litladventures: ttpm Spring Showcase 2017

litladventures: ttpm Spring Showcase 2017

The litlgeeks get to do a lot of fun things thanks to litlgeeks.com.  One of the most fun things they have gotten to do, they have now gotten to do TWICE, ttpm!  The litlgeeks were introduced to ttpmin 2016, went to the showcase, had a blast, and they were (thankfully!) invited back in 2017.  We have a lot of great coverage of the show for you, but before we dive in, I want to give you a little background and let you know what you are going to see.

What is ttpm – toys, tots, pets & more.  It’s an amazing resource for parents and folks that love toys.  The wonderful folks there look at fun products and give unbiased reviews about the pros and cons for what they are looking at.  They also do some incredible industry activities and their staffers are involved in all sorts of great stuff, right up to their CEO Jim Silver who is on ABC’s The Toy Box (litlninja is a big fan and Jim made his day!)

The Spring Showcase featured about 40 great toy brands, and the best part, everything that was there, the many “industry” kids in attendance go to play with!  Note, ttpm is a Toy Industry / professional event, and lots of great media outlets were invited to go play, see, and of course share!  Now, we didn’t get to everyone, but we did our best to get to almost everyone!

The litlgeeks put together a fun video of their day for you.  You can click the links above the video to jump to the toy company you are interested in, or you can scroll to your hearts content.  If you want to come back to the top, look on the right of your screen and click the up arrow.  Enjoy!

Alex Brands | Antsy PantsEASTCOLIGHT Limited | Emzos Kawaii Squeezies | Funrise | Hasbro | Insect Lore | JAKKS Pacific | Jay @ Play | Jazwares | Just Play | Kangaroo | Kap It | LEGO | Little Kids | Mattel | Moose Toys | Nickelodeon | Ozobot | PlanToys | PlayMonster | Spin Master | Super Impulse | Tech 4 Kids | The Toy Box | Tomy | Tucker Toys | Universal Whiffer Sniffers | WowWee | Zing | Event Photos and Press Conference

 

 

Alex Brands

What a great time with our friends at Alex Brands.  They were showing off a bunch of great stuff, from Walking Dead foam dart guns from Buzz Bee to their amazing Magic Kits.  litlninja was immediately mesmerized when resident Magician Mentalist and Purveyor of Mystery, Ryan Oakes demonstrated some of the adorable tricks you can learn in Alex Brands My First Magic Kit sets! http://www.alexbrands.com/

 

Antsy Pants 

Antsy Pants was a name we hadn’t heard before ttpm 2017 and we are glad we know it now.  Kid size, kid friendly, easy to build play “tent” kits that have all sorts of adorable themes from Ice Cream Trucks to Pirate Ships.  The litlgeeks love their role play and Antsy Pants is going to be a must have in our house this year!  Build structures to create your own world and bring your imagination to life! https://www.facebook.com/antsypantsplay/

 

EASTCOLIGHT Limited 

EASTCOLIGHT demonstrated some fun tech toys!  Telescopes made to mount a smart phone, whether on top for star mapping or right on the view finder for some star gazing pictures, the design is impressive!  They also showed off a conductive play toy, plug in a banana and tap the banana to make music!   http://www.eastcolight.com/en-us/index?skm=1

 

Emzos Kawaii Squeezies

Super cute squeezies featuring fun and well designed characters.  They smell neat too, I’m not sure if that’s intended, but I like the smell.  They are so unbelievably squeezable!  https://www.facebook.com/pg/Emzos-Kawaii-Squeezies-1716872555309092/about/

 

Funrise

Funrise was showing off some really fun stuff at ttpm, Gazillion Giant Bubbles abounded, the Bubble Mill, the Power Wand, the Incredibubble Wand!  Also on display, perfect play size for litlgeeks, Tonka Tinys!  Little Tonka toy truck and play sets that work and interact just like the big ones!  Starting at $9.99 you really can’t beat it! http://www.funrise.com/

 

