In the tradition of food trucks — and in the tradition of YouTubers “popping up” at shopping malls around the nation — Sanrio’s “Hello Kitty” brand has unleashed the “Hello Kitty Cafe Food Truck” on fans of cuteness across the fruited plain.
According to the Sanrio website, the food truck debuted at Hello Kitty Con 2014 — offering “super cute treats to fans in Southern California.” These days, there are two Hello Kitty Cafe Trucks that tour throughout the United States.
On Sept. 8, the Hello Kitty Cafe Food Truck came to Omaha, Since Bridget is a fan of the Hello Kitty brand, we made a trek out to Village Pointe shopping center to see the truck.
(We currently have a Hello Kitty ice pack in the freezer...and Bridget has carried Hello Kitty notebooks in her purse for years.)
The Hello Kitty Cafe Food Trucks are an offshoot of the brick-and-mortar Hello Kitty Cafe locations strewn around California (there are two mini-cafe locations, a pop-up container cafe, and a “grand cafe” in CA).
Those stores feature more in the way of Hello Kitty themed treats and snacks.
By the time we hit the Hello Kitty Cafe Food Truck, most of the “eatable” items were sold out. But Bridget was lucky enough to secure the 3-piece cookie set:
Because she purchased two of the cookie sets, she got the Hello Kitty mini-tote bag:
Back in June, I wrote a review of the second season of the Netflix series “The Toys That Made Us.” In that season, the show’s creators explored Hello Kitty. As I wrote in that post, the folks at Sanrio used a strategy called “kawaii” to build the brand’s popularity in the U.S. (which is some sort of voodoo-like cuteness quotient Hello Kitty possesses).
Judging by the number of people in line to purchase items during our afternoon visit (we were told there were “thousands” at the truck early in the day), it appears that Sanrio’s strategy continues to have a hook.
Those episodes — which focused on the history of the “Star Wars,” Barbie, He-Man, and G.I. Joe toylines — served as fascinating time capsules of childhood archaelogy (especially for children of the 70s and 80s).
As iconic as those brands have been in playtime lore, the toy industry is fertile ground for more “adventures in toy telling.”
That brings us to the second season of “The Toys That Made Us” — the latest four episodes debuted on Netflix on May 25. Each episode runs about 45 minutes in length.
Season 2, Episode 1: Star Trek
While the “Star Trek” franchise might not possess the same mystique as “Star Wars,” I grew up playing with the toys. I had a cool fold-out U.S.S. Enterprise bridge playset (with dolls of Captain Kirk & Co.) made by a company called Mego.
We learn about Mego in this documentary -- and its colorful CEO Martin Abrams (who passed on a “Star Wars” toy license). We get insight into the popular AMT model kits of Star Trek ships (one of my favorite kits to build as a kid — you could customize it with decals from any of the other Constellation-class ships featured in the original series). We also see the myriad of toys completely unrelated to the show that merely had “Star Trek” branding slapped on them.
Season 2, Episode 2: Transformers
There is “more than meets the eye” when it comes to Hasbro’s “Transformers” line that was introduced in the 1980s. Believe it or not, the Transformers brand actually had its beginnings when Hasbro licensed the G.I. Joe brand to Takara (a Japanese toy company) Takara was trying to find a way to make military toys interesting for a Japanese audience — in bizarre fashion the soldiers “transformed” into the early beginnings of what would become Transformers.
We learn about Hasbro bringing the transforming robots to the United States and how Marvel helped name and write the iconic backstory for the toys.
There a a number of interesting nuggets here. For example, reason Optimus Prime was killed off in the animated 1986 “Transformers: The Movie” was because Hasbro felt they had to “kill off” the 1984 toy line in order to sell the 1986 line.
Season 2, Episode 3: LEGO
From its humble beginnings as a wood toy maker during the Great Depression to its ingenious plastic brick “system,” LEGO has been through a number of changes throughout the years.
I loved “A LEGO Brickumentary” when it was released in 2014. “The Toys That Made Us” manages to shed new light on the toy brand. We are treated to some interesting details, like the fact that Samsonite (the luggage company) owned the early U.S. rights (which expired in the early 1970s).
LEGOs “automatic binding bricks” (as they were originally known) became a hit because of the tubes on the bottom side of the pieces.
The company fell on hard times in the early 2000s, and the Danish brand was almost sold to another toy company during that era.
I owned many of the city sets in the 1980s (including the Fire Station and the Exxon Gas Station) and I had a number of the space sets of that era (including “Alpha-1 Rocket Base”).
Season 2, Episode 4: Hello Kitty
This is one of my wife’s favorite brands. In fact, we currently have a Hello Kitty ice pack in the freezer. The main question with Hello Kitty is whether or not it is a toy.
