Some fun shots I took the other day of a Smurf and California Raisin catching some waves.
Showing posts with label Smurfs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smurfs. Show all posts
10/10/22
9/6/13
State if the Site - September 2013. And Smurfs.
Welcome to the Toyriffic State of the Site for September 2013.
Before we get into the ins-and-outs of being an illustrious toy blogger, fawned over by babes and Toy manufacturers alike for my wisdom and wit, (while at the same time trying to have an actual life), let's do what we do best and take a quick look at some toys:
These Smurf two-packs began showing up at Big Lots a couple months ago, and the sets I picked up feature new figures of Clockwork Smurf (who comes with Handy Smurf) and Pilot Smurf (who comes with Brainy Smurf). I'm pretty sure Handy and Brainy are re-issues, but don't quote me. I still haven't opened Pilot Smurf, but the photo possibilities of a Smurf in a pilot's outfit are near endless, which is why I nabbed his set. I was most excited about Clockwork Smurf however; a 'mechanical' Smurf made of wood - what's not to love?!?!
Anyone with previous experience with Jakks Pacific Smurfs knows what they are getting here - limited articulation, limited paint and good sculpts. Nothing that someone who grew up with Smurf figurines that had zero articulation and sloppy paint and good sculpts should balk at. And for $2.50 a figure, they are a decent deal, especially if you aren't getting doubles of figures you already have (which I didn't.)
Not sure if these are popping up anywhere besides Big Lots; the Jakks Pacific website says Clockwork and Pilot Smurf are foreign release only, so no idea what happened here, only that I am glad to have found them!
Now on to brass tacks - the Fall 2013 Toyriffic State of the Site!
Constant Readers may have noticed I've become pretty lax when it comes to Harley Qwednesday, Catwoman Purrrsday and Poisunday Ivy. I've decided not to fret about doing a post per week for each, and instead let relevant news or toys happen as they may, and when they do, post them on their respective character-themed days. So while I am still hopelessly devoted to my gal Miss Quinzel, I won't post something every Wednesday. And unless it's BIG NEWS, when I do find something worth saying or showing, I'll set the post to happen on that upcoming respective day. So expect those three characters to continue being represented here on Toyriffic, just don't expect it to happen weekly.
As for general posting: I have (as of this coming October) a 2 year old. That should be 'nuff said' but I shall elaborate for those of you who are not 'in the family way':
Generally, when she is asleep, I am either exhausted, trying to stay as quiet as possible so she stays sleeping, it's too dark in the house to get a decent picture of a toy (For example, the above pic of Smurfs is pretty bad, below my quality standards anyways, and it was taken at night after the baby was put to bed. Worse yet, it was the only serviceable shot in the whole batch), or the shit I want to post about is in the same room she is sleeping in. All that equals no post for Daddy.
Plus, the wife also suffers from Toddler-itis, and in the evenings she tends to curl up with the laptop. I'm completely empathetic to her need to escape after a day chasing the baby around, and therefore I'm not about to ask her to hand the laptop over so I can talk about action figures.
Because I enjoy sleeping in a bed.
When not asleep, I love my daughter's role as Toyriffic's resident intern - it cracks me up - but it can be difficult to put together a decent set of shots when the toys (and the helping hands that hold them) move around at 100mph. When she does help out, I need way more lead and clean-up time, and since I do this as an addendum to my actual life, that often becomes more time or effort than I feel like exerting. Also, when she's awake (and I am not at work) there are usually other things going on and I am doing those things instead of blogging.
Also, as of about 4 months ago, I now commute about an hour each way to and from work. That's prime blogging time being eaten up by the road!
But I haven't tired of the blog yet. Or the toys. Or the endless yammering. Lucky you.
