Archive for May, 2011

The Uglydolls will be Starring in Their Own Movie

uglydolls
A few Ugly’s

One of our favorite toys is the Uglydolls. We’ve sold Uglydolls at Dave’s Cool Toys since they first came out, I believe. At that time there was Wage, Babo, Cinko, Target, Tray, and Jeero, followed soon after by Icebat, Wedgehead, and Ox.

In the years since, Uglydolls has grown into an enormous franchise. In addition to lots more regular Uglydolls, they’ve has added Little Ugly’s, keychains, giant Ugly’s, comic books, vinyl, note pads, watches, cookie jars, t-shirts, games, mugs, watches, tote bags, tin toys, pillows, and even Swarovski Crystal iPad cases.

We’ve seen them on Good Morning America, in the movie Zathura (Icebat gets destroyed by a meteor), and one was spotted hitching a ride on Sasha Obama’s backpack on the first day of school.

Now we’ve gotten news from Uglydoll that they will have their own movie!

Illumination Entertainment, who have made the films Despicable Me and Hop, have acquired the rights to turn the Uglydolls into an animated feature. They will develop the film with Universal Pictures. Uglydolls creators David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim will be executive producers. They plan on starting with a feature film and branching into wider media opportunities after that.

Illumination’s first feature release, Despicable Me, is being turned into a Universal theme park attraction. They are currently developing a stop-motion film based on the original Addams Familycharacters from the comic created by Charles Addams, directed by none other than Tim Burton. They are also working on The Lorax based on the Dr. Seuss book as well as a computer animated film based on Ricky Gervais’ book series Flanimals (which I’m sorry to say I’m not familiar with).

It’s still a little early for any further information on the Uglydolls movie, but we’ll post it here as soon as we hear anything more.

Anyone lose this tiger?

 

“Escaped” tiger lounging in a field

Police in Hampshire, England were mobilized when a member of the public spotted a tiger in a field through a his camera’s telephoto lens. The tiger didn’t seem too upset. He was just lying in a field.

Police investigated and contacted a local zoo for advice on how to handle the situation. After advising the officers, the zoo prepared a team of staff members trained for just such a situation, armed them with tranquilizer darts, and got ready to travel to the scene.

The nearby Country Golf Club was cleared of golfers and a local cricket game was suspended while police boarded a helicopter and flew to the scene to assess the situation.

But when they flew over the area, the tiger was blown over by the helicopter downdraft.

Hanging with police after the incident

It turns out it was just a plush toy. Police are now treating the incident as missing property and are investigating whether it was a hoax or just a lost toy.

The tiger looks to me to be the Melissa & Doug White Tiger Plush, which lists for $79.99. In fact, it’s almost a perfect match, down to the stripes on his tail. Not the kind of thing most people would accidentally leave lying around, which would lead me to believe it was probably a hoax.

I suppose it’s a testament to the realism of the plush tiger. It fooled police for about 1/2 hour.

Via BBC

 

Cool Toy Video of the Day: The Prius Racing Set

This video is too funny. The kids in it are great too.

Via Gizmodo

Cool Toy of the Day: RC Flying Superhero


It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a flying radio-controlled superhero.

And it’s genius!

Check out this video.

If you’d like your own flying superhero, you can buy the plans or a kit from rcsuperhero.com. They have plans in two sizes, 57 inches, and 75 inches.

A Great Deal on AA Batteries

It’s worrisome when toys are recalled due to safety issues. And in the past few years there have been more recalls than there should be.

Did you ever wonder what happens to all the batteries that were on those toys when they are pulled off the shelves and out of warehouses? They can’t be sold as new because they were in the toys.

The good news is that all those battereis are are pulled out of the toys and sold as surplus at a somewhat reduced rate.

American Science & Surplus is offering AA Duracell batteries for $3.25 for a package of 8.

via Gizmodo

Big Discounts on Radio Flyer Ride-Ons at Amazon

Radio Flyer Grow "N" Go Bike

Right now Amazon has savings of up to 45% on select Radio Flyer ride-on vehicles.

While the sale says "up to 45%", savings I saw ranged between 20% to 51%. The bike shown here is 42% off.

It’s not a huge selection, and the classic red wagon
is not included in this sale, but it’s the perfect time of year for this type of item and there are some great savings.

In addition, the items ship with FREE Super Saver Shipping and Prime Shipping (check the Details at Amazon).

Google honors Mr Men and Roger Hargreaves

Google is celebrating Roger Hargreaves and Mr Men and Little Misses books
with an assortment of Google logos today to celebrate his birthday.

I’m sorry to say I’m not familiar with Roger Hargreaves, so I’ll have to check out his books the next time I’m at the Library. They seem to have been very popular in Britain, so I’m not certain how widespread they are in the U.S. There have been four animated TV series of his stories in Britain in 2008 and 2009.

He first drew the characters when his Son, Adam asked him what a tickle looked like. After Mr. Hargreaves death in 1988, his son continued writing and drawing the books until his wife sold the rights to Chorion entertainment group.

An animated move is in the works for release in 2014.

To see all the versions of the logo, go to Google and hit refresh to get a new version.

Cool Toy Deal of the Day: 6 in 1 Solar Kit

solar kit

One of my favorite sites is "1 Sale A Day". I’ve purchased more than a few items from them.

Today’s deal is a 6-in-1 Solar Kit for only $4.99 plus S&H! They claim that it’s a 92% saving off the $59.99 list price, although I’ve seen it online for $10-$20. Shipping & handling is $4.99, which is reasonable.

Here is the description from their site:

"Learn the benefits of solar energy while having fun. With the Ace 6-in-1 Solar Educational Kit, you can see how solar energy is used.

Build six different working models including an airboat, car, windmill, puppy, and two different airplanes. With no tools or batteries required, this set is sure to provide endless hours of educational value and amusement for children and adults."

The way 1 Sale a Day works is that you have exactly one day to make your purchase. Tomorrow there will be a new deal and you will miss out. So if you’re interested, act fast. If you’re reading this after 5/3/11 this deal will be gone. 1 Sale a Day’s shipping isn’t always as fast as I’d like, but everything I’ve received is as-advertised, I’ve never had a problem with an order, and they’ve got the best deals on the web.

I can’t tell you too much about the 6 in 1 Solar Kit, but I’ll write a review when I receive mine and had time to play with it. Yes I ordered one.

Dave’s Cool Toys Blog
We post news about new toys on our site, new toys in the market, general toy information, or stuff we just thought was cool (usually toys).

We welcome your feedback and comments.

Be sure to check out our toys at Dave's Cool Toys. We work hard to find toys you won't find at the big box stores. Now go out and play!

Dave Ference

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