A bit more Halloween

Since I was back over at my local Target buying cereal, I went to check out the Halloween stuff again. The store nearest me has been slow to put their Halloween stuff out, but they are *finally* doing it. And I did spot a few new items! But first I'll start with a couple of pictures I had left over from my weekend shopping.

This first one, I technically saw in CT first, but it was at the other store too... XD



It's a Mr Potato Head set for your pumpkin!! I think carving a pumpkin is more fun, but I still think this is a pretty interesting idea...



I also have been seeing this collection of piggies since the Halloween stuff came out, but I didn't get a picture until now. They seem to bring out new piggy bank designs every time they change their merchandise around. I like collectible things, so it makes me want to buy them... ^^; I'll resist tho. A collection of blind box vinyl figures doesnt take up much space. A collection of piggy banks would be quite massive! I do like the Halloween designs tho...

This next photo is from Wal-mart:



Those of you who find clearance toys and great stuff at your walmart clearly have access to better stores than I do. I am never impressed with what I find there! I honestly do better at K-mart, and I don't like K-mart. >.< I didn't find any clearance toys and the Halloween stuff was kinda blah. But it is impressive to see so many buckets! I liked how colorful they looked.

Moving back over to Tarket, I noticed this wreath:



It borders on being more Hallo-Christmas, which I'm sort of not in favor of, but I do like this wreath. Too bad my front door is not really suitable for wreaths...

They also had the usual collection of welcome mats and pumpkin and ghost pillows in the housewares section, but this one pillow amused me:



The subtle black-on-black design is perfect for if you want to decorate for Halloween but don't want to be tacky about it. XD

I also have to post some of the more amusing costumes. The dog costumes are always good for a laugh. They probably had these last year, but even if I took pictures before, I don't mind posting them again!



Dog submarine! XD



Look! Your dog can be a hot dog! But don't you think that might give him a bit of a complex?

Back to the people:



This inflatable rasta hat totally cracked me up! They had a bunch of other inflatable hats too (pirate, etc), but the rasta one was the one that made me laugh most!



This Dorothy costume is cute. The entire dress is sparkly, just in case you thought having only the ruby slippers sparkle was not enough for you... XD



I was also amused by this big bird costume. First a big bird costume at all is pretty funny, but since it's a rule that all adult female costumes should be sexy, I admire their efforts to make it a bit sexy without making you want to go "Ewww! Gross!" >.>

I don't usually dress up, but this year they have a little red riding hood costume!!



Since my first pullip was a little red riding hood, I seem to have started a small collection of little red riding hood artwork. So this is really really tempting. I am not sure yet if I'll have any Halloween plans... should I just buy it anyway? It's not that expensive. But you know, money I spend on one ridiculous item is money I can't spend on something else... sigh

Or I could just go low key and buy myself some kitty ears:



Just like you can be a lazy cosplayer by slapping a pair of kitty ears on, I guess you can do the same thing with Halloween costumes! XD

There were a few other things over in the dollar aisle, but I didn't get any pictures of them. I did like these light up pins tho, so I bought one.



They also had keychains and a skull design. If you like skull designs, there's lots of stuff at Target for you. Myself, I am not that into it, so I didn't take any pictures.

Moving on to the really *important* things, I spotted some new Hello Kitty stuff!



Every year there's some Hello Kitty Halloween baskets. They've gotten a bit lazy the past couple of years and just reused old (or at least similar) designs tho, which isn't so exciting. I think the black Hello Kitty is reused from last year. The other orange bucket tho, I don't think I've seen that before. It was only $5 so I bought it - I like the design a lot!

Here's the interior:



Isn't it adorable? Those buckets take up space, but you can always use them for something. Last two years I used my easter Hello Kitty basket to give out candy, so at least this year I can be more seasonally Kitty appropriate while I hand out candy... XD



They also had this "pillowcase" style bag. It was also $5 so I bought it too. ^^; I really don't know what I'll do with this. I guess I might be getting carried away...

Over in the Kids' aisle, there were some new Hello Kitty shirts. As I was saying in the previous post, if you are a smallish adult, you can probably wear the XL size. (and if you are a really small adult, maybe even the L!)



I like how even the spider looks happy in Hello Kitty land...



This one was my favorite, but I wasn't that tempted - I don't look good in orange. I'm hoping for more Halloween stuff from Sanrio itself as we get closer to Halloween, but I haven't seen any word of it yet other than the plushies I spotted at the stores in CT. They only had one of each design at the Milford and Trumbull stores tho, so I'm guessing they will still be stocking up more as it gets closer to Halloween. I'll be in CT and NY at the beginning of October to go to NY AnimeFest, so I'm waiting until then to see what I can spot.