Hasbro

Our friends at Hasbro constantly bring the fun to any toy show or event we are lucky enough to attend and today was no different.  Hasbro’s booth was just a wall of people at all times because they were showing off the brand new Forces of Destiny line!  We got to see Princess Leia, Sabine, Rey and Jyn!  We got to see some of the great Spider-Man homecoming role play toys and action figures.  Some fantastic Hasbro games were on hand (pictured).  A fantastic spread of Transformers toys including the brand new (and improved!) Optimus helmet / mask for The Last Knight.  We got to see some of the Guardians of the Galaxy goodies that you can find in stores now!  Also on display, My Little Pony, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Littlest Pet Shop and Magic the Gathering!  Oooh!  And some beautiful Beauty and the Beast figures that you can pick up as soon as now! One of the highlights for the litlgeeks at the Hasbro setup though was Nerf Nitro.  Car Guns…  Guns that shoot cars…fast!  Recipe for litlfun! http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com

 

Insect Lore

We hope you remember our friends at Insect Lore.  We do! The litlgeeks had such a great time growing their own Butterfly Garden.  We got to check out more of their great products for 2017.  Stay tuned to litlgeeks because I think we will have some butterfly giveaway goodness this year!  https://www.insectlore.com/

 

JAKKS Pacific

JAKKS Pacific has so much fun stuff!  Beauty and the Beast dolls and play pieces like the rose and Mrs. Potts / Chip.  We got our first eyes on the Cars 3 Max Tow Mater!  This beefy tow truck has over 50 phrases and sounds, and can tow up to 200 pounds with ease!  JAKKS has a full line of great Smurfs toys for the latest movie featuring figures, houses, dolls and more.  They have some great ride ons like a Spider-Man bike and a Thomas The Tank Train.  Jakks is also home to some 2016, 2017 runaway hits, Tsum Tsum and Gift ‘Ems!  Don’t forget their great outdoor brand Maui, they showed off the Sky Ball, the Sky Bouncer and the Wave Hoop!  The favorite of the litlgeeks here though was the XPV Rock N Roll Groot.  They spun Groot until they couldn’t spin Groot no more!  http://www.jakks.com/

 

Jay @ Play

Ever heard of Flip A Zoo?  Adorable plush not one though, but two!  Each character is adorable, and each character flips into one other character.  From tiny plastic toy Flipzees to giant size Flip A Zoos, Jay @ Play has a huge hit on their hands!  http://www.jayatplay.com/

 

Jazwares

Jazwares is the home of Animal Jam, the fantastic, interactive toy line.  They are also where you go for all of your Peppa Pig must haves.  For the litlgeeks though, Jazwares is where Minecraft and Roblox lives!  Both litlgeeks took as many turns playing Roblox as they could and their friend Aaron gave them not one, but two! Roblox blinx Blox each!  Thank you Aaron! http://jazwares.com/

 

Just Play

Just Play had a ton of new and exciting stuff on display.  In addition to some great new PJ Masks Deluxe Vehicles and some great new role play masks, Just Play showed off the Marvel Swing and Sling Spidey Plush…he swings and does flips!  Their other big news of the day, the Cars 3 Mack’s Mobile Tool Center.  Lightening McQueens trailer giant sized!  It fights Lightening and has a workshop full of custom parts that you can change up Lightening with! ($59.99).  https://justplayproducts.com/

 

Kangaroo

I’m learning this year actually that one of the most stressful things you can do in your life, next to marriage and home buying is having a pool put in.  Nothing fancy, an above ground pool, but so much work around it!  What’s not stressful about pool buying though?  Picking out amazing and fun floats and toys!  Kangaroo has you covered and they definitely have us covered with a Giant Swan.  The litlgeeks loved their Poop Emoji float too!   http://www.kangaroomfg.com/

 

Kap It

Kap It, I can’t say simply enough, it takes the wild craze of bottle flipping and makes it a competitive and fun game!  Kap It founders KidzGames are excited for you to try this great take on the new craze, and litlgeeks is excited to share it with you too, so stay tuned for our review!  Kap It uses a soft play mat, square bottles that are easy for flipping, but you do have to bring your own water!  The game is available at www.kapitgame.com for $19.95.

