Toy Fair 2025: Mattel Introduces Their Brick Shop

Mattel, Inc (NASDAQ: MAT), an innovator in toys for 80 years and leading global toy and family entertainment company with one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world, announced today a new brand in the building sets category, Mattel Brick Shop™. Mattel Brick Shop is being introduced for the first time at Nuremberg International Toy Fair.  Leveraging  trusted legacy and expertise of Mattel, Mattel Brick Shop is designed to disrupt the status quo, bending the rules of building with innovative features, materials and techniques that inspire builders to try something new.

Toy Fair 2025: Jazwares Toy Construction Brand BLDR

Let’s build something new! Today Jazwares, a leading global toy company, announced an innovative new construction toy brand, BLDR, which will be available at retail this month. Featuring an assortment of world famous brands, immersive playsets, and highly articulated buildable action figures, BLDR offers a fun new way for kids and collectors to creatively imagine, build, and play within the vast BLDR constructable system.

Designed with kids ages 8+ and collectors in mind, initial BLDR offerings will include playsets and minifigures inspired by some of the world’s hottest brands including Squishmallows, Hello Kitty and Friends®, and Adopt Me! For anime connoisseurs, BLDR will launch with a curated collection of highly detailed, 300-piece buildable action figure sets in a fully articulated 9” scale inspired by characters from popular Crunchyroll anime series Chainsaw Man and JUJUTSU KAISEN, which are streaming now on the global anime brand Crunchyroll.

Toy Fair 2025: The LEGO Group and Van Gogh Museum Unveil Sunflowers LEGO Set

Today, the LEGO Group unveils the LEGO Art Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers set. Created in close collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the brick-built painting captures the iconic brushstrokes of Van Gogh’s masterpiece.

The 2615-piece set enables fans to immerse themselves in Van Gogh’s art and to learn more about the inspiration behind one of his most beloved paintings: Sunflowers (1889). The set has been carefully designed to create a 3-D brick version focusing on the three radiant shades of yellow and Van Gogh’s famous use of light and shade. The set features the 16 sunflowers of the painting with adjustable petals, a removable frame, a tile with Van Gogh’s signature and a hanger element to display.

The LEGO Group and Disney Unleash new Hocus Pocus Set

Today, the LEGO Group and Disney unleashed magical mayhem with the new Disney Hocus Pocus: The Sanderson Sisters Cottage set! 

Based on the iconic cottage from the 1993 hit blockbuster, the bewitching story has come back to life once more, revealing all the magical events that happened in the Sanderson home, now in brick form. It's been more than 30 astonishing years since the original Hocus Pocus film premiered, and last year saw the much-anticipated sequel Hocus Pocus 2, expanding the story of these iconic characters.  Fans can now build and display their own piece of Hocus Pocus history.

Toy Fair 2022: New Bendy and the Ink Machine & FGTeeV Construction Sets

It was 2018 when we last saw Basic Fun introducing the world at large to Bendy and the Ink Machine via their C3 construction sets. Unfortunately, the line didn't last that long and fans of the game were left with few creepy collectibles to haunt their shelves. Flash forward to UK Toy Fair 2022 and Phat Mojo, who set up their lightning rods and resurrected the dead!

No HUGE announcement of a full line of sets and figures as yet, BUT we did catch one construction set in full view. The "Heavenly Toys Buildable Set" comes with 3 buildable mini figures and 383 pieces. Check out the eye candy...

Toy Fair 2019: McFarlane Takes On CUPHEAD! * UPDATED 2/14

McFarlane has been doing some re-construction on their building line over the last couple of years. Their construction sets have gone from realistic mini model figures paired with traditional block building sets to a model more in keeping with what has made LEGO the titan of the toy shelves they are today. The change in style has been paying off, with their Hello Neighbor sets nowhere to be found and Five Nights at Freddy's sets highly sought after. Now McFarlane lends their design know how to the video game world, which seems like a no brainer, starting with the ridiculously irresistible, highly charismatic retro cartoon stylings of CUPHEAD!!

SDCC 2018: McFarlane on Cuphead Construction Sets!

It’s a good day for a swell addition to the McFarlane Toys Construction Set portfolio. Beginning in Fall 2019, McFarlane Toys plans to bring the award-winning video game Cuphead™ to life with Cuphead Construction Sets!

