ToyFare was a monthly magazine published by Wizard Entertainment that focused on collectible action figures, busts, statues, and maquettes. 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 used alternative covers, a feature which was first utilized with issue #20, and was used almost every issue after #57. Along with its sister publication, Wizard, ToyFare ceased publication on January 24, 2011. The final issue published was #163.
Twisted ToyFare Theatre
The most popular feature in ToyFare was Twisted ToyFare Theatre, a humorous comic strip done by photographing toys on sets built by the magazine’s staff. The strips predominantly featured action figures produced by the Mego Corporation, 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 characters, such as Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk. Twisted ToyFare Theatres popularity was such that Wizard Entertainment released several trade paperback collections of the strips.
The magazine added "The Monthly Rag", a feature similar to supermarket tabloids, presenting parody articles using various toy and pop culture references.. Originally, this feature's main articles were humorous exaggerations of actual toy-related stories, 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 horoscopes with ridiculous or nonsensical predictions, supposedly written by Cobra Command hypnotist/interregator Crystal Ball.
An advice column 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, Burning in Lava" ; 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 superheroes.
The "Page Sixteen Girl", a photo on said page of a "sexually appealing" female action figure, a parody of the Page Three Girl, a feature originating in the Rupert Murdoch-owned United KingdomtabloidThe 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 from the Masters of the Universe mythos into a setting similar to that of the comic strip character Garfield.
Exclusive offers
ToyFare featured mail-away offers for exclusive merchandise. At first it largely offered Toy Biz 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, Minimates, and HeroClix.
