Friday, November 19, 2010

Toy Story Toys Set to Dominate This Christmas

Following the release of the third film in the ever popular Toy Story series from Pixar, store shelves both on and offline have been burgeoning with a glut of toys featuring Buzz, Woody and the gang. With the timely midsummer release of Toy Story 3 and pre-Christmas DVD and blu-ray launch, fans are being reminded of how much they love the series and have a huge selection of the most popular toys as gifts for children (and big kids!) around the world.

Since the first Toy Story film was released in 1995, generations of kids and grown-ups have been enthralled by the tales of a Andy's much-loved cowboy doll when an adventurous space ranger comes into their lives. The Toy Story trilogy and licensing deals with some of the most popular toy manufacturers has meant that there are a wide variety of actions figures and games to choose from with something for all fans of the films. Fischer-price, Mattel, Hasbro and Vtech are among the many companies producing Toy story toys, along with Disney's own range of character toys from the series.

The most popular by a long way are the Buzz Lightyear action figures having been one of the highest selling toys in the UK and US back in 1995, with the original 30cm version now a collector's item. One of the original Buzz Lightyear figures even went into space in 2008 when NASA astronauts took one with them to the International Space Station. For the sequels of the films, manufacturers made sure they have enough Buzz Lightyear dolls to meet demand and now with the huge variety of games, dress-up costumes and even a Buzz version of Mr. Potato Head, there is no shortage of Buzz related toys available.

From the first Toy Story film, Sheriff Woody dolls were also popular, as well as the other major characters including Hamm the piggy bank, Rex the dinosaur, Slinky Dog - the toy dachshund with a slinky for a body and the ever popular Mr. Potato Head from Playskool. Toy Story 2 introduced the wild and adventurous Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl doll along with Bullseye the horse and Stinky Pete the Prospector from the Woody's Roundup TV show. The second film also introduced a toy adversary for the characters in the form on Evil Emperor Zurg, of which a number of toys are available from Disney, Lego and other toy makers.

The new Toy Story 3 film has provided toy manufacturers with a wealth of ideas for new characters, scenes to re-enact, vehicles and games. From the exciting opening scene, Lego offers the Western Train Chase set complete with all the characters and Hamm masquerading as Evil Doctor Porkchop. New adversaries from the film are the duplicitous but sweet-smelling interactive Lotso Huggin Bear, Ken and Barbie dolls and the soft and cuddly Dolly and plush Mr. Pricklepants hedgehog. With the wide range of toys available and retailers well stocked and ready for Christmas, it looks like there will be a huge choice for fans of the Toy Story films.

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