What-What?! Week of January 3rd

Saffron finally lost her tooth!  It's the teeniest, tiniest little thing.  She was very excited to put it in her tooth pillow, then even more excited to wake up to money the next day.  The husband and I took her out to Target later that day, and she spent her tooth fairy money, along with some other money she'd been saving up, to buy a My Little Pony toy.

I have messed up my shoulder, which has made my week somewhat problematic.  Sitting at the computer aggravates it, so my assumption is that I probably did something computer-related to cause it.  So I've been living on ibuprofen the last few days, though it seems to be getting better since yesterday afternoon.

Toy Review:  Play-Doh Star Wars Toy Sets

When I bought these, I thought they were nifty, but wasn't completely sold on the playability of them.  I've found that Play-Doh toys can be pretty hit or miss in terms of the play quality; we have a garbage truck set, and very rarely does Play-Doh ever touch it (instead, they use Legos, which is arguably not good for the Lego or the truck).  But these have been good buys.

Part of what makes them such a good buy is having the figures be the Play-Doh containers; this makes them sturdy and easy to hold.  Many sets are completely comprised of figures made of Play-Doh, who are floppy, hard to hold, and easily squashed by enthusiastic play.

Another good point is that there are so many accessories to make out of Play-Doh; blasters, droids, binoculars, Jawas, and Ewoks.  You can equip anything with a blaster, or a pair of binocs.  You can have a droid or Jawa or Ewok army.

Overall, these are good toys that keep the kids interested and encourage creative play.  I'll be buying more.

4 Funniest Non-Show-Accurate Toys Ever

It seems like every time I turn around, I'm finding more ridiculous movie and TV show toys and collectibles.  I've collected my favorite finds here.

Best-Lock Stargate "Lego" Toys

Photo via 8of5multiverse.blogspot.com.

First up, these terrible Lego knockoffs that I featured on my blog a few months ago.  At first blush, they look good; the vehicles, DHD, and stargate are accurate enough.  However, when you start looking at the figures, something horrifying appears:

For whatever reason, the artist decided to use old man faces for all the characters.  Did the artist ever look at pictures of the characters, or the actors?  Did they just guess?  I do appreciate that Daniel's expression is a bit incredulous, as it seems most appropriate in this instance.

Hasbro Muscle-Bound Star Wars Figures

Muscle man Luke versus original issue Luke.  Photo via Razyor of nightfallunlimited.com.

These are undoubtedly a classic.  Released in 1995, these action figures came out when I was a kid, and I was admittedly pretty excited about them.  Compared to the films, and even the original figures, these "heroic" sculpts are just ridiculous.  Why does Luke Skywalker have muscles on his muscles?  The "force" is really just steroids?  ...Yeah, didn't think so.

AHI Parachuting Spock

Spock... with a parachute!  Photo via plaidstallions.com.

I've included this mostly because I think the very idea is funny.  Just think of all the ways that the Star Trek crew could use this to their advantage: Need to escape from ravaging monsters in a hurry?  Use your parachute, Spock!  Have to escape from the Genesis effect (The Wrath of Khan)?  Use your parachute, Spock!  Infiltrating behind enemies' lines?  Use your parachute, Spock!

Limited Edition Harry Potter Dolls

Undead Harry versus Alive Harry.  Photos via ebay.com, listal.com.



Last, but not least, undead Harry Potter and drunk Ron Weasley.  Seriously, Harry's lips are blue.  The above picture isn't the best, but you can still see that the skin tone is also off, making him look kind of pasty, while his glasses have been enlarged by an errant spell.

Drunk Weasley versus Wistful Weasley. Photos via entertainmentearth.com, harrypotter.wikia.com.

Undead Harry Potter is then followed by the drunken Weasley.  I do appreciate that the doll maker at least attempted to get his hairstyle right (much more so than Harry, above), but the expression on his face just makes him look drunk.  What was the artist going for?  Ambivalence?  Embarrassment?  Apprehension?  Of course, if I went to a party in that getup, I'd probably have a few drinks beforehand in order to start ahead of the game, so to speak.

What-What?! Week of March 9th

Had an ant apocalypse earlier this week:  The husband had gone to school, so I was home with the children.  I ate dinner, we did crafts at the kitchen table, the kids drove cars on the floor, and so on.  It gets to be bed time, I get them ready and all put down.  I had started to clean up toys on the table, when, for some reason (kicked a toy maybe?), I looked down at the floor.  That's when I realized that there were about a trillion ants all over.  Words were said.  It took me a long time to get everything cleaned up, and there were still ants the next day.  Bother.

I wrote an article -- it's in submission limbo, though, waiting for an editor to review it before it is published.  I'm quite pleased with it and excited for when I can post a link next week (maybe the week after, depending).  You might have also noticed that I added a "Movie Reviews" tab at the top, where I list all the reviews I've done so far.  I've got it divided into children's and adult films, so that way you don't have Ripper Street comingling with the likes of My Little Pony.

News:  Wal-Mart Investing in USA Made Products via MSN Money

This is one of those things that sounds better than it actually is.  Wal-Mart is expanding the amount of made in America products they sell by about $5 billion a year over the next ten years.  It sounds like a big number, until you remember that we're talking about Wal-Mart; $5 billion only accounts for a paltry two percent of what the company spends on stock at American stores each year.  On the other hand, according to an interview with Wal-Mart's Senior Vice President, the company currently spends two-thirds of merchandise costs on domestic products (for U.S. stores).

Geeky Stuff:  My Little Pony -- Petite Pony Prancing Pretty Carousel Playset

Now say that five times fast. :P  Last week, while at my parent's house, I unearthed some old toys of mine, with the intention of letting my kids play with them.  Well, besides my Playmobile, I found my Petite Pony Carousel set.  This is a hard to find item that Hasbro made in 1989-90, which my parents bought for me at a garage sale, I think.  I don't have the complete set, but I really loved it as a kid, and was overjoyed to find it now.




(img via MSN Money)