Raving Toy Maniac

Ghostbusters 24" Mr. Stay-Puft Photo Contest Continues, as the First Winner is Chosen!

June 2014 - Diamond Select Toys - We asked you to shoot your 24-inch Stay Puft Marshmallow Man bank somewhere near where you live, and now we're ready to choose the winner for the month of May! It's Jon Tilson of Alabama, who shot his Stay-Puft in the center of Dothan, AL, the peanut capital of the world! Mr. Stay Puft seems to have found an ally in the giant, peanut character who serves up his own kind. Who knew marshmallows and peanuts would get along so well!

Jon will get $200 worth of DST prizes, including a Godzilla bank, a Knight Rider vehicle, an Amazing Spider-Man movie bust, and a variety of Ghostbusters items, including a Slimer bank, Slimer gelatin mold and a Ghostbusters Silicone Tray! Look for your box in the mail, Jon!

Warner Bros. Consumer Products And Mattel Extend Strategic Alliance

BURBANK, Calif., June 12, 2014 -- Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), with DC Entertainment, announced today that it has once again extended its successful relationship with leading worldwide toy manufacturer, Mattel, Inc. The new multi-year agreement grants Mattel rights to continue as master toy licensee for the entire universe of DC Comics characters. Under the terms of this strategic alliance, Mattel is granted unprecedented access to the complete breadth and scope of the DC Comics vault of characters, which includes more than a thousand world-famous DC Comics Super Heroes and DC Comics Super-Villains, such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and The Joker. The deal continues Mattel's support of the universe of DC Comics characters across its entire portfolio of core brands, including Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, Barbie®, Mattel Games and Fisher-Price®.

Pretty Ugly, LLC. and Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced today that they have entered into a co-branded collaboration to create plush based on The Wizard of Oz™ and UGLYDOLL™ characters.

NEW YORK, June, 2014 -- Green Brook, NJ -- Pretty Ugly, LLC. and Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced today that they have entered into a co-branded collaboration to create plush based on The Wizard of Oz™and UGLYDOLL characters. Fan-favorite UGLYDOLL characters, Moxy™, Wage™, Jeero™, Babo™ and OX™ are all dressed upandready to follow along the Yellow Brick Road as iconic characters from The Wizard of Oz.

"Uglydoll is honored to collaborate with such an iconic brand during its 75th anniversary celebration. The Wizard of Oz has been a family favorite of ours for years," said Drew Matilsky, Pretty Ugly's Managing Partner.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett and Whoopi Goldberg Inspires Nationwide Stretchkins Fitness Toy Craze

NEW YORK, June 4, 2014 -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new film from Paramount and Michael Bay starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett and Whoopi Goldberg will open nationwide on August 8 and is set to be the family smash hit of the summer.

For kids who want to take home their very own ninja turtle look no further than Stretchkins. The fun fitness toys have started a craze on the East Coast, and are now available nationwide at Walmart and Toys "R" Us. The officially licensed Ninja Turtle Stretchkins will go into stores in all 50 states from July.

Priced from $19.95, kids can have fun and get fit with their very own Stretchkins, available as Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello, in addition to the classic Playful Puppy, Pretty Unicorn, and Red Dragon models.

Pretty Ugly™ Grants License to Chasing Fireflies, LLC

Green Brook, NJ - June 12, 2014 - Pretty Ugly™, LLC owner of the UGLYDOLL™ brand, is pleased to announce their recent partnership with Chasing Fireflies, LLC, a leading manufacturer of children's costumes.

UGLYDOLLS are fun and quirky. Fans have spent timeless hours making costumes of their favorite UGLYDOLL characters. "We are so excited to now work with Chasing Fireflies in putting their magical touch to bring life-size character appeal to our favorite UGLYDOLL characters," says Teresa Fazio, Director of Licensing.

"Chasing Fireflies is thrilled to be working with Uglydoll to create an exclusive line of costumes for 2015. We have loved and admired the creativity and uniqueness of Uglydoll, for many years. Being able to bring them to life through our exclusive costume designs will allow both brands to continue their commitment to create products that are fun, whimsical, inventive, and that excel in design and quality," says David Niggli, President, Chasing Fireflies.

UGLYDOLL& Pretty Ugly, LLC

June 13, 2014 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer BigBadToyStore.com has several items of interest to collectors:

Clearance Sale - Prices Just Reduced on 5000+ Items
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/list.aspx?list=16064

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NEW PRE-ORDERS
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2014 STAR WARS 6" BLACK SERIES 03 CASE, SINGLES
The latest Hasbro announcement is for the new wave of Star Wars Black 6" figures. It includes Episode IV Chewbacca, Episode V Darth Vader, Episode VI Jedi Luke Skywalker and a Sandtrooper. They are listed as a Case of 4 at $79.99, or singly at $19.99 - $26.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=3184&category=10138

2014 STAR WARS 6" BLACK DELUXE SERIES 01 CASE, SET, SINGLE

June 13, 2014 - Listed below are the toy (and child-related) recalls from this week; these links go to the official announcements on the Consumer Product Safety Commission web site.

- SCOTT Recalls Speedster Bicycles Due to Fall Hazard

- Lea Industries Recalls Bunk Beds with Bookcases Due to Risk of Entrapment

June 2014 - Hasbro has sent word of the next round of Fans' Choice voting for the Transformers Hall of Fame:

Hello, TRANSFORMERS fans!

The time has come for the public at large to select two Fans' Choice robot inductees to make up the class of 2014 for the TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame! Drawn from an open nomination process as voted upon by the readers of TRANSFORMERS fan sites, the five beloved TRANSFORMERS characters who garnered the most votes are now online at http://on.fb.me/1hR80zo for an open vote. The two characters who receive the most votes by 12:00 pm on June 18th will become the 2014 class for the TRANSFORMERS Hall of Fame!

The five nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

• Arcee
• Blackarachnia
• Devastator
• Optimus Primal
• Rodimus

June 2014 - Get your wallets out again, there are more action figures and toys on Kickstarter!

- Warpo is raising funds to produce a retro 3.75-inch action figure series based on Legends of Cthulhu. This campaign closes on July 9th. Head over to the project page for more details.

- If you prefer something on the cuter side, JUMBiES has a campaign to produce plush toys which combine two animals into one. The JUMBiES campaign closes on June 27th.

- Mindzai has a campaign to produce an 8-inch vinyl figure called Lethal Taco in several colorways. The Lethal Taco campaign closes on July 18th.

June 2014 - The Toy Pizza series on YouTube has a new episode up!

Click here to check it out! This episode features toys from the movie Frozen as well as the IamElemental Kickstarter project.