"Over the years, Lego has had five strategic initiatives aimed at girls. Some failed because they misapprehended gender differences in how kids play. Others, while modestly profitable, didn’t integrate properly with Lego’s core products. Now, after four years of research, design, and exhaustive testing, Lego believes it has a breakthrough.
On Dec. 26 in the U.K. and Jan. 1 in the U.S., Lego will roll out Lego Friends, aimed at girls 5 and up....
"The Lego Friends team is aware of the paradox at the heart of its work: To break down old stereotypes about how girls play, it risks reinforcing others. “If it takes color-coding or ponies and hairdressers to get girls playing with Lego, I’ll put up with it, at least for now, because it’s just so good for little girls’ brains,” says Lise Eliot."
From Businessweek (print link, above; via
BoingBoing), an interesting look at Lego's new girl-oriented initiative.
posted by MonkeyToes
on Dec 15, 2011 -
189 comments
Address is Approximate. "A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View."
posted by BoringPostcards
on Nov 23, 2011 -
12 comments
It was bound to happen eventually. After
a quarter-century,
26 Academy Awards, and an unparalleled streak of
eleven artistic and commercial triumphs, Pixar's latest project,
Cars 2, is
Certified Rotten. Critics have
assailed the film as a slick but hollow vehicle for Disney's
$10 billion-dollar Cars merchandising industry "lifestyle brand," replacing the original's serviceable tale of small-town redemption with
zany spy games,
hyperactive chase sequences, and even more
lowbrow aww-shucks potty humor from
Larry the Cable Guy. But it's not all bad news! Along with
a fun new Toy Story 3 short, preceding today's (3-D) premiere showings is a first look at next year's
Brave --
a darkly magical original story set in ancient Scotland featuring the studio's first female lead (and
director).
Evocative high-res concept art [mirror] is available at the official website, and
character sketches have leaked to the web, with the apparently striking teaser trailer sure to follow. Also, be sure not to miss the sneak peak of
Brave's associated short,
"La Luna"!
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 24, 2011 -
263 comments
The best word to describe it is probably “relentless,” in that it’s relentlessly cute, relentlessly happy, and relentlessly entertaining. In its own way, it reminds me of a movie like Singin’ In The Rain, in that both properties aim to overwhelm any cynicism directed at them via sheer and utter joyfulness. It seems like it should be easy to watch either property with an ironic sneer of detachment, but both utterly wear down all defenses. -
The A.V. Club. My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (
previously) is the curiously addictive cartoon accompaniment to the famous girl's toy line. It just finished it's first season, and all of the episodes can be seen on YouTube (
start here) and
this all encompassing torrent. While
intended for girls 6 through 8, the show has spawned a surprising additional fan base of young-adult men. Calling themselves bronies, they have created a staggering amount of fan material (check the blog
Equestra Daily, chan
Ponychan, and image dump
Ponibooru) and turned the ponies into a widely pervasive
meme, all with the
apparent blessing of Hasbro.
[more inside]
posted by The Devil Tesla
on May 28, 2011 -
131 comments
Kids know that the best toys are the ones you make from stuff that's lying around. Arvind Gupta's been doing this for three decades. Take a look at his
Turbine bottle cap,
Helicopter foam cup,
Drinking straw flute,
The CD hovercraft,
Magic Paper Fan,
Funny Fountain,
Drinking Straw Centrifuge Pump,
Climbing Butterfly.
Or check out the rest of his
1000 videos(!). Go to
his website and discover an armload of books and pamphlets describing more toys (some of them classic) along with science experiments, math activities and stories. A sample:
The amazing
Touching Slate, a drawing toy for blind children.
Hands On - Science Sense,
Hands On - Ideas and activities,
Toy Joy,
Little Science,
The Toy Bag,
Toy Treasures.
Little Toys
,
Finally you can hear
Arvind in person at TED.com giving career advice, showing off a dozen toy examples, demonstrating the structure of methane; telling a Large Hadron Collider joke and finishing with the wonderful "Captain's hat" story.
[more inside]
posted by storybored
on May 15, 2011 -
30 comments
Some people have claimed that Barbie is really about giving girls the image of an empowered woman. There can be little doubt of empowerment when it comes to
Black Moses Barbie -
she fights for freedom and has all the coolest playsets and accessories.
posted by yeloson
on Apr 3, 2011 -
9 comments
The BBC and toy company Character Options will be putting a new
Doctor Who themed series of construction toys on store shelves around the world in the next few months. Just when you thought Matt Smith and Karen Gillan couldn't get any
cuter...
posted by BZArcher
on Jan 19, 2011 -
62 comments
"From 1965 to 1971, we played together, inventing one thing or another.... But, like the bride of Bluebeard, there was one door I was not allowed to enter. That was the door marked “Colorforms”. That alone was off limits. Harry had invented Colorforms, the vinyl plastic pieces that stuck to a shiny surface. And he was convinced that there was no idea or application involving Colorforms, nor could there be, that he had not thought up already.... [H]e would entertain no further discussion on the subject. The very mention of “stick-ons” was off limits. The door to Colorforms was shut and bolted. Until 6 years later, through a curious set of circumstances, I broke it down once and forever." The Colorforms Years is Mel Birnkrant's illustrated history of two decades of ups and downs working with
Colorforms, the first plastic-based creative toy and one of the first toys promoted in television commercials.
[more inside]
posted by jessamyn
on Dec 2, 2010 -
68 comments
I'm Remembering has pics of things that people aged 30-40 will remember from their childhood and adolescence. Who could forget
Tiger Handheld games,
Hypercolor shirts,
Paint With Water books,
Surge soda,
Scholastic Book Club,
Slice cola,
Madballs,
Ring Pops, and, last but not least,
Zack Morris's cellphone?
posted by reenum
on Oct 3, 2010 -
136 comments
