Hollywood2020

HAPPY 50th LEGOS....see what eBayers think!

So with all of the hoopla with Google running it's logo in LEGO bricks to celebrate the 50th anniversary, blogged by Joyce Schwarz @ www.hollywood2020.blogs.com, I headed over to their site www.legos.com.

And boy was I surprised-- no special 50th anniversary gifts, no collectibles...no ecards for Lego's 50th? Hmmm didn't quite CLICK with me? Okay, my favorite is still the Ferrari Lego or is it the Lego Ferrari -- see here:

eBAY & Legos....so we headed over to eBAY always a good zeitgeist about what's hot and what's not...and we saw lots of STAR WARS LEGO products selling for a few hundred or so..

but it wasn't until we scrolled down into the eBAY stores where we saw: Yep buy yourself a Lego EBAY store -- all inventory included-- only $37,999 -- ps shipping is FREE. Click on JPEG below for more details or check it out on eBay of course...

We also liked the Cowboy & Indians set -- 

Or this Lego toy signage

HAPPY LEGO DAY....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FAO SCHWARZ WEBSITE INTERACTIVE TOY HEAVEN

Okay, so we're watching the Regis & Kelly show on TV this morning blogged by Joyce Schwarz@ www.hollywood2020.blogs.com and we hear Kelly Ripa talking about going to the great FAO SCHWARZ store in NYC and designing a BARBIE doll with her son Joaquin on a computer in the store and then having the doll dressed with it's leopard outfit (she said that) walk down a runway (okay maybe it was a conveyor belt) and having a loudspeaker announce what the doll was wearing and designed by Joaquin --sounded so fantastic!

Virtual diamond bracelets, virtual tutus, doll factory & more...even monsters @ WWW.FAOSCHWARZ.COM

Hollywood2020 blogger Joyce Schwarz immediately went looking for info on the experience. But of course it was not online because you can't do it online! But we did find a treasure chest of fun experiences on the FAOSchwarz.com website.

HERE'S A TUTU WE MADE-- VIRTUALLY AT WWW.FAOSCHWARZ.COM

Here's some of the stuff we made for free -- yes, they want you to buy it but there's no reason on a rainy day you can't make it for free and give virtual bracelets, and virtual dolls and virtual tutus to your friends for Halloween or a birthday etc.

A HALLOWEEN TUTU WE MADE VIRTUALLYO AT WWW.FAOSCHWARZ.COM

We deliberately tried to junk stuff up and make it look scary for Halloween -- but it all came out looking pretty kewl. Enjoy your virtual trip to the toy factory!

BLACK AND ORANGE HALLOWEEN COLOR STROLLER-- PERFECT FOR YOUR LITTLE HALLOWEENER FOR TRICK OR TREAT DOOR TO DOOR --COURTESY OF OUR CUSTOM DESIGN AT WWW.FAOSCHWARZ.COM

INSIDE PREVIEW BARBIEGIRLS.COM

Well, you know I've got too much time on my hands when I need to venture into www.barbiegirls.com to become a kid again with my own 'Barbie' and my own room and more...the new website is a virtual world -- probably modeled on Secondlife.com or Habbo.com and the success of those virtual communities and also the ongoing competition from something like Stardolls.com which I've been a big fan of, Joyce Schwarz, blogging at www.hollywood2020.blogs.com.

OUR FIRST VENTURE INTO BARBIEDOM! .....lots of bugs and I don't mean the 8 legged kind...much of the software does not work or if it does it seems to get frozen. Some options say that you have to 'activate' your doll...hmm how do I do that. On the plus side it's fairly easy to do and yes, it works on the oldest computer I have in the office. Here's the insider view via pix. And more info on how you can read about this new Mattel venture is on the links below:

KNX1070

Mattel Launches Barbie-Themed Virtual World Marketing Vox News - 10 hours ago BarbieGirls.com is an online community hosted by an animated Barbie in an all-pink environment. New users can build an avatar, then interact with the ... Mattel gives internet insight into Barbie Stuff.co.nz Barbie® Launches the World’s First Global Online Community ... TechWhack Barbie line getting a fresh look Earthtimes.org all 72 news articles »

 

 

GOOD MORNING AMERICA FEATURES FULLA DOLL DURING SYRIA TRIP/INTERVIEWS

Fulla dolls are a hit around the world and this year they are heading to TOY FAIR in NYC Toy Fair NEW YORK 2007 blogged by Joyce Schwarz @ www.hollywood2020.blogs.com.

