HAPPY MONDAY!! 10 toys that likely won't be on holiday wish lists.....

from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40257937/ns/business-consumer_news/

 


The TSA action figures may get up close and personal with travelers.
By Tom Barlow

'Tis the season when toys come front-and-center in our consciousness. In the drive to produce thousands of new toys each year, the industry occasionally missteps, producing toys that anger rather than amuse the buying audience.

Here are ten toys that reached the market over the past few years that probably never should have seen the light of day.

Oh, you mean like the cookie? Oreo Barbie 

More than one toy disaster can be chalked up to cross-marketing, when two products are marketed together. Mattel stepped in it in 1997 while cross-marketing with Nabisco. "Oreo Fun Barbie" was produced to market the cookie, and the doll was garbed in Oreo-labeled clothes with a dandy Oreo-shaped purse. Unfortunately, the doll was produced in two versions, one with a white Barbie, the other with a black one. As the Urban Dictionary explains, Oreo is "an insulting term often used by blacks to derogate other blacks as 'Black on the outside, white on the inside.'" The dolls were widely reviled and quickly withdrawn from the market.


Terrorist figurine
Chalk another one up to our nation's fear of terrorists. BrickArms is a toy manufacturer that makes weapons and figurines compatible with the LEGO universe. One of its warrior dolls, Bandit, (since discontinued) was designed wearing a head scarf, carrying an AK-47, a rocket strapped to his back, and a string of bombs hanging on his chest. Some parents immediately saw an Al Qaeda fighter and protested loudly. No word on Homeland Security's take on this, but the creator, Will Chapman, has not yet ended up in a cage in Guantanamo.


Make sure you talk to it while its mouth is open.  Play-Doh Drill 'n Fill Playset


Want to see your child's face fill with delight? Just tell them it's time to go to the dentist. Not. Despite the most advanced painkillers and attention diverters, the dentist's office is still way, way down the list of children's favorite hangouts, so one has to wonder what possessed Play-Doh to bring to market a kit that allowed kids to play dentist? The kit comes complete with a mouth full of teeth that can be drilled and filled (with Play-Doh, of course). The kit doesn't appear to include a toy hypodermic, so these procedures must be carried out without novocaine. What fun!

Harry Potter and the Vibrating Broom
It's time for Harry Potter fever again, and with it expect a bevy of new toys. None, we can only hope, will be as poorly thought out as the discontinued vibrating Nimbus 2000. This flying broom, the same brand as that ridden during Quidditch matches by Harry himself, looked like the real thing, but, to the discomfort of parents, was built to vibrate as the child rode it. The vibrations "down there" led to many a cheap joke and the ire of parents who didn't want to draw their child's attention to that part of the body any sooner than necessary.


Staring strangers in public places not included. Breast-Feeding Doll

There are a lot of strong arguments in favor of breast feeding, but not every parent would find playing at breast feeding an appropriate activity for his or her youngster. Nonetheless, the Spanish company Berjuan has brought just such a toy to market: the Bebé Glotón. The doll comes complete with a nippled vest that the child can don in order to provide sustenance to the baby. The nipples, in the form of open flowers, even make a sucking sound.



Airport Security Play Set

It would take a child with vast imagination to find any fun whatsoever in the process that adults look forward to like they do a sigmoidoscopy: the airport security checkpoint. This is even more true now that the hand-pats include even the most indelicate parts of the body. Encouraging a child to play as a professional groper seems like a very bad idea.


Mommy's Boob Job
Books always make a fun gift for a child, and many do a fine job of combining entertainment and education. In 2008, however, a plastic surgeon in Florida crossed the line with his book "My Beautiful Mommy." Why? Because the book was written to help explain mom's plastic surgery to children four to seven years of age.
The picture book explains all about mom's new boobs, resculptured nose and liposuctioned tush. What's the lesson here? I can just hear the child saying, "I can't wait until I can pay to have someone make me pretty!"


Just give her the real thing and cut down on housework. My Cleaning Trolley

Sexual stereotyping, once central to the design of American toys, is much less evident today, but here's an example of how it can still appear and set the teeth on edge of the distaff parent. Last year's My Cleaning Trolley set was pink, equipped with a variety of brooms, clothes, sprayer and even a tiny toilet plunger — perfect for those aspiring to minimum-wage night jobs. The capper? On the box, prominently displayed, the words "Girls Only."


Homeless Girl
Mattel's American Girl dolls are more than figurines made of plastic; they are high-price-tag dolls complete with (pricey) wardrobes and, more importantly, comprehensive back stories. One of the dolls, introduced last year, was Gwen Thompson. Her story? She had, until recently, been living with her mom in the family car. Her dad had run out on on Gwen and her mom, and they were subsequently evicted from their home.  The plight of homeless children is sad and real. However, is the life of children, little bundles of insecurity already, made better by playing with a doll that represents their worst fears?


