Enjoy.

Peepee Teepee in action. Well, waiting for action.

This past weekend we visited Gift Fair in New York City. Had a great day wandering around and visiting vendors.

One of the oddest things we saw was the Peepee Teepee. It’s a little cloth teepee that you put over a baby boy’s penis during changing to avoid those dreaded urine fountains.

As far as I can tell, the Peepee Teepee doesn’t adhere in any way, so I don’t really see how it could possibly stay in place during a diaper change. And, as one reviewer on Amazon pointed out, one good stream of urine would knock it right off. Now you have urine spraying and flying, wet Teepees too.

They come in a set of five in a little laundry bag. They’re made of cotton and are machine washable. You can also get different patterns such as Camouflage.

My guess, not too practical, but would make a talked-about gift at a shower.

Peepee Teepee, set of five, washable. Selling for about $10.00 on Amazon.

My Dream Home

The next time you rent a Bouncy Castle for your kids party, you may be getting something a little extra… lead poisoning.

OK That’s a bit extreme.

The New York Times reports that the California Attorney General has filed a lawsuit that claims that some, if not all, of the rented inflatable houses, castles, and amusements contain unsafe levels of lead in the vinyl they are made from.

An investigation by the Center for Environmental Health, in Oakland, tested several dozen houses and found that they contained between 5,000 and 29,000 parts per million of lead. Those measurements are way above the federal limit of 90 to 300 parts per million.

Robert Field, a defendant in the suit, and senior vice president of Cutting Edge Creations argues that the suit could put thousands of small-business owners that rent the inflatable fun-houses out of business, hurting California’s economy.

OK. His argument is "let us continue to rent party toys that have thousands of times the legal limit of a harmful substance because the economy is bad and you should ignore the problem for financial reasons".

The suit and investigation did not include Bouncy Castles sold to consumers. These should fall under the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and require testing prior to being sold. I only found one recall which was for a problem with the fan housing breaking and one alert in which children were bouncing out of a Playskool Moon Bouncer due to overinflation.

What is a parent to do if you want to rent a Bouncy Castle? One spokesman for the Center for Environmental Health recommends that parents should have wet-wipes available and children should wipe their exposed body parts (hands, feet, face) after bouncing to reduce the risk.

The song isn’t really slowed down, rather pitch shifted. Althought when they made the original, they recorded the voices at half speed, and, when played back at full speed, their voices would be higher. I would guess they needed to also speak and sing more slowly when they recorded it. But by electronically shifting the pitch in this video, the song stays the same length.

The creator has posted a website with detailed information on how he built the engine and plans available to purchase ($10.00).

Jedi toy painting

Artist Robert Burden has created a wonderful work of art entitled "The Birth of a Jedi". It’s oil on canvas, and stands 10 feet x 7feet.

If you’re wondering how this fits in to a blog about toys you will understand towards the end of the video for the closeups

Of course if you’re wondering that, you probably haven’t visited my blog before (I go off-topic a lot).

The painting covers events in Return of the Jedi when Luke is rescued by Han and must be kept warm in the belly of the TaunTaun. Although I remember them being white, or gray.

Scroll down for a time-lapse of the 7 months it took to paint.

via Gizmodo

Until now.

Personalized Bobbleheads

Yes, now you can have your very own likeness as a Bobblehead. The price is steep… at around $80.00-$120.00 depending on your choice. The head is fully customized from a photo you supply and you choose from 190 body types which includes variations for many occasions. Some body choices are female doctor, bodybuilder, TV reporter, cheerleader, lawyer, etc. There’s even a "Man on Toilet" Bobblehead.

Of course Personalized Bobbleheads are a perfect gift for a graduation, wedding, or many other special events. They can even be used as cake toppers.

The heads are hand-sculpted in poly-clay to your likeness. There are also couple versions and versions with accessories, such as riding a motorcycle (these cost more).

There are various competing companies making Personalized Bobbleheads. Most work basically the same way. You send in a quality photo that complies with their guidelines, choose a body to go with it and in some cases select hair choices. It takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks for your Bobblehead, so plan ahead (pun intended). Your finished Bobblehead will be about 6-8 inches from most suppliers.

As you can see from the photos, Personalized Bobbleheads are caricatures. Some suppliers don’t allow returns.

	Some Personalized Bobblehead Real-Life Examples

Yesterday I got a message from a Krissi in Sweden that she’d seen this product, live and in-person in her local store. She took a photo with her cell phone and it’s posted below.

Here is what she said about it:

“This is from a Coop store, one of the major grocery chains in Sweden. It looks like the source from the first photo in your blog post was also at a Swedish Coop, since the price tag is the same. This isn’t the first time that poorly proofread Chinese import products have been on the shelves here…definitely the biggest howler though.

I tried to find this product on Amazon again and the only product that came up was “Dirty Jobs Season 4“. This says a lot about the show.

	Poop Up Pool Confirmed!

Toy Story 3 Silly Bandz Version 2

I posted before about the Toy Story 3 Silly Bandz and complained that they didn’t include the new toys from the movie.

Well, I stand corrected (sort of). There are 2 new versions of the Toy Story 3 Bandz and one of them includes the new characters.

Version 2 once again seems to be characters we’ve already seen in previous movies including the Alien, Piggy, Potato Head, Rex, and Buster (or is that Slinky Dog?)

Version 3 includes Lotso and the crew of bad guys from Toy Story 3.

Both versions are selling on Amazon for about $6.00

Toy Story 3 Silly Bandz Version 3