Fulla dolls are featured on GOOD MORNING AMERICA during Diane Sawyer's trip to Syria.

FULLA DOLL OUTSELLS BARBIE IN MIDDLE EAST SINCE 2003

According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "The doll, which has been outselling Barbie in the Middle East since its launch in 2003, is the latest example of a new crop of dolls reflecting different races, values, religions and cultures. Fulla will appear at the 2007 Toy Fair in New York City in February. Other doll companies, such as American Girl and Dolls Like Me, also have introduced ethnic dolls, including African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian options.\

 

Named after a fragrant flower, the Fulla line includes a variety of dolls dressed in clothes that reflect different countries in the Middle East and Asia.
"The message that Fulla brings ... is promoting good virtues for little girls," said Basel Kanawati, chief technology officer for NewBoy, the company that created Fulla. "It's asking girls to take pride in themselves and not dress for boys and be the sex symbols that other dolls tend to be."

Hollywood2020.blogs.com will attempt to locate Basel Kanawati, chief technology officer to see a) why they need a tech officer for  doll that does not appear to talk and b) why someone with his exact name is working at IBM Research Triangle in North Carolina.

PIXEL CHIX VIDEO IN FRENCH

PIXEL CHIX SPEAK FRENCH....

Description

Démo lors de la conférence de presse. On voit le caractère de la bougresse !

Hollywood2020.blogs.com found a Pixel Chix video in French...click on the JPEG to see more info and see this blog for details.

Video inside the Pixel Chix house-- our house does not let in Pixel Chix pals so we're wondering which house does -- according to this video from Mattel and posted by someone named Fannysparty.(fannyb.typepad.com) on Daily Motion

try this to see if it clicks you through to the video

if not try this link: fannyb.typepad.com/fannysworld/2006/02/index.html

PIXEL CHIX ON WIKIPEDIA

Hollywood2020.blogs.com blogger Joyce Schwarz just found Pixel Chix listed on wikipedia.com --here's the link: Pixel Chix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Here's a recap of some of the major points Wikipedia covers about the Chix:

*similar to Tamagotchi  *LCD screen and controlling buttons

*There are three different types of houses (blogger note-- plus the 2 story houses).

The more they are played with, the higher level they become

higher levels introduce different types of food, more clothes and more places to go out.

However, if they are neglected, they will decrease in levels.

Also included is info about such areas as a) Products b) Clothes c)food d) Beauty items (in 2 story houses) e) Accessories

NOTE -- still no list of all the words the Pixel Chix will say nor additional info on what each Pixel Chix says that is different in each house or in the car or at the mall...we're off in search of any video on Pixel Chix-- think we just spotted one in FRENCh of all things! js.

WEBKINZ --BUILDING THE BRIDGE FROM RL TO SL --FROM REAL TO VIRTUAL....

MORE BARBIES CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET THAN AMERICANS IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS...by Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, blogging at www.hollywood2020.blogs.com.

Back in 1999, Nicholas Negraponte,then co-founder and director of MIT's MEDIA LAB, told the BBC NEWS that "There are likely to be more Barbie dolls connected to the Internet in ten years than Americans". It's one of this bloggers favorite quotes by digital gurus. (to read more of that article click here:BBC News | The Economy | Guru predicts web surge)

WEBKINZ CONNECT REAL WORLD TO VIRTUAL WORLD....and kids too!

www.webkinz.com --you can only connect to this kids virtual world IF you bought a real-life plush toy from GANZ called what else WEBKIN! BUT YOU CAN TAKE A FREE TOUR...check it out...

