Raving Toy Maniac

Pretty Ugly Announces Custom Designed Footwear with The Ave Venice

Green Brook, NJ - May 14, 2013 - Pretty Ugly™, LLC owner of the UGLYDOLL® brand has partnered with The Ave Venice, a concept store that delivers unique and legendary footwear. The Ave Venice will be offering a selection of custom designed and printed UGLYDOLL Converse Chuck Taylors.

The first UGLYDOLL was drawn in a letter written by David Horvath to his now-wife, Sun-Min Kim. In the letter, David drew the character we now all know and love as Wage™. Their dream was to tell stories through books and toys. Fast forward over ten years and UGLYDOLL has become a household name where 'ugly' means special and unique.

Disney's Mike And Sulley Don Monster-Sized Milk Mustaches In New got milk? Ad

Monsters University Stars Scare Up Some Protein with Milk at Breakfast

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2013 -- Disney-Pixar's Monsters University takes everyone's favorite scare pair, Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan, "Sulley," back to their college days, where they learned that nothing scares up successful days more than a breakfast with milk. A glass of milk – with 8 grams of high-quality protein in each 8 oz serving – can help power your monster days.

The new Milk Mustache ad features Mike and Sulley from their days as MU coeds sporting the iconic Milk Mustache. The ad, being released in advance of the film's June 21 release, reads "Scare up some protein. Monster days start with milk at breakfast. got milk?"

At MU, it takes a lot to fuel a day of scaring. Fortunately, milk – the breakfast super food – has 9 essential nutrients, including protein.

Toys R Us and Touchrate Elevate the Shopper Experience In-Store through Interactive Digital Tablet Displays

ORLANDO, Fla., May 14, 2013 -- Touchrate, in collaboration with Toys R Us, Inc., has just released interactive sales-assist solutions in select Toys R Us stores. Touchrate tablet and touchscreen devices extend the marketing message in-store, helping shoppers to learn and better select products and brands in the aisle.

Touchrate provides the hardware, dynamic graphics, software, content, installation and maintenance monitoring while Toys R Us suppliers populate the solutions with data and content.

Apple and Touchrate were among the first to introduce this self-help concept to retail with Touchrate's introduction in 2009 and Apple in their retail stores in 2010.

Touchrate touchscreen solutions empower consumers in-store using self-help touchscreen technology with a decision tree of product knowledge, algorithms of peer-like purchases and social sharing. Shoppers make an emotional investment, when they thoughtfully engage, select and decide by touching a self-help sales-assist touchscreen, in exchange for product guidance in-store.

Pizza Hut® BOOK IT!® Reading Program Extends Partnership With Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

DALLAS, May 14, 2013 -- The Pizza Hut® BOOK IT!® Program announced that it is again joining forces with best-selling author Jeff Kinney and his book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the 2013-14 school year. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, one of the most successful children's book series ever published, will be integrated into all BOOK IT! classroom materials, teacher printables and web creative at http://www.pizzahut.com/bookit. With this exciting partnership comes a new twist this year: one lucky BOOK IT! classroom will win a visit from Jeff Kinney!

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2013 -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

TUESDAY, MAY 14: YOUNG READERS

Profile America — Tuesday, May 14th. This week is the 94th annual Children's Book Week - encouraging the joy of reading for young people. The idea began in 1913 with a drive by the librarian of the Boy Scouts, Franklin Matthiews, to promote higher standards in children's books. He got two other key people to join him –- the editor of Publisher's Weekly and the head of children's works at the New York Public Library. Children's Book Week began in 1919, and over the years, its efforts have helped to find and promote high quality children's books. In today's world, there are many alternatives vying for children's attention - computers, electronic books, DVDs and video games. But sales of printed books for youngsters still top $2.5 billion worth each year. Profile America is in its 17th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: http://www.bookweekonline.com

May 14, 2013 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer BigBadToyStore.com has several items of interest to collectors:

Hi- We've just listed a big batch of new DC Collectibles preorders this morning as well as a variety of other items:

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/list.aspx?list=12767

Batman Arkham City Action 6" Figure Two Pack - Batman & Bane
The New 52 Heroes Vs. Super Villains 7-Pack
Batman Arkham City Action 6" Figure Two Pack - Mr. Hammer & Harley Quinn
Batman Arkham City Action 6" Figure Two Pack - Sickle & Penguin
Injustice: Doomsday & Catwoman 3.75" Two-Pack
The Joker Patina Mini Statue
Blue Lantern Power Battery & Ring 1:1 Scale Prop Replica
The New 52: Super Villains - Black Adam
Ame-Comi Heroine Series: Steampunk Batgirl PVC Figure
The New 52: Pandora
Batman Arkham City The Riddler Statue
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Batwoman Statue
DC Comics Bombshells - Harley Quinn
Infinite Crisis Nightmare Batman Statue

TOYNAMI LAUNCHES THE MUCH ANTICIPATED STREET FIGHTER X SANRIO SERIES 1 PRODUCTS

(Van Nuys, California – MAY 2013) - Toynami is pleased to announce the May launch and availability of the new STREET FIGHTER X SANRIO® SERIES 1 Plushes! In conjunction with the historic marketing partnership between Sanrio and Capcom, Toynami presents the first of a full line of STREET FIGHTER X SANRIO® crossover products!

With STREET FIGHTER X SANRIO®, Toynami celebrates an epic genre and culture combination. This first release of collectible plushes presents Hello Kitty as Chun-Li, Ryu, and M. Bison in 3 different sizes. A 4-inch clip-on coin purse allows fans to take their favorite characters everywhere. The 6-inch mini plush is just the right size for your desk or car, and the 10-inch large plush is perfect for the most dedicated fans. This SERIES 1 set is not to be missed!

UGLYDOLL Teams up with DC Comics

Super Heroes to Launch Toys and Accessories this Fall!

NEW YORK, May 13, 2013 -- Green Brook, NJ -- Pretty Ugly, LLC. and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, on behalf of DC Entertainment, announced today that they have entered into a co-branded collaboration with DC Comics Super Heroes and UGLYDOLL characters. GUND, a division of Enesco, will produce a diverse range of colorful and collectible Super Hero plush based on the DC Comics and UGLYDOLL character universes. The initial release this fall will be a trio that includes two versions of Ice-Bat™ as Batman™ and Babo™ as Superman™.

May 2013 - DC Collectibles has announced a big batch of new items this month, but our email newsletter only sends out links to the ten newest blog/news posts, so this summary is for the newsletter folks to make sure they don't miss any of the new DC stuff!

And if you aren't a newsletter subscriber, now is a good time to sign up! It's free. Yay for free!

• 1:1 Scale Blue Lantern Power Battery and Ring Prop Replica
• Infinite Crisis: Nightmare Batman Statue
• Infinite Crisis: Atomic Wonder Woman Statue
• Batman: Arkham Origins Series 1 Action Figures (Batman, Black Mask)
• DC Comics-The New 52 Pandora Action Figure
• Super-Villains Black Adam Action Figure

May 2013 - DC Collectibles - DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 SUPER HEROES VS. SUPER-VILLAINS ACTION FIGURE 7-PACK

The battle between good and evil rages on with this special 7-pack action figure set that includes Aquaman, The Flash, Batman, Catwoman, The Joker, Captain Cold, and Black Manta!

FEATURES:
All-New Aquaman Head Sculpt and Sceptre
The Flash Metallic Redeco
Batman Metallic Redeco
All-New Catwoman Action Figure
The Joker and Captain Cold Redeco

Action Figures
$99.95 US
On Sale November 2013
Allocations May Occur