"Crazy For You" Teddy Bear
Over the past 100 years, our society has evolved to the point that it's no longer thought appropriate to make fun of the insane; most of the time, anyway. And we certainly don't want to plant that idea in the minds of our youngsters. Imagine then, the reception by those dealing with mental illness when The Vermont Teddy Bear Company put out a new doll for Valentine's Day in 2005, the "Crazy for You" bear. The bear wore a straight-jacket, begging the question, What would he do with those paws if he were loose?  Like some of the other products in this list, the Crazy For You Bear is a sought-after collectible, listed for $550 on eBay at the time of this writing.

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REVENGE OF THE HOLIDAY PENGUINS!!

Good day! Stayed up WAY too late watching Craig Ferguson’s ‘Doctor Who’ themes show this morning. The ‘newest’ Dr Who, Tom Smith, made his American TV debut on the talk show. I’m not a fan of Dr Who and haven’t seen an entire episode since the 80’s, but I do like pretty much every and anything Craig Ferguson does. Still like TBS’s ‘Conan’. It is what it is.


So for the next couple of weeks, it’s gonna be “Black Friday” for many stores. Is this just one of those things that we’ll have to get along with? Many of the stores have their super duper low price sales events last weekend through his week, and pretty much into next week before the actual “Black Friday”. I can predict NOW how the media stories, soon following the Friday after Thanksgiving; will be declaring this year’s “Black Friday” sales the lowest in a while or ever. I guess this makes sense to no one else but me.

Another royal wedding is expected to take place next year. Wonder how many stories will be published about the weeding being called off or “steamy” pics of Kate Middleton?

South Carolina’s preterm birthrate fell from 15.5 percent in 2007 to 14.3 percent in 2008. The March of Dimes has set a preterm birthrate goal of 7.6 percent. South Carolina is one of 14 states that received an ‘F’ according to the March of Dimes 2010 Premature Birth Report Card released today.

Saw the trailer for MTV’s LOOSE remake of “Teen Wolf”. This doesn’t look that bad to me really, however, this movie looks to be way short of the Canadian made ‘over-the-top’ and obviously camp version Michael J Fox appeared in in the 80’s.

Green Lantern trailer looks decent; didn’t knock my shoes off. Ryan Reynolds seems a little “flighty” for Hal Jordan to me. I swear, if he’s too funny in this, they might have well cast Will Ferrell in the role.

Some of my friends are beaming about the entire ‘Beatles’ catalogue now available on iTunes. Though on some songs, I’m not a big fan of the re-mastering. It seems some of the bass is too emphasized compared to the way I first heard them and the CD/FLAC versions before the re-doing. Everyone else is probably cool about it.

Bill Nye the science guy fainted during a speech at the ‘other’ USC on the left coast last night. He was taken away before the end of his speech to seek medical help. His current status is unknown at this time.

Well, this happens on many of these weight loss reality shows, but rarely makes headlines. Here’s another one that’s deep in the hoopla. One of the contestants for ABC's new weight-loss reality show had to be taken into medical custody after suffering from dangerous dehydration levels. The 25 year-old woman was reportedly taking diet pills, though ABC denies that the medication that caused her severe dehydration was in any way related to her attempts at weight loss.

Having been a part of the media, it really, really pains me to point THIS out. But all of the recent media headlining, glaring fury over the new TSA procedures at airports is really over-the-top and all about the knee-jerk reaction to something that affects less than 7% of the U.S... Many polls indicate that the percentage of people who aren’t bothered by the “new rules” concerning this brouhaha is around 80%. Most Americans overwhelmingly support those full body scanners. So what’s the deal about the right wingers on talk radio and the evening news shows? My point is that if you listen to talk radio or look at the news outlets, you’d think this is bigger than our economy and healthcare. In trying to point this out, let me add that I personally believe the new rules and procedures are ridiculous. The byproduct of such nonsense? You get video like a 3 year old being patted down and people relating their woes as a result of their own acts of civil disobedience. Listen, police or anybody in authority is capable of terrible injustice and abuse. When these things occur, they must be dealt with swiftly. In my opinion, stop this well meaning ‘crap’ and look for those who usually commit or attempt to commit these types of crimes. Profiling is vital in this area of airline crime deterrents. Then, when white Timothy McVeigh looking terrorists begin blowing things up or flying planes into buildings, then we profile that way.

What say you?

YOU LIE!

January 14, 2010
Meet Mikey, 8: U.S. Has Him on Watch List
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

The Transportation Security Administration, under scrutiny after last month’s bombing attempt, has on its Web site a “mythbuster” that tries to reassure the public.

Myth: The No-Fly list includes an 8-year-old boy.

Buster: No 8-year-old is on a T.S.A. watch list.

“Meet Mikey Hicks,” said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her 8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of a suspicious person. “It’s not a myth.”