 

LEGO

LEGO made a big splash at ttpm showing off their adorable new Cars 3 DUPLO and Juniors sets.  The litlgeeks loved playing with them.  The Internet is raging ablaze though with news of the beautiful new Carousel set which you can even motorize (sold separately). https://www.lego.com/en-us/

 

Little Kids

Our only real meltdown of ttpm, litlzombie was led by the Little Kids booth.  We were going to go to the booth but we were following the floor plan around and we were going to loop down the middle.  On our way by the booth, litlzombie saw a giant bubble wand.  We kept walking and he just lost his marbles.  He wanted to play with it so badly.  We turned it around and took liltzombie to the bubbles and all was well.  He’d of played with that bubble wand all day and not thought about another toy.  Little Kids does have other toys though, Magic Kitchen, Candylicious Bubbles and all sorts of great bubble blowers too! http://www.littlekidsinc.com/

 

Mattel

Mattel is having a great 2017 with hit movie toy after hit movie toy.  They’ve got a ton of fantastic Cars 3 products coming out, talking interactive cars, derby playsets and more.  Mattel is also the home of Fast and the Furious, so many awesome cars and sets out for that.  You want more?  Ok, how about Wonder Woman!  Role Play Toys! Action Figures! Dolls!  DC Super Hero Girls, this line is on fire and it will expand in Spring of 2017 with more action dolls and more figures in the fall!  http://shop.mattel.com

 

Moose Toys

Moose was on hand to show off great new Shopkins and Little Live Pets.  They were also showing a great spread of Minions based toys and Disney Crossy Road toys! http://www.moosetoys.com/

 

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon was on hand with a mile of toys from water tables to pool floats.  The highlight here for the litlgeeks was of course the Ninja Turtles.  Adorable plush, Micro Mutants, Viewmaster!  There was also a ton of great Paw Patrol fun on display, and Spongebob too! http://www.nick.com/

 

Ozobot

Ozobot has been on our list for a while now, and while it was always high up, it jumped up in a big way at ttpm. Ozobot Evo! Groot Ozobot, Spidey, Iron Man.  We love us some Marvel and Ozobot has us covered in July!  Ozobot has STEM in spades! https://ozobot.com/

 

PlanToys

A line of toys using natural sustainable materials and manufacturing, PlanToys had some very kid friendly playsets that even showed off a little STEM with basic machine mechanics.  Beautifully designed and built to withstand your litlgeeks.  http://plantoys.com/

 

PlayMonster

The litlgeeks love PlayMonster.  We’ve already made a friend in our Wonder Crew buddy and we had a great time bringing you news about My Fairy Garden at Toy Fair.  Expect more from each in 2017!  Wonder Crew should see more outfits with matching kid gear and My Fairy Garden brings out beautiful set after set!  http://www.playmonster.com/

Spin Master

You may have heard about Hatchimals, maybe.  This year, Coleggtibles!  Little tiny Hatchimals.  You warm up their egg, break it open and there is an adorable little (non-interactive) Coleggtible inside!  So cute!  The litlgeeks got to meet a Hatchimal!  Spin Master also has oodles of great Spy Gear, Automoblox too!  http://www.spinmaster.com/

 

Super Impulse

The litlgeeks love Super Impulse.  Fraggles, World’s Smallest, Wiz-z-zer!  It was all on display at ttpm! Precision RBS too!  Only the coolest most accurate rubber band launching system EVER!  http://superimpulse.com/

Tech 4 Kids

Tech 4 Kids is the home of Mash Em’s, Fash Em’s, and most any other kind of Em’s.  This year all lines will grow with adorable new squeezy characters, and the litlgeeks will be reviewing a ton for you too!  http://tech4kids.com/

 

The Toy Box 

The litlgeeks are HUGE fans of runaway hit show The Toy Box.  Inventors and toy makers from all over the country present their ideas to a panel of mentors, then kid judges, and then they have a chance to have their toys made by Mattel!  On site were contestants with the Arya Ball, the ball that does it all! litlninja also got a picture with Jim Silver.  We will be hearing about this picture for the rest of our lives.   http://abc.go.com/shows/the-toy-box

 

