Toys

Have you always wanted a Green Lantern themed-thumb drive? Probably.

It's billed as "The Fastest and Funniest LEGO Star Wars story ever told...The Prequel!" and it shows that when you have access to ALL the Lego sets you can make a pretty bitchin' lego toon . May 4th is celebrated around the galaxy as Star Wars Day not because it's when the original STAR WARS opened (that would be May 25, 1977) but because it's a pun on "May the Fourth Be With You." It is celebrated by gradually replacing humans with droids and disappointing expectations.

Someone made a Lego version of the song "Do What You Wanna Do" from the "Elementary School Musical" episode of South Park. In this episode, the boys find that the whole school has gone crazy for musicals because of a cute boy named Briden, and resist attempts to break into song every time there is an emotional moment. It turns out Bridon doesn't even want to sing all the time and the episode ends with all the roles reversed.

They just don't make 'em like they used to. UPDATE WITH DANZIG!!!

As comic-cons become bigger and bigger, pop culture events one things is true: Media members like to complain about things. Nasty publicists, poor access, no Wi-Fi, crappy coffee in the press room. The same is true of the toy sphere, and at this year's Toy Fair, the toy media felt they got the short end of the pogo stick. It was definitely an odd situation. As big companies rely on fan media to get the word out about their products to the lucrative collector markets, the way they do it is being constantly reinvented.

Also in keeping with this special day of love, after a troubling seven-year stretch in which they were separated, Barbie and Ken are together again. Although they had dated steadily since their days as surfers together in Malibu in the early '60s, they gradually drifted apart over the years. After Barbie left Ken for Blaine, another, younger surfer dude, Ken entered an "experimental" period that involved Fire Island, waxing, and watching Glee. But it's been announced -- just in time for Toy Fair -- that these two dolls are really soulmates in vinyl.

Wandering the halls of the 2011 Toy Fair for even a few moments, it was hard to avoid Green Lantern -- not only action figures (for both collectors and actual children) but costumes, board games, mugs, rings, and more, more, more. It's all by design as this report from Variety details. It's hard to overemphasize how important this summer's Green Lantern movie is to Warners. This is potentially their new Star Wars, with a giant universe of aliens and adventure and a wisecracking, aspirational hero at the center. The promotional push at Toy Fair and the upcoming MAGIC apparel show is huge -- but it isn't an automatic slam dunk, hence the push:

Despite the fact that popular apps on iPhones can read our private data and sell them to the highest bidder, we just can't get enough of such time-voids as Angry Birds. And now we can look upon them in Lego form and feel even more sated.

Jody Culkin is an artist, photographer, and teacher. Thanks to being married to PW comics maven Calvin Reid, she's also a veteran of many comics and book shows. Camera in hand, she has chronicled the activities and faces of the past seven or eight years of comic cons -- her work can often be found in PW Comics Week.

But she also has a hobby.

The Cultyard pavilion of designer toys and other cool collectibles will be the a place to get your style on. Here's what's going on from TErminal Press and Elite Gudz

I know this is "not comics" but William Gibson and Douglas Coupland both tweeted it, and I am weak-minded.

If I lived in a world where this was real, I'd be so happy. In truth, it is a fake commercial by Phil Lord and Chris Miller made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. It was never aired. Thank god for YouTube.