Well, we attended Toy Fair 2012 in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center. It was an incredible event with more to see then I could imagine. There were incredible deals, new games, old games, and so much more. While the event is still fresh in our heads, we are going to try and put some of the info into a blog AND add pictures... Just to let you know, many things we could not photograph so we will do what we can.
Activision: Activision had a gigantic booth set up for Skylander! More to the point, the new Skylander Giants expansion coming out this fall! We got a chance to check out a quick demo of the game and got a really cool limited piece to the game, a metallic purple Cynder! We have started to get Skylanders in the store, and the individual figures have been flying off the shelf.
Spinmaster: So many great products, so little space to write about them all. Tech Decks and Flick Trix bikes are very cool! These toys allow you to do tricks with skate boards and bike using your fingers. Appfinity and Appmates are two new products that they are releasing currently for the iPhone and soon on the Droid. These items will allow you to play a driving game with a special steering wheel, play a shooting game with a gun attachment, or remote control a helicopter. They also carry Redakai, a 3D trading card game. Very different design, and fun to play.
Calliope: Tsuro is a hot game! It is a game of paths, and if you have not seen this game, then it is time to take a look. They are also in the process of creating a new version of the game and hopefully we will see it soon! Got 'Em is another new game from Calliope. This game involves boxing in your opponent and moving your pawn to safety. We will have both of these games in stock very soon... hopefully once Toy Fair is completed.
GIANT Microbes: If you need something intelligent and fun, then check out GIANTMicrobes. They have key chains, vinyl figures, and plush figures of your "favorite" viruses and bacteria magnified 1,000,000 times. Some of the favorites they have created are common cold, kissing disease, MRSA, brain cell, chickenpox, and mad cow. This company has even created special collections just for the holidays, namely Valentines Day, Halloween, and Christmas.
Funko: Funko makes really cool vinyl figures and plush figures all based around popular pop culture! They make these for DC, Marvel, The Hobbit, Disney, and so much more. We currently carry some of their products, but we are excited to see all the new product that is not in the store yet.
Neca: Heroclix is one of the Wizkids products now made by Neca. Heroclix is coming on strong and with some many great licences like Lord of the Rings, Street Fighter, Marvel, DC, and Halo, it is no wonder. Thier newest line is a Star Trek ship to ship miniatures combat game. Another new game from Wizkids by Neca is Quarriors, a dice building game with a new expansion on the way. Licenced merchandise like Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Fall-out, Halo, and more. They make action figures, wall scrolls, bags, and so much more.
Monogram: Monogram creates many different products that use different licencing. They carry far more then we carry, but here are some of the ones we do carry; Marvel, Nightmare Before Christmas. They use the licence to make glasses, banks, travel mugs, key chains, and so much more.
Kotobukiya: This company makes some fantastic vinyl figures. Most of them are done as beautiful women and they cover lines such as Mass Effect 3, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Tekken, and more! This figures are fantastic with gorgeous detail. They also have a fantastic line of silicone ice cube trays and chopsticks. In this line they have Star Wars, DC Comics, and are introducing Alien. We have carried some of these products, but are now going to be getting NEW ones in March.
Mayfair: We stopped at Mayfair, and had a fantastic conversation about some new and forward thinking ideas. They gave us a ton of information about the Settlers of Catan National tournaments. We now understand what we can and cannot do, so we are ready to start running qualifiers for this great game! We also learned about a store-specific commercial. They have some fun characters on their website who will be a part of the commercial and we are excited to get copies of these.
Fantasy Flight: This company creates many differnet board games, card games, and role playing games. One of the newest games to come out soon is Star Wars X-Wing. This is a miniatures tactical space combat game. Star Wars Living Card Game is also coming out sometime this year. They did not have much information on this as it needed to be redone slightly.
Cryptozoioc: Stopping at Cryptozoic was mixed. They had some fact sheets, but not much else to see. Here are some of the big high-lights that we saw. They are planning several releases for Deck Building Games including Clash of Champions for World of Warcraft, DC Comics (part of the Cerberus game engine), also a Hobbit/LotR deck building game. They are also working on a Hobbit/LotR board game, hopefully coming out next year.
Nassau Candy: Jelly Belly, Branded/Licensed Candy, and bulk candy is what we saw at Nassau Candy. They things we really thought were great would be the Angry Birds, Mario, and Decade in a Box candies. So many great candies, and we even got a sample of their salt water taffy... which was fantastic!
Ata Boy: Magnets, Buttons, Stickers based on Princess Bride, Happy Bunny, DC, Marvel and Retro images. What more can I say, other then I want them in the store! So many great pop culture references and images. We are looking forward to carrying more of this line.
Royal & Langnickel: This company creates and sells paint brushes, palettes, and paints. We are very excited to find a company that sells high quality paint brushes at a very reasonable price! We will be carrying their line of brushes.
Asmodee: Dixit is one of those games that is an instant favorite. The art is fantastic and the game is about giving clues and bluffing/misleading your opponents. Timeline is a new game from Asmodee. It is a fast game with some great history lessons to share with the players. 7 Wonders, with its several expansions, gives you a fast paced game where you get to influnce one of the great civilizations of the world. This company makes some fun and fast games. Not a lot of time, check out Asmodee.
Hexbugs: They have a brand new item, Moshi Monster Bobble Bots! This is based on an online game that is HUGE in Great Britain, especially among girls. They have created this item using the Nano technology. They can be purchased in single packs, with houses, and with buildings. Hexbugs has also introduced several great holiday lines. Each one has a removable piece for the holiday; rabbit ears for Easter, antlers for Christmas, and a glow in the dark skeleton frame for Halloween! They also packaged them differently; Easter eggs, ornaments, and a coffin!
Konami: Yu-Gi-Oh!... What else can I say? Well I guess I can comment on all the different product coming out. We will see Ra Yellow Mega-Pack, Premium Collection tins, a new Starter, Galactic Overlord, and Hidden Arsenal 6. We will also get a very cool product, Battle Pack: Epic Dawn! This new pack will give players the chance to play Yu-Gi-Oh! in a sealed format!
Tenzi: This was a fun, super fast dice rolling game. The game was very simple to learn, and for a only $15 you get 40 D6 pipped dice! They come in 8 different colors, 4 to a pack. We had a blast playing this game, and managed to get all the dice on one side in 26 seconds.
Wood Expressions: We already carry many of their items, but are going to expand the depth of the product. They sell very common games like chess, checkers, solitaire, backgammon, cribbage and Chinese checkers. However, if you're looking for something like Shoot-the-Moon, Mah-Jong, Cathedral, Labyrinth and Mancala, they've got that too! We carry Wood Expressions for every customer type, from those who spend $15 on a beginner's checkers set to $150 for the collectors who want a carved marble chess board and pieces.
Set Game: Are you looking for a quick an interesting game? Are you looking for a game that will really push you to think? Then check out these games from Set: Xactika,Quiddler, Five Crowns, and Set! We demoed and played all 4 games in about 20 minutes. Now we did not finish the games, but we played several hands of each.
Sean "Striderlotr" Banks
