Toy Story 4: Hallmark Itty Bittys Assortment *PAGE UPDATE!*

To my surprise, Bo Peep is part of the Toy Story 4 Itty Bittys collection after all! Hallmark hadn't sent me this one (I assumed I had received the full set), so I had no idea she existed until I found her at my local Hallmark last night. She looks SO cute and I'm so glad she was included in this lineup. Bo Peep lends herself to this style perfectly, so it definitely would have been a missed opportunity! Love her cape, staff and flower brooch details.

I've updated my original Toy Story 4 Itty Bittys post with new photos and links to buy, which you can check out HERE. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see some of the Toy Story 4 Itty Bittys baby items I found as well! So much cuteness.

Toy Story 4 LEGO Sets—Duke Caboom's Stunt Show & Carnival Thrill Coaster!

For the first time since 2010, Toy Story LEGO sets are back—this time around inspired some of the most memorable moments and characters from Toy Story 4! The biggest difference this time around is that rather than these being your standard LEGO sets (7-14 age range), these are all part of the new "4+" collection (previously known as "LEGO Juniors"). That just means they have less pieces, are a bit less intricate and a bit easier to build; but the designs are still very appealing, cute and classic LEGO! They're perfect for kids who have outgrown Duplo sets but maybe aren't quite old enough for the more involved builds.

My nephew Noah (my little Pixar fan buddy) just turned six, so he is the perfect audience for these. For his birthday last month, I got him the "Duke Caboom's Stunt Show" (set 10767) since he's already obsessed with that character. The "Carnival Thrill Coaster" (set 10771) was gifted to me by LEGO (a huge thanks to them) and so I'm thrilled to review that one here as well! Noah, my other nephew Cade and I had a fun time building these a couple days ago at my sister's house.

Let's take a closer look! Both of these sets took only about 15 minutes to put together.

DUKE CABOOM'S STUNT SHOW

This one is honestly my favorite of the all TS4 sets released. It's just super cool looking (can't go wrong with an Evel Knievel style ring of fire) and I love the colors! The Duke mini figure is spot on too. This set also comes with Woody, a couple smaller stunt cars for Duke to jump and some barrels to round out the scene. Retail is $19.99; 120 pieces total.

CARNIVAL THRILL COASTER

The "Carnival Thrill Coaster" set is really cute too, but it doesn't scream Toy Story to me—yet. Maybe it will once I watch the film and see this coaster in the context of the carnival scenes (wonder if it will be featured prominently or just in the background?). This one is a lot of fun though, purely for the track system and how the caterpillar coaster can ride smoothly around and around. I like the little details as well, such as the camera (we all love roller coaster photos!) and the revolving turnstile.

This set comes with Buzz Lightyear and Alien mini figures, is 98 pieces and also retails for $19.99.

You really can't go wrong with either of these or any of the Toy Story 4 sets in general! They all look great. In addition to these two sets, you can also find: "RV Vacation", "Buzz & Woody's Carnival Mania" (which features attractions I actually recognize from the trailers), "Buzz & Bo Peep's Playground Adventure" and "Woody & RC". You can purchase any of them using my direct affiliate links below!

Have you picked up any of these sets? Do you have a personal favorite? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments.

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LAST CHANCE! Pre-Order Doc's Ornament Valley Mechanical Clinic Precision Series Playset Today

UPDATE: Extended through 6/4/19! Let's make it happen!

In 2015, Mattel introduced the Disney·Pixar Cars Precision Series—a collection of highly detailed diecast vehicles and playsets "geared" toward adults and more serious Cars collectors. It was a dream come true for us fans. We would finally be getting the entire town of Radiator Springs in playset form after a decade of waiting—all with movie accurate lighting effects and details! The line started with Flo's V8 Cafe and then introduced new buildings year after year since: Fillmore's Taste-in, Sarge's Hut, Mater's Junkyard, Sally's Cozy Cone Motel, Luigi's Casa Della Tires, Lizzie's Curio Shop and Ramone's House of Body Art. This year, we were suppose to get Doc's Ornament Valley Mechanical Clinic...until we didn't.

When I visited Toy Fair in NYC back in February, a representative of Mattel told me [bluntly] that the line had been cancelled. WHAT!? With only three sets to go before completing the town (Doc's Clinic, the Piston Cup Racing Museum and the Courthouse), how could they? I was shocked. After being dedicated to this line for almost fours years and close to $1,000 spent collecting it, I could not be more bummed. I knew other fans would feel the same way, so I spread the news with hope we could do something about it.

Flash forward a bit and Mattel goes ahead and gives us collectors one last chance to save the line. On April 24th, they announced a crowed funding campaign of sorts. If they could receive 3,000 pre-orders by 5/21 (today), Doc's playset would go into production by next fall. If the set failed to acquire the needed amount of supporters, the line would be toast—bye, bye. No more. Finished.

Today is the last day and, unfortunately, the set only has 686 of the needed 3,000 backers. I know this post won't help much (if at all) at this point, but I wanted to share my thoughts and give it one last shot. If you have yet to pre-order one for your collection, you can do so on the Mattel Shop website HERE for $129.99. Note: You will not be charged unless the playset reaches the goal.

Check out the amazing prototype photos of this set below. It would have been absolutely AMAZING. The building has both Doc's clinic and his garage, detailed exactly as it appears in the film. It looks like these photos will be all we ever get of it though, so I guess we just have to soak in what could have been! Maybe, just maybe, one day Mattel will revisit this collection and produce the last three sets. We can only hope!

