How many people did you tick off today? Well Disney ticked off hundreds!

I only ticked off one person today...well, three at most.

I came across this brouhaha because I am a fan of the Disney Store on Facebook.

Apparently Disney released some Limited edition dolls today online. Specifically, a line of Disney Princess Designer Dolls.

These dolls, listed at $59.50 a piece, are limited edition collector's items (only 4,000 of each doll) that were being sold on ebay, moments after selling out, for $150 to $250 each.

It is supply and demand.  People get in line at stores and online and buy up hot selling toys with the hope that they can re-sell them for a profit. I get it. Money makes the world go around. But I don't have to like it and it is making people angry.

Another of the issues making people angry is the online shopping experience.  MANY people are complaining that they were able to put items in their cart only to have the site crash during payment.  When people log back in - their cart was empty and the dolls were sold out.

A few of the comments on their Facebook page:

 ebayers congrats for taking them all and making so much money on other people's misfortune...

So disappointed its going to be one girls worse christmas

So sad for the children that are terminally ill & didn't get a princess of their dreams!

The Disney Store officially has the WORST customer service ever

So everyone is finally waking up to how Disney feels about its consumers?

VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED!!! DISNEY YOU STINK!!

I am truly sad that I was not able to fulfill her one Christmas wish

Absolutely disgusting. I will never purchase anything from the Disney Store again.

There are a few people sticking up for Disney:

I wish people would remember that at the end of the day they are only dolls. I too wanted them but wasn't successful - There is no way Disney could have prevented the site from crashing there were just way to many people trying to get them at one time.

Boy people really don't get the concept of limited edition do they?

Talk of "Class action lawsuits"? Really????? Look around what's going on in the world and put it in perspective!!!

 Pretty sure by Christmas your kids will find something new that "they want so bad"

I am kind of with the folks sticking up for Disney. It is a collectible doll "intended for adult collectors  -- Not a child's toy". I am all about spoiling my kids, but there gets to be a point where you need to teach a child about limits. Talk about ruining someone's Christmas is hopefully just an exaggeration.  While Disney could improve the system by which they give people false hope by letting them put items in their cart that don't exist, they were fully upfront about the limited-ness of the dolls.

One thing is for sure, this outrage can serve as a PR reminder to companies about instant, public customer feedback (Facebook, Twitter, etc).

It will be curious to see how Disney responds over the next couple of days. For now,  their Twitter account posts this:

DisneyStore Disney Store 

Please continue to check online for all updates in regards to our Designer Dolls. Have a Magical day!

Life Sized Morphology Game

Morphology is a great party game. For our review you can check out One Zillion Games.

On October 8th, 2011, I had the privilege to take part in playing the 1^st annual life-sized Morphology game.

The event was put on by Morphology creator Kate Ryan Reiling, with the help of artist William Cravis and a team from Marbles: The Brain Store.

It was held at the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis right next to (quite appropriately) the GIANT spoon.

The rules were altered a bit for brevity and safety (read: no blindfolded building with giant popsicle sticks in a crowd of over 60 next to a little pond), but the concept was the same – you (the Morphologist) have 60 seconds for your team to guess the word(s) on your card by manipulating giant pawns, popsicle sticks, rope, marbles/beach balls, cubes, and a barrel.

Here is one family website's advice to game developers – if you have a game that you think might be fun SUPER SIZED, then do it! It adds a game play element that really is unforgettable. Same goes for you game players out there – if you have a game that you like to play and the chance to play a GIANT version of it, then do it!

Some of us came from already being fans of the game on Facebook, some people came from a MeetUp listing, and others were just walking by and wanted to see what the heck was going on.

Here is a shot of the winning team, the Master Morphologists if you will:

Way to go, Team Yellow!

Top Toys for the 2011 Holiday Season

The time to think about Christmas shopping in upon us.  Besides last week's Toys R Us list of must have toys, we have today's Toy Insider list.

There are quite a few commonalities between them:

UPDATE: A few of the toys above (Fijit-aka purple thing, LeapFrog LeapPad, and Let's Rock Elmo) were also given the 2011 Platinum Oppenheim Portfolio Toy of the Year Award.

And Disney announced its 10 Toy of the year awards, and the LeadPad was on it.

So, four lists and one product on each of them.  I guess you'd better take a look at the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer.

UPDATE!  Now Walmart has their top 20 list and guess what is on it...the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer.

