31 Days of Zombie Infestation: Day 30 - Radioactive Zombie Containment Unit Drums

Zombie Containment Unit Drums

So, if you can't kill a zombie because they're already dead what do you do with them? I guess you've got to build some kind of containment unit. Luckily, you can already purchase one and only for $2.99!

The ad says it all. The zombies glow! The drums glow! The slime glows!

So apparently, not only is this an undead abomination but it's also RADIOACTIVE! The sick minds behind this product actually found a way to make zombies even deadlier. I don't think I've ever heard of radioactive zombies before.

There are five different zombies inside so you can collect... er... contain them all!

31 Days of Zombie Infestation: Day 23 - Zombies VS. Zombie Hunters Plastic Figure Bag

Zombies VS. Zombie Hunters

This one is a guaranteed winner. Remember all of those little plastic army men, cowboys, and indians you used to play with as a kid? Well, now you can have them all join forces to fight off ravenous hordes of flesh eating zombies! Yay!

This bag contains 35 figures including zombies (of course) but also SWAT teams and HAZMAT units.

Notice theat the zombies are green while the humans are blue. That's so you can actually tell them apart.

I could see this bag being a great roleplaying aide for that time when you just can't resist throwing dozens of zombies at your intrepid adventurers. Time to roll up new characters!

Geek Gear: Fat Tony Figure

Fat Tony the Tiger

This item caught my attention just for its sheer audacity. Fat Tony the Tiger speaks to me on so many levels. It manages to be a parody, social commentary, and a toy at the same time.

Everyone knows that sugary cereals have put a toy in the box for years to entice children into demanding that particular cereal. So to make a toy that points out just how fattening these cereals are is just brilliant.

But then to specifically target Tony the Tiger is beyond brilliant because Tony is often showed succeeding in a variety of athletic endeavors. This implies that if  you eat Frosted Flakes you'll be able to slam dunk and run a marathon. It is doubtful that Olympic level athletes consider Frosted Flakes to be a good part of a diet for serious athletes.

Then look at the box it comes in. Free Ritalin inside! Killkidds, not "Kellogg's!" "A Ton of Tiger with a Short Shelf Life!" Heh. Now that's funny.

Geek Gear: Settlers of Catan Plush Robber Set

Catan Robber Set

This one kinda mystifies me. If you recall, awhile back a set of plush resource dolls was released for Settlers of Catan. Were they cute? Yes. Were they stupid? Yes. Did they have an actual in-game function that allowed you to play with them during the game and impacted how you played the game? Yes. So you ended up with a cute but stupid game accessory.

Which is why these robbers mystify me. I've tried to do research on them and as near as I can tell they have no in-game function. So what are they for? I mean, they don't even really qualify as cute in my opinion. So what you wind up with is are weird and stupid dolls that just happen to have the name Catan attached to them. I mean, there aren't even three robbers in the game - just one.

So, how could you use these dolls in game? Well, here's what I came up with. The dolls start nearby but not "in play." When someone rolls a 7 and moves the in-game robber (but not playing a solider card) they can claim a robber doll from the side until they are all claimed. Once all three robber plushes are claimed by players any further 7's would cause someone to be able to steal a robber plush in addition to stealing resources. The rules for this would be the same - you would have to move the robber onto a hex that that person is getting resources from. If, at any one time, someone has all three robber plushes he scores 2 points, the equivalent of longest road or largest army. He is declared the Thief Lord! As an opinion, you could make these points permanent and say that the robber plushes could no longer be stolen. As another option, you could say that a player could take resources equal to the number of thief plushes they have plus one. For example - if you had two thief plushes and roll a 7 and move the robber you would steal three resources from the players affected in any combination (2 from 1 player and 1 from another, 3 from one player, or 1 from 3 different players).

So while these dolls may not have come with a in-game play mechanic, you can see that you could easily grant them one should you choose to.

Geek Gear: Nintendo Figures

10-Doh! cartridge figures

From the company 10-Doh! (get it... (Nin)-ten-do!) comes these cut little figures. They're shaped like a classic Nintendo video game cartridge.

Each figure is 3 1/2 inches tall and figures a spoof of a popular video game.

Nostalgia rules!

What's not cool is that they decided to make the gold cartridges "rare" with only one per case! While I wouldn't mind owning some of these cool little buggers and I don't mind even buying blind while do some need to be rarer than others?

So I don't advise trying to buy them all but it would still be cool to sit some out at work and see who recognizes them for what they are.

Geek Gear: Marvel Dolls

Tonner Marvel Doll Collection

What's the difference between a doll and an action figure? Especially when the same characters have been made into both?

I would say that an action figure is designed for "rough play" and recreating battle scenes and the like. You don't dress up an action figure.

A doll, on the other hand, is more about fashion and hair than fighting.

