshere.

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Bif Bang Pow! Giving Lost, Dexter, Venture Bros. a Dose of 70s Style

Toy producer Bif Bang Pow!, along with EMCE Designs, is bringing 70s style to a brand-new line of action figures. Each 8-inch figurine features styling by EMCE, cloth apparel, and plastic accessories. BBP has over 40 licensed characters planned for 2010, with the first set having a Comic Con/early summer release, with the rest of them spread out over the rest of the year. Included are much demanded favorites from: The Venture Bros.™ (Cartoon Network) Dexter™ (Showtime Networks) Lost™ (ABC Disney) The Big Lebowski™ (NBC Universal) The Twilight Zone™ (CBS) Flash Gordon™ (King Features) Scott Ian (Anthrax) “We’re very excited about launching this new range of action figures. For the first time in Bif Bang Pow! history, all of our licenses will be living in the same universe. So if you’ve always wanted Dr. Girlfriend to seduce Dexter Morgan, or for Ming™ the Merciless to fight The Dude, now’s your

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Brutal Legend inspired soapbox wins with power of Rock

This last weekend a Brutal Legend inspired fan won the LA Red Bull Soapbox Derby. Team Ironhide took the Red Bull challenge at 46.1 m.p.h, as he crossed the finish line. Brakes were completely shot. The team driver, Sean Feeley, “just tried to keep two wheels on the ground, but by the end I didn’t have any brakes!” Team Ironhide’s design was based on the upcoming game Brutal Legend complete with fake muscles and fake black hair. The Los Angeles stop was the second Red Bull soapbox race in America. The rules are that the car must be human powered and must have a braking system. You can read more about the soapbox race at http://www.redbullsoapboxusa.com/

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Disney Consumer Products and LEGO unveil larger than life Buzz Lightyear

It’s going to be a big year in 2010 for Toy Story and the consumer products group at Disney is already working on the marketing of Toy Story. At the 66th Venice Film Festival, Disney Consumer Products unveiled a Woody and Buzz Lightyear made out of LEGO bricks. It too 13,600 bricks to make Woody and 40,000 bricks to make Buzz. Toy Story is coming back in a big way with the re-release of the first two movies in 3D. Then next summer the third new movie will be released. Expect lots of toys, figures, party items and games to be released in the next year. The movie is set to release on my birthday, June 18, 2010. Who wants to go with me? Here’s the teaser trailer for Toy Story 3:

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Barbie gets her own “The Barbie” dance

Barbie has her first music and dance video and now you can “Do ‘The Barbie’”! The music video was created to celebrate the launch of the new Barbie Fashionistas dolls. The dolls feature 12 points of movement and can do more than 100 poses. To show off the new moves, Barbie teamed up with famed choreographer JaQuel Knight who was the talent behind Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. “It was really fun to work with Barbie and create a dance for her. Barbie is the biggest icon in life and I am so excited to have worked with her on her first music video,” said choreographer, JaQuel Knight. “I have had the privilege of working with celebs like Beyonce and Britney Spears, and I am thrilled to add another B to the roster!” The music video was shot in New York in July and stars three Barbie Fashionistas dolls – “Sassy”, “Cutie”,

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Star Wars Art for a “Mighty” Good cause

Star Wars fans and fans of Might Muggs have a unique chance to give to a good cause with The Empire Muggs Back. Lucasfilm asked artists, comic book creators, toy designers, and celebrity fans to get out their markers, paint brushes and glue guns (wonder if anyone used the bedazzler) to transform blank Might Muggs into custom art. The art is centered around their favorite characters, creatures, ships and scenes from “Star Wars”. Some examples of the artists are: “The Clone Wars” director Dave Filoni, “Fanboys” director Kyle Newman, actress Jaime King, Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin, model makers from “Robot Chicken,” graffiti artist Urban Medium, and tattoo artist Karen Roze. All art pieces not only look good on your shelf but benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The auction ends on August 14, 2009. You can see all the pieces at here. These pieces are all awesome especially the Robot Chicken ones.

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CSI Toy Fingerprint kits recalled

CBS Broadcasting has been given a proposed settlement from the Public Justice and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization to give cash refunds to consumers and implement a nationwide recall of toy science kits based on the television series, CSI. The toy kits – the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Fingerprint Examination Kit (CSI Exam Kit) and the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Forensic Lab Kit (CSI Lab Kit) – were found to have tremolite in the white fingerprint powder. Tremolite is one of the deadliest forms of asbestos. Consumers that bought or received the item as a gift can fill out a claim form by January 14, 2010 at www.csitoysettlement.com. “We urge everyone to get these products out of your homes and away from children, and to send in your claim form to get a refund,” said Public Justice’s Victoria Ni, co-counsel in the case. There is no known save level of

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