toys

New Legoland Hotel aims for brick bliss

It doesn't take long to see that the new 250-room Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, Calif., is a special place for fans of the iconic building toy. As visitors drive up to the colorful entrance, a Lego tower greets them with an impressive facade of giant minifigures and a 400,000-piece smoke-breathing dragon.

Once inside, the Lego experience multiplies as nearly every foot of the hotel contains brick-themed decor. Guests can choose from three types of themed rooms, including pirate, adventure, and kingdom styles. It's a bricktravaganza. … Read more

The 404 1,206: Where we pick our own product placement (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Bridget checks out the tech side of Toy Fair NY.

- "Disney Infinity" receives new "Monsters University" images.

- Ubooly is soft, squishy and smart thanks to the iPhone.

- Barbie gets a digital makeover at Toy Fair.

- Buy Griff's "Back to the Future II" hoverboard for $13,000.

- Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studio working on interactive TV.… Read more

Barbie gets digital makeover at Toy Fair

It's playtime for CNET Update:

When it comes to the tech at Toy Fair, Apple steals the spotlight. Many tech-related toys at the 2013 Toy Fair integrate with an iPad or iPhone. Mattel is diving into this growing trend with several toys that offer an augmented reality experience using iPad apps. But it also wouldn't be a Toy Fair without a few cool robots.

Toys featured in the video include:

- Tomy's BattroBorg: Players use Wii-like controllers to throw punches and wirelessly control the arms of tiny boxing robots. A robot will deactivate after five hits to … Read more

Go Lego-crazy with Sugru adhesive

If you're a regular reader of my Crave stories, you'll know I have a certain adoration (or perhaps borderline obsession) for Lego. As much as it pains me to admit it, the expensive building toy -- despite its many themes and innovative designs -- could use a little more flexibility. Sugru might just be the ticket to reach that architectural nirvana.

A silicone rubber that molds like Play-Doh and bonds to nearly anything, Sugru could greatly change the way people use Lego bricks, in my opinion. Why? Sugru lets you place Lego bricks nearly anywhere, acting as a kind of beacon of freedom for the Lego brick. … Read more

Amateur filmmakers remake 'Toy Story' as live-action movie

The original "Toy Story" took years and $30 million to produce, but a pair of enterprising filmmakers have created a live-action tribute to the Pixar classic with a few toys picked up at the local toy store.

Filmmakers Jonason Pauley and Jesse Perrotta began working on their remake of the 1995 animated children's movie in 2010 and posted the fruit of two and a half years of work yesterday on YouTube. In less than 24 hours, the 80-minute-long movie, titled simply "Live Action Toy Story," has become an Internet sensation, attracting more than a quarter … Read more

Brick your iPhone 5 with Belkin's Lego case

LAS VEGAS--Lego! iPhone! The two were made for each other.

iPhone cases are like snowflakes in Aspen at CES 2013, but Belkin's tucked-away iPhone 5 Lego cases found a way to catch my eye. Maybe because they're cute and colorful...and maybe because I have a 4-year-old who likes to make Lego dioramas when we're out at dinner.

I can't help but imagine setting up my face-down iPhone at a table and setting up a Star Wars action scene on it...or building an awkward tower. Or, using bricks to design your own 3D makeshift look. … Read more

Shoot infrared bullets with BeeWi's new toys

LAS VEGAS -- BeeWi's collection of smartphone-controlled toys comes with an arsenal. The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology company showcased three toys at CES 2013 here, including the Tank Bee, a tank that shoots infrared bullets.

You can group two tanks together and let them fight it out or pit a tank against the electronic target that's included. The target also shoots back, creating a battle that plays out in front of you as well as on your smartphone app.

After the app connects to the toy, a dashboard lets you control the toy and shows you how much &… Read more

Latest Steve Jobs action figure remarkably detailed

You know the holidays are getting close when Steve Jobs action figures start to appear.

We've seen a few toy tributes to Jobs from Chinese companies. There was a kerfuffle in January of this year when Hong Kong toymaker In Icons bowed to pressure from Jobs' family and Apple and withdrew a 12-inch doll from the market.

That hasn't stopped a Japanese startup from trying to cash in on Jobs' popularity. Tokyo-based Legend Toys is releasing its own strikingly detailed 12-inch figure of Jobs. It was sculpted by Takao Kato, whose work includes 1:16 scale and 1:4 scale figures for the otaku market. … Read more

Girls with Nerf guns: Toy retailer creates gender-swapped catalog

This secret is out. Sometimes, girls like to play with He-Man action figures and boys like to nurture dolls. A Swedish toy catalog is getting a lot of attention for swapping out traditional gender roles by depicting a boy playing with a dollhouse and a girl blasting an imaginary foe with a Nerf gun.

Top Toy created the holiday catalog for toy chains BR and Toys"R"Us. The catalog was released in both Denmark and Sweden, but the Swedish version features some Photoshopped changes. Perhaps most notably, a boy wielding a toy gun in the Danish catalog was replaced by a girl, while a boy appears on another page playing with a very pink dollhouse.… Read more

Fuuvi channels Lego with nanoblock camera

Meet the nanoblock camera, one of the smallest shooters ever shown on Crave.

Japanese company Fuuvi yesterday debuted the tiny toy camera with a shell made of nanoblocks -- a smaller alternative to the traditional Lego brick. However, connoisseurs of quality might bite their lip as the ultrasimple controls and lack of viewfinder make this device a not-so-serious option for picture taking. The measly 2-megapixel resolution doesn't help matters much either. … Read more