Enter Tonner's Marvel Doll Collection. Tonner has many doll lines including Harry Potter.

This line includes Black Cat, Elektra, Scarlet Witch, Phoenix, Ms. Marvel, Rogue, and more. Essentially, you have Barbie but dressed up as your favorite super heroes.

While I personally can't see myself buying any of these dolls, I thought the development was noteworthy and wanted to report it to my faithful 1LR readers!

It's a Great Big Superhero World! (At Target)

Superhero toys

During a recent trip to Target I noticed, as I'm sure you have, that there is a TON of comic book related merchandise for sale in a store like Target or Walmart. I wanted to find out exactly how much stuff. So here was the rule - to "count" the item in question has to come from a property that STARTED as a comic book. So Batman and Spider-Man count but Casper and Strawberry Shortcake do not. I wanted to count how many items are for sale at a Target that have comic book inspired.

This is much harder to do than you might think. I started out just walking around the store with a notepad and making tally marks but it quickly became overwhelming.

I decided the best thing to do would be to make a gift registry with all of the items. That way, the computer would tally the items up for me.

What I discovered was that items are available in several major categories.

Video games

First, are, of course, toys. There are a wide spectrum of superhero toys available. In fact, they have their own aisle! Spider-Man, Batman, and the Avengers dominated the aisle, of course, because of the movies this summer. But there were plenty of other toys available as well. Marvel Super Hero Squad was well represented. Toys are available for all ages and all levels of sophistication. Lines such as the Bonkazonks, Marvel Miniature, and Marvel Legends diversified the offerings. There were a lot of dress-up clothes as well like superhero masks, Hulk gloves, Iron Man chest light, and Spider-Man web shooters.

Games are another category that was well represented. The Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG is available for sale at Target. There are plenty of board games. But video games was a big category unto itself such as Batman's Arkham Asylum.

 Perhaps the biggest category, however, is apparel. Shirts, pajamas, shoes, hats, underwear... pretty much anything you can wear, it's available with something comic book related on it. I noticed that the superheroes were directed toward boys only. There was no clothing in the little girl or adult woman's section related to comic books. How odd, right? I mean, girls like comics and comic book movies too, don't they? There is plenty of sports team apparel made for females - why not comic book items?

Party Supplies

Party supplies was another big category. Pretty much when you choose a theme for a party you want EVERYTHING to go along with that theme so the numbers quickly add up. Cups, plates, party favors, decorations, not to mention birthday cards.

There were a ton of food items that bore the image of a superhero as well. As you can well imagine, everything from fruit snacks to frozen pizzas were adorned with and shaped like a superhero. Superheroes sell a lot of food.

Food

DVDs were a natural category because superhero movies are so popular this summer.  Not only did Target have a ton of DVDs from popular superhero movies, it also had a bunch of non-superhero movies such as 300, V for Vendetta, and Howard the Duck as well. To up the count even further many of these movies were available in multiple versions - deluxe packages, widescreen vs fullscreen, and BluRays.

The last category I would call "miscellaneous." In this category goes everything that doesn't fit into one of the other categories. Pretty much anything you can stick a superhero's picture on, they've done it. Notebooks, folders, pens, lunchboxes, picture books, bikes, fishing poles, backpacks... the list is nearly endless.

So, how many different comic book inspired items does Target carry? It's hard to give an exact number and it depends on how you would count. Should every different toy in a line of toys count as an item or does the entire toy line count as one item? While an exact number eludes me, here's what is for certain: It is WELL OVER 500 items no matter how you count in difficult categories (if you counted every item individually it would perhaps be as many as 900 or 1,000). That's a LOT of merchandise bearing the likenesses of characters coming from comic books.

Surely there is no doubt that we live in the Comic Book Age. A large portion of our culture is dedicated to these iconic heroes.

movie

What mystifies me is this: The one item that Target doesn't sell? COMIC BOOKS! How is this possible? Target is willing to sell anything with Spider-Man's image except for Spider-Man comics? Surely if Target did carry them they would sell. And while I'm sure comic book shops are glad that they don't, how can the big comic book companies walk away from such huge outlets such as Target and Walmart? Imagine the audiences that could be reached that aren't otherwise! I know for myself as a kid I used to buy all of my comics at a local gas station I could walk to. Were those comics not sold in that gas station I doubt I would have become the avid comic book fan I am today. Try finding comics in a gas station today. You can't do it!

So, come on, Target and Walmart! Start selling comic books! After all, you're certainly willing to profit from superheroes everywhere else in your stores.

One side note: Aside from superheroes it was impossible for me to miss the second place property: Cars 2. Even though this movie was released over a year ago it is still extremely popular as a brand and can be found in almost all of the same categories I listed above for superheroes.