I’m not sure, but I learned a lot about Sanrio’s adorable feline (which, apparently, is not a cat, but actually a little girl). The company employed a term called “kawaii” in selling the brand in the United States (which is some sort of voodoo-like, cuteness quotient Hello Kitty possesses).
While you might not be all that familiar with some of the brands featured in “The Toys That Made Us,” it is a interesting show to watch.
For me, the highlights in the second season were the "Star Trek" and "LEGO" episodes (because I played with those toys as a kid, and still enjoy those toys today).
I hope that Netflix commissions more seasons of “The Toys That Made Us.” (I’d love to see an episode focusing on Playmobil at some point down the road.)
This clip of Brian Volk-Weiss from the New York Daily News has the show's creator talking about the series, as well as his love for the toys he grew up with in the 1980s:
It’s kind of sad when bright, shiny, and iconic retail operations leave our landscape.
Sure, we’ll all soldier on, but things will be different.
Stores like RadioShack, Sears, and Kmart have fallen by the wayside. We learned last week that Toys ‘R’ Us and teen jewelry chain Claire's will soon be joining the fold — forever relegated to a footnote in shopping history.
Nostalgia buffs like me continue to lament the demise of brick-and-mortar stores, but we do little to stop the bleeding.
Things like “one-click ordering” and various digital shopping cart options — decorated with a collage of optimized PNGs and JPEGs — prove far too alluring and handy to resist.
Online giants like Amazon are convenient. That cannot be denied.
The great irony is that Amazon is now considering buying some Toys ‘R’ Us locations for retail operations. In 2015, they also discussed purchasing dormant RadioShack locations.
It’s like the victors at the end of a long war, trudging ahead to the vanquished castle, ready to take a seat on the empty throne.
I remember how much fun it was to go to a toy store as a kid.
There would be times when I’d get rewarded with a trip to the toy store for doing certain things — for example, reading a designated number of books was a benchmark that often resulted in a prize.
There would be other times when I’d get to go to the toy store “just because.”
I remember in 1978 when my mom and dad bought me my first set of Kenner “Star Wars” action figures at the Brandeis toy department at Crossroads Mall (located in the basement of the store...facing Dodge Street). Those figures — along with a shiny new Landspeeder — were important to me as a kid.
The C-3PO figure we purchased was one that the clerk at the register had been “limbering up” — because the hard-plastic joints were really stiff on the golden droid, and some customers had complained they broke easily.
That experience happened 40 years ago, but I remember the kind lady who made the experience of buying the figures special.
I recall moments when I’d be trying to decide between two Matchbox cars, and couldn’t make up my mind. My mom (God bless her heart) would often buy me both.
(I was either indecisive, or a master manipulator...)
I even had the opportunity to witness the next generation become "incentivized" with toys when my niece and nephew needed an extra nudge to go off the diving board at the pool.
There was something wonderful about perusing toy store aisles — like an explorer, you were curious to see what you’d discover around the next turn.
I went to my first Toys ‘R’ Us store in Austin, Texas, back in 1983. My brother had moved down there for work. We didn’t have the retail toy giant in Omaha at that time.
I was excited to check out the selection of “Star Wars” and “G.I. Joe” action figures and assorted vehicles. There is something soothing about gazing at row upon row of shiny action figures, trapped in plastic bubbles on flashy-cardboard backers.
The toy chain has one of the catchiest jingles in advertising history:
I mean, who didn’t “wanna be a Toys ‘R’ Us kid”...?
The toys we played with as children helped create the fabric of who we are. A couple months ago I reviewed the Netflix series “The Toys That Made Us” (read my full review of that show). The show focuses on the stories behind some of the most famous toy brands.
I can’t help but think that the rise and fall of Toys ‘R’ Us might one day be featured in a documentary of that sort.
The YouTube channel “Retail Archaeology” takes a look at the demise of Toys ‘R’ Us, and tours one of the stores being liquidated:
Apparently, a deal with a private equity firm in 2005 led to the current fate of Toys ‘R’ Us. The debt was substantial, and kept the chain from making improvements to its stores...
Like the narrator in the video, I’ve heard suggestions that the world of “analog toys” will die with subsequent generations because today’s kids are more interested in playing with their iPads and iPhones.
Maybe that’s true. Maybe it isn’t...
The tactile experience of playing with LEGOs and Lincoln Logs as a kid helped develop my creativity. I don’t know that I’d be doing the graphic design work I do today without moments putting together buildings and vehicles with those sorts of thoughtful toys.
But the wheel turns...and the clock ticks onward.
The cynical minded will say these sorts of operations had their fate coming. They’ll argue that change is inevitable.
