HOME |
RSS | 
Three-year-old Noah Jeffrey wanted a toy so badly that he climbed into a claw machine in a restaurant in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. We’ve posted stories of children in vending machines before, but Noah took the adventure to a new level when he started handing toys out to other children who gathered around the machine! Then his mother saw him.
“I ran over to check and he was passing toys out and eating some of the lollies,” she said.
But with electrical wires and little oxygen inside Noah was soon sweating as management and his mum worked to free him.
And the escape proved rather more tricky than getting in for Noah.
The toddler had to be coaxed to climb back down the chute and sit there while his mum pulled him around a guard panel blocking his escape.
“We had to tell him that he had to come out to get a toy,” she said.
Noah managed to get out of the machine before the fire brigade arrived to rescue him. Link -via Arbroath
Lydia’s three-year-old daughter names her toys by herself. Some of the names are rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. But they make for a funny video, if you aren’t offended by adult terms in text. See it at NeatoBambino. Link
Sometimes you just want to cuddle with Skeletor, Slimer or Admiral Akbar, of course, the problem is that the companies who officially license the merchandise for these characters don’t really believe there’s enough of a market for plush versions. That’s why those seeking such frivolities will need to head over over to the HandmadeStuffs shop over at Etsy. Have fun.
Comments Off
This guy may look like he owns a windowless van, and hangs out near elementary schools, but he actually has other plans for children- he wants to sell them overpriced robotic toys.
Called Cubelets, they are a set of modular robotic cubes which can be combined into simple robots, and cost a whopping $25 apiece.
All kidding aside, this is a great idea for a product but seems extremely overpriced, and they should definitely consider hiring a spokesman who doesn’t look quite so creepy. Besides, who really needs these when there are so many cool motorized LEGO sets available?
–via Geekologie
The Wizard of Oz Potatoheads | $59.95
Mr. Potatohead comes in a Wizard of Oz flavor! This Mr. Potatohead Wizard of Oz set comes with four 5″ tall Mr. Potatohead figures dressed as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. And they’re available now from the NeatoShop! If you’re a real Wizard of Oz fan, you’ll want to check out the other Wizard of Oz products, and Mr. Potatohead fans will want to see other Mr. Potatohead figures. We’ve got what you want at the NeatoShop!
Comments Off
Urban explorers and photographers have a tendency to keep exact locations a secret, but somewhere in Spain lies a porcelain doll factory that was abandoned decades ago. The business was dropped in a hurry, it seems, as many half-made dolls and doll-making equipment was left behind to decay. See a collection of photographs from inside, and read about the history of the porcelain doll business at Environmental Graffiti. Link
(Image source: Abandonalia)
Comments Off This young champion of justice is named Riley, and she’s sick and tired of all the toy marketing gimmicks that keep girls from buying the superhero toys that they really like.
Watch as she explains what all the pink at the toy stores really means, and I’m sure you’ll agree that she is totally right. Let girls enjoy their superhero toys already, or Riley’s going to grow up and take you all down!
–via ComicsAlliance
Who would have thought that the deranged version of the Joker from the Dark Knight films would make a great getup for a little boy doll? Apparently someone from WorldBox, an Asian toy manufacturer who also thought it would be endearing to label the ads “Take Happiness Home”. More like “Your Kid Will Never Sleep Again”, or “Joker, Now With Diapers!” *shivers*
Link –via SuperPunch
The blog Hey! Look at My Toys! is hosting a contest for Christmas nativity scenes made from toys and action figures. The nine finalists are presented for voting. At first, I wanted to use a picture of the scene featuring a unicorn, then the one with Pee Wee Herman as Joseph, but then I saw this one by Nathan N. See them all at the site. Link -via Unreality magazine
Cracked has put together a great article on these terrible action figures from iconic lines, like the one featured above-April O’Neil’s Boss from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.
These are the kind of toys that had kids yelling “Awwww man! Not this one!” at their birthday party, and they were always given (in my experience, anyway) by a relative who thought they were being cool by giving you a toy from one of the hottest lines. Thanks anyways Grandma! *forced smile*
(Image via mattonfire)
Continuing our series of what kids wanted back in the day, we explore the 1980s-a time of excess, badass toys and fashion regrets. While kids in previous decades may have had simpler tastes, by the 80s it was all about the latest toys based on cartoons and TV shows, electronics and video game systems, sometimes all rolled into one.
I couldn’t find one site with a comprehensive list of what we all wanted for Christmas in the 80s, so I chose 3 different sites that detail most of the amazing toys from that decade:
14 Photos of Kids Opening Presents in the 80s –this one’s cute because you get to see their reaction as they get the toy/present of their dreams.
Looking Back on the Hottest 80s Toys –a list, accompanied with pictures, that briefly describes each toy. This one’s mostly aimed at girls.
Top 20 Totally Awesome Toys from the 80s –this one’s fun because it features TV commercials for most of the toys on the list.
Enjoy this look back at the fabulous toys of the 1980s, and if you still have some of these treasures in a box somewhere, they may be more valuable than you think!