Latest Hello Kitty and Blythe + LPS

Good news for those of you who liked the Sanrio 50th Anniversary lunchbox and travel mug I bought recently, but who couldn't find it themselves -



- I just got an email about how it is available on the Sanrio website!



The email also announced some other really cute lines. (I couldn't get it as a single picture)



I'm kind of fond of the "bake" line. I was just remarking that I probably should buy an apron because I keep getting stuff on my shirt while I'm cooking (^^; I never did this before, but I'm on a bad run!) - but of course if I get a Kitty apron I'd be in a quandry because I'd be more upset about ruining the apron than I would be about ruining my shirt!!

The Hello Kitty Japanese dolls are pretty cool too, but I am, for some reason, not as excited about those...

Shifting gears just slightly (Still Hello Kitty, but not the Sanrio website), I was at Target last night and noticed a few Kitty items of note...

First off, I'm not sure this is a new item, but I had to take a picture of it because I thought it was funny.



Non-removeable charm? What in the world would you do with this item? Are you supposed to hang the whole nailpolish bottle from something? o.O If you look carefully, you can see that's a sticker. I bet they added it because there were complaints! XD



This may not be new either, but I just really liked the design. It's lip gloss, so these are 3 little boxes. The thing is, they're *very* flat, so once the lip gloss was used up, I am not sure what else you could use it for.



This cosmetic set didn't seem familiar so I'm thinking it might be new. There's some cute stuff in there! I like the blueberry lip gloss - seems like a fun flavor!

In the toy aisle I saw a couple of things that were definitely new - some new mini "Sanrio Town" sets. At this point, if you'd bought them all as they came out, you could have an actual town! Granted, a town populated by multiple Hello Kittys, but that's not such a bad thing, right? ;)



I thought the choices this time were pretty funny - a travel agency and a dentist!



I haven't bought any of the previous little house sets, but I'm somewhat tempted by these due to their randomness! XD

Over in the kids' aisle I saw some new t-shirts (and more that will be in my next Halloween post)



Isn't this design cute? Of course the little kid shirts are not meant for adults. But if you are a smallish adult, you can probably manage to wear the XL size shirts...



I also noticed that the cute anniversary plush set was on sale! This presents an ethical dilemma for me in that I already bought one for the original price of $20. I didn't open it tho, so I am wondering if I should return it and rebuy it? I know, that's so lame, but I could save $5! And you know I'll just funnel it back into more Hello Kitty purchases... But I dunno, it's troublesome and I feel a bit bad about it. But if you haven't bought one, now's the time!

And speaking of sales that I missed, if you have been wanting the Blythe + LPS sets, now is the time to buy!



In case you can't see it well, the Blythe + LPS sets are included in this sale. If only I didn't buy mine already! But it's ok, because I did have a $5 off coupon when I bought mine, so I still saved some money. (I actually think they marked the price up slightly prior to the sale too - tho only by a dollar - but I could be wrong...)

A bit of new Barbie

Toys R Us was running some promotion on Barbie stuff last week - buy one get one half off or something? - so I had thought maybe I'd buy something on Saturday (the last day of the sale), but... there really wasn't anything to buy. I did see a few new items in the midst of my running around shopping yesterday, but still not much. It *seemed* like there were a few new clothes sets, but I think maybe they just changed the packaging?



See those bottom two? Same outfits, just different packaging. The right one matches with the other 'new' things I saw... (including the one at the top left)



I'm pretty sure this one has been around too, it was just one that I rarely saw. So... hm, nothing new, just new packaging? Blah.

The new packaging is meant to match with the new dolls, I'm sure. At least those are actually new - I think? These dolls come in and out of stock so fast, it's hard to keep track of them!



I don't remember these before at any rate. Even though the outfits are sort of cute, I don't want to pay the price of a new doll just to get a babydoll dress and some shoes. *sigh* I like the boots of the one on the left tho. And the dress on the one on the right. I think girl-on-the-left has the best overall look. The one on the right... I don't know what is going on with that headband thing! XD I guess it's not bad on its own, I just don't think that face works well with 'cute and sweet'.

Toys R Us had a new S.I.S. 'Ken' set...



He was stylish in the "Rocawear" release, but it looks like he's been taking clothing tips from regular Ken here. Bummer.

TRU also had this retro carry case:



And, while not Barbie, just a couple of notable new Moxie and Liv things - they've been on a major roll with releasing new stuff...



This 'ski cabin' set was both kinda cute and kinda amusing. I took a picture of the wrong side of the box, but I think it's totally funny that there's a 'bar' (you can see it in the cutout on the top left). What are all these underage kids drinking at a bar in the ski lodge anyway? I guess this is not the first time there's been a bar sort of playset, but I still find it kind of ridiculously inappropriate. Oh well. I like the fireplace tho, and the set overall is kind of cute. I think it would be too short for pullips tho, unfortunately. I am not sure what Moxie is doing with this fake snow tho. I guess I am old, but all I can think about is what a mess that would make! ^^;

Liv released the inevitable set with a horse:



I like the coat pattern, but the glass eyeball is even creepier in the horse than it is in the doll.