Now it seems that millions of real life plush toys called WEBKINZ are helping to make Negraponte's vision start to come true...okay-- not Barbie Dolls but toys that do indeed connect not only to the Internet but to bring kids from the real world into the Virtual World.

Here's how the WEBKINZ system works

1) Go to a store-- and buy a real life Webkinz plush toy or a LilKinz plush

Lilkinz unicorn mini-plush --pictured in JPEG...you can take the Unicorn from real life and then link to a 'second-life' not at www.secondlife.com but at it's own virtual world called www.webkinz.com 

2) CHECK YOUR WEBKINZ Plush toy or your LILKINZ mini-plush to find out its secret code (see Pix to note it's on the hangtag).

www.webkinz.com --don't lose the hangtag on your new Webkinz plush because you'll need the 'secret code' in the hangtag to connect to the Webkinz world !

                            3) GO TO  www.webkinz.com

                           

THE ONLINE ADOPTION CENTER at www.webkinz.com

Welcome to the Webkinz adoption center at www.webkinz.com -- you can't go into the Webkinz world unless you have the secret code from your Webkinz plush toy purchase...you must enter it on this web page -- click on JPEG to see details

The adoption center at www.webkinz.com appears to be run by a duck?

There are lots of different Webkinz to pick from in real life -- like off-line is what we mean --

and also a big selection of Lilkinz --

but remember you have to buy them off-line in real stores and have their secret codes in order to check into www.webkinz.com virtual world.

Once you register at the adoption center at www.webkinz.com you will get an avatar (cartoon-like representation) of your real life Webkinz plush --it could look like this one-- you can name it, and you can tell Webkinz if it's a boy or girl-- you make that decision...then you can take your 'virtual pet' into a virtual world at www.webkinz.com

Get it -- first get the plush toy-- by Webkinz ONLY and LilKinz from Ganz toy manufacturer and then check it's hangtag...and go to www.webkinz.com and enter the secret code to get your virtual avatar of your pet -- look above to see how this plush turns into that avatar.

www.webkinz.com has it's own KINZ chat -- which they say is VERY safe for kids of all ages. 

webkinz.com says they have new stuff every day to do-- here's a schedule

You can play games at webkinz.com and earn Webkinz money to use at the site to buy decorations for your room or your virtual pet.

You can even get a virtual job in the virtual world at www.webkinz.com

You get a room for your 'virtual pet' at www.webkinz.com and you can then buy accessories and more for your 'Webkinz".

You can enter a games tournament at www.webkinz.com and win $$ good for buying new accessories or furniture for your Webkinz virtual room or virtual pet.

STARDOLL.com OFFICIALLY HOLLYWOOD2020 FAVORITE POST --- NOW $6 MILLION RICHER

STARDOLL.com posts by blogger emerging marketing and business development consultant Joyce Schwarz, Hollywood2020.blogs.com is the most popular post of all on our blog! It's official. Yesterday more than 800 page views for Stardoll posts alone! Yes, 800+. www.stardoll.com.

STARDOLL post -- took over our blog-- it went beyond the borders--we're just going to leave it and come back and fix it later??????? Sorry if it bugs you-- go to www.stardoll.com and you'll have fun. Guess you can blog outside of the lines like you can color outside of the lines too??

Hollywood2020 started covering Stardolls.com back in February,2006 -- here's one of the most popular links -- of course it mentions Angelina Jolie --we know how to get the buzz going> Hollywood2020: STARDOLLS-- DRESS UP ANGELINA JOLIE AND MORE STARS. We covered it again in May --Hollywood2020: STARDOLL.COM -- HOT HOLLYWOOD2020.Blogs.com POST ...

GOOD NEWS -- now Stardoll.com is $6 million richer...Online dolls get $6 million to spend Stardoll.com, a Stockholm, Sweden-based children's site, has raised a Series B round of funding from Google-backer Sequoia and its original investor, Index Ventures.