Hasbro has created these awesome stop motion shorts to advertise their new line of Kre-O Transformers Sets, their version of LEGOs that come in sweet box sets featuring your favorite Autobots and Decepticons. I guess Megatron was on Santa’s naughty list this year!
–via ComicsAlliance
Comments Off 
Ant farms are cool in and of themselves, but that doesn’t mean their designs can’t be improved on to look even more fascinating. WebEcoist has a great collection of some of the coolest ant farms around. From flags of different nations to the Clone Trooper farm, these toys make me want to go buy my own ant farm.
Remember when we all thought Beanie Babies would be worth a fortune someday, or when Pogs ruled the schoolyard? Then check out this gallery of Christmas list toppers from the 90s, some of which are still around while others have fallen by the wayside, and see if you still have some of these treasures lying around in a box somewhere. Ebay here we come!
WebUrbanist has some great animal houses on one of their recent articles, but I have to say my favorite is definitely the fish tank adaptation that allows the fish to swim across the room from one tank to another. Do any of you have similarly cool adaptations at your home?
Comments Off If you ever wanted finer control over your Etch-A-Sketch lines, then you may want to consider splicing in a NES controller! Here’s the process as described by Alpinedelta32, the creator of this brilliant mod:
I connected the etch-a-sketch knobs to stepper motors, which are then controlled by an Arduino microcontroller. The Arduino program I wrote takes signals from the NES controller and sends them as stepper motor control instructions.
Low tech toys meets high tech mod, this is what geeks do with their toys when they grow up!
–via Endgadget
Office toys go on a road trip the only way they can, with the help of Google Street View and stop-motion animation in this animation by Tom Jenkins. Read more about this video at the Atlantic. Link -via Metafilter
Now here’s an impressive kid’s playset. Cia of DeerDot made this impressive four-story structure for her son to play with so he could play Mario brothers without actually turning on a gaming system. The detailed pictures at the link are definitely worth a look, so be sure you click away.
GameBoy has crawled out of it’s grave and is hungry for some computer brains! This nifty little figurine was made by Kodykoala, a guy who has created an impressive array of custom figures, most of which place beloved Nintendo characters in *ahem* awkward situations. Click on the link and check out Nintendo characters gone wild!
Link –via Destructoid
Comments Off 
Child’s Own Studio is a home-based craft business which makes stuffed toys from children’s drawings; some drawings are sent in by adults who want personalized gifts for their children, and sometimes children submit the drawings to make gifts for their parents. They have a blog, and a gallery of their creations is available on Flickr.
We’ve posted about some extremely unsafe toys here. the one that came to mind immediately when I saw the title of this Cracked post was the Atomic Energy Lab, and it’s included. But the others are just as shockingly dangerous! However, I remember some of them from my own childhood, the childhood with no seat belts or bicycle helmets or minimum age for babysitting. Shown here is a kit for children to learn how to melt and mold their own lead, which could not only burn a hole through flesh, but poison your brain as well. NSFW text. Link
Watch some of the most memorable toys from the 1980s turn into each other, including the beloved Transformers and Nintendo cartridges. Today’s Bratz dolls have nothing on marbles. -via Colossal
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m always misplacing all my USB drives and SD cards. Fortunately, someone has finally created a delightful city where they can all go to spend some time together when you’re not using them.
Link Via Geekosystem
Jason Freeny makes some great urban vinyl toys, but this Rubik’s cube for geniuses is a lot more functional than the toys made by most artists. Personally, I think the color patterns are way too hard, so I can’t imagine solving something based only on the patterns.
Link Via Geeks Are Sexy
Photographer Kristina Alexanderson has a great project she’s been participating in this year. Every day, she takes a picture of her stormtrooper toy in a different pose. While this picture of the toy with a Lego version of itself is my favorite, her Flickr gallery is filled with image after image of delightful stormtrooper photos.
Link Via Geeks Are Sexy
Comments Off 
If you’ve been looking for some paper dolls to play with that are actually designed for adults instead of kiddos, then BuzzFeed has a great collection of them for your paper-playing pleasure. Time to get printing!
Comments Off 
Advertising company Ogilvy & Mather put together a campaign for the plastic model company Tamiya featuring kits that you can use to illustrate your favorite conspiracy theory. This one is for the faked moon landing; others have to do with Roswell, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and the Kennedy assassination. Link
If your kiddos are getting tired of boring old regular playdough colors, then try adding some sparkles to the black dough and they can suddenly play with space playdough. If you want to make your own, Fairy Dust Teaching has a great recipe.
If there’s one thing ridiculously rich people are good at, it’s wasting money. And this list of potential gifts for the world’s most spoiled children is equal parts depressing and hilarious. Just check out this $10,000 teddy bear made with black Tahitian pearl eyes, white alpaca fur and a 10k diamond necklace on a gold chain.
If you miss watching him paint little happy trees, then you can always make your own Bob Ross doll to paint tiny masterpieces on your desktop. At least, that’s what Allison Hoffman of Crafty is Cool did.