Have you backed this set yet? If you haven't, there's no time to waste! Again, pre-order HERE and let me know all your thoughts down below. Eight out of the eleven sets guys...we were so close.

#SaveRadiatorSprings

Toy Story 4 PEZ Collection Review

Toy Story 4 PEZ are here! I've been a pretty avid collector of Pixar related PEZ for about seven years now (see my PEZ label to the right of this page to explore) and was excited to see that a few new Toy Story designs were headed our way. Bo Peep is notably the newest here of these four (given that she's never been made in PEZ form), while Buzz, Woody and the alien are more retoolings of older releases. You can check out my original Toy Story PEZ post HERE (one of my very first posts on here ever).

In addition to these two collector sets, Woody, Buzz and Bo Peep have also been released individually (and can be found at stores like Five Below, CVS and other convenient/grocery stores). I opted to get these gift sets though so I could get the exclusive mini alien! The set with Buzz is the only way to get that one, so it only made sense.

Let's dive in to each of these further! Check out my detailed photos and additional thoughts below.

WOODY & BO PEEP

Woody is the exact same sculpt as the original, however his eyes have been repainted to look much more appealing (he looked a bit "dazed" in the initial release). Now his eyes are wide open instead of half shut. Bo, as mentioned, is brand new and looks great.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR & ALIEN

Buzz is also basically the same as the original, but this time he's sporting a white stem instead of a green one (he also has an updated, glossier paint job and his teeth are now painted in). As far as the alien, it's essentially the original head sculpt now on a mini stem—and the classic Pizza Planet icon has been added! I'm so glad they included that detail on this version. It's a really nice touch that was missing when the alien was first released in 2014.

All in all, they all look fantastic; both the PEZ dispensers themselves and the packaging! Though I wish we had a couple more new characters (Ducky, Bunny and Duke Caboom), it's fun to at least have Bo and some of the old designs/characters refreshed for 2019.  I purchased these sets at the PEZ Factory/Visitor Center in the next town over from me (in Orange, CT—it's a pretty awesome place to visit and they have a huge shop) for $4.99 each. You can also find them on the official PEZ online shop, eBay using this direct link and Amazon using the affiliate links below.

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments! 

NOTE: The art for these sets was directed by Keith Fulmis, lead designer at Disney Consumer Products for PEZ.

Toy Story 4: Hallmark Itty Bittys Assortment

Back in 2014, Hallmark introduced their exclusive collection of cute stylized mini bean bag plush called Itty Bittys. Five years later and the line is still going strong with now hundreds of pop culture characters (from Disney to Pixar to Marvel to Star Wars to Harry Potter and beyond)! I think of them as kind of the Funko POPs of the plush world. I was so thrilled recently to see that new characters would be introduced to the line based around Toy Story 4 and even more thrilled to have had these sent to me by Hallmark to review! I'm very grateful and super excited to share my thoughts.

It's been a hot minute since we've had any Toy Story Itty Bittys (the 2015 Buzz and Woody were the last and only ones). It's fun to finally have some additional characters—both old and new faces! Here we have Jessie, Gabby Gabby (a brand new character from Toy Story 4), a Pizza Planet Alien (marked as a "Hallmark.com Exclusive"), Buzz Lightyear and Woody (both marked "Special Edition"). And for those wondering if these versions of Buzz and Woody are different from the originals...yes they are! In fact, they're brand new. I know at first glance they may look the same, but there are quite a few differences (namely size and materials used). I'll be posting a video soon comparing the four of them. UPDATE 5/31—Bo Peep has been added! I had no idea she was being released until I found her at Hallmark last night. Very exciting and very cute!

Each Itty Bitty measures about 4"-5" in size, retails for $6.99 and is made up of a variety of soft fabrics/materials with some nice embroidered details. The beans/pellets inside the bottom half of the plush help give some weight to them so that they can stand on their own. And have I mentioned how absolutely adorable they are? Perfection. Take a closer look down below!

JESSIE

GABBY GABBY

ALIEN (ONLINE EXCLUSIVE)

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR (SPECIAL EDITION)

WOODY (SPECIAL EDITION)

BO PEEP

Unfortunately I don't have a release date for these at the moment (they haven't appeared in-store or online quite yet), but I did hear it could be Monday the 20th. I'll update this post with a direct link to buy as soon as they drop. UPDATE 5/31- You can find these at your local Hallmark NOW or online HERE! And, as shown in my Hallmark in-store photos below, I also found a few brand new Itty Bitty baby items (blankets and a plush stacking toy). How cute?! I hope the Rex gets released as a regular Itty Bitty as well.

To wrap things up here, I absolutely love these and you will too! Young or old, if you're a Toy Story fan, you will no doubt appreciate this assortment. I'm not sure I can even pick a favorite, but I will say I was the most surprised about Gabby Gabby! I knew Jessie and an Alien were coming, but when I opened the box these came in, I literally gasped and said "What?! Gabby Gabby??" My wife can attest, she said I looked like a little boy on Christmas morning. I guess these things really bring out the kid in me and I look forward to giving them to my future kids soon as well. They're perfect for cuddling!

I'm looking forward to hearing all your thoughts. Shout out your favorite characters and details in the comments below! Who would you like to see made next? Will you be picking these up for your collection?