Terminator Toys take over Toy Fair

With the upcoming sequel to the Terminator movie epic, Terminator: Salvation coming this summer, Playmates is gearing up with a whole spate of Terminator toys which will allow kids to pretend they’re the treaded T-600 assassin.

And although the T600’s mission is to take out John Connor before he can mount a resistance, the heavy price tag on some of these toys make do Connor’s work for him. Still, they’re pretty cool toys that deserve a look.


The first toy of the Terminator line is a flying fist toy which shoots a out from the forearm to attack anyone in it’s path. Pretty cool, but with a cost of $75, one has to wonder who’s going to take it on, much less play with it.

Next is T-600 Voice and Vision helmet with light up eyes that makes the wearer look very ominous.

Lastly, there’s the Terminator Endoskeleton Tatoos’ which will let kids pretend they’ve got some T-200 titanium under that fleshy covering of theirs.

The toys are due to be out in time for the premiere of the movie May 21st.

Disney Princess the Magic Kingdom

Arriving at the New York Toy Faire with pomp and pageantry is Princess Tiana, Disney’s latest royal princess from the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog.”

Voiced by Tony Award-winning actress/singer Anika Noni Rose, Princess Tiana is the first Disney princess in over a decade and is a timely addition to the ever popular Disney Princess line that has girls dressing in costume as they walk the Magic Kingdom and get in touch with their inner royal.


These Mattel toys, ranging from cute baby dolls to hour glass collectibles in Barbie-esque glory, also include play sets and role-play dresses which will help young girls pretend to be Princess Tiana, who is also the first African American Disney princess to enter the pantheon.

A distinction that’s long overdue.

The first wave of “The Princess and the Frog” merchandise, which will include apparel, home décor, consumer electronics, school supplies and personal care products will flood the Kingdom starting in late October / early November, while the Disney movie – the first hand drawn animated feature since Home on the Range – will arrive in theaters Christmas Day – perfect for little girls who get their Princesss Tiana toys from Santa!

Disney Star Wars Training Academy

Lately my interest in the Lucas attitude of “if you build it, they will come” towards Star Wars/Disney merchandising has been rather waneing.

I mean, when Disney slaps Minnie Mouse in a slave Leia costume, how can not every red blooded American male not lose any interest in the a woman in a bikini.

The image is seared into my mind! Well, thankfully, Disney has redeemed itself by releasing through Hasbro a fun set commemorating the Disney Parks Jedi Training Academy.


But what is a little sad is that Disney doesn’t appreciate that the average Star Wars/Disney fan would know the name of the generic “Jedi Master” who chooses the youngling padawans from the crowd. Then again, I can’t seem to, so maybe it’s a non starter.

But I digress. The cool thing is that any of the 25 youngsters who are chosen to learn the way of the Force and battle Darth Vader and Darth Maul can take home this 5 figure set and actually believe that one of them is him! And then relive the memory over and over again. Impressive, most impressive.

And what’s really cool is that the Jedi Training Academy is now a permanent fixture at both Disneyland and Disney Hollywood Studios (where it’s in the shadow of a 35 foot tall ATAT).

The toys will be sold exclusively during Star Wars Weekends for an obscene $40.

Power Rangers Toy

There’s a trend going on in toy making right now … using the Internet to poll toy fans on what new toy to make.

And that’s not only very democratic, but cool to boot.

Hasbro has been doing it for about a year by letting Star Wars toy fans vote on what toy to release next and now Power Rangers toy maker Bandai is doing the same thing through Wizard Universe.

The idea is for Power Rangers fans to choose the next classic Ranger toy and it’s bringing the Power Rangers franchise around full circle.


Going back to even the beginning, users can vote on a sampling of Rangers from several series incarnations over the lats 15 years.

They include the Pink Power Ranger from the first season of Mighty Morphin PR, the Red Zeo Ranger from the second season, the Quantum Ranger from Time Force, the Red Ninja Ranger from Ninja Storm, the Blue Dino Ranger from Dino Thunder, the Omega Ranger from S.P.D., and the Solaris Knight from Mystic Force.

Fans can log onto wizarduniverse.com to make you’re their heard and decide which of these classic Power Rangers figures will get a makeover.

action figure collections Mattel is putting out include a new three pack of Gotham Knight Batman

Other action figure collections Mattel is putting out include a new three pack of Gotham Knight Batman including the Caped Crusader taking on Scarecrow and based on the DC direct to DVD anime Movie.

There’s also a Gotham based Justice League collection which includes villains such as Bane, Harley Quinn,
and yet another Scarecrow; as well as several animated Justice League heroes and Batman: Brave and the Bold (which is based on yet another animated Batman series to hit the cable nets in January).

Mattel has created a new round of DC comics super hero action figures

Mattel has created a new round of DC comics super hero action figures that kids are sure to love … especially if they’re into comics.

The figures include: Wonder Woman, Hawk Wingman, Gordon in Swat gear, Sinestro, Atom (classic costume), Blue and Gray Batman (old school), Crisis/70’s Supergirl, Black and Silver Superman Prime, Alex Luthor.

While no one will probably care about Alex Luthor or even have a clue who “Omac” is, the old school Detective comics Batman and classic Wonder Woman make this a pretty cool collection of figs to consider.

And even the disco 70s Supergirl is rather kitchy and could appeal to girls who don’t particularly want Barbie as a role model.

Kamen Rider Den-O

For fans of Kamen Rider Den-O, this is Kamen Rider Den-O : RAH Masked Rider Den-O 1/6 scale 12″ Action Figure .

Kamen Rider Den-O (Kamen Raidā Den’ō, Masked Rider Den-O) is the seventeenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei.

It premiered January 28, 2007 on tv asahi, and concluded airing on January 20, 2008.

Synopsis
Ryotaro Nogami is a young man with a lot of bad luck. One day, he finds a strange pass and things got stranger from a mysterious girl and a large time-traveling train to being possessed by an entity called an Imagin, beings from an alternate future whose kind are attempting to change the past.

Though slightly confused about the nature of the crisis, Ryotaro, along with the aid of the hot-headed, violent Imagin, dubbed Momotaros, becomes Kamen Rider Den-O, traveling to different times on the Den-Liner to battle the evil Imagin to prevent them from altering the past to affect the present and future. During his adventure,

Ryotaro is joined by other Imagin who aid him as well; the lying, manipulating and womanizing Urataros, the herculean (and narcoleptic) Kintaros, and the childish yet powerful Ryutaros.

He later meets the mysterious Yuto Sakurai and his bumbling Imagin partner Deneb. Yuto is not only Kamen Rider Zeronos but is the younger incarnation of Ryotaro’s older sister Airi’s fiance, Sakurai, who mysteriously disappeared and is tied to the mysteries revolving the Imagin and a person known as the Junction Point.