Brazilian Mutants for Haiti Relief

The good folks at SOTA Toys will be holding an auction on eBay starting Monday for a one-of-a-kind item to benefit relief in Haiti.

The Lightning Blanka you see above was a prototype for a proposed statue variant of Street Fighter’s popular hairy green fighter. All the proceeds will go to benefit the Red Cross’ efforts in Haiti.

The eBay link isn’t live yet, but check back on Monday at 9am Eastern by searching for Lightning Blanka or looking for Auction ID 170437372130.

Screw the iPad, here’s a rapping toothbrush!

According to this press release I just got,

“The EcoFly is the first rappin’ recyclable, eco-conscious toothbrush for kids.  It has a musical timer featuring an original rap son…”

Let’s go beyond the phrase rappin’ recyclable toothbrush for a moment (if you can)… As you can see, there’s a typo in the second sentence – it should clearly say, “featuring an original rap song…”

Or SHOULD it?

I prefer to imagine the press release being read in the voice of, say, Jay-Z. Now read it again. “It features an original rap, son!”

There you have it – my press release of the day. It beat by miles the press release I received (twice!) where they twisted themselves into unbelievable rhetorical knots to compare their performance management software (whatever the hell that is) to the film Avatar. Better luck next time, flacks!

There is Nothing Not Awesome About This Image

Just received from Marvel PR: this teaser image for their new “Heroic Age” initiative.
We’re guessing this is NOT the new line-up of the Avengers, since the text from Marvel mentions that “Marvel’s most elite characters will be at the center of The Heroic Age, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and more!” However, an Avengers team that included the Thing, the Beast and friggin’ Gorilla Man would make my day. Also of note: Hawkeye no longer in lame Ronin costume. Bucky still in Cap costume. Friggin’ Gorilla Man.

I’m in a good mood now, which fits in with EIC Joe Quesada’s news that “the Marvel Universe is going to be a more optimistic place than we’ve seen in a quite awhile.” Thanks, Joe!

World War Cybertron

War for Cybertron. Huh. Good god, y’all. What is it good for? Well, it’s good for an awesome looking upcoming videogame from Activision (taking place entirely on the Transformers home planet and using their pre-Earth-mode transformations). And it’s good for a new toy line from Hasbro based on said Cybertronian modes! Head over to UGO.com for a look at the vehicle and robot modes of for Optimus and Megatron!

Meet the Staff (Again)!

So I’ve been posting here on the shiny new location of FarePlay for a few weeks now, but it occurs to me that, unlike our old location, it doesn’t actually say who’s posting these days. It just says “wizard,” and I may be many things, but I’m no magician.

With that in mind, I decided to reintroduce myself by recycling some text I wrote when we launched FarePlay back in ‘08, with some minor updating. I’m lazy efficient like that. Enjoy!

Hi, my name is Justin Aclin, and I’m the Editor of ToyFare. That’s me in the photo up there. Well…an action figure of me by the amazing Jin Saotome. But my guns are totally that big.

So what does the Editor do? How does one get to be an Editor? Why did my old title used to sound better than my current title even though my new position is higher? Strap yourselves in, because I’m going to answer at least two of those questions. And I’m extremely long-winded.

As Editor, I’m basically in charge of the whole shebang here – it’s my responsibility to make sure that everything that goes in the magazine meets ToyFare’s high standards of entertainment, readability and juvenile humor. Not a page gets printed unless I give it the okay, which means that, ultimately, all the typos are my fault.

Aside from the actual editing, I’m in charge of determining the content for the magazine,  brainstorming all the feature articles and coming up with ideas for covers. I’ll also write the occasional article for the magazine, and I remain one of the head writers for Twisted ToyFare Theatre, as well as the goofy word balloons scattered throughout the issues.

I started as a Wizard intern during college, was hired as an Associate Editor for ToyFare right out of college, then slowly worked my way up to Senior Editor under Zach Oat’s Editorship. For reasons no one can adequately explain, Senior Editor is less good than Editor. Then I left for a couple of months. Then Zach left. Then I came back and took his job. And now I’ve got his old computer that has all his music in its iTunes library.

My all-time favorite toy lines are Masters of the Universe (in all its incarnations), Xevoz, Marvel Legends, DC Universe Classics and MiniMates. Here’s an article I wrote for USA Today’s Pop Candy blog about my favorite forgotten ’80s toy lines.

Well, that wasn’t too ridiculously long, was it? If you find yourself yearning for even more of my ramblings, you can check out this interview with Zach and I from a few years back on the radio program Fanboy Radio. It gets into some of the details about the making of Twisted ToyFare and the magazine, if you’re into that sort of thing.

There, now you know who’s writing this crap. Hope you feel enriched!

Studiously avoiding Lost

Hey, you guys, my brothers-in-arms over at Wizard’s Magic Words blog let me know this morning that there’s a new Lost Season 6 promo on YouTube, the first one that has actual Season 6 footage in it.

I’m not going to watch it.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m not bursting at the seams to watch the new season of Lost. I am. I really am. (And keep an eye out for my Lost toy wishlist in the next issue of ToyFare, hitting 2/10.) But I know that the original plan going into this season was not to show ANY new footage in the commercials to keep people guessing about what happened after last season’s nuclear finale, and goldurnit, I intend to keep it that way for myself for as long as humanly possible.

Today’s best out-of-context press release quotes

From genuine press releases received TODAY at ToyFare HQ!

“Can I put you in touch with Dr. Stoner and Ms. Weiner for a fun, poignant interview?”

“Join a young boy as he mimics the movements of a variety of construction vehicles in I Am a Backhoe…”

My audience needs to know!

One of the weird things about being (nominally) in the media is the vast amount of press releases I receive every day that have absolutely nothing to do with anything I even vaguely report on. Today I received a press release that informed me:

“Your audience needs to know what a sex addict like Tiger Woods could be going through.”

Now, my first impression is to be insulted at the condescending tone of that statement, especially since they’re so incredibly off the mark. But you know what…maybe I’m wrong. So tell, me, audience? Do you need to know what a sex addict like Tiger Woods could be going through?

Cue up the Danny Elfman music…

It’s been a divisive day in this great nation of ours, but it’s important to remember the one thing that all right-minded people agree on: we need more Michael Keaton as Batman merchandise. Luckily, DC Direct is setting us on the right course with this September-shipping bust.

More, toy companies. More please.

Say “buon giorno” to Lt. Aldo Raine!

Want to own a figure from one of 2009’s best movies from one of 2009’s most amazing toy companies (their 2010 isn’t shaping up too shabby, either)? Check out this teaser image of Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine from the incredible Hot Toys. We’re sure Aldo would look down on this toy from above and say, “I think it’s my best one yet.” (Via Topless Robot)