Michael Winston Hicks’s mother initially sensed trouble when he was a baby and she could not get a seat for him on their flight to Florida at an airport kiosk; airline officials explained that his name “was on the list,” she recalled.

The first time he was patted down, at Newark Liberty International Airport, Mikey was 2. He cried.

After years of long delays and waits for supervisors at every airport ticket counter, this year’s vacation to the Bahamas badly shook up the family. Mikey was frisked on the way there, then more aggressively on the way home.

“Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch — someone is patting your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal,” Mrs. Hicks recounted. “A terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my 8-year-old can’t walk through security without being frisked.”

It is true that Mikey is not on the federal government’s “no-fly” list, which includes about 2,500 people, less than 10 percent of them from the United States. But his name appears to be among some 13,500 on the larger “selectee” list, which sets off a high level of security screening.

At some point, someone named Michael Hicks made the Department of Homeland Security suspicious, and little Mikey is still paying the price. (His father, also named Michael Hicks, was stopped for the first time on the Bahamas trip.)

Both lists are maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They are given to the Transportation Security Administration, which in turn sends them to the airlines.

A spokesman for the T.S.A., James Fotenos, said that as a rule, “there are no children on the no-fly or selectee lists,” but would not comment on Mikey’s situation specifically.

For every person on the lists, hundreds of others may get caught up simply because they share the same name; a quick scan through a national phone directory unearthed 1,600 Michael Hickses. Over the past three years, 81,793 frustrated travelers have formally asked that they be struck from the watch list through the Department of Homeland Security; more than 25,000 of their cases are still pending. Others have taken more drastic measures.

Mario Labbé, a frequent-flying Canadian record-company executive, started having problems at airports shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, with lengthy delays at checkpoints and mysterious questions about Japan. By 2005, he stopped flying to the United States from Canada, instead meeting American clients in France. Then a forced rerouting to Miami in 2008 led to six hours of questions.

“What’s the name of your mother? Your father? When were you last in Japan?” Mr. Labbé recalled being asked. “Always the same questions in different order. And sometimes, it’s quite aggressive, not funny at all.”

Fed up, in the summer of 2008, he changed his name to François Mario Labbé. The problem vanished.

Several Web sites, including the T.S.A.’s own blog, are rife with tales of misidentification and strategies for solving them. Some travelers purposely misspell their own names when buying tickets, apparently enough to fool the system. Even the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy once found himself on a list.

“We can’t just throw a bunch of names on these lists and call it security,” said Representative William J. Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat. “If we can’t get an 8-year-old off the list, the whole list becomes suspect.”

Mr. Fotenos, the T.S.A. spokesman, promised improvements in a few months, as the agency’s Secure Flight Program takes full effect. Under the new system, airlines will collect every passenger’s birth date and gender, along with their names. The T.S.A. will cross-check all that with the watch lists. Previously, the airlines cross-checked the lists themselves, using only the names.

Certainly, Mikey’s date of birth, less than a month before 9/11, should prevent him from being mistaken as a terrorist.

A third grader at a parochial school in Clifton, N.J., Mikey recites the drill like the world-weary traveler he is. Leave early for the airport, always with his passport. Try to get a boarding pass at the counter. This will send up a flag. The ticket agent, peering down at tiny bespectacled Mikey, will apologize or roll her eyes, and call for a supervisor. The supervisor, after a phone call — or, more likely, a series of phone calls — will ultimately finagle him onto the plane. But the Hickses are typically the last to select seats and the last to board, which means they sometimes can’t sit together.

Mrs. Hicks, a photojournalist who herself got Secret Service clearance to travel aboard Air Force II with then-Vice President Al Gore, anticipated additional chaos following the attempted underwear bombing. Before leaving for the Bahamas on Jan. 2, she reached out to Congressman Pascrell’s office, which then enlisted a T.S.A. agent to meet the family at the airport. Even this did not prevent Mikey from an extra pat-down.

On the way home last Friday, Mikey’s boarding pass showed four giant red S’s at the airport in Nassau. “Oh, random screening,” Mrs. Hicks said. Mikey asked his mother not to worry and said he would use his tae kwon do — he has a junior black belt — if needed. Mrs. Hicks said she wanted to take pictures of her son being frisked but was told it was against the rules.

Mikey, who would rather talk about BMX bikes and his athletic trophies than airport security, remains perplexed about the “list” and the hurdles he must clear. “Why do they think a kid is a terrorist?” Mikey asked his mother at one point during the interview.

Mrs. Hicks said the family was amused by the mistake at first. But that amusement quickly turned to annoyance and anger. It should not take seven years to correct the problem, Mrs. Hicks said. She applied for redress in December when she first heard about the Department of Homeland Security’s program.

“I understand the need for security,” she added. “But this is ridiculous. It’s quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane.”