Blogger Bash: New York City Adventures

In my last post, I talked about a few of the toys I saw while walking the exhibit hall of Blogger Bash’s Sweet Suite. This post will concentrate on the other fun things I did while I was in the Big Apple. In most past trips, I haven’t had any down time to explore anything other than Time Square. Blogger Bash, though, was very thin on programming, so I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands. Instead of just hanging out in my hotel room and watching Netflix, I decided to go out and explore a bit more of the city, as well as take in some of New York Cities charms.

I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon and checked into my hotel, the Yotel. The Yotel is a great place to stay if you are traveling alone or don’t mind sharing tight quarters with your companion. It’s known for having cabin sized rooms, convertible couch/beds, tons of outlets to plug in and an open floor plan. One of my favorite parts of staying at the Yotel is their rain shower. Rain showers are amazing! Another thing that I love about the Yotel is their baggage robot. It’s huge and so cool to watch as it takes your baggage and stows it away, in case you are early for check in.

After I got myself situated, I decided to walk over to the Theater District, in the hopes of nabbing some affordable tickets to the Broadway version of Anastasia. I got the most affordable tickets they had (which weren’t very affordable, to be honest) and then headed across the street to Sardi’s.

Sardi’s is known for having celebrity caricatures on the wall. The restaurant has been around since 1927 and has seen its fair share of exciting customers. I’m not going to lie, it was a little uncomfortable dining alone there, but the ambiance helped to lighten that a bit. (Dining alone at a sit in restaurant where the waiters are dressed up in fancy suits is awkward.) The food was only okay, in my opinion, but I went there mostly so I could say I did. Plus, I was hungry!

After lunch, I wandered around Time Square for a bit. Time Square is always hopping. Even in the dead of winter, it’s filled with people. July was no different. It’s an assault on the eyes, but is 100% worth seeing in person at least once. Signs left and right, crowds everywhere, big gimmicky stores to shop through, it’s a cool sight. One huge downside of Time Square, though, is that it lacks toy stores. They used to have a massive FAO Schwartz and Toys R Us. Both of those are now gone.

They also used to have a Nintendo Store (which was called the Pokemon Center when I first visited NYC), too, as well as a Virgin Megastore. Alas, all the fun stores are closed. They do have an amazing Disney Store, though. If they ever want to get rid of their Disney Animator display, I’ll take it!

That evening, I ended up seeing Anastasia, the new Broadway musical. It was really entertaining. For those who don’t know, the animated musical (1997) was actually a remake of the original live action Anastasia (1956) starring Yul Brynner.

The story follows Anya, an orphan with no memory of her past, as she, along with two good-hearted con artists, travel to Paris to meet with the Dowager Empress in hopes that she’ll recognize Anya as her grandchild, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. The Broadway musical is a good mash-up of the original live action film and the animated feature.  The songs, new additions and old classics, were fantastic. Those actors can sing! If you’re in New York City and are looking for a good musical, consider Anastasia!

The next day, Wednesday, was Blogger Bash day. I had a lot of down time between Babypalooza and Sweet Suite. The actual convention was at the Chelsea Piers, which also acts as a sports center with an ice skating rink, gymnastics gym and a bowling alley. I expected it to be more of a building, with seating area’s away from the sun, but it literally was a row of piers.

That made my plan of just waiting around the convention center not so much fun. I loitered around the Pier for a while, but got bored and eventually found the High Line. The High Line is an elevated train track that was decommissioned and made into a garden pathway. It was pretty cool.

My final full day in New York City, Thursday, was supposed to consist of the Moms and Dads Expo attached to Blogger Bash at 11AM. There were some YouTube events planned outside the show, too, but, alas, I wasn’t cool enough to make the guest list; So, I had all morning to myself.

By 9:40AM, I had eaten breakfast and was sitting on the red stairs in Time Square, just people watching. Instead of sitting in the hotel room, I decided to mosey on over to the Moms and Dads venue. When I got there, I was still an hour early. The venue was about a block or two away from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Admission was a little much at $33, but it turned out to be totally worth it. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum was so cool, allowing you to walk through the amazing Aircraft Carrier Intrepid. The inside is not for the claustrophobic. There were also planes of all shapes and sizes on display.

The main attraction for me turned out to be seeing the Prototype Enterprise. The space shuttle was massive and it was amazing to be in the same room with it. I highly recommend checking this place out if you are in the city.

Full disclosure, I ended up skipping the Moms and Dads Expo. Instead, I signed up for one of those ‘Pay What You Want’ walking tours by Free Tours by Foot.  The tour guides are kind of like Avon reps. You pay to be a tour guide and then keep whatever tips you receive in thanks for giving the tour. My tour guide, Dan, was awesome!

