FAO Schwarz: The Holiday Book 1999

I typically scan an old video game holiday catalog near the end of each year but this time I'm going with a toy catalog from FAO Schwarz. This 1999 holiday book features Stuart Little on the cover and is just over 100 pages when counting the front cover and foldout. However, I only scanned 39 pages, focusing mostly on holiday items, electronics, and popular brands, such as G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and Barbie. Skipped items primarily include toddler toys and plush. Also, one page is out of order as I placed page 50 at the end because it helped make the side-by-side pages match better and it made more sense to have the Furby product scans next to one another. If you're not familiar with FAO Schwarz, it is a toy store founded in 1862 with a flagship store in New York City, which can be seen in the film "Big," where Tom Hanks dances on the floor piano. It sells a variety of toys, some on the pricey side, and numerous exclusives with many marketed as limited edition collectibles. 

Year 6: April Update

As I mentioned in the 5th anniversary post, I wasn't going to keep up with monthly updates this year but would do one once in a while. Not a whole lot has been happening the first four months of the year though; I've not played many games or made many videos. I mentioned LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga video game a few times over the past couple of years and it did finally release. I've not had a chance to play very much yet, just the opening level of the three available episodes. From the start you can choose  to play A New Hope, The Phantom Menace, or The Force Awakens while the other six need to be unlocked. It looks great and considering how much content is here, if you like LEGO games and Star Wars this is a must play. One negative is there is no online option, only local co-op for two. Here is some gameplay footage I took for one of my other YouTube channels: LEGO Star Wars.

In video game news this year Microsoft is attempting to acquire Activision, Sony purchased Bungie, and now there are murmurs of Ubisoft potentially being taken over. E3 2022 has been canceled and supposedly will return next year bigger and better. Some companies might still hold events that week regardless, such as an Xbox and Bethesda showcase on June 12th. The Intellivision Amico is still in limbo and might never see the light of day at this point. One surprising bit of news is that Atari purchased the Mobygames video game database for $1.5 million. That database is primarily driven by user submissions and I'm not sure what use Atari has for it.

I came across a cool toy recently that released last October from Playmobil. It made an A-Team toy featuring the iconic van and all four characters. Like LEGO sets, Playmobil toys aren't cheap and this one is priced at $89.99! If you're interested in this awesome TV show from the '80s you might want to check out my 2018 blog post here: The A-Team. 

May the 4th is just days away so I might have a little Star Wars coverage coming soon. I'm also contemplating a video on The Incredible Hulk, similar to the Batman and Superman/Wonder Woman posts. Thanks for your continued support!

-Jonathan

1977 Playmobil Catalog

Maybe I should have said the blog is about the '70s too as I've got a lot more stuff from the '70s than I realized. Of course, the toys in this catalog post were also sold during the '80s which is when I would have played with some of them. This Playmobil catalog is more like a brochure as it folds out and has six panels on both sides. The front side describes the toys while the flip side focuses on individual sets.