On a lot of "must buy" lists

Here are links to the complete lists:

Toy Insider list

Toys R Us list
Disney List

Oppenheim awards.
Walmart List

Ducky Momo Loves Books!

If you’ve seen Disney’s Phineas and Ferb, then you may be familiar with a minor (but beloved) character; Ducky Momo!

Chippy Chipmunk is good.  Look for our review soon.

For a history of how I made a Ducky Momo for my niece you can click here.

I am hosting a cross-blog giveaway of one (1) brand new, hand made, piece of fan art inspired by Disney’s Phineas and Ferb (very much like the Ducky Momo featured in the picture above).

You can enter daily at EACH of the three sites hosting this giveaway. All you need to do is fill out an entry form at each of the sites you visit.

One Zillion Books - You are already here!

One Zillion Games

The Felicia Day Project

Copyright for the picture on the left belongs to Disney

Check out the etsy page if you want to buy one.

Why I don't let my kids on the internet by themselves

"Ooh, can we watch a Phineas and Ferb music video?"

"How about a Monster High episode?"

"And listen to a Ralph's World song?"

Ahh, the innocence of children wanting to watch a clip that they know they can probably find on You Tube.

Here is the screen shot from the Ralph's World song we listened to:

Screen Shot From You Tube - Here is the Live Page

Why the You Tube has made a few errors in judgement:

"Sexy and I Know It"

"F**kin' Perfect"

"What the Hell"

Really?  Check out the P!nk song.  The first 12 seconds is a sex scene.

Note: If you have "Safe Mode" enabled on You Tube, you still see the same screen shot above, but when you click on F**kin' Perfect, you get a content blocked message. 

We all know to surf the web with out kids, but sometimes it is a good thing to be reminded why.

Going back to school with El Skippito in Skippyjon Jones Class Action

#116 of one zillion

Author: Judy Schachner
Illustrator: Judy Schachner
Publisher: Dutton (2011)

I will start by saying what I said in my review for Mummy Trouble: Read the first book before the rest. It doesn't matter what order you read any of the others in, but the first book introduces the characters and the premise in a way that makes the others much easier to follow.

We are a Skippyjon Jones family.  The creative silliness that comes from these books is great.  You've got a Siamese cat that pretends to be a chihuahua (his ears are too big for his head, his head is too big for his body - he must be a chihuahua).

Our first reading of Class Action was the night before school started this fall - something to set the mood.

Skippyjon really wanted to go to school, but (in the world of talking cats) cats don't go to school - only dogs.  It is a good thing that Skippyjon can head into his closet which houses his imagination and embrace his inner-chihuahua.

Class Action is my favorite of the follow-ups to the original Skippyjon Jones book.

If you want a preview, the first 9 pages are available as read by the Author, Judy Schachner.

The audio is from the included (with the hard cover copy we bought) CD of the author reading the book. I like the author readings of the book because I always like to hear the inflections and pronunciations of the author, BUT I always make the kids wait until we have read it through at least once.  I want them to make internal connections and inflections before hearing the author's.


My daughter's score: thumb up

My son's score: thumb up

My score: 8 points

Octi - Build, Move, Conquer

Publisher: FoxMind Games

Designed by: Donald Green

Players: 2

Age Recommended: 8+

Octi Rules: http://www.foxmind.com/media/36897/octi_en.pdf
_________

Octi is like checkers on steroids.

The object is to get a single piece onto an enemy's home base. Easy enough - you just start moving that direction. Therein lies the rub. You piece starts the game looking like this:

Not able to move - Nothing like the powerhouse piece shown on the cover!

If you want it to move, you need to give it the power to do so. With the addition of a yellow arrow, your piece gains the ability to move IN THAT DIRECTION ONLY.

You can take turns adding directions, but if you take too many turns preparing, your opponent may already be on the move towards your base.

I know I should be the one writing the review, but there is a quote from the rules that sums up the strategy perfectly:

"At its core, Octi comes down to a choice between moving one's pieces or making them stronger."

We really enjoyed this game, and what I described is only the basic game rules. I truly appreciate a game that supplies different levels of game play (the rules come with an "Octi Extreme" adaptation, among others)

One Zillion Books was provided with a review copy of Octi from FoxMind Games. The fact that a sample copy was provided, in no way influences our opinions of the game.


Congrats to Kristen L of Roseville CA