"Beware the Demon Horse!! If you get on its back it will carry you off to Hell, never to be seen again! Whoo hahahaha!"

That's all again, I'll post up a few more Halloween things soon.

Halloween at Target

Not too many pictures this time for two reasons: 1. the only Target in the area that has Halloween stuff so far is the Watertown one, and as I was saying in a previous post, that one is a madhouse - not the best for photos 2. I am not actually that inspired by Target's Halloween offerings this year! Sad, esp. as I am looking forward to Halloween! But it's ok, I have lots of fun stuff from previous years and there ARE other stores in the world besides Target - not that you might know it from me! XD

So probably my favorite thing they had was these lenticular (aka 3D or 'motion') pictures.



These two flip back and forth with a little scene about a mad scientist. On the right, he's bringing Frankenstein to life. On the left, his head gets turned into a pumpkin by the cute witch. I might have to get that one. They seemed to be about $6.



These are more straight-up haunted house. They turn from old-fashioned portraits into pictures of zombies/monsters. (sorry for the blur!)

For toy offerings, there were the previously shown Hello Kitty mini playsets, and some LPS figures (kind of cute! But I didn't get a picture. There's a kitty and a bat).



There's also these Lego minifigures, which is kind of neat. Legos seem to be really 'in' lately. There's a lego conference here in 2 weeks, I need to see more about going to that... (it's for kids, I think, but when does that ever stop me? ^^; I just want to take pictures tho!) Or, now that I've added the link, I am not so sure - $20 for a half-day of admission? Ouch!

As far as Barbie, I think Kelly really is gone, because I didn't see any little Kellys in the holiday aisle, and Target has always had some for every holiday. This is sad! I'm glad I got my little Frankie last year.



Instead we have some mini Bs. They are actually pretty adorable, I just miss Kelly. The mini Bs aren't really much fun, even if they are cute.



I like the pet cats!



And that's it! There are, of course, tons of other things, and maybe things you will be more excited about then me. Even tho I do love Halloween, I veer more towards cute than creepy so I don't always love all Halloween decorations. I'll try to get some more pictures later if I can. I saw glittery skeletons and skulls, which was a little odd. And the guy that designs the windows at Barneys for the holidays in NY has some special line of designer costumes, but they only had the endcap sign, and no actual costumes. I will have to look more at the costumes next time - they had some funny ones last year!

Halloween is Coming!

And I can't wait! I've been stalking Target, waiting for the Back to School stuff to clear out and the Halloween stuff to move in. I heard today was the first day of school for Boston kids, and sure enough, when I stopped by Target today (to buy yet another sale Tupperware bin - I need to throw more stuff out and store less of it in plastic bins, but I'm trying... ^^;) sure enough, the Halloween stuff was on its way in. I didnt see much there beyond candy, but the shelf space was all set up!

The only sad thing? Judging by the minimal signage in place, there's no cute character tie-in this year. Target seems to be going for a 'recession-friendly' theme...



"Trick or Treat on the Cheap"? Blah. The aisle signs just featured a somewhat generic candy design. I totally understand that stores don't want to risk stocking up tons of stuff and then not selling it, and sales have still be pretty flat from what I've been reading, but... this is not inspiring. Trust me, I have not been immune to the effects of the recession, and I've got better things to spend my money on than Halloween decorations, but all this is doing is making it easier to save my money. That's not what the stores want! Oh well, very little merchandise was out, so there's still some hope something cute will be in store. And, in fact, I did see a couple of cute Hello Kitty toys...



I love her squirrel friend in the pirate eye patch! XD



The bad news for Target is that I may still not buy these - the scale is too small for me to really do anything with...

There were also some cupcake liners and suchlike out, but I was shopping at the Watertown Target and I hate that store. I don't want to hate it, it's big and new, but somehow the people shopping there always drive me batty. Everyone shopping there acts like some sort of national emergency has been declared and they need to push you out of the way to get that last roll of toilet paper... Ok, it's not really *that* bad, but it's still crowded and hectic and perpetually out of stock of a lot of things. So I figured I'd take photos of the Halloween stuff later - even tho the aisles were empty, somehow people were still bustling thru the Halloween area. Well, I guess they might've been as eager for Halloween to start as I am!

Not Halloween related, but I also spotted a couple of other Barbie things I didn't remember and therefore might be new...



I think there's some sort of minor pet theme going on with Barbie this season, because I also spotted this:



Poodles are not my favorite dog, but this one is actually kinda cute...