I have some toys right now that are just waiting to be posted on Toyriffic (it is a rather prestigious honor for a toy. just ask one.) - a Playmates Dick Tracy, some Lego Series 11 minifigures, an Imaginext Green Arrow, as well as the usual miscellany and randomosity. Harley Quinn has a new comic coming later this year, and Ben Affleck is Batman. And the weather in my part of the world is the best it has been all year, so garage sales and flea markets abound, as does their bargain bounty! In October I will once again take part in the Countdown to Halloween here on Toyriffic, November sees me (kicking and screaming) into the last year of my thirties, and December brings Christmas, so there is no shortage of stuff to say around here. Just a shortage of time.
As always, thanks to all of you out there - to everyone who swings by here be it daily, weekly, monthly or just once (and never again, that BubbaShelby guy is INSANE!!!)
I could do it without you, but it would be awkward if I did.
Before we get into the ins-and-outs of being an illustrious toy blogger, fawned over by babes and Toy manufacturers alike for my wisdom and wit, (while at the same time trying to have an actual life), let's do what we do best and take a quick look at some toys:
Anyone with previous experience with Jakks Pacific Smurfs knows what they are getting here - limited articulation, limited paint and good sculpts. Nothing that someone who grew up with Smurf figurines that had zero articulation and sloppy paint and good sculpts should balk at. And for $2.50 a figure, they are a decent deal, especially if you aren't getting doubles of figures you already have (which I didn't.)
Not sure if these are popping up anywhere besides Big Lots; the Jakks Pacific website says Clockwork and Pilot Smurf are foreign release only, so no idea what happened here, only that I am glad to have found them!
Now on to brass tacks - the Fall 2013 Toyriffic State of the Site!
Constant Readers may have noticed I've become pretty lax when it comes to Harley Qwednesday, Catwoman Purrrsday and Poisunday Ivy. I've decided not to fret about doing a post per week for each, and instead let relevant news or toys happen as they may, and when they do, post them on their respective character-themed days. So while I am still hopelessly devoted to my gal Miss Quinzel, I won't post something every Wednesday. And unless it's BIG NEWS, when I do find something worth saying or showing, I'll set the post to happen on that upcoming respective day. So expect those three characters to continue being represented here on Toyriffic, just don't expect it to happen weekly.
As for general posting: I have (as of this coming October) a 2 year old. That should be 'nuff said' but I shall elaborate for those of you who are not 'in the family way':
Generally, when she is asleep, I am either exhausted, trying to stay as quiet as possible so she stays sleeping, it's too dark in the house to get a decent picture of a toy (For example, the above pic of Smurfs is pretty bad, below my quality standards anyways, and it was taken at night after the baby was put to bed. Worse yet, it was the only serviceable shot in the whole batch), or the shit I want to post about is in the same room she is sleeping in. All that equals no post for Daddy.
Plus, the wife also suffers from Toddler-itis, and in the evenings she tends to curl up with the laptop. I'm completely empathetic to her need to escape after a day chasing the baby around, and therefore I'm not about to ask her to hand the laptop over so I can talk about action figures.
Because I enjoy sleeping in a bed.
When not asleep, I love my daughter's role as Toyriffic's resident intern - it cracks me up - but it can be difficult to put together a decent set of shots when the toys (and the helping hands that hold them) move around at 100mph. When she does help out, I need way more lead and clean-up time, and since I do this as an addendum to my actual life, that often becomes more time or effort than I feel like exerting. Also, when she's awake (and I am not at work) there are usually other things going on and I am doing those things instead of blogging.
Also, as of about 4 months ago, I now commute about an hour each way to and from work. That's prime blogging time being eaten up by the road!
But I haven't tired of the blog yet. Or the toys. Or the endless yammering. Lucky you.
I have some toys right now that are just waiting to be posted on Toyriffic (it is a rather prestigious honor for a toy. just ask one.) - a Playmates Dick Tracy, some Lego Series 11 minifigures, an Imaginext Green Arrow, as well as the usual miscellany and randomosity. Harley Quinn has a new comic coming later this year, and Ben Affleck is Batman. And the weather in my part of the world is the best it has been all year, so garage sales and flea markets abound, as does their bargain bounty! In October I will once again take part in the Countdown to Halloween here on Toyriffic, November sees me (kicking and screaming) into the last year of my thirties, and December brings Christmas, so there is no shortage of stuff to say around here. Just a shortage of time.