I elected to take the SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown 2 hour walking tour. I had never been to those areas and preferred to explore them with someone who knew the area. Dan was a great tour guide. He showed us the historical streets of SoHo, which were saved from destruction due to the buildings being built with cast iron.  SoHo has the greatest collection of cast iron structures in the world, according to Wikipedia. Even the cobblestone streets were preserved! The streets look very similar to how they did all the way back to 1910 or earlier and they stand out among the streets that have been updated. Some of the architecture I saw could only be described as beautiful!

We also journeyed through Little Italy, which was kind of a sad place. It was filled with tacky decorations and ‘I Love New York’ stores. Only two places really stood the test of time in the area, the cheese shop Alleva and bakery Ferrara NYC. They’ve been locally owned since 1892! How amazing is that?

Chinatown was much more authentic than Little Italy. Dan said the way you can tell if you’re in a neighborhood with true culture is if the stores that surround you would allow you to get all your basic necessities (groceries, drug store stuff, clothing, etc); one you could survive in without leaving. Little Italy wouldn’t have allowed one to do that, but Chinatown totally would. It was filled with a variety of shops, most with characters on their signs, as opposed to English. It definitely had culture to it. We ended our tour in a park that, if you didn’t know you were in New York City, you’d swear you were in China. Chinese singers were serenading a crowd of children and elderly in park benches. Older gentlemen were playing Checker like games with crowds around them. It was really surreal.

At Sweet Suite, I forgot to mention, they had amazing air brush artists on hand. I have forgotten their company name, but they did amazing work. I asked for a dream catcher and received this beautifully air brushed masterpiece! It rubbed off on day 3, but if I were to ever get a real tattoo, this would be what I’d get! (Which, by the way, will never happen! Temporary for me, please!)

So, my friends, that’s pretty much it! I’m pretty proud of myself for doing so many of these things while on my own! (As my mother, Barbee0913, can attest, I tend to hide out in my hotel room when traveling unless I’m with a companion!) To see all my photos, check out my Flickr album!

Have you done any traveling recently? What’s your favorite thing to do/place to visit while in New York City? Let me know in the comment area!

July 16, 2017. Tags: Shows. Uncategorized. 2 comments.

All About Blogger Bash

On July 12, 2017, I attended Blogger Bash. Blogger Bash has been around for a few years now and is ever changing. Marking its fourth year in existence, Blogger Bash is a conference for Bloggers, Vloggers and other media outlets to rub shoulders with companies and their PR teams in the hopes of building relationships and starting partnerships. In english, Blogger Bash is essentially a way to make yourself (ie: you the blogger/vlogger/etc) known to people who might want to help you by either sending free products your way for reviews or work with you on paid promotions. (I’ve only done a handful of paid promotions and none of them were very lucrative. Mostly, I just ask for samples of the companies products.) It’s also recommended to mingle with fellow attendees. This year, Blogger Bash was held in Pier 60 at NYC’s Chelsea Pier.

I went over the basics of Blogger Bash in an earlier post. For the most part, 2017’s Bash was centered around expo’s. I attended two of the three expo’s: Babypalooza and, the main attraction, Sweet Suite. In past years, it seems like they had panels, as well, but, as I said, this is an ever changing event. Personally, I would have preferred some panels, because they would have filled some of the down time. A panel would have been the perfect way to fill the gap between Babypalooza and Sweet Suite.

In this post, I’m mainly going to cover cool things I saw while walking around Sweet Suite. But, first, let me talk a little about the other events. The first event I attended was the Armitron Breakfast. Armitron is a watch company based in New York. Their watches are pretty classy looking! The breakfast featured a number of successful woman who have made an impact through media. It was an interesting discussion that featured some really thoughtful responses on how to build your brand and be successful. At the end of the discussion, they announced the names of the lucky folks who won free Yankee’s tickets and/or some watches. I went into the breakfast wanting the watches. (You can never have too many!) However, I instead left winning the Yankee’s tickets! Super exciting, right? Am I a baseball fan? Not really. Am I a New Yorker? Definitely not. But, it was fun to win them! (I’m still hoping they include a watch, though I don’t think that will happen!) I’ll figure out something to do with them.

After the breakfast was Babypalooza, an expo that featured baby-centric products. (Big shocker, right?) I was a bit surprised at how few companies participated in that expo, to be honest. There were around 24 tables total, featuring a variety of different baby products. It was a nice event. I’m sure mommy bloggers had a blast. For me, it was just a little light on exhibitors. One of the main problems I had with this Bash in general was timing. I did a loop around Babypalooza pretty quickly, leaving me with over 3 hours between leaving this expo and the start of Sweet Suite. The hotel was at least a 15 minute walk or $10 cab ride and neither option sounded appealing to me. It was too little time (and way too hot) to walk back and forth between Pier 60 and my hotel near Time Square multiple times during the day, but, also, too much time between events, so it seemed like for-ev-er until the next event was to begin.

