Jocko in Buzz Cuts

One of our members contacted us to say that our Jocko has appeared in the May issue of Los Angeles Magazine (guess I should have renewed my subscription on time). Sure enough, on page 26 you can see his cheerful visage on our 'collectible' button. And the power of the media is not lost on us... we've attracted a new member (more to follow, we hope!) and sold some buttons and t-shirts.

Speaking of web sites, we recently changed servers - or our server changed something. At any rate, we'd like to thank CNCPRO in Glendale (and specifically Dennis Lem) for donating server space to our museum for the past two years. We are still working out the bugs in the transfer. It's like any kind of move - you can't find stuff right away. We couldn't find the blog for days.

Sunday was the last day of "Dream Parks" and we are suffering from not a little post-partum depression. Still looking for a next venue, which would decide whether or not the next show will be one on dolls, sock monkeys, or art toys. If any of you out there have a preference in what you'd like to see first, let us know! Of course it could be that our next show will be something completely unexpected, like "Dream Parks". We are nothing if not flexible.

Other interesting news: David Hoffman, author of "Kid Stuff" and "The Easy-Bake Oven Gourmet" has been a great supporter of LATDA for the past year. Through his connections, LATDA officers (Blue and I - as well as David)will be participating as judges for the TOYChallenge Western Regionals. You can read more about TOYChallenge on their web site, but in short, it is co-sponsored by Sally Ride Science and Hasbro. Their mission: to introduce kids from grades 5-8 to the engineering and the design process of toy design. This year the western regional has 55 teams and over 720 people competing, from all over the western half of the US. The competition takes place on April 30. We can't wait to see what's cooking in the heads of these kids and will be reporting what we see on this blog. Stay tuned.