As always, thanks to all of you out there - to everyone who swings by here be it daily, weekly, monthly or just once (and never again, that BubbaShelby guy is INSANE!!!)
I could do it without you, but it would be awkward if I did.
7/16/13
Smurfs 2 Vexy (and Grouchy!)
Smurfs 2 doesn't hit theatres until July 31st, but the toys are already hitting retail.
I saw the first movie with my daughter, and I admit I didn't hate it like I thought I would. I've seen a lot worse done to beloved Saturday Morning properties!
I haven't seen the preview yet for this sequel, but this time around there's a new Smurfette in town, sort of...
Actually this is Vexy, a 'Naughty' created by Gargamel to, I don't know, trap the Smurfs...or something. Like I said, I haven't seen the preview, and only gleaned that info via a quick google search.
What I do know is that the in original origin of Smurfette was that she was created by Gargamel to, I don't know, trap the Smurfs...or something. And she had black hair. She became blonde when Papa Smurf turned her from evil, and turned her on to Miss Clairol apparently.
And so while Vexy the Naughty (a swell stripper name if I ever heard one!) isn't exactly Evil Smurfette, she's pretty close and probably inspired by that whole concept to begin with, so she's pretty cool.
Vexy comes in a two figure set with Grouchy. "I hate two figure sets with Grouchy!"
"I hate pseudo-Evil Smurfettes"
Oh come on Grouchy. Admit it, she's kinda cute!
Vexy is also voiced by Christina Ricci.
"I hate Christina Ricci!"
Grouchy! You need an attitude adjustment, pronto. I'm going to get my intern.
"I hate interns..."
"...AAAAHHH! Okay, okay, I LOVE interns! and Christina Ricci, and two figure sets, and proto evil Smurfettes with stripper names! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!"
These two figure sets are retailing for around $6.99, but for some reason my local target had this set and one other on clearance for $1.76! They must have thought they were holdovers from the last movie, or they weren't in the system yet, or...something. My local Target has done weird things like that before. Regardless, I got lucky to find them for so cheap!
I saw the first movie with my daughter, and I admit I didn't hate it like I thought I would. I've seen a lot worse done to beloved Saturday Morning properties!
I haven't seen the preview yet for this sequel, but this time around there's a new Smurfette in town, sort of...
What I do know is that the in original origin of Smurfette was that she was created by Gargamel to, I don't know, trap the Smurfs...or something. And she had black hair. She became blonde when Papa Smurf turned her from evil, and turned her on to Miss Clairol apparently.
Oh come on Grouchy. Admit it, she's kinda cute!
Vexy is also voiced by Christina Ricci.
"I hate interns..."
These two figure sets are retailing for around $6.99, but for some reason my local target had this set and one other on clearance for $1.76! They must have thought they were holdovers from the last movie, or they weren't in the system yet, or...something. My local Target has done weird things like that before. Regardless, I got lucky to find them for so cheap!
5/10/10
They say it's your Smurfday, well it's my Smurfday too yeah!
I recently mentioned to Reis of Geek Orthodox that I still hadn't gotten a Gargamel and Azrael set from the recent Jakks Pacific Smurf figure releases.
In response, Reis bombed me with a ton of Smurfs and even a mushroom house! But most importantly, he included Gargamel and Azrael!
These guys are insanely out of scale to, well, anything and everything - including each other! But they are very on-model to their cartoon counterparts, so who's complaining?
Papa Smurf was also included in the batch Reis sent me! Yay! It's like getting Optimus Prime and Megatron in one set; I've got both faction leaders now!
Reis sent me so many Smurfs, in fact, that I just had to share the wealth. My youngest daughter already had the mushroom house shown on the right, so of course I gave the mushroom house that Reis gave me (on the left,) to my older daughter.
I think the one Reis sent me was Papa's house. The one on the right is Smurfette's.
