When I tire of my son's Lincoln Logs, Thomas trains, and the other 7 milion items I step on, trip over, sit on, duck from, get run over by, and last but not least, get hit in the head with. I'm glad Hi Fructose is out there, so I know there's toys for me too. These are toys that more often will just sit on a shelf with many collectors, but I'm sure I would let them go toe to toe with the Thomas trains, and the whole fleet of trucks that cause traffic jams in my front hall, just to see if artists and designers can make toys that withstand the punishment that only Tonka and Bruder can dish out.
I've enjoyed the first issue of Hi Fructose. It's a nicely designed/produced magazine, that could suck a reader into a world they didn't know existed and may not have cared. It's definitely something for the Juxtapoz crowd. I can't justify subscribing, but I have a strange fascination for well-crafted magazines, so I'm sure I'll pick this up again.
Particularly of interest is the photography of Brian McCarty. If you're spoiled daughter wanted to hire a photographer for Barbie and Ken's wedding, he probably wouldn't be the one to hire, he'd be busy taking the candids of Skipper shagging a bus boy next to the dumpster, or capturing a drunken Care Bear puking in the parking lot. McCarty has a knack for capturing the real life of toys. He has a gift for reading between the lines on the packaging copy, and goes beyond what the Saturday morning commercials let on.
Oh and he's got Master Shake cavorting with some bikini clad babes.