#nerditout

Yo yo nerd it out readers! Like the title states todays blog is about all those failed, abominations, abort, and plain horrible toys. There have been a bunch over the years, but i have narrowed down my top 5 worst of the worst.

5 Shopkins - This little things i feel are the absolutely the most ridiculous thing out there! Are they pointless yes, do they look weird most definitely, and have people lost there minds…. hell yeah they have. I honestly can’t figure this things out, or by any means what there purpose is. All they are our regular day items with eyeballs!!! Now, we have cactus kittens, and things called num noms! What have we come too!!!

4 Furby - I remember when this little furry annoying thing was first announced back in 1998. I even remember how people during black Friday at Walmart where lined up out the door. I can still picture all of those crazy people in the line, my aunt being one of them! My cousin had one and it really never worked like it was suppose too. Didn’t talk to you, until you tried to shut it off. Then it wouldn’t shut up. Now, there back and still the same stupid little annoying fur balls from hell!! That now hook up to your phone, and get this poop eggs!!

3 zhu zhu pets - This little hamsters where very interesting when they came out. I never could fully grasp why kids loved them. Honestly there pretty much a hotwheel with fur.  Not to mention that they come in so many different versions. Ninja, princesses,  commando, pirates, and on and on! I just cant do the hamster madness!!!

2 Baby Alive Doll - Probably the worse designed toy of all time!!! My cousin got one of them for Christmas one year. And the thing was so defective,  i dont even know why someone would spend money on it. It would eat, but never pee. Then when you would check to see if it was working it would pee all over you. And it wasn’t what you thought it would be either. I could never really get over the fact that they actually put this in production. It truly proves, how much we will buy for your kids. Even it is the dumbest thing you will ever see.

1 Tamagotchi - Okay now this things where really cool to have when they came out, don’t get me wrong. I had the star wars one myself. But it did have its faults and thats why its on this list. The main issues was feeding the dam thing. You would have it all healthy and happy all day. You would show your friends and make sure to feed it on a regular basis. But…. at the end of the day when you had to go to sleep. That little thing would still need you to feed it, play with it, and all that parenting stuff that you don’t have at the age of eight. Then in the morning you would wake up eat breakfast and check on it. Only to find that it died!!!!! It was literally the most annoying thing ever to have to start all over again each day. After the forth time i through it in a drawer and thats where its true final resting place was.

Today where gonna be talking about companies that have had to revamp there image, there line, and there design. Toy companies over the years have always gradually changed there models. But, more extreme changes over the last few years. Lego, Hasbro, Hotwheels, and Nerf. All have made major changes to there marketing, advances in there design, and subtle changes in the way they deliver there product.

One of the major companies that have changed is Lego. They have had a set brand for years. But with all the recent super hero movies, and action genre themes out there. They have had to adapt to the change of how kids play and build. Now they haven’t changed the simple brick we all know and love. That little brick that stirred our imagination, and made us dream of building new worlds to explore. But they have changed there characters, the style of tools you get with them, and more mainstream figures that we all know. I love that they finally took a new route with them. I was kinda getting board with them, kinda bland and didn’t offer much as far as diversity. I still enjoyed them thoroughly when i was a kid. But, they never offered much till star wars came out then they started to get more. However, now there is so many to choose from and so many things to offer. They have projectiles instead of catapults and characters like the hulk! Challenging architecture city build sets that they have. Our the more complex sets like the death star! I know they still have the simple sets, but im glad they finally started to wake up!!

Another company that changed is Nerf. Even though they didn’t really change the mechanics of there toys. But, making changes to there design and to there marketing. Was just enough to tip the balance.

