A Review of Toonstyle; Calling all Kids, Collectors, and Parents! It's safe to Holiday Shop for Ideas Here!

Licensed characters and pop culture characters are entrenched in our culture.  Children, adults, and collectors all want to wear clothes featuring their favorite character, sip out of mugs and glasses with their image, and even wear jewelry inspired by them.

 

Some artists have turned their passion for pop cultural icons into fine art; among them are Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, David Levinthal, Jarvis Rockwell,  and Roy Lichtenstein.



 

Maybe you are like us, collectors who are looking for unusual objects to add to their acquisitions.  More importantly, you might be a parent looking for that perfect set of sheets for your toddler’s first bed, a pair of Dora the Explorer slippers, a Frozen dress for Halloween night, all these are important, and all these are potentially available on https//toonstyle

 

The site itself is attractive, bright, and well-organized.  The blog, in particular, is divided into categories; each category is a link.  This makes it very easy to search.  So, if you are looking for a product review click on that category.  It saves a lot of search time.

 

The page with franchises is comprised of lots of rectangles with the names of characters or shows.  Click on one, and you go to a page of great graphics of products related to that theme.  E.g., click on “Walking Dead” and you find a variety of terrific licensed merchandise.   

 

What’s really great is that, not only does Toonstyle tell you where you can find each item; click on the site or store name and you are taken right to the site where you can buy it.  Prices are included as part of the information, too.

 

Imagine a buy mom or dad with only a few minutes to fid a birthday gift or holiday shop; a couple sips of coffee and a click or tow, and you have that much wanted Spirited Away Crocheted Necklace (Etsy) or that terrific Golden Girls coloring book.

 

The recommended way to search is to type what your want in the standard search box. This works.  I didn’t see Corpse Bride, Prince of Egypt, Napoleon Dynamite, Fantastic Beasts or Lion King, in franchises, but when I entered them into the search box, I found mugs, clothing, toys, figures, etc., for all ages. These are fairly popular characters.  Once I realized you had to read horizontally, and that you alphabetize under “the” with regard to titles, I was able to navigate it.  I love the variety; I only wonder if some would find so many franchises overwhelming, but I think they are just great. 

 



Black Panther Tee, via Toonstyle

I like how the site gives an overview on the franchise and its characters. What confused me is that even if couldn’t see something in the franchises site, I could find it in the search box.  E.g., I found lots of Barbie and Monster High and Strawberry Shortcake items, but they weren’t in the franchises. In “how it works” I’d mention a little more about the role the Franchise links play.  Explain how to use them; never be afraid to state the obvious. Many people will want to search and surf, but they aren’t all tekno or social media savvy.

 



Overall, it’s a good, user friendly site.  But, I’d add some social media accounts. I have had great success with this for Ruby Lane, and got results when I worked for About.com and Antique Doll Collector Magazine. For example, I’d start some Pinterest boards.   These graphics under each franchise for the various items lend themselves very well to be saved on Pinterest board.  You would get a lot of traffic there. Pinterest and Facebook are the two biggest social media sites for marketing. I’m also finding Instagram as a very useful place to get followers; you can also share to Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Also, graphics are so great, crisp and beautiful; I would try Flickr as well.

 

My last comment is that the background to the site is usually stark white; I’d use a soft grey, or off white, maybe light beige.  Think of doing a PowerPoint presentation; you want the background to be pleasing, and bright white is a little off putting and hard on the eyes.  Most links on the site worked, but “contact us” worked better at the bottom of the page than the icon on the top.  Also, try using something besides Outlook; many programs just don’t have it.  Try something where you can be contacted directly from Toonstyle’s website, and give a snail mail address and phone number to back it up.

 

It’s tons of fun to surf this site; also, you can take a wonderful tour down memory lane and find great collectibles, whether you are 2 or 92!!!