Tomy

Tomy makes Pokemon, so they are a big name in our house.  Pokemon toys will grow this year with new characters in their main line, but most interesting a whole new line of collectibles is launching featuring tiny cute Pokemon and playsets!  Most adorable, My Friend Eevee!!  The most exciting thing at ttpm for litlninja was at Tomy too, Lightseekers!  Real world toys that you bring into a game on your tablet / mobile device.  There are accessories, figures, a starter pack a trading card game!  The game launches in May with toys following shortly after, and you must play it!  http://tomy.com/

 

Tucker Toys

Tucker Toys brought out the action sports in spades.  The most exciting, a bluetooth enabled flying disc!  Play tunes from this water resistant must have!  https://www.tuckertoys.com/

 

Whiffer Sniffers 

Whiffer Sniffers brand new series of Sniffers hits this year.  They gave us some samples and litlzombie got a SUPER RARE!! It was in a gold bag and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him more excited in his whole life! https://whiffersniffers.com/

 

Universal

Universal as always had some great stuff to show.  Fast and Furious, Minions, Spirit!  The kids are going to love Universal in 2017!

 

WowWee 

Our friends at WowWee always surprise and delight.  Though we’ve seen what they were showing before, it was great to put it back in the hands of the litlgeeks. The MinionMIP Robot had them enthralled, but the Magnaflex table was probably where they spent the most time at the show, putting together fun magnetic shapes!    http://wowwee.com/

 

Zing

Zing has always made  the litlgeeks happy.  Stikbots, Wethead.  But this year at ttpm they had easily the most buzzed about toy, Thumb Chucks.  8 bucks a piece, out now, they can’t keep them on the shelf.  They are an ultimate fidget toy!  Keep your eyes out for Blast Box too, coming in Spring, this game is going to burst your bubble and you’ll love it! Stikbots grows their family with Pets!  http://zing.toys/

 

Event Photos And Press Conference

The litlgeeks had a wonderful time at ttpm and we want to thank the fine folks at ttpm and Litzky PR for having us out to the show.  We love seeing all these great toys and getting to meet all of the great people!  On a finishing note, ttpm is started with a press conference each year featuring their top picks for toys they have reviewed so far this year.  You can check out below for images of that and some images of the show floor.

Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack

 
The Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack will protect your
game from the impossible! – Coming Soon
 
Hillside, NJ — April 25, 2017 – WizKids is excited to announce the Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack, coming soon to a friendly local game store near you. Designed by Mike Elliott and Eric M. Lang, the Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack will help you upgrade any Dice Master Starter Set into a team with a clear theme.

The Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack features the most recognizable members of the Defenders roster, including Hulk, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones! These dice pack a punch that’ll leave your opponents saying, “Sweet Christmas!”

The Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack will let players build their own teams of heroes and is perfect for the Dice Masters veteran or someone looking to jump into the game fresh! A Team Pack can be paired with any Starter Set to give a player everything they need to build a highly-focused team for thematic play!

Pre-order the Marvel Dice Masters: Defenders Team Pack for $9.99 at your friendly local game store today!\

DC Comics Icons Wave 5 Static

DC Comics Icons Wave 5 Static

Cyborg | Deathstroke | Static | Swamp Thing | Wonder Woman | Group Shots

DC Comics Icons Wave 5 Static

Static is finally here!  One of the earliest figures noted to be part of the DC Icons line, and now at least sort of different than when we first saw him, we’ve got him.  All things being equal, I’m not entirely familiar with Static.  Regardless of my lack of knowledge though, and the changes to how he was originally to be released, we still have a great figure, so let’s dig in.

The Good

  • Exceptionally sharp, clean paint job.  Static does not have an overly complicated costume, what detail he features though is incredibly well represented.
  • Alternate heads included, one with his cowl, the other is cowled with Static’s “X” hat over it.
  • Static comes with one of the cooler accessories yet to be featured with an Icon figure, an electricity effect stand that supports a man hole cover with a foot peg.  Placing Static on the cover gives a fantastic electric float effect that I wish they would have adapted, or pioneered with Firestorm!
  • The paint coloring on Static is page perfect and really very pretty to look at.