According to PR Newswire June 27 release: PRNewswire/ -- Stardoll.com, the online dress- up and makeover community, today announced the close of a $6 million Series B round. The round was led by US-based Sequoia Capital with previous investor Index Ventures also participating. The press release explains: The investment syndicate brings together two of the most active and successful investors in the consumer Internet area. Between them their successes include Yahoo, Google, Skype, PayPal and Betfair.

Angelina dressed in a flowing party dress--

ooh did you see how fast she got her pre-pregnancy figure back!

Links to Hollywood2020blogs.com post on Stardoll.com = fashion.hostevelen.com/dress-fashion-game-star-up.htm - 63k - cached AND www.buscasitios.com/index.php/ Society/Holidays/Online_Games/ - 25k - Supplemental Result - Cached ANDdress-up-fashion-games.fashion-mania.com/  AND

Links, News, Photos and Blogs related to Different for Girls ...  AND

Information about design fashion game girl online  AND

gada.be/d/blog-awards - 96k - Supplemental Result - Cached - even JAPAN:

Information about dress fashion girl game up

MORE BACKGROUND ON THE FOUNDER OF STARDOLL.com -- we love this site and the fact that it is the brainchild of a 50 year young woman is FABULOUS....aren't we all children at heart.

I know this blogger Joyce Schwarz is really only 14 years old!!!  I MAY HAVE SAID THIS BEFORE -- but one of my favorite hobbies was to make hats (out of paper cups) for my Barbie-type dolls -- I think maybe I had one Barbie Doll but of course I had to cut her hair and restyle her the way I wanted etc...which drove my mom up the wall!

Founder info (NOTE -- we have no connection to Stardoll.com -- we have never even talked to them-- but someday --maybe this summer we will head to Scandinavia and stop by and say hello in Stockholm -- by then they will probably have $20 more million !!! )

• WHAT IS STARDOLL.com?
• WHAT's that site all about: The site features more than 330 celebrity dolls whom users can style with thousands of different clothes and accessories. Each week the site attracts more than 1.2 million unique visitors from over 200 countries.

ANNOUNCING "MEDOLL"

Besides celebrity dolls, the site will be launching the MeDoll feature, which allows users to create a personalized doll whom they can dress with merchandise from a virtual store. In addition to increasing revenues from user payments, this new feature also creates opportunities for marketing partnerships with fashion, retail and media brands.

MOST POPULAR DOLLS

-- according to the website as of Tues, June 27 8 pm PST

1.	Ashlee Simpson 2
2.	Christina Aguilera 3
3.	Rihanna
4.	Ciara
5.	Lindsay Lohan 2

OOOOh we found such a kewl new Stardoll that he/she -- we'll surprise you deserves it's own post-- that's next! Tune in again in an hour or so Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, www.joycecom.com, [email protected].

HASBRO CANCELS PUSSYCAT DOLLS

HASBRO CANCELS THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS DOLLS: Have the heirs of Barbie hit limit for risqué dolls? Fascinating CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR STORY on the 'heris fo Barbie'. Here's an excerpt:

No stripper dolls for today's tweens! It's really important to know that corporations can be stopped; it really underscores the importance of people working together to stop commercial exploitation of children," says Susan Linn, the cofounder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which spear-headed a letter-writing effort with the national nonprofit Dads & Daughters. "[The Pussycat Dolls] was a ratcheting up of the kind of precocious irresponsible sexuality that is being marketed to little girls."

AOL LIVE POLL AGREES WITH HASBRO DECISION TO CANCEL 14 INCH DOLLS:

click on thumbnail

to see what AOL readers say about whether Hasbro should have nixed the dolls!

WANT TO SEE MORE OF THE DOLLS?

Get ready for virtual night clubs Go to PCDmusiclounge.com and see what Doppelganger and the PCD's have ready for your weekend of virtual fun!