Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 7

Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 6

More bird presents...

Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 5

Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 4

Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 3

Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 2

I got given...

Figured-Out 12 Days of Christmas: Day 1

My loved one / present giver of choice gave to me...

CHRISTMAS RUN UP: "Dec 24th Santa Cosplay Mission."

Christmas Eve! 

An exciting night for many… An especially exciting time for the Toy enthusiasts calendar.

Tonight I branched out and hit the town wearing my Santa suit.

The many smiles raised were priceless: Children, Elderly, Bus Drivers, anyone about. I made housecalls, waved at passers-by and wished them a Merry Christmas. I’m pretty sure I dodged NORAD too.  

I was born to do this… Santa should come out more often. Ho Ho Ho.

Christmas MOUSERs part 5

The Mousers have been reaching various destinations... Here are a few thankyou photos from recipients.

CHRISTMAS RUN UP: Fom the Archives

Various Christmas things from 2011.

Playmobil Santa and Pals
Jolly St Nick is here in Playmobil form, but he's appeared to have shed a few pounds! An imposter maybe? A rubbery-nosed Snowman and other pals have also joined in the venture.

Charlie Brown and Snoopy Blocks
Its the 60th anniversary of Peanuts with Charlie Brown and buds on display in Christmas clobber. 

Hero Turtles Christmas Tree Ornaments
At one stage the Ninja Turtles received some censoring before hitting the UK shores. This article covers an amazing find of some Turtles merchandise from that era. Marvel the awesome foursome as they are dumbed down to look as cute and cuddly as possible for the holiday season.

CHRISTMAS RUN UP: Custom April O'Neil Tree Topper

So, I pretty much bought a loose played with condition April O Neil of Playmates original TMNT and added to it.

I already by chance had the harp and yellow fabric. The rest of the custom (especially the wings) took a while to hunt down.

Sorted.

Angelic April w/ combat harp, Heroicustom (2014)

CHRISTMAS RUN UP: "8-Bit Holly Wreath"

 

Finally obtained this festively awesome item from think-geek.

The gaming ensemble includes: a 1-up Mushroom, LED coins, a Galaga like spaceship, a Tetris block, a Pac-Man cherry and a glob. 

Definitely more suitable as an interior decoration...

Christmas MOUSERs part 4

More of these are now being deployed across the globe. The most popular Christmas custom yet!

CHRISTMAS RUN UP: "Magical Reindeer Food"

Picked up for £1 in The Range, “Magical Reindeer Food” is a festive treat marketed at kids who like to leave a little something out for Santa.

It could be that Reindeer are bored of carrots…

The packaging to start with is very attractive; featuring a strong red background encrusted with various styles of Christmas images (and stars). The images are most likely PNGs from free clipart sites and put to good use. The taglines “Can be eaten by Reindeers or Children”, “Feed Them on Their Busy Night!” and “Unique Reindeer ‘Thank You’ Magical Treat” (*phew!*) are placed around the pictures.

“Unique” certainly is the operative word. The candy itself is a hard and chalky like offering - much like Lucozade tablets. And like Lucozade tablets there is a lot of Glucose in there but with a hint of caramel instead of orange. The overall taste (and smell) is overpoweringly sugary and very sickly...

On that note, it’s a good thing that most Christmas events with Reindeer don’t allow the public to feed them. The only reason this product is labelled as Reindeer Food is because it looks somewhat like generic animal feed, and quite deceptive on that notion.

This is probably a tat item best left avoided by both kids and reindeer alike. Stick to carrots!

The Get Along Gang (1985) Haunted Badger Mansion Tour

Almost 30 years on, I still think the Get Along Gang was awesome!

From time to time I obtain artefacts, especially from the toyline. The figures are still collectable and here in the UK there were some exclusives that surfaced after things wrapped up stateside.

Aside from 4 exclusive figures (Ketchum Crocodile, Lealand Lizard, Pocus Possum and Hocus Hare) there was an exclusive playset - The Haunted Badger Mansion!

 For what its worth, the mansion never featured a badger, let alone a haunted one. It was pretty much a generic haunted house with traps and the Get Along Gang branding.

Whilst there isn't a physical playset to showcase, I came into possession of the packaging after acquiring a Clubhouse Caboose on ebay. The box was used to keep that inside and was a nice bonus!

 The appearance of a skeleton in a universe of anthropomorphic animals calls the authenticity of a Get Along Gang item into question. Did humans once inhabit Green Meadow?

If you look very close, you'll find the wallpaper is haunted and covered in eyes!

Montgomery Good News Moose is here to test the mansion booby traps. The ghost is the figure exclusive to the playset.

 There's a Weerwolf here, but still no sign of the Lord of the manor. The piano has an attached resident goblin on guard.

 A trap door full of nasties awaits.

As the old saying goes - That last step is a doozy!
If you survive the steps of doom, a working fun house mirror next to a vampire portrait awaits.

That for now completes our tour of sorts of the UK exclusive Get Along Gang Haunted Badger Mountain. The only mystery that remains is that of the badger... Perhaps an unused character.

As for Monty. Its not been his day.