Cuphead is a classic run-and-gun action game heavily focused on boss battles and inspired by cartoons of the 1930s. Traversing vibrant worlds brought to life by traditional hand-drawn cel animation, players guide Cuphead or his pal Mugman on their perilous journey to pay back their debt to the devil. Along the way, they’ll acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves and discover hidden secrets.

LEGO's Summer 2018 Harry Potter Lineup

Back into coverage from the show that proved I could still do 100 squats (whilst taking photos on the floor because we must) and only needed 3 days recovery to stop walking funny. ACCOMPLISHMENT!!! Our Summer 2018 LEGO release preview continues with Harry Potter sets that will make you cheer if you've been wanting those past sets that are a bit pricey now...or cry if you are the folks who have been sitting on those sets for future investment. This year's releases include the previously revealed Great Hall alongside a Quidditch Match, Howgarts Express and the Whomping Willow from the original series, and Grindelwald's Escape from the Fantastic Beasts movie series...

LEGO Premieres New Star Wars Sets with a Sandcrawler, Snoke's Throne Room & More

When LEGO calls, you pack your gear and head in their direction! When last we met with our brick building friends, it was to check out their new Roller Coaster set at the TTPM Spring event. Now we get a peek at a number of new sets hitting this Summer. Why? Just because they love us I suppose. We returned that love with around 600 pictures and a stack of videos, so sit back and enjoy as we roll them out over the next week.

We'll begin our LEGO bonanza with Star Wars! Solo sets have just hit retail, and now fans can look forward to a mix of classic vehicle designs, a prequel favorite and a pivotal Last Jedi moment. Let's take a look at what's on tap...

Sweet Suite 2014: McFarlane's Walking Dead Building Sets: LIVE Images & Instructions

San Diego Comic-Con may be days away, providing the first looks at PILES of new toys from across the globe, but that didn't stop one Blogger friendly toy event from pulling out all the stops.

- Free Booze? Check
- Candy and Cupcakes everywhere? Double check
- Food! Check with my mouth full

And on top of these minor indulgences, there were wall to wall TOYS!! Nestled in a dark little corner were our friends at McFarlane Toys, ready to greet Daryl Dixon loving Blogger Mommies with their new Walking Dead Building Sets...and there was happiness across the land. It seems like only yesterday we introduced you to this LEGO-busting line-from-out-of-nowhere, and now, we get to dive even further into the details AND show the construction toy experts the plans for TWO of these sets so you can get a sense of what you'll have to work with when everything hits Toys R Us stores July 24th...

Stop Motion HALO and WOW Mega Bloks

Two things we love here at Idle Hands...animation and construction toys! Apparently Mega Bloks has been exploiting these loves for some time now, right under our noses, and we never knew it. Ahh..the geek universe...she is too vast to see the end of it. At any rate, when we discovered these stop motion epics, we had to share. The HALO bit is pretty lengthy as it is multiple parts spliced together, so be prepared. The World of Warcraft bit is the last episode in a series, but it has a recap at the beginning, so we figured you'd get the gist. If you want to see the WHOOOOLE thing, I'm sure there are plenty of links at the tail end of the vids. 

LEGO Legends of Chima

LEGO Systems, Inc. today announced LEGO® Legends of Chima™, an original LEGO property set in a mythical land of magical animal tribes who compete for CHI, a valuable energy source which gives them extraordinary powers over one another. The story comes to life through a universe of products across the company's entire play system including classic building sets, collectible social competition kits, buildable figures and board games, and will be fueled by digital gaming.

"Building upon our success with developing rich and immersive original storylines, most notable the recent Ninjago phenomenon, we're excited to launch a whole new world in LEGO Legends of Chima to spark any child's imagination and invite them to the world of LEGO building," said Soren Torp Laursen, president of LEGO Systems, Inc. "Based on the reactions we saw through our research, there is no doubt that our immersive approach to original properties will once again inspire, engage and thrill children who love to build and play with great stories."

LEGO Going Back to the Future!

So how many of you knew you could bang out the LEGO kit of your dreams, push it to their main office and then rally fans to vote for it?? Does this get your mind humming? No? Didn't think so..for we are geek..hear us... open a bag of cool ranch Doritos. Luckily, there are more adventurous among us who will dream the big dreams and allow us to cheer for their efforts. Speaking of which...Portal LEGOs, anyone??!!