But at times, you wonder if all the change is good.
“I don’t wanna grow up, cuz baby if I did, I wouldn’t be a Toys ‘R’ Us kid...”
Something in life I find fascinating is the deep-seated nostalgia people have for things from their youth. That love can encompass pop-culture items like movies, TV shows, books, and clothes.
But there is a relic of youthful fun that seems to shine above all others when it comes to passionate memories, and that is the toys that we played with as children.
It is in that spirit that producer Brian Volk-Weiss brings to Netflix the new docuseries called The Toys That Made Us — the stories behind iconic toy brands.
The first four episodes of the series dropped on Netflix on Dec. 22. The first slate of episodes (each roughly an hour in length) sheds light on the history and development of the toys, as well as their legacy in the toy lexicon.
Episode 1: Star Wars
Gives viewers a look into the rise of the Kenner’s popular toy lineup in the 1970s and 1980s. Interesting nuggets include an interview with the Kenner attorney who negotiated the toy deal with George Lucas prior to the Star Wars release in 1977 (Kenner received 95 cents for every dollar earned, and Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox split a nickel), and a look at the toy brand’s temporary demise in the mid-1980s.
Episode 2: Barbie
Offers insights into the inspiration for Barbie dolls (not the most savory source material), the politics behind Barbie, and the perpetual retooling and marketing for the seemingly eternal brand.
Episode 3: He-Man
I never owned any of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line, but watching the episode made me wish I had. Mattel’s launch of He-Man was in response to Kenner’s Star Wars line and Hasbro’s re-invention of G.I. Joe into smaller figures. You learn the origins of the toy (sold to execs on a wink and a promise), and get to meet the salty creators who utilized a shotgun approach in creating the odd assortment of characters produced. The episode also talks about the ill-fated 1987 Masters of the Universe movie starring Dolph Lundgren.
Episode 4: G.I. Joe
I owned a lot of the G.I. Joe action figures back in the early 1980s, and also owned a number of the vehicles (the W.H.A.L.E. Hovercraft was one of my favorites). The episode focuses on the origin of the Hasbro toy line — from the early “doll” years of G.I. Joe, through the retooling of the line during the Vietnam War, to the re-invention of G.I. Joe into an elite fighting force “small” figure line in the 1980s.
What’s fascinating about the first season of The Toys That Made Us is how many talented individuals came to the toy industry from other careers — such as the aerospace engineering field.
Producer Brian Volk-Weiss considers The Toys That Made Us something of a passion project. His producing career has focused primarily on comedy specials for outfits like Netflix.
In the following interview, Volk-Weiss discusses his toy-centric project, the difficulty selling the concept to programmers, and he mentions that the next four episodes (set to debut sometime in 2018) will focus on Transformers, Hello Kitty, Star Trek, and Lego toy brands:
Even if you didn’t play with the particular toys featured in The Toys That Made Us, it is a fun and fascinating watch, and sheds insight on an industry that doesn’t feature a lot of written or filmed history.
The first time I saw a "fidget spinner" was when one of my nieces was over at my house. I hadn't heard of them before, and didn't think a whole lot about it when I saw it. The toys apparently are this year's adolescent fad. My dad (who is not an adolescent) purchased the fidget spinner I'm holding in the picture above -- at a gas station. I told him I wanted to do a blog post about fidget spinners...so he dropped it by... There are claims that the spinners relieve anxiety and soothe the symptoms of ADHD. There are also claims stating that those claims are a load of bull. Fidget spinners have been banned at various schools for being a distraction. I saw a post today on Facebook demonstrating how the washer-like metal circles are a potential choking hazard (the "fun police" are never too far from a new fad). I've spent the last four days with this white fidget spinner. I must admit that I feel more anxious since it has been in our home. I'm not sure that is the fault of the spinner, but I feel obliged to be truthful about my current mood since the spinner and I are in close proximity.
I mean, I guess it's cool to watch it spin. I'm not altogether sure why they have become so popular. It doesn't really do a whole lot. My dad said he likes to start it spinning, and then take a pencil and see if he can perfectly thread it through one of the three spinning holes. Maybe this is how people felt about the Slinky when it was introduced in the 1940s -- "Look Ethel! That spring can walk itself down a staircase. Shazam!" The spinners retail online with prices ranging from a couple bucks all the way up to $15 dollars. (Pro tip: Don't pay $15 for one of these things.) I guess there are worse things your daughters and sons could be interested in. In a way, it is heartening that something so "old school" is so popular in 2017. Maybe that's the appeal. In a society that revolves around intently looking and tapping on LED screens, there is a certain retro charm in an item that is the epitome of analog amusements. Check out my previous post: These Kids Are "Sharp … Cheddar Sharp"