Christmas MOUSERs part 3

Christmas MOUSERs featured (around 12mins in) on Blind Bag Madness, hosted by married duo 'Pixel' Dan and Christina Eardley.

Pretty awesome to see one these little guys on a popular Youtube channel subscribed by 80k+ spectators. More MouserMas Awesomeness to come..

Krispy Kreme UK elbows Ghostbusters promotion

When Krispy Kreme announced special edition Ghostbusters donuts to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the movie, many were happy to receive the news.

The unveiled donuts in two different variants: A Slimed Logo donut, and a Marshmallow Mr Stay Puft donut had been given a good reception. The eventual release has been positive overall.

Sadly, it would seem the promotion is limited to a USA and Canada only deal. An email made its way to Figured Out HQ this morning confirming that the UK won't enjoy these spooky treats.

Thank you for contacting Krispy Kreme!

Unfortunately, the Ghostbusters promotion is only taking place in the US.

We have lots of exciting campaigns coming to the UK very soon such as Halloween inspired doughnuts.

If you would like to receive regular news from Krispy Kreme, including new store openings, promotions, new and feature doughnuts, please register as a friend of Krispy Kreme on our website at www.krispykreme.co.uk/friends or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/krispykremeuk.

We do sincerely appreciate your interest in Krispy Kreme.


With best wishes
Krispy Kreme Customer Support

Somehow, the Halloween donuts don't seem to be worthy substitute. Feel free to comment and reply with opinions.

Poundland's Possible New Mascot

Whilst on a random visit to the local Poundland, I discovered this gem of a 3in action figure bootleg.

Judging by the head crest design, it looks to be carbon copied from some Power Rangers/Super Sentai incarnation or other. The articulation of the figure is pretty much similar to the basic mould used for Super Sentai, Power Rangers and Masked/Kamen Rider action figures from the mid-90s onwards. 

Not a parody!

My daughter prompted me to buy this the other week in Co-Op.

It doesn't take a genius to guess the target audience of this publication.

New issue every 3 weeks.
http://www.pinkfans.co.uk/

Sentai KO Party Bag Figures

This time of year I gather trinkets for the annual Romania Shoe Box appeal.

On my travels, I came across this bulk buy of metallic 2in Power Rangers In Space KO toys.

The design is pretty much your average everyone's muscly 1990's action figure build. The helmet and chest design from Power Rangers In Space is clearly noticable with some added tribal flames and markings on the arms and legs.

For the small figures they are, these are a pretty neat acquisition. Nothing outstanding, but a generic spaceman figure ideal for a stocking filler or a party bag.

Source: henbrandt.co.uk

Guardian of the Freezer

 For almost 11 years we've had a 'mascot' of sorts dwelling within the family chest freezer. 

Ice-Man from the original 1993 Tyco line had a really great temperature-activated gimmick: Place the figure in cold water and shaded markings on the figure would turn light blue to give the already transparent Bobby Drake an even icier look. The light blue gimmick (which I cannot explain the science of) is witnessed nowadays as an indicator on bottles of Coors Lite.

20 years on from release and the toy has not had age on its side. The plastic has since yellowed and probably best left to the imagination of older readers. Yellowing tends to happen on plastic items kept out of light for prolonged periods of time,

To this day, Tyco Ice-Man still lives amongst the frozen peas and microwave meals in the family chest freezer as a guardian of sorts. Sometimes the figure makes an appearance on the surface.

CHRISTMAS RUN UP: Kinder Surprise Santa 2014

Hardly surprising that in the 21^st century to see Christmas candy surface in the stores in September. It is after all; arguably a good time to plan ahead and stock up on goods and gift ideas to make December less of a mad rush. 

On a recent school run, I couldn’t help but pick up a Kinder Surprise Chocolate Santa (RRP £2) to see if they are any good.

The formula is simple. It is a Kinder Egg but bigger and in the shape of Santa Claus riding a sleigh. This gives it the edge over any other ‘hollow’ Chocolate Santas out there since a Kinder Egg toy capsule inside. Get the idea?

The chocolate is awesome as always (as the family members who helped consume will also agree) and the surprise inside is also part its own exclusive Christmas wave.

The surprise isn’t a toy as such, but more or less an Ornament for a Christmas tree or a gift tag (as the leaflet suggests). We got the chipmunk in a Santa hat! The best ornament of the bunch is the apparently creepy Kinder Egg man (who is famous for his early appearance in this commercial here.)

For two English pounds you basically get an oversized alternate shaped Kinder Egg with an exclusive collectable inside. This is a worthy stocking filler all in all.

Christmas MOUSERs part 2.

Packaging preview. Shipping these out later this month. For more info on receiving one of these customs, drop me an e-mail at this address.

Jellyfishing

 
Never worked with Spongebob anything before. As far as toylines for the show are concerned, the Fisher-Price Imaginext toys (mainly found exclusively on Amazon and in Toys R US) are far more impressive than the main commercial line.

I wanted to throw together another piece that embodied friendship more than conflict. Spongebob & Patrick have been one of TV lands best friendships over the last decade and a half. A lot of Nickelodeon shows have been about two pals, but these sea-dwellers have outrun them all.

Oh, that reminds me. Happy 15th Anniversary Spongebob!

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