And for those of you longing for Minecraft LEGOs... CLICK HERE!

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Gear Up for Retail

ANY DAY NOW!! Toys R Us has a pre-order up for April 10th, 2012...which means ANY DAY NOW we will have Marvel Super Heroes LEGO sets on the shelves!! In celebration of this adorable onslaught, LEGO.com have posted a teaser site, which seems silly seeing as how we shot all the pieces at Toy Fair 2012...and that pre-order thing. WHAT ARE THEY TEASING??!! The mind Boggles. You'll note that there are lil armored guys attacking your Marvel Heroes, showing the clearest pics of the Avengers movie mystery alien enemies yet. Word is that they are the Ultimate Avengers version of Skrulls. Anticlimactic, eh?

To refresh your memories, the following items are set to drop on your Marvel obsessed craniums...

Avengers Movie : Captain America's Avenging Cycle : Includes 3 MiniFigures: Captain America and two Alien Enemies
Avengers Movie : Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape : Includes 3 MiniFigures: Iron Man, Loki and Hawkeye
Avengers Movie : Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout : Includes 4 MiniFigures: Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and Loki
Avengers Movie : Quinjet Aerial Battle : Includes 5 MiniFigures: Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Loki and an Alien Enemy
Wolverine's Chopper Showdown : Includes 3 MiniFigures: Wolverine, Magneto and Deadpool. Vehicles include Deadpool's helicopter and Wolverine's Chopper. Deadpool's helicopter features 4 adjustable flick missiles, rotating main rotor and twin rear rotors, removable cockpit canopy and holders for Deadpool's 2 swords.
Spider-Man's Doc Oc Ambush (no details yet)

Ultrabuild Figures (those larger scaled build-a-figure kits)
Captain America
Hulk
Iron Man

April is only a week away, so expect to see Marvel Super Heroes LEGO sets any day now. Happy Hunting!

CLICK HERE for images of LEGO's Marvel Super Heroes from Toy Fair 2012!

BONUS! Dig the Hindi Avengers Theme Song!

Toy Fair 2012 : Kitt-O! Construction Figures

INNOVATION! In a world dominated by 3 and 3 quarter inch and 6-7 inch action figures, we are always looking for something different to cut through the white noise. At UK Toy Fair, Kitt-O presented a little something new with their paper construction figures. These are said to lay out like WizKids' punch out construction table top game pieces (Pirates / Star Wars)..only this time...THE GAME IS ALL IN YOUR MIND!!! Kitt-O kick things off in a big bad way with offerings from the worlds of...



Star Wars

































Doctor Who










Little Big Planet











and Monsters from Triclops Studios






These little critters will show up..at some point...some place...because when you google Kitt-O you get Japanese food. Yup!

Toy Fair 2012 : LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

We've just started showing off the latest DC Super Heroes sets now hitting shelves at your favorite toy shops, so we thought it was a good time to show you what LEGO has on tap for the first wave of Marvel goodness! Here's the run down...

Captain America's Avenging Cycle
Wolverine's Chopper Showdown
Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape
Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout
Quinjet Aerial Battle
Spider-man's Doc Oc Ambush

...and more of those larger scale roboty figures with...
Captain America
Hulk
Iron Man





















I'm most psyched for LEGO to get clear of the Avengers movie hype and start making us sets based on awesome throw downs in Marvel Comics History! Just imagine..the first appearance of Wolverine...Deadpool vs the Skrull Invasion Force...First Appearance Avengers...X-Men vs The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...Fantastic Four vs Galactus!!! My mind goes into overdrive with the possibilities.

CLICK HERE for a full breakdown of LEGO Monster Fighters!

Toy Fair 2012 : KRE-O Battleship & Transformers

Last year Hasbro got into the construction brick game with Transformers kits, giving you your favorite giant robot characters with directions to built your pieces into both vehicle and bot modes and their version of mini-figures which were, as expected, adorable. If the catalog at UK Toy Fair was any indication, the sets didn't quite catch fire, as most of the listings are for things we've seen on discount at retailers. There were some new items though..


KRE-O Transformers

Decepticon Ambush : Kids can play out cool Transformers battles with this KREON 4-pack. This set includes 4 Transformers KREONs, accessories, and bricks to build a cool setting for the battle.

