Toy OTD: American Idol Happy Meal Toys

I'm sure that most of you are either annoyed or horrified (or both) that I'm giving either of these overexposed entities any more attention. Regardless, I think this toy line is another step in the mainstreaming of the designer toy trend.

These days, an embarrassment of detail and color apps (regardless of their necessity) are the new production value in toys, so it's really unusual to see such stylized designs coming from such a broad-based source. While the designs and colors schemes of these toys aren't as strong as their overseas inspirations, it's still encouraging to see the influence spreading. I'm also impressed that I bought into this line, because I have no real interest in the show!

The line is very simple - each figure is a contestant, each represents a musical genre. If you switch the toy on and lift its microphone arm, it will play a short riff in that style. The sound is decent, and the figures do balance well despite their proportions. For the money, the line is a nice value - the only real negative is the show logo, which can be peeled off most of the figures with little difficulty.

I have Soulful Selma, Li'l Hip Hop, New Wave Nigel, Country Clay, Rockin' Riley and Hippie Harmony. Li'l Hip Hop has the best music clip so far - there's a nice variety of tiny cues to cycle through.

The only thing that might have made this line more interesting is if the designer had been able to caricature some past winners (or memorable contestants) in this style. There's six or seven seasons of personalities - more than enough to keep these toys going for quite a while!

I think this promotion just started, so you should be able to buy any of the characters that are available for just a dollar or two. Most branches also allow you to buy the toys without a food purchase, so that's a plus. Happy Spurlocking!

Toy OTD: McDonald's Happy Meal Premium: Chibi-Style Jack Sparrow

It's interesting how fast-food premiums can manifest themselves. Of course, it's not at all surprising that the Pirates of the Caribbean films had tie-in items; but it is intriguing to see how the toys themselves sort out.

One idea that one would think was a 'gimme' would be to make Jack Sparrow action figures to sail the Happy Meal armada throughout America. If you'll forgive the oversimplification, a Jack action figure for the boys; and a cutesy Elizabeth Swan doll for the girls.

The surprise, then, is that the only Jack Sparrow toy in the line is a cute, Hello-Kitty-style plush doll. It's not as blatantly made for girls as many McDonald's toys, but it's not blatantly for boys, either. I realize that Cap'n Jack has a lot of appeal for young (and not-so-young) ladies, but it's unusual for Happy Meal toys to be (relatively) genderless.

All that aside, it's just a nice little toy. The design is really appealing, and it's a great simplification of the character (though the likeness to Depp has pretty much evaporated). I'm sure it's not the most durable item, but it seems solidly constructed for a free premium.

I suppose it's really not fair to expect stand-alone support from a free plush, but the biggest minus is that it can't stand up (and I don't think doll stands come that small). The only other fault is that there isn't a corresponding Elizabeth, Will Turner, or Barbossa toy. I would've loved to have seen how those characters would've been designed!

Even though this line of toys is long sold out, this toy isn't terribly hard to find. You can buy one on eBay (along with four other toys from different promotions) right now for $3.99 + 5.00 shipping. Good luck!

Toy OTD: McDonald's, Monsters Inc. Abominable Snowman Happy Meal Figure

I always like to show that it doesn't take elaborate manufacturing techniques or sky-high price points to make a cool, fun-looking toy. At least, that what I hope to prove - I love super-elaborate, boutique-y toys, but I don't want to come off like some kind of snob. Well, most of the time I don't...

Here's another poster child for simplicity in toymaking - there's three points of articulation, and three paint passes at the most. Of course, the figuremakers were lucky enough to start off with a great design that my buddy Ricky Nierva did. The sculptor here did a fine job of preserving the design's appeal, even though the source character's fuzzy and the toy's an all-plastic figure. The colors may not be spot-on-model, but I think the spirit of the law is maintained. It stands well by itself (the sculptor didn't show off and over-pose the toy), and you can pose it a little bit yourself for extra play value.

A lot of fast-food toys try to jam some sort of gimmick into a toy - I'm assuming they don't feel confident that the 'source memory' (or whatever you want to call it) won't inspire a purchase, so a rip-cord motor or slide viewer or something is added that has nothing to do with the film story or the character, and mainly winds up hurting the sculpt because this extra feature has to be accommodated. I understand that some of these items were designed when the script was still in flux - ofttimes, big plot points are dropped, leaving some of the merchandising in the lurch. Still, it's a shame.

The Happy Meal promotion for Monsters, Inc. is of course long gone, but you can still get a snowman (plus seven others from the line) for $15.95 + shipping.