Toy Fair 2010’s Bigfoot
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 10th, 2010
It has taken awhile, but the toy companies are catching on to the marketing value of cryptozoology. This coming weekend in New York City, Toy Fair 2010 takes place. It is the time and place when the toy manufacturers unveil the new products of which they are most proud.
Being introduced is Fisher-Price’s Imaginext® Bigfoot the Monster, a remote-controlled toy that has facial movements, stomps around, and flips over. The stomach and mouth have interactive touch points which stimulate noises and other motions.
Not that I think those are typical Bigfoot behaviors, but apparently these specific toymakers do. The full human-sized mascot in their promotional video is close to what the toy looks like (see at bottom), with the large tusks, huge eyebrows, four toes on each foot, four fingers on each hand, and lighter shade of brown on the shoulders, and thus it is not close to being cryptozoologically-correct.
Indeed, this looks more like someone’s kid-friendly nightmare fantasy of Bigfoot than any Sasquatch I’ve heard of reported from the Pacific Northwest forests. It would seem the forthcoming Winter Olympics’ Quatchi may be more accurate than this fella.
Allegedly, Fisher-Price’s new monster will be available to the general public in June 2010 for about $100.00 US.
Fisher-Price will continue to do Bigfoot promotions throughout the year, with the special mascot character appearances and brunches at national zoo events including San Diego Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, Brookfield Zoo, Tampa’s Lowery Park Zoo, Toledo Zoo and San Francisco Zoo.
It is too bad that this toy group couldn’t have taken this opportunity to make a more zoologically attuned creature.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Most toys aren’t “zoologically attuned.”
Well, there are a fairly large number of toys, animal replicas, especially from companies like Safari, Ltd., which are very zoologically correct.
I think the pendulous breasts of the Patterson-Gimlin film Bigfoot wouldn’t be appropriate for ages 7 and up! I understand your point though since Fischer-Price is promoting the toy at special events in zoos across America. I find it interesting that the zoos acknowledge Bigfoot.