While many didn’t notice, a massive change has just occurred across two of the world’s biggest toy lines… and it’s a great thing!
Firstly, a Facebook campaign called ToyLikeMe has persuaded LEGO to make their first ever wheelchair bound figure after 58 years in business.
The site strives to make toys more realistic and, as such, less alienating to kids who are a little different. And we can’t support that enough!
During the London Toy Fair word spread that a new wheelchair element had been created and features in set 60134 Fun in the Park. Now images have come out of Nuremberg Toy Fair thanks to Promobricks and Brickfans, which confirms that one of the 14 included minifigures is indeed a young chap in a wheelchair, who also appears to have a helper dog.
Well done to all involved, this makes us all at FTN very happy…
But, wait, there’s more…
LEGO may be 58, but it’s taken Mattel’s Barbie line 57 years to finally release a line of toys that (reasonably) honestly reflect real women.
The iconic toy line has revealed three new body type and will be part of the Barbie Fashionistas line.
On Time’s website, Mattel’s Evelyn Mazzocco, the head of the Barbie brand, said it took too long to happen but sometimes it’s tough to make changes with a big corporate brand.
Perhaps it took too long for both these lines to do these things but we at FTN support anything that makes children, no matter who they are, feel a little more comfortable in their bodies.
Well done, one and all.
Check out both lines below:
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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