The Bad

  • Static was originally displayed as a “deluxe” figure with a higher price point.  For what are I’m sure, good reasons, DC Collectibles scaled the figure down to a standard single card release and at least one key accessory was removed, the trench coat.  As unfamiliar as I am with the character, when you google Static or Static Shock, most pictures feature him in a trench coat…c’est la vie.
  • While the electricity effect stand is brilliant, that’s all the electricity included with static, hand bolts?  

 

The rest

Static is a beautiful figure.  That is something that DC Icons has delivered over and over again, just shockingly pretty 5-6 inch figures.  I almost feel spoiled saying that I wish there was a little more to this figure.  It’s my website though, so I guess I can.  Either way, I bought him, should you?  If you like Static, this is a perfect option.  Go for it!  There is something else here I need to make a note of.  I (very irresponsibly) opened this figure.  If you notice the name printed on the window side of his box, it says Deathstroke!  A manufacturing error!  How could I not put this on eBay and make millions!?!?  Truth be told, I totally didn’t want to drive back to the comic book store and buy another one.  And because of that, my children won’t be able to afford college!  I kid, I kid.  This was however the first time (at least the first time that I noticed) that I had a packaging error on any figure I’ve ever opened.  It was a small thing, subtle, but after I called the comic book store to confirm it was an error and the other Statics in store had the right name on the window, I felt special for a second, DC Icons will always have that place in my heart!

Availability

Ohhh that In Stock label at Big Bad Toy Store warms the cockles of my heart.  Go get Static now! 

Photos!

DC Comics Icons Deluxe Cyborg

DC Comics Icons Deluxe Cyborg

Cyborg | Deathstroke | Static | Swamp Thing | Wonder Woman | Group Shots

DC Comics Icons Deluxe Cyborg

Cyborg is another long awaited figure in the DC Icons line, that, like Wonder Woman, was address in the prior month release of the Rebirth Justice League 7-Pack.  However, unlike Wonder Woman, who featured two totally different figures between the team pack and the single release, Cyborg, to my only moderately untrained eye is the exact same figure released in that box set with the notable difference being accessories, and there are many, many, many!  Mind you, this is a deluxe figure, so his price tag will be a little higher.  Is he worth the cost of admission?

The Good

  • This is the same figure as the Justice League Rebirth Team Pack and that is a good thing, it was an awesome figure the first go round, it’s still awesome.  
  • Awesome bulk to the character.
  • Incredible metallic paint wash!
  • Cyborg head is perfectly captured.
  • Good articulation here all around, double joints, ab crunch, reasonable head movement.
  • The additional molded on forearm guards are an incredible touch of detail.
  • This deluxe figure comes with a ton of great accessorites.  A generator, two alternate blaster forearm / hands, a whole third arm to swap in.
  • When connected properly, using blaster hands / arms and connecting to the generator looks amazing.  Really serves the purpose of getting you immersed in the character.

The Bad

  • The hoses out of the box, that connect Cyborg to the generator are pretty rigid and constantly want to snap back into their own shape.  There will be a lot of fighting to get him to stand how you want when connected to the generator because of it.
  • The connection points to the generator and Cyborg’s body are just enough for a reasonable hold, but could have been deeper and could have “locked in” better.  I don’t know if this problem exacerbates the first or it’s the other way around, but they are two meh tastes that taste meh together and they impact an otherwise great package.

 

The rest

The Cyborg figure we got with the Justice League 7 pack was really nice, so I’m not at all upset that this is the same figure.  Many folks who buy the 7-pack won’t be looking for the single card and vice versa.  But do you need both?  Well…the accessories are really very cool.  They take the very solid base figure and allow for a solid amount of customization and expansion.  I also like to think that folks who collect toy lines as pretty as DC Icons do much nicer stuff with them than I do.  Cyborg really offers that opportunity thanks to the deluxe set of accessories.  Buying both is up to you, but if you have to pick one…yeah I can’t help either.  You get 6 other figures at a bargain, or some fantastic accessories.  You know you better than I do, so go with that where you will.

Availability

You can pre-order Cyborg at Big Bad Toy Store today!  You should also check out your Local Comic Shop!  Not interested in waiting, don’t care about paying more?  Amazon.

Photos!