Word: toying
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...early 1980's, Rhode Island-based toy company Hasbro hit upon the idea of releasing toys that transformed from vehicles into futuristic robots, essentially doubling each toy's play value. The line was a smash success, heavily buoyed by a popular television cartoon and comic book series. Despite succumbing to the fickle whims of popular taste, the line managed to rebound and, like a sort of Star Trek for children, has maintained its popularity through various incarnations over the years up to the present...
...Persian Gulf War, part II, the toy arsenal now includes four-foot long Apache helicopters, Bradley tanks, aircraft carriers, and even fire trucks decked out defiantly with the crest of FDNY. In addition to the new hardware, there are legions of plastic action figures—mostly GI Joes—which hang from little hooks waiting to turn a seven-year-old’s playroom into a battlefield...
...Schwarz, the Toys ’R Us of Fifth Avenue, has been delighting bright-eyed children and memorabilia-mad collectors with its pricey playthings and nutty name for nearly 140 years. Recently, the company announced that its Mecca of New England, the FAO Schwarz at 440 Boylston St. in downtown Boston, would be closing its tiny-handprint-streaked doors for good. After spotting numerous bargain hunters stumbling through the streets of Boston with hefty FAO bags overflowing with their plunder, FM donned its riot gear to investigate the chaotic consumerism at this childhood playground. The store hummed with activity?...
...something more profound: a sense of playfulness. Words and images float freely across the screen or follow the cursor like schools of curious minnows. Images bulge and distort or blow away as if in a high wind. A clock ticks off seconds with a hand frantically stacking and unstacking toy wooden blocks. Words shatter into their component letters at the click of a mouse or spontaneously organize themselves into flow charts on the fly. Nakamura's websites turn information into interactive art--and the great thing about them is you're never quite sure who the artist...
...pressing need for more padding under my duff. But I was happy to be among the few Westerners who have had a taste of Mongolia, the rocky, remote north-central Asian country with few fences and fewer roads--the realm of Genghis Khan and a political tug toy of China and Russia until well into the 20th century. Since the Alaska-size former Soviet satellite gained independence in 1990, it has opened to travelers seeking adventure in breathtakingly pristine country. A dearth of such conveniences as electricity and phones makes Mongolia a challenge, but that's part of the attraction...