First of all, let me say in the most cliched way possible that "I love New York." It's awesome - the sights, the smells, the crowds, and the fact that you can walk the entire city easily since there is so much goodness packed into one spot. Walking really allows you to absorb the city fully. You can hear all the different languages spoken by its varied populace and see the diversity that seems to pop out of a place where the crowds are so thick; you really need to work to get noticed. I guess I like it for the opposite reason:  I prefer not to stand out and observe the people and places without drawing attention to myself and therefore (so my theory goes) getting a more natural impression of the people around me. Yeah, I'm a voyeur.

This was my first Toy Fair and I was pretty much blown away. So many toys! So many colors! So much noise! It was like a crazy carnival where all the rides were free and had no lines. It hit me on a couple of different levels too. Personally, the kid inside me was freaking out because of all the cool stuff. On another level, I was thinking about how my 15-month old daughter would react to being there. Needless to say, both levels caused dopamine rushes on a level I haven't experienced since the Dead were on tour. Scott, having been about a dozen times, was much more composed about the whole thing, though I think some of my enthusiasm leaked on to him too; he was grinning way more than usual. That said, he could have just been laughing at me. He commented to one of his friends at the show that being there with me was like "pulling along a wide-eyed, open-mouthed Macy's Parade balloon."

So many things! The action figures at the Dark Horse booth and the other comic booths - those things have come a long way since the Star Wars figures of my youth! Now they're hyper-realistic, multi-colored works of art with so much detail that they positively drip craftsmanship. The stuff at the Wood Expressions booth was pretty beautiful: high end crafted chess and game boards and pieces. One of their chess sets in particular was a gorgeous wooden board and the pieces were birds of all types. There were ostriches and parrots and the king was an Emperor Penguin.

Edward and Bella from Twilight.

Then there were the dolls. The impact of these on me was very different than the other stuff. For the most part, I was creeped out by them, but at the same time I was impressed by the craftsmanship that went into their design and clothing. We're talking some serious dolls, all staring at me with the urge to kill in their eyes, dressed in amazing costumes made from silks and satins. I've no doubt that the creepiness comes from within me, especially given the fact that so many women and girls love them, but too many years of horror movies (The red-eyed doll in the original Amityville Horror, anyone?  Not to mention a ton of others) and the fact that my mom bought tons for my sister have made them a totem of fear for me. Regardless, once I was at a distance that allowed me to see past the murder in their eyes (using the zoom on my camera, of course), I could see a definite maniacal beauty about them, and I dare say that I think I could grow to appreciate them...at a distance.

On the kid level, the stuffed animals present at the show were beyond awesome. I wanted to liberate them all and bring them home to live with my daughter. There were certain piles that I just wanted to get a running start and jump into and succumb to death by cute snuggling.

The games and gadgety-type things were also pretty awesome. One of my favorite games in college was a card/tabletop game put out by Steve Jackson Games called Illuminati. I was happy to find that they had a booth and were still cranking out the games. I was hoping to meet Steve Jackson himself, but he either wasn't at the booth, doesn't exist, or was wearing a fake name badge. I was also very impressed with the science kits and experiment sets. These aren't just potato radios anymore! We're talking circuit board makers, home genetic kits (kidding!), floating doo-dads, erector and architecture kits that allowed you to replicate whole cities and all the vehicles in them and, oh my god, did I mention the Legos!?

We had dinner with John and John Hansen of Hansen Toys at Firebird, a pre-revolutionary Russian restaurant. The dinner was interesting (except for my borscht, and that was mostly because, as it turns out, I don't really like beets), the ambience was awesomely over-the-top, and the dinner conversation was splendid.

We also had a meal with the Wood Expressions people at La Mela, my favorite Italian place in NYC (not that I've been to that many Italian places in NYC, but I'd be surprised if any could top La Mela's "Sit down, Shut up and Eat" dinner). Much good wine and excellent food was consumed by all, and the conversation was non-stop and interesting. It's kind of cool, really, to be fortunate enough to enjoy hanging out with the people you do business with. It turns what's usually a very confrontational experience into something else entirely. It's the same way we try to treat people at the trade counter, and it seems to play everywhere.