Toy Fair 2020: Hidden Side Haunted Fairground by LEGO wins UK Editor’s Choice Award

Hidden Side Haunted Fairground by LEGO® has been crowned the overall winner of the Editor’s Choice Awards at Toy Fair 2020, with the Geomag Green Range– 100% Recycled Plastic in second place and Heroes of Goo Jit Zu Marvel Super Heroes by Character Options in third.

The prestigious annual awards, organised by the British Toy and Hobby Association, is voted on by media in attendance at Toy Fair this week at Olympia, London.

The event saw more than 260 exhibiting companies launch thousands of new toys, all aiming to make an impact in the sector during the year ahead.

TTPM Holiday Showcase 2019: Mega Construx Meets Mother of Dragons

Mattel has never lost the ability to surprise with their releases. While a lot of companies keep up on our toes with constant news and teases of product releases yet to come, Mattel quietly sit back and do their thing, and we often hear about their newest toys when they hit a store and an eager toy fan scoops it up! With Mattel's Mega Construx Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line winding down, we wondered what great license they would tackle next. Would you have believed Game of Thrones was the answer? I...did not!

LEGO Summer 2018 Unikitty Sets

We had a nice, lengthy visit with LEGO involving tiny pizzas, tiny burgers, tiny tacos, tiny cupcakes and...umm..regular size beers! Among the Star Wars, Incredibles 2 and Harry Potter sets on display was a tightly packed section just for our favorite hyper active LEGO cartoon star, UNIKITTY!! We photographed 6 sets and one collectible, blind-bag figure series, so strap on your kittycorn horn and start saving your toy moneys...

TTPM Spring Showcase: LEGO Creator Roller Coaster

Enjoy the thrills and excitement of the fairground with this chain-lift Roller Coaster featuring a wealth of brick-built details and 11 minifigures.  Upgradable with LEGO® Power Functions and LEGO BOOST for an added movement sensor and realistic sound effects!

Capture the speed, thrills and excitement of the ultimate fairground attraction with this incredible LEGO® Creator Expert 10261 Roller Coaster. This fully functional chain-lift model comes with 2 trains and an array of authentic features and functions, including a ticket booth, cotton candy cart, concession stand, height marker, and a covered boarding station complete with opening barriers and a control panel. Lower the lap bars to secure the riders into the cars and release the brake to send the train to the foot of the first climb. Then activate the chain lift and enjoy the ride as the gravity-driven cars hurtle through the Roller Coaster’s twists and turns.

Toy Fair 2017: More LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 Images!

Global Toy Fair 2017 coverage is in FULL RAGE MODE!! Now with news coming in from the UK x3, the US and Germany simultaneously...suffice to say...we've got a lot to sort through daily! Today, we head back over to the seedy side of the galaxy to visit with our favorite bunch of A holes as they prepare to team up with the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe ...but first..they've got another solo adventure on the way. Our last visit with the Guardians of the Galaxy revealed LEGO sets and an animated series themed toy line. Now we head back into the bricks to show you the super fun art that often accompanies each LEGO set, but is generally only appreciated by die hard fans. We've added it to the pics we showed previously just to have it all in one place. DIG IT!!

Toy Fair 2014: K'NEX Continues Nintendo Lines with More Mario Universes

Back into the K'NEX coverage with a continuation of their wildly popular and imaginative Nintendo lines, focusing specifically on the many adventures of Mario and friends. On display at UK Toy Fair and Nuremberg Toy Fair were items from Super Mario, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. U, Mariokart, Mariokart 7 and Mariokart Wii. No further info at this time beyond the new products you'll spot below and the release dates you'll find beside them, so dive right in and enjoy!

Toy Fair 2014: K'NEX on Titanfall

With the release of the video game incoming, we thought it would be a great time to dive into the excellent range of construction sets K'NEX will be releasing. In my book, giant robots + aliens = awesome. Those are aliens, yea? When I see a guy with spider looking eyes, I just assume. No time to research during Toy Fair!!!!