Cycle Chase : Same text as above. Whom ever wrote this really didn't give it their all, did they?

Also new is a KRE-O Transformers Decepticon Helicopter set with 3 KREONs and a little buggy for the humans.










We had hoped Hasbro would extend their lines to include G.I. Joe, but if Transformers underperformed, that might be a plan in limbo. Instead, Hasbro chooses to test the waters with another property involving military battle against an alien force. BATTLESHIP!

The KRE-O Battleship line includes...









KRE-O Battleship Scuba : Start your KRE-O Battleship collection with this great entry level value set! Includes 2 KREONs with accessories and basic vehicle.

KRE-O Battleship Road Ambush : Build and customise KREONs with cool weaponry and accessories! Includes 4 KREONs: 2 human heroes and 2 regent villains.

KRE-O Battleship Helicopter : Take the battle to the air in the Apache helicopter! Features missile launchers and spinning rotor blades - activated by a push button. Includes 3 KREONs with customisable weapon accessories: 1 human hero and 2 regent villains.

KRE-O Battleship Air Assault : Take the fight to new levels with these 2 assault vehicles! Features 4 projectile launchers, an ejector seat and parachute. Includes 3 KREONs with customisable weapon accessories: 2 human heroes and 1 regent villain.

KRE-O Battleship Stryker : Fight the battle in this cool 6-wheeled vehicle! Featured projectile play and access to internal controls. Includes 3 KREONs with accessories: 2 human and 2 regent villain.

KRE-O Battleship Zodiak Vs Stinger : Re-create a key scene from the Battleship movie with this Zodiac vs. Stinger set. Features 2 missile launchers with flick-fire projectiles. Includes 3 KREONs: 2 human heroes and 1 regent villain.

KRE-O Battleship Sea Base : Take the fight to new levels with these 2 assault vehicles! Features 4 projectile launchers, an ejector seat and parachute. Includes 3 KREONs with customisable weapon accessories: 2 human heroes and 1 regent villain.

KRE-O Battleship U.S.S. Missouri : Own the ultimate navy battleship in the U.S.S. Missouri! Features multiple missile launchers on a multi-tiered deck! Also features a crane in rear for easy launch of speed boat. Includes 5 KREON figures with weapons and accessories: 4 human heroes and 1 regent villain.











THREE WEEKS til the NY Toy Fair and even MORE reveals from Hasbro! Til then, I guess we can show you more here...don't blink!

Holiday Geekbook: Build Your Tiny Kingdom

Recently, LEGO (the most widely recognized building block company on the planet) announced that they would be releasing a line just for girls ages 5 and up. The resounding response from older female fans was "LEGO already has a line for girls...it's called...LEGO!" On the strength of this statement, I can assure you that building kits still make an awesome gift for your children age 16 to 40. Today, there is such a variety of subjects to choose from between the three companies making these toys, you can't go wrong. Here's a quick run down of some of their more exciting licenses...

LEGO: Star Wars, DC Super Heroes, LEGO City, Ninjago, Alien Conquest, Pirates of the Caribbean..and next year, Lord of the Rings!

MEGABlocks: HALO, Dragons Universe, Power Rangers, Hello Kitty, Moshi Monsters, Smurfs, Marvel Comics and Movies..and in 2012..Warcraft and Starcraft!! (i like to think I had some input on those last 2..or I delude myself on this at the very least.)

With LEGO taking on Marvel as well in 2012, I suspect MEGA will stop making theirs, which is a little sad considering how much people love their single figure mystery packs.

...and new to the brick battle is KRE-O, who are currently only doing Transformers, but since this is a Hasbro in house project, we drool at the prospect of G.I. Joe sets in 2012! I suspect they'll fold some girl licenses in their as well after LEGO's girlie-announcement, so don't be surprised if you see blocky My Little Ponies on the shelves as well. February is so close now, and with it comes TOY FAIR, so look out for our coverage there and all will be revealed.

UNTILL THEN...we have EYE CANDY!! On tap...

Kre-O sets for Jazz and Sentinel Prime: Each kit features Kreons; little LEGO minifigure like guys that are really the most sought after part of any kit on the planet. Considering these Kreons embody the style of the Generation 1 cartoons we were raised on, you could see why Transformers fans have been eager to crack open these sets. Jazz comes with a mini Jazz and a Race Car Driver while Sentinel Prime (who is an Optimus Prime variation and should not be confused with the movie version. Robots with facial hair. Maddness.) comes with mini Sentinel Prime, Soundwave, Thundercracker and a Fire Chief. Since I am a huge dork, I instantly ditched the human figures in favor of shooting your favorite bots. Would you have done any less? I think not.