Reis also sent a Smurfette and a Tracker Smurf. I already had Tracker, so I gave each daughter one, and since my youngest already had Smurfette the oldest got the spare. Gotta keep things fair ;)
At about the same time I was drowning in Reis' Smurf bomb, Leon of Open the Toy sent me an email asking to keep my eyes peeled for any Smurfs I could find for him, because he was having trouble finding them in Singapore.
I decided that he would love all those extra Smurfs more than we could here, so I packed what was left and shipped them overseas! The Smurfs look very happy in their new home too!
Thanks again to Reis who started this whole Smurf exchange. Sharing makes me feel all Smurfy inside.
In response, Reis bombed me with a ton of Smurfs and even a mushroom house! But most importantly, he included Gargamel and Azrael!
At about the same time I was drowning in Reis' Smurf bomb, Leon of Open the Toy sent me an email asking to keep my eyes peeled for any Smurfs I could find for him, because he was having trouble finding them in Singapore.
I decided that he would love all those extra Smurfs more than we could here, so I packed what was left and shipped them overseas! The Smurfs look very happy in their new home too!
Thanks again to Reis who started this whole Smurf exchange. Sharing makes me feel all Smurfy inside.
8/17/09
Fa - La - Lala - Lala - Falalalalaaaaaa!
I was holding out on posting these guys until I could do a full-fledged forest photo shoot, but fellow lunatic toy collector/blogger Reis of Geek Orthodox fame tipped my hand.
But first, a little context.
I love the Smurfs. I collected the little figurines as a kid and got up every Saturday morning to watch the cartoon. I even trained myself to sneeze like a Smurf whenever I had to "aaah aaaah aaahh - Ahhh SMURF!"
I ate Smurfberry crunch every morning and to this day cannot hear the Nutcracker Suite without thinking of the commercial's theme song "Smurfberry Crunch is fun to eat - a Smurfy, fruity breakfast treat!"
I even once tried to steal my friend's brother's Papa Smurf. Yup, I had it bad.
In fact, Toyriffic's fourth post EVER was a Smurf, way back in December of 2007!
Anyways, a couple months ago I discovered new Smurf toys were popping up at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, K-Mart etc.
Made by Jakks Pacific, these new Smurfs are similar to the old (and surprisingly still being made) PVC Smurf figurines, but with a little articulation, houses, vehicles and accessories giving the series a more "playable" angle.
I bought my daughter the Smurfette mushroom house playset back in March and tried not to obsess over how cool these new Smurfs were (could I, a grown man, love the Smurfs again?) all the while looking with longing at the smurf cars and figure two-packs on the shelves every time I made a trip to the toy aisle (which is like, every other day!)
Well, Doctor, about two weekends ago the Smurf became more than I could Smurf. I walked into K-Mart and saw a new release of two-packs - one set containing Gargamel and Azrael and one containing Wild Smurf and Tracker Smurf!
I, like my brother-in-Smurfs Reis, struggled with the upcoming rift in my mandom - the struggle to maintain manly dignity at mid-thirty-something while gazing in wide-eyed awe at shirtless little blue communists (one in a loin cloth no less!)
I snapped.
Unlike Reis, I couldn't get out of the store without at least ONE set - the struggle finally leading to the purchase of Wild Smurf and Tracker Smurf...with the promise to return later for Gargamel/Azreal if my man parts didn't fall off and I didn't suddenly develop a penchant for a house full of cats, or the musical Cats for that matter.
Well now I have two new blue friends who can't wait for their Redwood forest photo shoot, which should be coming soon. So without further ado, I give you:
Tracker Smurf -
"Tracker Smurf is the Smurfiest guide in the entire village. He loves to explore and never gets lost. Seen with a feather in his cap and a walking stick in his hand, he knows all the best picnic spots."
Wild Smurf -
"Wild Smurf may live in the forest, but he is a friend to everyone. Especially animals! Although other Smurfs can't understand what he says, he's always there to lend a helping hand."
