Walking the Toy Aisle: New TRU Muppet Whatnots
FAO’s ‘Muppet Whatnots’ have hit Toys R Us! For those who don’t know what a ‘Whatnot’ is, take a peek at the video below…
Okay, maybe that didn’t help very much. Watch this one instead…
FAO Schwartz ‘Whatnot’:
I picked up my very own ‘Whatnot’ three years ago while visiting FAO in New York City. At FAO, trained ‘Whatnot’ makers help you create a unique Muppet all your own! You have a choice of 3 different body types and a good selection of eyes, noses, hair, and outfits. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here’s pictures from my trip to FAO where Vinny, my ‘Muppet Whatnot’, was born.
Ready to greet you are a plethora of ‘Muppet Whatnots’. I don’t remember how many combinations of ‘Whatnots’ the lady said were possible, but it was a lot!
I chose a blue body for Vinny, green hair, a round nose, round blue eyes and a red hoodie. Ironically enough, there was someone else who had almost exactly the same combo being made as me. Great minds think alike. :-)
Vinny gets a round orange nose hot glued on…
Dolled up with his fuzzy green hair, Vinny hangs out for a bit while drying. It didn’t take that long at all for him to dry.
Dolls are packaged in their own ‘Whatnot’ bag and come with a arm rod so you can use them just like you would if you were a true puppeteer.
Here’s a picture of my NYC ‘Whatnot’ dubbed Vinny (on the left– not the right!). As far as souvenirs go, he’s one of the best. I highly recommend looking into a ‘Whatnot’ next time your at FAO in NYC.
New TRU ‘Whatnot’:
Now, for those who don’t have any plans to travel to NYC, good news– a new form of ‘Whatnots’ are now available at your local Toys R Us! I spotted these while doing my usual ‘Monster High’ hunt. These ‘Whatnots’ are slightly smaller than Vinny and are made from a more velcro-like material.
Each ‘Whatnot’ comes with a body and a selection of eyes, noses, and wigs. While Vinny from FAO in New York has permanent features, these ‘Whatnots’ are designed so you can change them up whenever you’d like.
Priced at $59.99, these TRU ‘Whatnots’ are cheaper than the FAO counterparts, which are currently priced at $99 and are occasionally as much as $120. The two body types come with unique pieces (ie: different eyes, different noses, different wigs). To make Vinny, for example, you’d need to buy the blue set for the body and the orange set for the eyes and wig.
Unlike FAO, the TRU ‘Whatnots’ are packaged naked. You can, however, buy clothing separately. The outfits are the same ones you can pick up for the FAO ‘Whatnots’, but are made for the smaller body found in these kits. The kit also comes with a rod so you can start puppeteering right away!
My Thoughts:
I don’t yet own this TRU kit. Do I want one? I think so. I am waiting till these are in more peoples hands before I make a decision. I love Vinny from FAO and do want to make him a friend, but I want to see how well the pieces stay on this velcro version and more importantly, if the velcro pieces leave ‘fuzz’ on the body after multiple uses. Also, I wish the ‘Whatnots’ in the TRU set were the same size as my FAO muppet. I would have liked to be able to pick up outfits at TRU, as opposed to the FAO website.
I think these ‘Whatnot’ sets will be a huge Christmas item. If you are thinking of picking one of these up, pick it up before the Christmas rush!
What do you think of these new TRU ‘Muppet Whatnots’ or ‘Whatnots’ in general? Do you own one? What do you think of it? Share your thoughts!
Walking the Toy Aisle: Barbie: A Perfect Christmas Gift Set
I recently saw this gift set in my local Target and just had to snap a few photos. As you know, I’m a Skipper collector, so any new doll makes me happy. This musical set includes Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Kelly, er, Chelsea. They are decked out in their holiday best in outfits that mimic those worn in the new Barbie movie “Barbie: A Perfect Christmas”.
As far as the quality of these dolls, I can’t complain. They look nicer than most of the basics I’ve seen recently and in terms of holiday dolls, they’re the best I’ve seen in years. The base the girls stand on is musical and allows the sisters to sing ‘Deck the Halls’ in various harmonies.
Now, getting down the the nitty gritty– the Skipper doll! Let me disclaimer this really quickly. This next statement might be my imagination. I won’t know for sure until I get my hands on this gift set, but it looks to me like Skippers head mold is getting more inflated (ie: like Barbie’s round, balloon like head mold). I really hope that they keep Skippers head mold as is and don’t begin ‘tweaking’ it.
