Welcome back to the Toy Aisle, our new weekly collection of the best toys around. This week, we have dancing Gremlins, blocky Marvel superheroes, teddy bears with adorable attitude, and merchandise based on the Darth Vader comic’s best and most murderous stars.
Gremlins Dancing Gizmo Plush
It’s a mystery why the Gremlins movies, one of the most memorable Hollywood franchises of the ’80s, hasn’t been rebooted yet. It has a cute lead character plus hideous monsters — both of which lend themselves to another lucrative toy line. Just look at this dancing Gizmo toy that ThinkGeek has for $US30 ($40). It also sings a soothing Mogwai song that will help you drift off to sleep at night. Just remember to avoid all snacks after midnight. [ThinkGeek]
Build-a-Bear Power Rangers
Build-a-Bear’s latest licensed line is an adorably fuzzy set of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers bears. Meant to tie into the upcoming movie, the line actually uses the costumes from the classic show instead (presumably because they look better). The Pink and Red Rangers get their own special bears that will set you back $US25 ($33) each, but if you want the rest of the team, there are costumes for all five Rangers and accessories to go with them than can be used on any of the standard bears from a US Build-a-Bear Workshop. Unfortunately the arrival of the Power Ranger line hasn’t been confirmed for Australian stores, but we live in hope. [Comicbook.com]
Nimuno Loops LEGO Compatible Adhesive Tape
We’ve been burned by Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdfunding projects in the past that don’t deliver as promised, so buyer beware. But that doesn’t make us any less excited about these rolls of flexible rubber tape that add LEGO-compatible studs to almost any surface. $US8 ($10) gets you 2m of Nimuno Loops adhesive tape, which can be cut to size with scissors, and re-stuck again and again. [Indiegogo]
Marvel Wood Warriors
What makes wooden toys so appealing? Is it because plastic figures often feel so cold and mass-produced? These adorable Marvel Wood Warriors from PPW Toys don’t come anywhere close to being as detailed as action figures from companies like Hot Toys are, but through a clever use of elastic joints, they still manage to be almost as articulated and posable. And at $US20 ($27) each, when available come June, they might be the ideal first action figure for toddlers. [PPW Toys]
Kotobukiya Triple-Zero and BT Figurines
The most hilarious additions to Disney’s Star Wars canon, Triple-Zero and BT were the secret stars of Marvel’s first Darth Vader comic, and are basically a sadistic, killer version of C-3PO and R2-D2. Now you can get awesome figurine versions of them from Kotobukiya, their first appearance in Star Wars merchandise. They will first be available at this April’s Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, where they will come with a special commemorative coin, but if you want to wait until after the con, Kotobukiya has them up for preorder for the $US80 ($106) set. [Toyark]
littleBits Code Kit
You can’t shake a stick in a toy store without hitting at least one toy that claims to promote science, technology and education. But the folks at littleBits have been creating kid-friendly, accessible electronics kits for years now, and their latest set includes an LED display letting kids design, build and program their own video games. The $US300 ($398) Code Kit comes with four projects kids can build right out of the box, but like LEGO, they’re also free to let their imaginations, and newfound coding skills, run wild to build anything they want. [littleBits]
Super Mario Piranha Plant Hand Puppet
You can apparently add March 10 to the long list of made-up corporate holidays on your calendar. According to Nintendo, it’s unofficially Mario day (Mar10), but instead of buying yet another iteration of Mario Kart, we’re more interested in celebrating/passively acknowledging the festivities with this $US20 ($27) Piranha Plant puppet from ThinkGeek. It stands 36cm tall when brought to life with a hand inside, but the flower can also hide away inside the pipe in order to surprise unsuspecting plumbers. [ThinkGeek]