So, let’s get to the Sweet Suite. Very similar to New York Toy Fair, the Sweet Suite featured lots of different companies and PR specialists sprawled across the room. The toys varied between techy to dolls to games to crafts. Here are some of my favorite toys from Blogger Bash.

Just Play’s Mal, Evie and Uma were, by far, the most exciting thing I saw in the Sweet Suite. Based on Descendants 2, they’re a whopping 28″ tall and are articulated (for the most part). You may not be able to tell, but all three have articulated shoulders, elbows and wrists. They come with wear and share accessories and sticker tattoo’s. The only downfall I see about these so far is that they don’t have knee joints. Also, they’re a bit pricey. Mal, Evie and Uma will retail for $49.00. You really have to admire the faces on these three girls from the Isle of the Lost.

Also from Just Play was the Singing Jojo Siwa doll. I’m a Dance Mom’s fan. I admit it. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. I was really surprised to see Jojo merchandise in not just one Sweet Suite table, but multiple! For those who haven’t partaken in watching this reality TV show, Jojo was a dancer on Abby’s team for a few seasons. She eventually left the show. Now, apparently, she’s a tween superstar. She even has her own doll. The Jojo doll looks remarkably like the youngster and is 10″ tall. It sings Jojo’s hit song, “Boomerang!”. It’s out now and retails for $19.99.

Doll collectors will probably also take a liking to Just Play’s DreamWorks license, Spirit Riding Free. They are 11.5″ tall. Besides having cute faces and nice hair, they’re articulated! It seems like Just Play is really listening to consumers here. (Well, besides the whole ‘no knee joint in the tall Descendants line’.) They have a second series that is a bit smaller, but I prefer the line pictured in this post to that one.

Say hello to Our Generation’s boy doll! This is a first for their company. I, personally, think he’s cuter than other 18″ boy dolls on the market now. I’m going to reach out to see if I can get more information on him. Stay tuned!

Also on display was this super cool looking boat! If I had display space, I would totally pick this up.

You’ll be seeing a brand new line from Battat coming soon, Glitter Girls. They’re a new size, smaller than Our Generation. I’m not crazy about them. They have odd looking faces. But I am interested in seeing if their clothing options fit other doll lines.

Sticking to 18″ dolls, have you heard of My Sibling/My Pal dolls? They’re a line of 18″ boy dolls with rooted hair. There are two different lines. The My Sibling Dolls are meant to help you learn more about what it would be like to have a sibling with a disability. Creator, Loretta Boronat, seemed really passionate about her line. Both lines feature clothing made in the USA and are “outfitted and packaged by adults with disabilities at a local sheltered workshop in Montclair, NJ.”

My Pal dolls are similar in the fact that they were designed to all have an educational or socially relevant purpose in mind. For example, My Pal the Patriot represents a child who knows someone who has or is serving in the military.

Real Cooking had a new product on display, Princess Cakes! You don’t know how much I want to try these out. I’m sure whatever video I shot would be an epic fail video, but how cute are these cakes! Plus, once you have the molds, all you need to do to make them again is to buy the ingredients.

These have been on store shelves for a while, but here are some pictures of Sunny Days Entertainment’s Cupcake Surprise. I remember these from the 90’s. They stayed pretty true to the concept and size of the originals. I’m not sure what I think of the faces on these, but I still think the concept is pretty neat. They just need to switch up the face molds and make each girl look a little more unique. They come in two sizes. Both sizes are pictured below.

Wicked Cool Toys had their big properties out and about at Blogger Bash! I was excited to see Teddy Ruxpin. Originally created in the late 80’s by Worlds of Wonder. What I love about Wicked Cool Toys Teddy is that they are using stories from the original release. This teddy is smaller than the original one, but the fact that he’ll be speaking in Teddy’s voice and telling kids the same stories that I (many of us, I suspect) grew up with warms my heart! Teddy has an animatronic mouth, LCD animated eyes and touch sensors that control story choices and control. He’s super soft, too, and probably much lighter than the original teddy, since he doesn’t have a cassette deck inside of him. He works with an app and connects via Bluetooth, so you don’t need wifi to ask Teddy if he’d tell you a story. The books are animated through the app. If you buy the Target exclusive, Teddy will be wearing his classic vest! He will retail for $99.99.

If you recall, Wicked Cool Toys also makes Cabbage Patch Kids. At Blogger Bash, they showed off their new Little Sprouts line, a line of tiny Cabbage Patch Kids figures and playsets. These figures are small enough to keep in your pocket. There are 120 miniature Kids, Babies and animals to collect, including rare and ultra rare Sprouts. The playset pictured below is Babyland General.

Jakks Pacific brought a trio of Superfriends to Blogger Bash! The DC Toddler dolls are so cute! They’ll retail for $19.99 and be out sometime in August. The line features Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Woman. The paperwork doesn’t say their size, but I’d say they’re the same size as Jakk Pacific’s Disney Princess Toddler dolls.