Again, Mattel has decided to use a body type where her arm is permanently bent, identical to the 2011 Skipper that came with the bathroom play set. Personally, I’d take a body with two straight arms over this mold any day, but alas, Mattel seems to like it.
I love that they switched up the hair do for this Skipper, loosing the side bang for a more ‘dressy’ style. As a mater of preference, I do prefer bangs on her, but as I mentioned earlier on the blog, the 2010/2011 Skipper’s have been a bit redundant. This is a welcome change! I forgot to look at the highlight in her hair, so I’m not sure of what color it is. It looks red in my close up shot, but I will have to confirm that when I see this set again.
I am not a fan of her outfit. Of all four sisters, Skipper was given the worst dress. In my opinion, this is the worst outfit they’ve released Skipper in so far this year. Skipper could have rocked a more trendy outfit– maybe something that didn’t include neon green/florescent yellow plaid!
What do you think of the set? Do you think Skippers head is more inflated in this version than in the past 2011 releases? Share your thoughts in the comment area!
Walking The Toy Aisle…
’Walking The Toy Aisle’ is where I share my thoughts and opinions on what I see in the doll aisle! I even plan on including sneaky cell phone photo’s. (Shhh! Don’t tell!) The format may change in the first few posts as it evolves! (The first installment can be found here)
Walking the Toy Aisle
Moxie Teen Gavin can be described in two words: So cute! Of all the Moxie doll lines, the Moxie Teen dolls are the cutest, I think. I hope they come out with more guys for the collection! Gavin has an adorable face with inset eyes and a cute hair cut. As far as boyfriends go, he’s pretty clean cut!
Moving along the aisle, I found these two cuties. There are a bunch of cute ‘boy’ lines coming out. The coolest thing about these Bratz boys ‘On the Mic’ collection is their hair. The dark haired one has blue highlights (very dark) and the brown haired boy has what I can only describe as orange-y highlights. The dark haired boy is my favorite of the two.
And this Bratz boys Masquerade line? Adorable! I have a feeling the Bratz vampire doll, Penn, will be popular with the Twilight set. The Musketeer Gable is an interesting choice for this line, but overall, I like it. If you look carefully, he has a goatee. His blonde hair and dark eyes look great together.
And onto the female Bratz line… Truth be told, I’m not a Bratz person. I own one Japanese themed doll (who wears a Kimono). The boys are one story, but the girls have just never left me with the impulse to buy/collect. These Bratz holiday dolls, for example, just seem so *blah*. It’s almost like they were an after thought, ‘Oh Geez we need a Christmas line and have no time to make something pretty’. I think so, anyways…
Heart For Heart Girls are dolls that I’ve only recently started seeing. They’re smaller than American Girl dolls, have inset eyes, and are all from different countries. Actually, they’re all pretty darn cute!
This is Lilian from Belarus. Also pictured in boxes are Nahji from India, Tipi from Laos, and Dell from the USA. Not pictured at all are Conseluo from Mexico and Rahel from Ethiopia.
If ONLY I had a reason to buy this set. If you need pencil toppers AND love Lalaloopsy, this set is for you! I’m quite surprised with the number of Lalaloopsy products out there. I knew the dolls were going to take off, but I didn’t expect the line to expand as much as it has.
It wouldn’t be a trip to the toy aisle without stopping by the Monster High area. I didn’t find anything super fantastic, but did see this– it’s a ‘kid size’ Monster High accessory pack that has arm warmers, bangles, and the most adorable ‘girl sized’ Monster High brush. While the bangles and arm warmers don’t do much for me– look at the brush! So cute! I want one!!!
As far as I know, there is only Frankie, Clawdeen, and Draculara. That being said, you never know what is out there till you see it, especially with Monster High! Here’s a close up of the awesome brush!
As you might have noticed, no Barbie’s really made it into the mix this time around. Aside from the Monster High and new Skipper line, I can’t say I saw anything super exciting in the aisle. Mattel, if you are reading this, just a heads up your Barbie lines are being overshadowed by other brands at the moment. I miss walking into an exciting Barbie aisle…
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this installment of ‘Walking the Toy Aisle’. Have you seen something cool at your local store? Share it!