Unfortunately Wild Smurf has a mistake - his hat is painted white in the front as if he wrapped a regular Smurf cap in leaves, when in actuality he made his cap out of leaves (he is wild, after all.) I will have to figure out a way to safely remove the white paint without damaging the plastic he is made of. But come on - a Wild Smurf figure? Really?!?! How Smurfin' cool!!! I couldn't pass him up!
Other Smurfs available in this new release include Grandpa and Granny Smurf, Painter Smurf, Tailor Smurf, and of course the previously mentioned non-Smurfs Gargamel and Azrael.
So turn in your man-cards, boys, and go get you some Smurfs!
(I just want to add that on Jakks Pacific's website the Smurfs are listed in the boy's section.
So there.)
But first, a little context.
I love the Smurfs. I collected the little figurines as a kid and got up every Saturday morning to watch the cartoon. I even trained myself to sneeze like a Smurf whenever I had to "aaah aaaah aaahh - Ahhh SMURF!"
I ate Smurfberry crunch every morning and to this day cannot hear the Nutcracker Suite without thinking of the commercial's theme song "Smurfberry Crunch is fun to eat - a Smurfy, fruity breakfast treat!"
I even once tried to steal my friend's brother's Papa Smurf. Yup, I had it bad.
In fact, Toyriffic's fourth post EVER was a Smurf, way back in December of 2007!
Anyways, a couple months ago I discovered new Smurf toys were popping up at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, K-Mart etc.
Made by Jakks Pacific, these new Smurfs are similar to the old (and surprisingly still being made) PVC Smurf figurines, but with a little articulation, houses, vehicles and accessories giving the series a more "playable" angle.
I bought my daughter the Smurfette mushroom house playset back in March and tried not to obsess over how cool these new Smurfs were (could I, a grown man, love the Smurfs again?) all the while looking with longing at the smurf cars and figure two-packs on the shelves every time I made a trip to the toy aisle (which is like, every other day!)
Well, Doctor, about two weekends ago the Smurf became more than I could Smurf. I walked into K-Mart and saw a new release of two-packs - one set containing Gargamel and Azrael and one containing Wild Smurf and Tracker Smurf!
I, like my brother-in-Smurfs Reis, struggled with the upcoming rift in my mandom - the struggle to maintain manly dignity at mid-thirty-something while gazing in wide-eyed awe at shirtless little blue communists (one in a loin cloth no less!)
I snapped.
Unlike Reis, I couldn't get out of the store without at least ONE set - the struggle finally leading to the purchase of Wild Smurf and Tracker Smurf...with the promise to return later for Gargamel/Azreal if my man parts didn't fall off and I didn't suddenly develop a penchant for a house full of cats, or the musical Cats for that matter.
Well now I have two new blue friends who can't wait for their Redwood forest photo shoot, which should be coming soon. So without further ado, I give you:
Tracker Smurf -
"Tracker Smurf is the Smurfiest guide in the entire village. He loves to explore and never gets lost. Seen with a feather in his cap and a walking stick in his hand, he knows all the best picnic spots."
Wild Smurf -
"Wild Smurf may live in the forest, but he is a friend to everyone. Especially animals! Although other Smurfs can't understand what he says, he's always there to lend a helping hand."
Unfortunately Wild Smurf has a mistake - his hat is painted white in the front as if he wrapped a regular Smurf cap in leaves, when in actuality he made his cap out of leaves (he is wild, after all.) I will have to figure out a way to safely remove the white paint without damaging the plastic he is made of. But come on - a Wild Smurf figure? Really?!?! How Smurfin' cool!!! I couldn't pass him up!
Other Smurfs available in this new release include Grandpa and Granny Smurf, Painter Smurf, Tailor Smurf, and of course the previously mentioned non-Smurfs Gargamel and Azrael.
So turn in your man-cards, boys, and go get you some Smurfs!
(I just want to add that on Jakks Pacific's website the Smurfs are listed in the boy's section.
So there.)
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