I guess in some instances change has been a good thing. However, to much change to quick can make thing less appealing. But, done the right way like this companies and many others can keep themselves from self imploding and going bankrupt. I feel that if your a major brand, you should definitely make sure you do not let yourself fall into the pitfalls of everyone else. But, don’t push so much that you lose the pureness of being a child with their toys. I mean if we didn’t have that we probably would never have had the movie Toy Story…

The big topic this month, of course is Batman V Superman! Its possible the biggest movie of the year and the most anticipated. But, with this movie of course there is tons of new collectibles and toys out already. I think honestly I haven’t been this excited in years. With so much to grab up before they disappear for good. From the small lego sets, to the figures with the not so good detail, to the amazingly artistically featured figures! Its aways tough when big moives come out, especially for collectors. Even more so when its something you have loved since you where a kid. I remember the first batman figure i got as a child. The basic batman animated series figure with the removable cape with that little ring at the top to clip it onto his neck. It was a great toy not much for movement, but the adventures we had where amazing. Adding more characters as we went. Mr. Freeze with his water pump gun, penguin with umbrella spinning action, and the awesome batmobiles!!! I do remember they had the utility belt, with batarangs, and a grappling hook. And let me tell you those batarangs where not flexible rubber, they were a hard plastic. That definitely hurt when you threw at some one. My cousin may have been on the receiving end on my fight against crime in the apartment! I do wish i would have kept some in the boxes though….

There our tons of different items out now. I think by far my favorite thing is the armored batman by hottoys. The amazing detail in the chrome armour and the head pieces that come with it. Are truly a work of art! There’s also a few other companies out their that have some great 1/6th scale statues. Prime1 studio has an amazing regular suited batman, that definitely looks like it popped out of the movie. Even Batfleck would be proud of it. Along with a amazingly detailed Henry Cavill Superman! I’m still team batman all the way, but it did look amazing. Then you have your more cheaper end products, suitable more for a toddler than a collector. The figures at Walmart are your typical cheap plastic, that tend to hold up to anything, and dont offer any form of the inspiration. However, if i was a kid now i would enjoy them none the less. Would i like to see more thought put into toys nowadays yes. But, big corporate stores could care less for quality and more about quantity. But, to each his own and opinions tend to get white washed when it comes to money.

But where there is cheaper toys, there is room for other start up toy companies to come in and make there own in the world of toys. Funko, mystery boxes, and few others have stormed the market. Making old companies think about there product and make a few revamps! Revamps that will be discussed in the next post.

 Its funny how the world of toys has changed since i was a kid, and im sure to others more so since they were children. Everything’s more technology, more available, and more adversarial connected to the world around them. So much that we lose the true nature of a toy. The simple joy they give us, the imagination that they spark. However, no matter how things change the thing that always stays constant is how we see those items. As kids we see them as far more than toys, we see them as escapes from the reality we live in. We see them as new adventures, and ways to be the hero we may never get to be. Me I was one of those children that used it to create worlds of adventures, and stories that lasted days. Stories that took characters into new places, new battles, and all with out having to leave the comfort of my room. I’m sure thats how it was for most of everyone. Nowadays its a little different with computers and tech being so more readily available to the average person. But with that come more opportunities to gain more knowledge and new experience from things we never could before. I believe that it slightly takes away from kids imaginations today. With not having that interaction to allow our minds to create. We have lost the meaning of toys and there purpose. Now, im not saying the toys we have now are crappy…just lacking. I remember when toys had more function, more pzazz, and far more value. My first real set of toys was of course hotwheels and micro machines. Die cast metal cars, that probably had lead paint on them. But, they where the coolest thing ever then. Driving cars that you saw everyday, to cars that came out of a syfy movie. Cars that looked like super charged spaceships, monster trucks, and of course the clear ones that just looked like they would be the car you would drive in the future adult hood. Then being a 90s kid I had batman! The animated series was out and it was big. The batman figure with the repelling belt, and mister freeze that shot water from his pack. Those where the toys!! Then getting older they had gundams with more points of articulation than any toy you could get at a fair price. And don’t even get me started on Dragon Ball Z! I was more obsessed with that than i was with any thing before. I had them all from big to small.

When i started to get older i started to realize that a lot of the things i played with. Where disappearing from the shelves. Besides from lego of course i feel they will truly never disappear. I think that i figured out that with the newer generation of kids coming into the world things where definitely gonna change. And they did!

Now im 26, married and about to have my first child in a few months. And as my child grows ill make sure he is able to express his imagination as far as his mind will.