The kits were fairly easy to assemble (but of course I had assistance from my ace builder Eileen), though I will point out both kits had a minimum of two missing pieces. Since these were not integral to the completion of our task, they get a pass. Time was of the essence, so we stuck to robot modes and found the posability fairly good, but the joints are so loose, trying to get them to stay put in any pose beyond standing straight up is a risky situation. That moment where your new creation begins to topple over is akin to watching your fragile toddler sized child slip off the couch. Obviously, I have no kids. My only other gripe would be Jazz's hooks for hands, which make for great campfire horror stories but not much play fun. Over all, I can see kids digging these kits and even adults flashing back to their youth while building their favorite Autobot or Decepticon (and more likely snatching out the Kreons immediately to put on a shelf), but Transformers toy fans will miss the actual transforming aspect.


































MEGABloks HALO UNSC Falcon with Landing Pad: I was in a comic shop the other day where some kids were talking about how awesome LEGO is. They posed the question "does MEGA make anything cool??" Eileen, from across the room yelled "HALO!" Indeed, HALO is a title that attracts fans across the globe to my Flickr account to slobber over all the images from last year's Toy Fair. The UNSC Firebase alone has drawn 10k views! With countless vehicles, environments, weapons of mass destruction and a legion of figures to charge into battle, it's no wonder why fans await every release with wiggly, feely fingers and eager wallets.

The Falcon was assembled in one night (by Eileen, natch), with no missing pieces, easy to follow instructions, and two little Spartan soldiers to pilot the ship and man the side mounted heavy machine gun. What's not to love?! The cockpit opens, the blades rotate, the guns swivel and you can do all this without the damn thing falling apart every two seconds. Amen for the little things, yea? Adding a landing pad is one of those things were you say "they didn't neeed to put that in there, but I'm very happy they did." It's a nice, class final touch that makes the ship sparkle on your shelf. The downside? MEGA has 3 kabillion more HALO kits out there, and after building the Falcon, you'll be hooked. It's like crack I tells ya. Eileen is still in recovery. Those blind packaged single figures are particularly hard to kick.


























Speaking of plastic crack...

LEGO MINI FIGURES!!! : Both the light of my life and bane of my existence. Each figure comes single packed and are available in more retail stores that carry toys with prices ranging from $2.50 to $3. Since the bulk of our readers are casual fans of toys (as in you love the idea of them but you probably don't buy many), you may balk on the $3 price tag (as do we all), but considering a 6 inch figure has sky rocketed to $16, it makes some sort of twisted sense. You'll find series 5 in stores at the moment with characters including Fitness Instructor, Lizard Man, Lumberjack, Gladiator, Small Clown, Egyptian Queen, Evil Dwarf, Boxer, Ice Fisherman, Graduate, Royal Guard, Cave Woman, Detective, Snowboarder Guy, Zookeeper, and Gangster! Looking for a Zombie? Series 1 has it. Need a Rapper fighting a Samurai Warrior? We direct your attention to series 3. Desire a Disco Stu? HE LIVES HERE!!

Now here's the maddening part. IF you hate the idea of blind packaged figures, assuring that you will score no less than 3 Tennis Players in your lifetime, then you Google "LEGO Mini Figure Codes". The first couple of series had two bar codes, one of which allowed you to scan with your smart phone (since we live in the future) and reveal who you were getting. Later, the evil overlords of LEGO decided to make it more difficult and instituted a dot code system. On the bottom of each package you'll find little round indents. Look verrrrry closely. The placement of these dots tells you who is inside. Of course, if you are ace Minifig master Matt Booker, you can feel up the package and know who it is in seconds, but not everyone possesses such groping powers, so there we stand in the isles of Toys R Us, phone in hand, struggling to find the dots that will reveal an Evil Dwarf. Pray for us.








CLICK HERE to score a Sentinel Prime, but keep in mind he was just on sale for about half the price, so keep watch!
CLICK HERE to nab your HALO MEGAbloks Falcon with free shipping!