Tag Archives: toy

Mattel’s Baby Yoda toy sports a remote control that lets it wiggle its ears and waddle around the house!

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With the Season 2 of The Mandalorian hot on its heels, Mattel and Disney have launched perhaps the greatest toy ever made… a Remote-Controlled Animatronic Baby Yoda that wiggles its ears, struts around like a baby penguin, and reaches out for objects with its adorable baby hands, as if it’s summoning the force!

The Star Wars: The Mandalorian the Child “Real Moves Plush” (I wonder how Yoda would say that name) stands at less than a foot tall, and looks almost like the real deal. The Baby Yoda Plush comes with perfectly tinted translucent skin that’s almost see-through around the ears, and large glossy eyes that can look directly at your soul. The plush comes clad in its khaki robes, along with an optional Mythosaur pendant that you can make it wear (just like the one Din Djarin gifted him at the end of the first season). While the Child possesses its own mystic mind-control powers, it is, in fact, operated by a tracking fob-shaped controller that resembles the one the bounty hunters in the series use to locate their targets. The controller allows you to make Baby Yoda look left and right, up and down, and occasionally wiggle its ears with a level of realism that feels uncanny for a $60 toy. The remote controller also allows the little green alien to waddle around on its two feet, and occasionally reach for objects with its adorably tiny 3-fingered hands!

Season 1 of The Mandalorian saw Disney struggling to develop Baby Yoda merchandise to keep up with the heavy demand once the audience fell in love with the character. It seems like they’re not making that mistake again with the second season, partnering with Mattel to release this plush just a few days short of the Season 2 premiere on Friday. You can grab your own remote-controlled animatronic Yoda at the shopDisney webstore, or even at any of Disney’s parks. Beware though, with its adorably good looks and that $60 price tag, it may just magically disappear off the shelves.

Designer: Mattel

We now know a lot more about ‘Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit’

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Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit was actually announced last month, but today Nintendo revealed new details about the “mixed reality” game ahead of its launch on October 16th. The software is free to download but it won’t work without one of the camera-...

IKEA x LEGO – the design collaboration of every child and adult’s dreams!

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Have you ever stepped on a LEGO piece and have your whole life flash before your eyes or are you normal? Kids love to play with LEGO blocks but always leave a mess, these boxes were designed to encourage storing their toys so you can feel safe about walking around the house like its not a land mine! So IKEA and LEGO teamed up to make storage bins, called BYGGLEK, that makes tidying up another fun game. The white boxes come in four sizes and can store hundreds of bricks and you can easily stack them up because they are made like giant LEGO blocks. “The box itself can be a house, a swimming pool, a sports arena – there is no right or wrong!” said Rasmus Buch Løgstrup, the Lego designer who led this project. The BYGGLEK range consists of one set of three small boxes, and two sets of bigger boxes and one set of LEGO bricks for the complete experience right from the moment you get your package.

The good part is that BYGGLEK can be used with any existing and future LEGO elements because of the thoughtfully placed studs on the lid and front which make it a part of the play system. The designers worked with child psychologists, who told them that children don’t see a pile of blocks on the floor like a mess; they see it as a creative environment – it is a stimuli for their imagination. So the parents needed an “out of the box” solution for cleaning/storage and who better to do that than IKEA – every adult’s happy place. “At IKEA, we always believe in the power of play. Play lets us explore, experiment, dream and discover.” said Andreas Fredriksson, designer at IKEA of Sweden, “Where adults often see a mess, children see a stimulating creative environment, and BYGGLEK will help bridge the gap between these two views to ensure more creative play in homes around the world. Plus, the BYGGLEK collection matches perfectly with other IKEA products, making it possible to have your children’s creativity becoming a nice and unique piece of decoration at home.” Works for all the residents of the real house and the toy house!

The two big boxes will come in a traditional IKEA flatpack and has been designed to be so simple to assemble that 5-year-olds will be able to do it. It comes with no instructions so kids can be as imaginative as like. IKEA will also sell a 201-piece LEGO brick set that has been specially curated by designers with less complex elements to ensure that even the youngest child could use them. The toys and design are rooted in a warm and cozy home life and include a little LEGO hot dog for a snack in case you get hungry! They’ll be available to buy throughout Europe and North America from October 1st, expanding to the rest of Ikea’s retail channels throughout the year.

Designer: IKEA and LEGO

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There’s a Back to the Future Playmobil Set

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Growing up, I was always more of a LEGO kid than a Playmobil kid. I always liked how LEGO bricks and minifigs left more to the imagination than Playmobil, so I felt I could be more creative with their toys. However, when it comes to anything Back to the Future related, I have a soft spot in my heart. So when I saw that Playmobil had released a Back to the Future playset, I just had to have one for my toy collection.

The centerpiece of the 64-piece set is a 9.8″ long replica of Doc and Marty’s iconic DeLorean DMC-12, complete with gullwing doors, and wheels that fold 90-degrees for flying. It’s got lots of neat little details, like a Mr. Fusion machine on back, and time travel controls on the dashboard. The blue lighting along the roofline and front bumper really bring it all to life.

In addition to their stainless steel steed, the set includes figures of both Doc and Marty, Einstein the dog, along with a skateboard, Marty’s video camera, Doc’s remote control, plutonium cores, and a hazmat case.

You can grab the complete Playmobil Back to the Future set over on Amazon for about $49.99. Where we’re going, we don’t need LEGO.

The Petit Qoobo robotic cat tail pillow is available to pre-order on July 30th

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Back in January, we got to meet a smaller, more portable version of the Qoobo cat tail pillow, which is aptly named Petit Qoobo. I’m sure I’m not the only sucker for this sort of bizarre cute gadget, but much like its sibling, this tail-wagging robot...

This child-size stool flips over to turn into a toy maze!

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They say children can play with anything they find around them… well, what if you designed regular objects with playful characteristics and features to help engage children? Meet the Island Stool, a child-size sitting stool that has a bead-maze on the bottom of its seat. Just flip the stool over and it turns into a toy that the child can play with!

The Island Stool was designed after Hyeona, a kindergarten art-teacher, noticed that kids often try to engage and play with the things they find around them. If it’s in their visual periphery or their arms reach and it piques their curiosity, a child will reach out and try to play with it. The Island Stool was designed to encourage and facilitate that playful nature. The lightweight stool comes with E0 rated plywood on the top and ash wood legs. Coated with non-toxic paints, the stool comes in either pastel blue or green (which plays off well against the wooden finish of the legs) and features a fun, wooden bead-maze on its base that kids can play and engage with. The bead maze’s convoluted 3D design is a good way to exercise a child’s motor skills and their ability to plot the bead’s path in 3D. The wooden construction makes the Island Stool safe for children, while the beads produce a rattling sound whenever flipped over, adding an element of fun to the furniture!

Designers: Hyeona Kim & WooSeok Lee.

Blipblox After Dark is a kid’s synth for adults

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The Blipbox is a little bit pricey for a children’s toy, but it oozes personality. Plus, it promises to teach kids the fundamentals of synthesis as they grow older. Unsurprisingly, the Blipblox also turned out to be a hit with adults. I mean, it’s ha...