That pretty much covers the dolls showcased in the Sweet Suite. If these aren’t out already, expect to see them sometime in Fall 2017. Below are some of the other non-dolly items on display. CandyLab makes cool wooden cars. They’re simple in design, but striking!

The 3D Print Shop intrigues me. It’s not a real 3D printer. It’s more like a mold-o-rama. But, the interesting thing is this: You can make molds of your favorite things and replicate them. That feature makes me think you could easily make clones of doll accessories with this toy.

Alex’s Sweetlings are a cute, crafty toy that let you make creatures out of fake food items. You use the fake frosting (whipped clay tubes) and the frosting tips to decorate your cupcake, ice cream cone or doughnut base. Add a few details (like eyes, ears and mouths), let sit for a few hours and voilà– you’ve made yourself a (non-edible) little friend. Toys like this always get my attention. I love crafting cute food items.

So, that’s a look into Blogger Bash’s Sweet Suite. You’ll be seeing some of these toys on the blog and YouTube channel, I’m sure! Overall, I think Blogger Bash was a fun event. Do I think I’ll be going again? Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s a very expensive trip to get from Illinois to New York and I’m not sure if it is cost effective for me to attend this event year. I prefer Toy Fair, to be honest. It would have been different if Blogger Bash had had some educational panels or other events (not just a breakfast and three expo’s) to fill my time, but as it is, this year was just a little light on programming for me to be set on attending yearly. For a one off, though, it was fun. I met a lot of great PR reps, some that I’ve met before (and somehow remember little old me) and hopefully, we’ll be able to start and/or continue working together to keep this blog and my YouTube channel alive and relevant.

To see all my photos, visit my Flickr album.

Besides attending Blogger Bash, I did a few other touristy things while hanging out in New York City. I’ll share some of that with you in a later post. Also to come is the Sweet Suite box opening video, so stay tuned! Blogger Bash updates aren’t over yet. But now, it’s your turn! What’s your favorite doll/toy featured in this post? Do you have any questions about anything here? Let me know in the comment area!

July 15, 2017. Tags: Shows. Uncategorized. 12 comments.

Off To Blogger Bash!

Since I skipped out on New York Toy Fair this year, I decided it was about time to go to Blogger Bash! I’ve known about this conference for a few years now, but between Toy Fair and other shows, I couldn’t afford to make the trip. Blogger Bash, like Toy Fair, is held in the Big Apple, otherwise known as New York City. It’s rather strange to me that I’ve ended up in New York City three years in a row (and over five times total in my lifetime). But, thankfully, it’s one of the easiest cities to get around, seeing as how you can easily find a taxi, take a subway or walk to where you need to go, if you’re in the city! (Not that I’m ever brave enough to try the subway!)

So, what will Blogger Bash entail? Essentially, Blogger Bash consists of a breakfast and three large expo events: Sweet Suite, Babypalooza and Stuff for Mom and Dad. The Sweet Suite is what I’m most looking forward to. Companies from all over set up shop to talk up their products to bloggers and vloggers. Best of all, we all get to leave with a goodie bag filled with things to sample on our sites and channels! (Call me greedy, but I love swag!) I’ll be covering the Babypalooza and Stuff For Mom and Dad expo’s, too, because why not? I like to get my money’s worth out of these shows, especially since I’m putting so much money into the hotel/airfare.

Since this is my first year attending, I’m not sure how exactly it will go, but I’m hopeful that it will be a fun event! For more information on what I’ll be doing during Blogger Bash, check out their website. I expect to be updating my instagram and will most likely post quick pictures to my facebook page. I may try to go live, though I’m not sure if it will be through Facebook or YouTube (or if the wifi will even be strong enough to do so).

Blogger Bash also coincides with something called “Manhattanhedge“, which sounds like a great photo opportunity. It was featured on an episode of “Younger”, for fans of that show. Essentially, the sun lines up with the city grid and looks pretty awesome. (There’s probably a much more technical way to explain it!) This may be rained out, but I’m hoping it isn’t!

So, that’s the plan for the next few days. I’ll try to update you on the show as soon as I get back. In the meantime, Barbee0913 and I uploaded quite a few new videos to our channels! Check them out below.

The video review of POG Fun Barbie!

The Skipper Electric Drawing set will get a written post after Blogger Bash. But here’s a look at how it works!

If you’re a New Yorker or have been in the past, I’d love suggestions on where to eat (around Time Square/Hell’s Kitchen/Chelsea Pier, that area). I never know where to eat when I’m in New York City. There are so many choices!!! Are you going to a show  soon? Have you been to a show recently? Let me know in the comment area!

July 10, 2017. Tags: Shows. Uncategorized. 4 comments.