Last week, the Toy Association’s Toy Fair took over the Javits Center for its massive industry trade show and I attended the event as one of the accredited media as I’ve been doing since first taking the plunge back in 2011. For years I’ve done this for the PiercingMetal outlet based on my focus on all of the Kidult collectibles and assorted offerings. Now it’s time to expand the findings with some posts for “The Chronicles of Piercing Ken”.
While I’ve been posting over on PiercingMetal for the better part of a week, there are aspects of the Toy Fair that don’t really fit into the context of a Heavy Metal and Geek Culture website. There’s a ribbon cutting and statements and even a fun character parade with a live band. All of that is perfect content for “The Chronicles” so let’s begin with some of the parade and the ribbon cutting.
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.
One of the first nice surprises in the box was this wonderful stuffed Blue from the very popular younger childrens program “Blues Clues”.
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.
There are always wonderful products coming from the fine folks at Crayola. Let them help you have an artastic life.
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.
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.
A miniature-sized take on the popular Hatchimals.
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.
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.
Another one of the things that’s right up my alley. Action figures that help spark the creativity.
This charming product is perfect for the youngest of the family circle. Magnetic soft pieces will allow for endless fun I think.
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.
It seems like it was only yesterday when I was compiling my images and thoughts about the 2018 “Sweet Suite” which you can give a look to by clicking HERE if you are one of our newer readers who might have missed it. It was our third such adventure and now it was time to show you what we found at their annual “Holiday Of Play” which as you might have surmised was also our third such event. Before we get underway with the adventure, I wanted to let you know that I did a quick narrative over on my PiercingMetal.com website that showcased the more Geek themed stuff that I talk about and you can peruse that by clicking HERE. It’s nice to parse out the content like I do with the annual Toy Fair for sure. Once again I would head to the Manhattan Penthouse which is a lovely space for a quasi-intimate affair. I like that I get to take a few snapshots of the city as well from this location because I do so love our Metropolis. Let’s go have some fun.
Hello my friends and welcome back to another exciting adventure here on “The Chronicles”. The summer was here in full sway and while its getting hot, the special events and happenings are even hotter. One such event that we have recently enjoyed is the “Sweet Suite” that is curated by our friends over at The Toy Insider. Longer tenured site readers know about them already but the newbies might need a tad bit of education about them.
The Toy Insider is a collective of industry experts that examine and share the findings about the hottest toys and games that are hitting the shelves and the “Sweet Suite” event is where they bring in the companies behind these items and put them face to face with those YouTube personalities, Social Media Influencers and members of the media (that’s us). The event was once again held at Pier 60 down in the Chelsea Piers area and when you walked in there was this awesome Statue of Liberty greeting you. This was made with a 3D printer to my knowledge.
This ballroom maze was also at the entrance for those who chose to brave it. I did but sadly there is no video of me doing it although I did shoot a clip of the whole thing from the pathway you see to the right in this image. It was really cool.
