googlea875c0213e6e807d.html] Fandads: Playing with toys at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair #ChiTAG

Monday, December 14, 2015

Playing with toys at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair #ChiTAG



A few weeks ago the Fandads took part in Chicago Toy and Game Week and it was a blast like always.  We saw some amazing fashions and played with some pretty cool toys. Here is a quick recap of what went down that fun filled weekend. 

Our week started by attending the PlayCHIC fashion show on Thursday.  Now, while I myself am not really a fashion blogger, I do like seeing nice clothes and enjoy a night out with fellow bloggers and toy enthusiasts.

The fashion show took place at the Alhambra Palace and it was a fantastic time. We were treated to a variety of incredible food and an open bar. I ran into and hung out with Count Gregula for a good portion of the night and he had some fun and hilarious stories that he shared with us. If you have not, check out his site and tell him that the Fandads sent you. 



Throughout the night, we saw fashions inspired by some of the toys that were being showcased at the Toy and Game Fair.  There were fashions inspired by Zoomer Kitty, Meccano, Mystery Game and more. This is such a fun night to attend and my wife and I had a great time. Now let's talk about the toys we saw. 



Saturday we were invited to the Media and Blogger Breakfast for the Chicago Toy and Game Fair and we were able to meet and hear some of the toy creators and talents that were on hand.  After our breakfast, we were able to walk around the showroom floor and get our hands on the toys. 

While there were a lot of great toys on the event floor I am going to tell you about the few that stood out to us and the ones that my children enjoyed. 

PAW PATROL

Paw Patrol has been a big thing in my home since last year's ChiTAG. We were lucky enough to have SpinMaster send us some Paw Patrol toys and my son has been a fan since. He watches the shows and tries to sing along with the theme song whenever it comes on.

While walking around, my son made a beeline to the toys and had fun playing with them. There were a lot more play sets than we have seen and I bet he would like some of them for the upcoming holidays.  



SEW COOL

I recently got myself a sewing machine, because after making our Halloween costumes this year, I  got the bug to make our own costumes for the upcoming comic conventions.  

SpinMaster must have known that my daughter wanted to help me because they have an awesome sewing machine for kids.  The Sew Cool Sewing Studio is a threadless sewing machine that is safe for children ages 6 and up.  My little girl made a few stuffed pillows/characters with the machine and it was so incredibly easy for her. 


SAGO SAGO 

As a tablet owner one thing my children love to do is play games on it a lot.  I'm always looking for fun and/or educational games for them to play.  Nowadays you have a lot of in-game purchases that can get a little costly. Fortunately, I have my tablet password protected so my children do not buy extra things that they don't need. 

Here is where Sago Sago comes in.  They have a line of apps that have no in-game purchases and their games are pretty fun to play.  At their booth, my children played with a few of the Sago Mini games and they loved them.  At one point my son put his hands in the air when he completed a task and screamed with glee. 


The staff at the Sago Sago booth were very friendly and talked to us about their apps and helped my son navigate through one of the apps.  These apps range from free to $14.99 for bundles and are available for iOS devices on the app store.  You can also buy their plush characters on the Sago Sago site


Adventure Sandwich 

I've talked about Adventure Sandwich last year and this year we got to experience it a little more and I think I had more fun playing with cardboard than my daughter did. She found a cool piece of curved cardboard and said she wanted to make a jet pack.  So after a few minutes of looking around, we found some great pieces to make this awesome jet pack you see in the picture below.

I'm surprised it made the ride home in one piece.


STAR WARS

Of course seeing the 501st walking around the show floor in uniform is something that I always love to see.  While my son is still a little wary of the Dark Side/First Order, my daughter loves seeing them walking around and asking them to take a picture with her.  Maybe next year I can convince her to wear her Captain Phasma costume to the show. 



SHOPKINS

Sooner or later this big toy trend was going to hit Fandads Homebase, but I was not expecting it to hit home so soon.   My in-laws bought my daughter her first Shopkins set and ever since then she's been obsessed, I mean in love with the series. I did not know that there were already 3 seasons of these toys, so it seems like we are going to be playing catch up until we can find them all.


RAZOR

Razor scooters had a lot of cool products out on the floor that I wished we had the time to try them all, but my daughter was able to try out their DeltaWing.  Maybe she was not ready for it now, but it was a pretty good try. I can not wait until I can get my hands on the Crazy Cart XL, because that thing was pretty awesome! Maybe I can get one for my birthday next year.


  
A video posted by Gil and Victor (@fandads) on


My family and I had a lot of fun at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair and we can not wait to go back.  We want to thank Mary Couzin for having this event every year and for inviting the Fandads.  If you are interested in purchasing some of these toys, click on the links provided to go to the product websites.

(Disclaimer: The Fandads received free entry to both the PlayCHIC Fashion show and the Chicago Toy & Game Fair, but all words and opinions are our own.)


Update:  Our next family game night is going to be a lot of fun thanks to this package that we recently received from SpinMaster.  We will have a review on these games up soon.





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