One of the most highly anticipated video games of 2014, Titanfall™, is set to be transformed from onscreen play into the world of building sets with new licensed building toys by K’NEX. The new range will launch in the UK in autumn 2014, but visitors to the London Toy Fair gained an advanced sneak peek of the collection.

Toy Fair 2013: Mega Bloks Power Rangers Megaforce

 We are ankle deep in 2013 now, so expect the Toy Fair news to start flowing freely...any...day...now. While we wait for someone to open the flood gates wide, Mega Bloks gives us a sneak preview of their new Power Rangers Megaforce line, but more specifically, at the new figures that are busting out for it!

Our new collection Mega Bloks Power Rangers Megaforce will be hitting stores this Spring. One of the new things we’ve done this year is completely re-imagined our figures from the ground-up with a focus on action and battle poses.

LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3

Today The LEGO Group announced LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ EV3, a new platform for consumer robotics designed to introduce a younger generation to the excitement of building and programming robots while adding new flexibility for its devoted following of robotics enthusiasts.

LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 is the result of three years of product development by an international team of LEGO designers, MINDSTORMS user-enthusiasts and leading technology experts.  LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 will be available in the second half of 2013.

New EV3 Intelligent Brick
When LEGO MINDSTORMS first launched in 1998 it was regarded as the first real “smart toy.” Fifteen years later, The LEGO Group has redesigned MINDSTORMS to excite and challenge an audience of children who have grown up with technology, many of whom are more proficient in commanding and controlling mobile devices and other technology than their older siblings and parents.  Furthermore, the audience for consumer robotics has grown considerably, leading the team to focus on simplifying the experience for a younger user while making it more flexible and powerful for hobbyists and other enthusiasts.

Toy Fair 2012 : MEGA Bloks : World of Warcraft

Ooooo...what MEGA Bloks has in store for you! The WOW gang hasn't been this entertaining since they got together and sang "The Internet is for Porn"!

Fans will soon be able to bring the iconic World of Warcraft to life with the new Mega Bloks highly-detailed customizable figurines, dragons, vehicles, battlescenes & more in the fall of 2012! MEGA Bloks World of Warcraft is the exclusive construction toy collection based on the world’s leading MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game). COMING SOON!

And that's all we knew...until now.

Before we go into this, know that I have never played the game, so I know little more than nothing. Visuals I pulled online are just to show you what I saw. They are not pics given by MEGA. The pics at the bottom are the actual toys. No detail shots were permitted.

Figures: All the armor is interchangeable among around 45 packs

Sets include...

Arthas and Sindragosa (the dragon) - Arthas is on an icy white base with semi-translucent blue ice spikes.

Goblin Zeplin - 3 figures and a bolt launcher to bring down the Zeplin seem to be included. Zeplin has a projectile. Figure on the craft is a Tauron.

Siege Engine Attack Set - Demony elf looking guy in red armor and a blue wraith looking creature with smoke under him (like the figure from DC Direct). Siege Engine has a catapult on the front. In the pic it is flinging fire balls. The actual sieging is being done on a bit of castle with a brown haired character defending it. He's got yellow and black armor with what look like dragon wings on the shoulder parts and is carrying a grey staff. He's also got a catapult so he can fire right back.

Barren Land Chase - Includes a shark looking rocket vehicle with an orc rider vs a dark purple elf guy wearing yellow armor and brandishing a purple sword. He rides a blue sabretooth-like creature with silver armor.

DeathWing's Stormwind Assault - Three statues outside of a castle. One looks like a Valkyrie with a bow and a hawk on her hand, a bearded guy in robes and a warrior with a broken sword. All the blocks for the castle look like white-ish stone with grey markings. There's a purple armored dude on top with a curly mustache. You also get a catapult, treasure chest, gargolyles, 2 more figures (a dark elf in a darker purple than the last one I described, blue hair with white and gold armor, and annother warrior with longish brown hair, brown and blue armor and a line across his face ; Varian Wrynn?) and a greyish brown dragon with translucent yellow wings and silver highlights on his body. Looks amazing! He's breathing fire in the picture on the box. Over 100 pieces in the dragon and another 100+ on the castle.

