Tag Archives: playmobil

Scenes From Toy Insider’s “Spring Fling” 2024 @ Lavan Midtown (Part One)

toy insider, toy insider logo, company logos

Last week, “The Chronicles of Piercing Ken” was in attendance for the first-ever Toy Insider “Spring Fling” Toy Preview. I shared the news about attending that same day over on Ken Pierce Media (HERE) and mentioned in that post that I wasn’t sure where the overall coverage was going to run. As it turned out, most of the products that I saw across the exploration would end up bein more suitable over here on “The Chronicles” with only a small bit of products falling under what the readers of PiercingMetal might expect. The new event would be held at a brand-new event space called Lavan Midtown. It was located way down on 42nd Street and I hadn’t been here before so was looking forward to it. When I arrived there were already a lot of people waiting to get in. The Toy Insider events are not open to the general public and fall under more of a trade show vibe and they invite a number of the “Influencer” crowd and some members of the press which is where we come in. Let’s get this party started.

event spaces, lavan midtown, lavan

Once inside and past the friendly signage it was time to get that exploring done. I am always curious about a new event since one never knows what to expect and this even applies to me who considers himself to be a pretty resourceful and seasoned convention and trade show attendee. In addtion to the Toy Insider events, I’ve been attending New York Comic Con, Toy Fair, NY Now and The New York International Auto Show as media for years. One gets good at this kind of stuff after all those shows but I digress. This is about The Spring Fling and not myself ;p

toy insider spring fling, toy insider spring fling 2024, photos from toy insider spring fling 2024
Continue reading Scenes From Toy Insider’s “Spring Fling” 2024 @ Lavan Midtown (Part One)

Scenes From The Toy Insider’s 2021 “Sweet Suite @ Home”

toy insider, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2021

Greetings my friends, its time to lend some overview opinion to our friends over at the Toy Insider. By now I am certain that you know about them since we’ve been hitting their events for about six years but based on the COVID-19 Pandemic, their amazing “Sweet Suite” will once again be done in the virtual sense. I’m going to present the same kind of exploration as I did with the 2020 “Sweet Suite” and its companion “Holiday of Play @ Home” so let’s examine the exhibitors that are present today.

toy insider, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2021

The way I did this those past times was screen grab the exhibitor room and then offered up some opinion on it all and now without any further adieu here is the virtual “Main Floor”. This presentation was more fun that I initially expected and it was like being inside a video game.

toy insider, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2021
Continue reading Scenes From The Toy Insider’s 2021 “Sweet Suite @ Home”

2021 Toy Of The Year Winners Are Announced

the toy association logo

The TOTY Award Winners were recently announced in a first-ever virtual ceremony with the in-person event being impossible to hold due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. After a brief commentary by Toy Association President Steve Pasierb, the nominations were replayed and the winners announced. For ease of seeing who was up for what and who would eventually win the coveted award, I’ve left the original full list of nominations for your perusal. Now without any further adieu, here are the 2021 TOTY Winners…

ACTION FIGURE TOY OF THE YEAR:
Alter Nation Action Figure Assortment (Panda Mony Toy Brands)
Anime Heroes (Bandai America)
Batman 4 Inch Action Figures (Spin Master)
WINNER – Fisher-Price #ThankYouHeroes Line (Mattel)
Heroes of Goo Jit Zu (Moose Toys)
The Original Spawn Action Figure and Comic Remastered (2020) (McFarlane Toys)
Treasure X (Moose Toys)

COLLECTIBLE OF THE YEAR:
Blume Petal Pets (Skyrocket)
Charaction CUBE (Bandai America)
Hairdorables Hair Art Series (Just Play)
HEXBUG JUNKBOTS Large Dumpster (HEXBUG)
WINNER – LEGO Super Mario Character Packs (LEGO)
L.O.L. Surprise! Remix Hair Flip (MGA Entertainment)
Space Invaders Micro Player (My Arcade)
Continue reading 2021 Toy Of The Year Winners Are Announced

Unboxing The “Sweet Suite at Home” 2020 Swag Box

toy insider logo

Hey there my friends, so we recently attended the first-ever, Toy Insider “Sweet Suite @ Home” which as you might have surmised what a virtual event and replaced the annual in-person happening The Sweet Suite. My event overview can be perused by clicking HERE. This post continues the awesome that was started in that narrative and finds me digging into the contents of the swag box which is usually loaded to the hilt with coolness. Let’s unbox.

the toy insider, sweet suite 2020, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2020

One of the first nice surprises in the box was this wonderful stuffed Blue from the very popular younger childrens program “Blues Clues”.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

This unique game let’s you see things upside down and trust me its a wild sort of visual.  This game must be a blast.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

There are always wonderful  products coming from the fine folks at Crayola.  Let them help you have an artastic life.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

Here’s one of the most iconic toy items ever, the famous Slinky.  I had this as a kid of course and even one that was made of plastic but I don’t remember liking that all too much.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

One of my favorite discoveries at Toy Fair was the Scooby Doo stuff from Playmobil. This blind bag contains one of the ghostly figures that our intrepid team would be trying to dispense on the classic show. This line is a must have for sure. Even for the older collectors who remember the show with fondness.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

A miniature-sized take on the popular Hatchimals.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

I love the Stikbot stuff and mostly based on the cool animations I have seen people create with them.  I’d love to do something like this but I barely have the patience required to do stop motion things today.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

A cute game which is a take on the popping the bubble wrap.  This one likely will not make much of a mess either.  I still love popping the real deal packing stuff though.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

Another one of the things that’s right up my alley.  Action figures that help spark the creativity.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

This charming product is perfect for the youngest of the family circle.  Magnetic soft pieces will allow for endless fun I think.

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

the toy insider, sweet suite at home 2020

Below you’ll find my unboxing video which while recorded before these photos were snapped, was not uploaded straight away as there was not an Official Channel for The Chronicles until some months afterwards. It’s here for use now and I hope you will enjoy the video and give it a like and leave a topical comment as well. We’d love for you to subscribe.

I’d like to thank the Team at the Toy Insider for having us at their event once again and extra kudos to all the vendors who stockpiled this box. Some links down below will let you learn more.

Official: https://thetoyinsider.com/
Official: https://thepopinsider.com/
Official: http://www.crayola.com
Official: http://www.hasbro.com
Official: http://www.playmobil.us
Official: https://stikbot.toys/

toy insider and pop insider logo

Scenes From The Toy Insider’s 2020 “Sweet Suite @ Home”

the toy insider, sweet suite 2020, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2020

Readers of my adventures here on “The Chronicles” know full well that one of the special events that I love to attend each and every summer is The Toy Insider’s “Sweet Suite”. This affair is a wonderful one and brings together scores of amazing companies and their reps to showcase the “must have” toys and games. If you’re new to these narrative, let me tell you that the folks at The Toy Insider really know their stuff and I was happy to have met them at the annual Toy Fair several years ago. Of course the lay of the land right now is that physical events are pretty much impossible and the need to go virtual is a necessity. Such was the case for this soiree and I’ve culled together some visuals in a fun little overview that begins with a login…..Let’s go.

the toy insider, sweet suite 2020, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2020

Now that we’ve successfully logged in, its time to look around the show floor and as you can see its quite impressive. I felt like I was a character in a video game because as you can see the overall vibe you see once “inside the matrix” gives you that sense.

the toy insider, sweet suite 2020, sweet suite at home, sweet suite at home 2020
Continue reading Scenes From The Toy Insider’s 2020 “Sweet Suite @ Home”