Geek Gear: "Alien" Stuffed Animals

Facehugger

Chestburster

Who wouldn't want to hug a Facehugger? Well, now  you can! From the Alien movies these "cute" stuffed animals can be yours to cuddle up with every night! What better way to sooth yourself to sleep than with a Chestburster tucked under your shirt or a Facehugger snuggly fitted onto your face? 

Counting sheep? Nah. Instead, you could try to remember the bodycount in each Alien film!

Geek Gear: How to Build Castles

This isn't a gaming supplement designed for gamers but rather kids. I saw my nephew playing with the Spanish version of this toy - Como Armar Castillos recently and was intrigued.  How to Build Castles is made by Klutz. Here's the write-up from Amazon:

How to Build Castles comes with a deck of 58 beautifully illustrated laminated leaves, perforated to break into 150 cards in four different shapes. Every card is notched to fit neatly and securely with every other card. Assemble the cards any way you want to create freestanding fantasy fortresses. The book gives specific guidelines for creating walls, floors, roofs, towers, spires, bridges and other architectural elements, along with inspirational photos of some of the zillion variations possible. Altogether, there are enough cards in one deck to build a small village or one satisfyingly towering castle big enough to cover a school desk.

Comes With: 58 perforated leaves that break into 158 building cards, a custom-molded knight figurine

You can get this thing pretty cheap online (check out Amazon... about 8 bucks!). It can be used to build fully 3D buildings for your roleplaying figures to navigate their way through. The knight show comes with the set and is much larger than the typical mini.

Top 100 Toys... Really?

With Christmas right around the corner we're all thinking about it. Toys.
Time Magazine recently released its Top 100 toys of all time. Check it out here: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2049243,00.html

 (G.I. Joe from the '60's)

The list isn't organized 1 to 100. It is organized by decade, from the 1920's to today. Some toys on the list are without question deserving: The Radio Flyer wagon, Army Men, Legos, Mr. Potato Head, Frisbee, and Barbie. Others... less so. Brats? Furby? ---SERIOUSLY?

This article raises the question in my mind: What do you consider to be a toy? Is any object that you pass the time idly by with a toy? Are video game consoles "toys?" What about computer games? Stuffed animals? Board games? Some of the items on the list I would consider less "toys" and more objects of curiousity. Neodynium-Magnet Cube may be cool but does it qualify as a toy? Time says yes. The same thing with Paint-by-Numbers and Bubble Solution and Water Balloon and Colorforms. Are these all "toys"?

The Greatest Toy of All Time

How about the greatest toys of all time that they left off the list - rocks, sticks, dirt, and boxes? Wiffle Ball and Hula Hoop made the list but baseball and football didn't?

For me personally, Legos are the greatest toy of all time. Hundreds of hours of pleasure from simple rectangular prism shaped blocks. The limit is your imagination! Much better than say... Furby.

What's your favorite toy of all time? Post and share!

Geek Gear: Marvel Squinkies

You know, it never sees to amaze me how the same characters can be redesigned, repackaged, and sold time and time again. I couldn't even begin to guess how many different versions of the same Marvel characters are on sale right now. But the Squinkies caught my eye when I was walking through Target recently. There are a whole bunch of Squinkie lines including Cars, Hot Wheels, and Hello Kitty.

A Squinkie is about an inch tall and has no movable parts. As you can see, they're "cute" versions of the characters. There are currently five lines of Marvel Squinkies - Series 1, Series 2, Super Hero Squad, X-Men, and Good vs Evil. Each line is very limited - about 12 figures in all. You can buy them in small random packs but it is nice that you can buy the entire series for about $10 in a bigger pack as well.

There's some overlap in characters from series to series but they make them slightly different, such as Johnny Storm with flame and without.

I think the cute little guys would be great decorations for around your workspace or on a bookshelf at home. I would be tempted to set them up to recreate classic scenes from the comics.

Catanimals (Catan Stuffed Animals)

Wood

Wheat

Recently, Mayfair announced the release of Catanimals (Yes, I know that looks like "Cat Animals" but it's actually (Catan-Animals). It's hardly a fitting name because only one of them is an animal, the sheep. For those not familiar with Settlers of Catan (scoff), there are five primary resources to the core game: Wood, Sheep, Brick, Wheat, and Ore. Each one has been transformed into a stuffed plush toy. Check them out:

First, appearance.

The wood is pretty unique. It looks like wood and I like how the mouth is the crack between the pieces of wood.
The ore looks more like a smiling lump of coal or a grey raincloud. Pass.

Sheep

The sheep looks really good but who hasn't seen a stuffed sheep before? Not original enough.
The bricks look very orange in the picture, not red. They also look shy for some reason.
The wheat reminds me of a bunch of yellow broccoli for some reason. I expect it to start singing and dancing to inform me about the dangers of poor nutrition. What are those white things on the side? Hands? Ears? Wings?

