Thanks to Trump's tariffs and saber-rattling, Hasbro is investing in factories in Vietnam and India, de-emphasizing its China operations: the world's biggest toymaker insists that the initiative -- which will cut China's share of its manufacturing from two-thirds to one-half -- is about "spreading our footprint and adding new geographies for production." Read the rest
This year's hot -- and controversial -- holiday toys are Hasbro's Yellies, a line of plush spider-like ("Spooders) creatures that move faster when you scream at them.
The toys are creating quite a kerfuffle with parents who think the toys are a bad idea.
The person who invented this toy is clearly not a parent. pic.twitter.com/DQGsrn58mI
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) December 12, 2018
Every parent's nightmare. #yellies pic.twitter.com/z0wNdM3fP0
— littleterror (@mattterror) December 1, 2018
One mother shared that her son was scared of the toy and that it actually fed off her kid's "screams of terror":
Read the rest...Being the mother of a naturally loud and boisterous kid, I thought it would be the perfect Christmas present... well I couldn’t wait for Christmas. So I crack it open tonight, and get a good look at it. I test it out. I’m amazed at how powerful the little motor is... how fast the little legs move... how its creepy little eyes glow a lovely shade of radioactive green. So I call Leo in. He looks at it, cocks his little head to the side. And then, obviously, I yelled at it. The spider ran for it. Leo starts screaming... the louder he screams, the faster the spider pursued him. He runs. And this is when we discovered the fun little feature in which the spider has a tendency to stop abruptly... pause for a couple seconds... spin in several erratic circles... and then turn towards wherever it senses sound... and take off in that direction.
Ladies -- and gentlemen -- I couldn't possibly brace you enough for this amazing retro toy news, so I'm just going to come out with it: Jem, lead singer of the Holograms and the rock 'n' roll answer to Barbie (and perhaps her complete inability to choose among her 100+ career paths), is being resurrected by Hasbro and Integrity Toys in the form of a new line of collectible dolls. I don't know about you, but I'm glad they aren't "a present-day take" on Jem and Friends. I want her, her alterego Jerrica Benton, her purple-haired boyfriend Rio Pacheco, and her computerized spirit animal Synergy to stay squarely in the mid-1980s, with their neon, their shoulder pads, and their crayon-haired idealism. MTV Geek has a comprehensive side-by-side comparison of the old dolls and the new dolls, which debuted at San Diego Comic Con and have been selling out like glittery hotcakes. Integrity Toys has a list of dealers, but if you can't get your hands on the dolls, Jem and the Holograms is still on The Hub. (via The Mary Sue)
Photo credit: Integrity Toys Read the rest
