Canada will soon be getting its very own LEGOLAND Discovery Center. Set to be located at Vaughan Mills near Toronto, the Discovery Center will join others locations in cities such as Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago. With a 34,000 square foot location and a $12 Million construction budget, the LEGOLAND Discovery Center will open in the Spring of 2013.
Source: ToysNBricks, NorthernGirlSouthernSoul (Picture)
No, this isn’t a new song by Berlin, but much like the band, baseball cards may unfortunately have become a relic of the 80s. Topps, the storied baseball card brand, taking a turn in a new direction, has released two different app’s for iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. While the apps are not attempting to digitize baseball cards, the new apps including Topps Pennant, a baseball statistics app and Topps Bunt, a fantasy league inspired game,signal the departure of Topps from focusing exclusively on its traditional product lines. The value of the baseball card market has fallen 80% from $1 Billion in the late 80s and early 90s to about $200 million today. This makes it understandable why Topps may want to move in a new direction in order to keep itself from going out of business, but at the same time, there is nothing like the nostalgia and feeling of holding a physical card in your hand.
Does this signal demise for other popular trading cards such as Pokemon and Magic:The Gathering? Magic already has a online version but has maintained the physical card game as well. Pokemon too has started a online version of its trading card game while still maintaining physical cards. How long will physical trading cards last? Who knows, but lets just hope they don’t go the way of the Furby.
Source: New York Times