''ToyFare'' was a monthly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published by

Wizard Entertainment Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as GoEnergy and Wizard World, is a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America. The company started as the holding company for Strato Malmas' interests in the energy business. Gareb Shamu ...

that focused on collectible

action figure An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are ...

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s, and

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

s. It previewed new and upcoming lines and figures each month, as well as providing a price guide for toy lines, both new and old. ''ToyFare'' was also known for its satirical humor.

Publication history

The magazine began publication in 1997, initially borrowing many features which first appeared in its sister magazine, '' Wizard''. It maintained a steady monthly schedule, reaching its 100th issue in December 2005. ''ToyFare'' featured alternative covers, first with issue #20, and subsequently was used with almost every issue after #57. Along with its sister publication, '' Wizard'', ''ToyFare'' ceased publication on January 24, 2011.Melrose, Kevin (January 24, 2011)
"Breaking: Wizard and ToyFare magazines fold"
''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

''. The final issue published was #163.

''Twisted ToyFare Theatre''

The most popular feature in ''ToyFare'' was ''

Twisted ToyFare Theatre ''Twisted ToyFare Theatre'' (''TTT'') was a popular, humorous comic strip in the monthly magazine ''ToyFare''. Originally titled ''Twisted Mego Theatre'', it predominantly featured scale action figures made by the Mego Corporation (a line very po ...

'' (''TTT''), a humorous

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

done by photographing toys on sets built by the magazine's staff (this technique was likewise used for covers for much of the magazine's earlier run). The strips predominantly featured action figures produced by the

Mego Corporation The Mego Corporation was an American toy company that in its original iteration was first founded in 1954. Originally known as a purveyor of dime store toys, in 1971 the company shifted direction and became famous for producing licensed dolls (i ...

, toys popular in the 1970s, during the childhoods of much of the magazine's staff. Most of the regular figures/characters featured in the strip were

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

characters, such as

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

(popularly known as "Mego Spidey")Thomas, Jr., Dr. Ronald C. "Playing with Themselves: ''Robot Chicken'' and 'Twisted Toyfare Theatre,'" ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' (Oct. 2010), pp. 17-19. and the Incredible Hulk. ''Twisted ToyFare Theatre''s popularity was such that

released several

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

collections of the strips.

The Monthly Rag

The magazine added "The Monthly Rag", a feature similar to

supermarket tabloid Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...

s, presenting parody articles using various toy and

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

references. (An example would be an article reporting on the

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

debate on the planet Cybertron, home of the robotic

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

). Originally, this feature's main articles were humorous exaggerations of actual toy-related stories (such as news of the ''

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show, often referred to as simply ''He-Man'', was one of the most popular anima ...

'' series' release on DVD, reported as "Shocking

He-Man He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by h ...

Footage Made Public!"), and a sidebar column would appear somewhere within the "Monthly Rag" section with short summaries of the real news behind the exaggerated articles.

Regular features

* Monthly

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

s with ridiculous or nonsensical predictions, supposedly written by

Cobra Command Cobra (sometimes referred to as Cobra Command) is a fictional terrorist organization and the nemesis of the G.I. Joe Team in the Hasbro action figure toyline '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' and '' G.I. Joe: Sigma 6'', as well as in related ...

hypnotist/interregator Crystal Ball (billed as "psychic to the famous toys"). * An

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are w ...

headed by a fictional character who, because of a specific situation or certain quirks in their personality, gives advice that ranges from useless to extremist to outright non-sequiturs. An example would be "Ask

Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

, Burning in Lava" (a reference to the character's horrific fate at the end of '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith''); all of Skywalker's responses were non-sequiturs, primarily cries of pain and lamentations about his fall from grace. * A classified section featuring ads supposedly placed by various fictional celebrities, such as movie or TV characters and

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es. * The "Page Sixteen Girl", a photo on said page of a "sexually appealing" female action figure, a parody of the

Page Three Girl Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishing ...

, a feature originating in the

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

-owned

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

tabloid '' The Sun''. * Parodies of comic strips, primarily drawn by Ryan Dunlavey, usually placing toy or other pop culture characters in the roles of an established comic strip, such as "Cringerfield", which placed the feline character

Cringer Cringer is a fictional large cat in the ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise. He has green and orange striped fur, similar to that of a tiger (although his species is not truly known), and is Prince Adam’s feline companion. Whenever Adam tr ...

from the

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...

mythos into a setting similar to that of the comic strip character

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

(with He-Man in the role of

Jon Arbuckle Jonathan Q. Arbuckle is a fictional character from the ''Garfield'' comic strip by Jim Davis. He also appears in the animated television series ''Garfield and Friends'' and ''The Garfield Show'', two live-action/ CGI feature films, and three f ...

Exclusive offers

''ToyFare'' featured mail-away offers for exclusive merchandise. At first it largely offered

Toy Biz Toy Biz (also stylized as ToyBiz), was a toy company which later became a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment and was renamed to Marvel Toys. It was best known for producing action figures and toys and holding the Marvel Comics license from 1990 t ...

figures that had been repainted or slightly modified into other characters, though the magazine later went on to offer exclusive figures that ran the industry gamut, including figures from

Jakks Pacific Jakks Pacific, Inc. is an American company that designs and markets toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses. The company is named after its founder, Jack Friedman, who had previously fou ...

Minimates Minimates are a block-styled miniature action figure originally created by Art Asylum in 2002 and now released by Diamond Select Toys. The basic Minimate figure design has a tall body that resembles an extremely simplified human form with 14 point ...

, and

HeroClix HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system that centers on the world of superhero comic books, especially the DC Comics and Marvel universes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, ...

Connection to ''Robot Chicken''

Several former ''ToyFare'' staffers, such as

Doug Goldstein Douglas Goldstein (born September 12, 1971) is an American screenwriter and television producer and director, primarily known for his work as co-head writer on the late-night animated series ''Robot Chicken''. He won three Emmy Awards for episodes ...

Tom Root Tom Root (born September 20, 1973) is an American writer, producer, director and voice actor for '' Robot Chicken''. Early life Root was born in Iowa City, Iowa. He attended Central Michigan University, graduating with a degree in journalism. W ...

, and

Matthew Senreich Matthew Ian Senreich (; born June 17, 1974) is an American screenwriter, television producer, director, and voice actor best known for his work with animated television series ''Robot Chicken'', which he co-created with business partner and close ...

, went on to help create the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

program ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...

'' with actor

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...

, whose humor is in the same vein as ''

''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Ed Johnson Presents SUFFIX STORIES - Action Figure Webcomics FANSITE
Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1997 Magazines disestablished in 2011 Magazines published in New York City Satirical magazines published in the United States