Brick

Now, these may be cute and the extremely die-hard completionist Catan collector may have to have all five. But for Mayfair to offer alternate gaming rules based on the use of Catanimals in-game borders on ludicrous.. Here's how it works: Be the first to have 3 "points" in any one resource and you get to cuddle up to the corresponding Catanimal! You earn one point by building a settlement next to a resource tile and upgrading that settlement to a city adds an additional point. By earning a Catanimal, you get an additional victory point in-game. Using these alternate rules, Mayfair suggests playing to 12 victory points with 3-4 players and 11 victory points with 5-6 players.

Ore

The prices on these things range from $4.00 to $8.00 each online... Check out http://www.scifigenre.com/itemDetail.aspx?nItemID=96719 for the lowest price I've seen if you've GOT to have them.

Myself, I would say if you wanted to play with these alternate rules, use a brick, a rock from your back yard, a stick, a ball of wool, and some straw or hay in a baggie. Or, just write the words WOOD, BRICK, WHEAT, SHEEP, and ORE on index cards. There. I just saved you $40.

1LR's Dungeons and Dragons Story for National Toy Hall of Fame

One Lost Road has submitted a story in support of Dungeons and Dragons's status as a finalist nominee to the National Toy Hall of Fame. Check it out at http://aap.museumofplay.org/story/208. This is a contest so I would appreciate you clicking on the green thumbs up button to vote for my story! I decided to write about one of my favorite DnD gaming moments that is a little different than your average game.

Dungeons & Dragons To Enter the Toy Hall of Fame?

Dungeons and Dragons is one of twelve finalists that may enter the toy hall of fame. You can check them out at http://aap.museumofplay.org/browse/165/toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

First, let me say that this whole National Toy Hall of Fame is a little suspect to me. Why? Let me list a few ways:

1. What's the definition of "toy?" They inducted a stick and a cardboard box into the toy hall of fame. Really? Why not dirt, sand, and rocks. Those make pretty awesome "toys" too. Aren't toys manufactured by humans for the express purpose of play?
2. They've only be inducting toys since 1998. The order in which they're making it in is a little suspect. I mean, The Game Boy was inducted before playing cards into the hall of fame. Tinkertoys beat out a baby doll. Really? I think babydolls are kinda timeless and universal while nobody plays with Tinkertoys anymore!
3. It seems a lot of the toys inducted are focused on 50's nostalgia. View Masters and Erector sets were early inductees along with Raggedy Ann and the rocking horse. What about more modern, cool toys such as Laser Tag or Bakugon? 
4. There are likewise some notable omissions. How about, I don't know, the toy sword? Or a cap gun? Not in the hall of fame! 

Now, that being said, I always like to see roleplaying get a little recognition. Even though I don't consider a roleplaying book to be a "toy" I'll still support this endeavor to recognize roleplaying for its cultural significance! Make sure you check it out. There's a section where you can add your own D&D stories (or stories for the other 12 nominees if you wished to) which is pretty cool. 

The nominees are: Dollhouse, Rubics Cube, Hot Wheels, Jenga, Puppet, Remote Control Vehicle, Jenga, Twister, Transfomers, Star Wars Action Figures, Transformers, and, of course, Dungeons and Dragons. Do I think Dungeons and Dragons has a shot of winning? No, probably not. Only two can get in this year. How can you NOT put Hot Wheels and the Rubics Cube in let along the Dollhouse? That's some pretty stiff competition.

I did find it interesting what book they chose to visually represent Dungeons and Dragons. It isn't the 4th Ed. Player's Handbook. Instead, they chose the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set (2nd Edition). Perhaps they chose this version because of the nostalgia factor or perhaps because this was when the game really exploded into the mainstream.

Good luck, Dungeons and Dragons! 1LR is supporting you!

Cool Marvel Movie Swag

Marvel has produced some fabulous movies this summer. Usually, movie tie-in merchandise is cheese and is an obvious grab for the money. But this summer Marvel has released some outstanding toys.

First up, the Foam Thor Hammer for kids. It looks fantastic and is safe to beat your friends with. Win-Win! Every kid has a sword but a warhammer is something special indeed! For $11 how can you go wrong?

Next is the Captain America Flying Shield. Let's be honest - it's a Frisbee. BUT it's a Frisbee with a strap on the underside so a kid can strap it to his arm like Captain America does. How awesome is that? Plus, it is not flimsy at all - it's really durable! For $9 buy one for every kid in the family!

Marvel has already released a whole bunch of masks for their heroes (Cap, Spidey, Wolverine, and Iron Man - Thor has a helmet). This Iron Man mask is $8. The masks are well constructed with easily adjustable straps. It's funny how a kid instantly takes on the personality of the character when they wear the mask. Combined with some of the cool swag from above and you have an instant pint-sized Super Hero costume. What great, cheap (but durable) fun!

Way to go, Marvel!