Also saw this glam/sporty pair (and that purple outfit girl - I may or may not have seen her earlier). This goes along with the sassy/sweet pair I saw earlier*, I guess.



I like the bubble skirt on the glam girl...

*I can't find the picture of the sassy/sweet pair at the moment. I'll update that later...

Borders to sell Build-a-Bear stuff

Branching out a bit from my usual stock of photos, here is a link to a news story I thought was interesting... and a bit sad. Apparently, Borders is going to be selling Build-a-Bear items at their store in the near future. That's not sad in and of itself, but the *reason* makes me sad - Borders is not selling enough books to make money! This makes me sad for two reasons - I want to see people buying books (I do not love e-readers, I'm sorry...) and I also want to see Borders do well and not go out of business. Honestly, I spend so much money there myself, I have no idea how I am not single-handedly keeping them in business... Ha!

According to the article, they will be selling some sort of kits that can be used to make stuffed animals. I wonder if these will be cool in any way? I don't know how much fun "making" a stuffed animal really is outside of the build-a-bear store. Supposedly something similar will also be on sale starting next month at Michael's craft stores, so we may have more build-a-bear stuff around then we can shake a stick at... >.>

I would personally rather that Borders just offer more Paperchase stuff, but I suppose I may not be their typical customer, seeing as how I actually continue to buy books!

In addition to the Blythe Loves Littlest Pet Shop sets, I did buy a few other things. I also bought a couple of things in Boston right before I left, but I'll show those off in my next post (there's really not much). The bulk of the other stuff I bought was from the Sanrio store.



I ended up making two trips. On the first trip I bought the travel mug and the chococat keychain. I don't really need another travel mug, but they are handy, and look how awesome that design is! The mug has a 3D effect too, which is pretty nifty. I like the Sanrio travel mugs because they are steel inside, but the lid design kinda sucks (hard to clean). Oh well. I saw the charms as I was walking out the door and really needed to go back for them! I waiting until the next day tho, because I figured I'd give myself some time to really decide if I "had" to have anything else. I decided I needed the lunchbox too. I've been thinking I kinda wanted another one (for storage) and definitely this design is great! Buying the lunchbox got me the really cool 50th Anniversary bag too, which was a nice perk!



I had to go back to buy this Deery Lou charm - look how cute it is! They also had a Charmmy Kitty charm, but I feel like I bought that already. Of course, I have no idea where it is. I hope I can figure that out before I go back to CT or I may just buy another one. ^^; This trip I also bought a bracelet to attach the charms to. This was sort of a whim, but I'm glad I bought it. I think it will be fun to have a charm bracelet. I started attaching all the charms last night, I'll have to post a picture when I'm done - I have to find all my charms! In addition to the Charmmy Kitty charm I may/may not have, I know I have a couple of others (not sanrio)... uh... somewhere... >.<



I also bought this chococat charm for my friend. Sorry it's not the best picture, but he has a bird on his head! I am tempted to keep it/get another one for myself tho. We'll see... >.>



I really did want the big version of the Chococat (and My Melody) Kitty plushies, but a. I really feel like there's a limit to how many plushies I can have in my room and I'm already at that limit and b. there's also a limit as to how much money I should be spending on sanrio stuff, and I was over that limit. :/

I only got a trinket with the first purchase for some reason, I am not sure how they decide when to give those out... It's kind of amusing, it's like a 'secret' trinket, because it comes wrapped up in a little plastic envelope so you can't see what it is...



It turned out to be a Strawberry King trinket. I am actually not at all familiar with Strawberry King, I only found out about him recently - I am not sure when he was around, but he seems to be back for the 50th anniversary? I kind of wish it had been a trinket of a character I like better, but oh well, it's cute enough for a free item! XD



In addition to the trinket, I got a free 50th Anniversary bookmark:


The back is cute too, and explains the shape:



I bought just a couple of things at Target:



I'm really going to have to figure out a way to make those riding pants not-pink. They are so obnoxious!

The Harajuku Lovers pencil box was part of a small section of Harajuku Lovers stuff that was on clearance for 30% off. I don't think they ever had any of that stuff at the Boston Targets! Or, if they did, I never saw it. So it's always funny when the first time you see something is when it is on clearance. They also had folders, notebooks, memo cubes, and file boxes. I'm not the biggest Harajuku Lovers fan, so I didn't want any of the notebooks and folders - thanks to Hello Kitty, I have more of those than I could ever use in one lifetime! ^^; The file box was tempting, but it didn't have a lid (so not dust proof) and it was still $9. Didn't seem worth it...

I really could've gone a lot more crazy, but I'm going to the New York Anime Festival at the beginning of October, and that is sooner than I realize! So I'm trying to be 'good' and save money for that. I'm hoping there will be lots of good things to buy - tho not too many, so I don't go too crazy! I haven't been *that* good...