Raving Toy Maniac

K'NEX® To Join Philadelphia Eagles at Flight Night!

Event Takes Place at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field August 26th

Hatfield, PA – August 2012 – K'NEX Brands, the only US construction toy company focused on Building Worlds Kids Love™, will participate in the Philadelphia Eagles Flight Night, an evening of family friendly fun hosted by the Philadelphia Eagles, to benefit the Eagles Youth Partnership. Gates open at 5:30 pm at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday August 26th. In addition to watching the entire Eagles team practice, there are loads of games, prizes, and surprises, including the K'NEX tent for fun and games! The K'NEX tent will showcase the K'NEX Angry Birds line of building sets and will feature building stations where children can build, play and launch their favorite characters from the popular app through goal posts.

August 20, 2012 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer Urban-Collector has several new items of interest to collectors:

This week we are featuring new pre-orders including Super Alloy 1/6 scale Batman, DC Cover Girls statues and Flash ArtFX+ statue.

Featured Pre-Orders

• Batman Super Alloy 1/6 scale figure Jim Lee
• Half-Life Head Crab Plush
• Dark Knight Rises Batman Vs Bane 1:6 Scale Statue

August 2012 - While in the line at the grocery store and eyeing the Batman movie toy display stocked in between two registers, I spotted a pad of paper sitting on the top of the display... I darted over, grabbed the top sheet, and got back in my own line.

The pad was a batch of order forms for a "FREE Batman Duffle Bag! with $15 purchase of Batman product by Mattel." In the fine print, it mentions that if you buy $15 or more of Mattel Batman toys from "this retailer" and send in $5 for shipping, they will send you a free duffle bag.

You can also order online at: http://service.mattel.com/promotion?id=Batman

The online order page specifies that your purchase can be from any retailer EXCEPT Kmart, Walmart, Toys'R'Us, or Target. You'll need your UPC codes from the packaging and your original receipts dated through August 31st.

Huckleberry unleashes the zombies from ParaNorman!

Los Angeles, CA (August 17, 2012) - Huckleberry picks up from their San Diego Comic Con preview with the release of its first series of figures from Focus Features / LAIKA film ParaNorman. The eight figure 3.5"-4" line encompasses all of the core characters and a number of spooky zombies. Included are Norman in pajamas, Norman w/ zombie hand, Neil, Alvin, Zombie Judge Hopkins, Zombie Lemuel Spalding, Zombie Amelia Wilcott and Zombie Will London.

Battle Beasts Minimates Series 1 Revealed!

August 17, 2012 - After years of planning, Diamond Select Toys has opened up pre-orders for their first series of Battle Beasts Minimates! Appearing in the September issue of Previews, the first series of specialty figures will follow the IDW Publishing comic book mini-series, with characters and color schemes that will only be found at comic shops and specialty stores.

Vorin the Ram vs. the Scorpion
The leader of the the heroic band of rebels faces off with the leader of a nasty band of desert Beasts!

Merk the Falcon vs. The Tarantula
Vorin's deadly comrade takes on one of the creepiest Beasts he's ever encountered!

August 17, 2012 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer BigBadToyStore.com has several items of interest to collectors:

Hi - we've just listed a nice batch of cool new items this morning:

Game of Thrones - The Imp - Tyrion Lannister Statue
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DH11015&mode=ret...

Mass Effect 3 - SX3 Alliance Fighter Replica
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DH11016&mode=ret...

New Diamond Select:

Star Trek Select - Mr Spock
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DMC11839&mode=re...

Star Trek - Landing Party 3-Pack
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DMC11838&mode=re...

Femmes Fatale - Kabuki
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DMC11841&mode=re...

Marvel Minimates Wave 48
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=DMC11842&mode=re...

Madness Returns in new Alice Select Figure Photos!

August 2012 - We can't stop playing with the new Alice: Madness Returns figures from Diamond Select Toys! Video game-accurate versions of Alice, Hysteria Alice, the Cheshire Cat and a zombified Card Guard are all available now, so we dropped them in front of the Queen's palace to show off their poseability -- and, in Alice's case, her keen accessories! Check out the Hobby Horse, Pepper Grinder and Vorpal Blade in action in this new gallery, and then pick them up at your local comic shop or favorite online retailer! Snickersnack!

Visit comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest comic shop, and get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter!

The Walking Dead Have Come Back... for a Second Series of Minimates!

August 2012 - This September, the world of Minimates will be invaded by zombies! The first series of Minimates based on the Walking Dead comic book by Robert Kirkman is scheduled to hit in September, and Diamond Select Toys is already hard at work on the second series, slated for a November release. Like the first assortment, every human character will come with a zombie, and there will be a zombie two-pack to help pad out your zombie herd.

The specialty assortment for Series 2 includes:
Michonne with One-Eyed Zombie
Sailor Zombie and "Cute" Zombie
Andrea with Stabbed Zombie (specialty exclusive)
Amy with Stabbed Zombie (specialty exclusive rare variant set)

The Toys "R" Us assortment for Series 2 includes:
Michonne with One-Eyed Zombie

U.S. Postal Service Salutes Legendary Author

Celebrating 100th anniversary of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Creation of Tarzan

TARZANA, Calif., Aug. 16, 2012 -- The U.S. Postal Service will honor tomorrow one of the most prolific authors of the early 20th century and inventor of the iconic character Tarzan with the issuance of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Forever Stamp.

The stamp issuance coincides with the 100th anniversary of the publication of Burroughs' first story, Under the Moons of Mars, and his first Tarzan story, Tarzan of the Apes, in 1912.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs Forever Stamp will be dedicated tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. PT at the Tarzana Community and Cultural Center in Tarzana, CA, and will go on sale tomorrow at Post Offices nationwide, online at http://usps.com and by phone at 800-782-6724.

Best known for inventing the legendary character Tarzan, Burroughs wrote more than 70 books, including historical fiction and several popular series of science fiction tales.

August 16, 2012 - 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.

- PBteen Recalls Bunk Beds Due to Risk of Injury

- Babylicious Recalls Cloth Crib Fringe Due to Strangulation Hazard

- Baby Seats Recalled for Repair by Bumbo International Due to Fall Hazard - Consumers should order free repair kit

- Toysmith Recalls Animal Snap Bracelets Due to Laceration Hazard