Smaller sets include a Gnome Flying Machine, Swift Wyvern with Tauron rider, Goblin Trike, Swift Griffin with wolf warrior rider, and then individual character packs including Darkarrow standing in front of two pillars and a lions head crest on a banner, Healson in front of some pointy structure, Waridge (troll looking thing) in front of a rock and a structure with his faction flag , and Palstrike in front of torches and a stone structure.

It's Toy Fair Time!
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Lord of the Rings and Hobbit LEGOs Coming Soon!

Just start setting aside half your monthly income now. You know you want it all...times 500 for all the army builders!!!

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT™. The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for THE LORD OF THE RINGS property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY scheduled for later in the year.

“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the two films based on THE HOBBIT,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.”

The LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS collection will translate into LEGO form the epic locations, scenes and characters of Middle-earth as depicted in all three films, including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In late 2012, LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY will give fans of all ages a chance to build and play out the fantastical story and new characters of the legendary Middle-earth adventures depicted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, slated to premiere December 14, 2012.

“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO HARRY POTTER and LEGO BATMAN, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group. “It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”

Information about the sets and collectible minifigures from both collections will be unveiled at a later date at TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com and tune in this February for our coverage of the NY Toy Fair where they will surely have plenty of these on display!

*Updated!: Character Options Character Building Doctor Who & H.M. Armed Forces Sets

More news from the UK Toy Fair front as Character Options announce their new range of construction figures and playsets!




Character Options (UK) has announced a new construction line called Character Building, kicking things off with the licenses Doctor Who and H.M. Armed Forces. These are set to launch Spring 2011 with a full line available by Fall/Winter. Currently the plan includes figures sold as singles, so you aren't forced to buy a whole playset to get your favorite denizens of Whoville. Unfortunately, Character has caught the dreaded blind bag virus. Figures will come blind packaged with a stand, an accessory and a little sheet showing the rest of the line for 1.99 (gb). The line starts with 10 figures including 2 Daleks, A Weeping Angel, Angel Bob, 2 11th Doctors, Amy Pond, a Smiler Robot, a Cyberman and a Silurian Warrior (most likely Alaya). The HM Armed Forces figures start with an 8 figure set including troops from all branches of the military that I'm too lazy to identify.

If you do go in for the sets, you may want to note the addition of sculpted bricks like rock formations comprising of 5 to 6 custom pieces that join to create the shape with a textured effect to complete the look. Six playsets will start the line ranging from 9.99 to 19.99 (UK fun bucks, natch'.) A deluxe Tardis playset will also be offered for 99.99 with the Fall/Winter 2011 waves as well as a Time of Angels and Dalek Spaceship set. HMAF won't be left out, as we'll see the release of a deluxe Field Adventure set around the same time as well as a RAF Regiment Quad Bike set, a Navy Assault RIB set and a Merlin Helicopter set. PLEAAASE if you repost this news, give us credit and a link as this article was a bitch to write up. Thanks much.






















Jon Diver, Character Group’s Joint Managing Director, commented: “This new project represents a major investment for us and we are delighted to be increasing our Doctor Who Portfolio. In doing so we will also be supplying a new option to the child constructor who will now have the choice of a construction toy that has all the excitement and appeal that Doctor Who brings with it.” Now if all of this is compatible with modern LEGO figures, the news is sure to send those collectors into fits of hysteria (from happiness of course), as they'll now have a wider range of playsets for their collections and new bodies to kit bash for their customs. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Doctorwhotoys.net shot a stack of awesome pictures at UK Toy Fair revealing a bunch of new product. We've spotted all 10 previous Doctors in little figure form, an army of Daleks in yellow, blue, red and white, a Tardis Console Room playset, figures of a Roman Auton, River Song, Rory Williams, a "Vampire" Girl and Amy Pond in her kissing cop outfit and 5 packs of Cybermen and Weeping Angels.