By Dustin Cabeal

The best thing about Toys “4” Cheap is that it arrived like a proper magazine. In a bag with the cover facing out for the world to see it. Not being used to this, I didn’t notice until I was opening and my wife was giving me a strange look. The look only a wife use to dealing with her husband buying stupid ass toys can give her husband. What made it even better was that she thought it was a real having just received the Toys R Us magazine a few days before.

The thing is, Devastators newest magazine is believable that by the end of it, I wanted some of this bogus toys. In particular, I would enjoy “Guess Why?” or “Tickle Me Elmore Leonard” the most. At this point, you’re probably wondering what the hell I’m talking about so I will explain.

Toys “4” Cheap is a fake toy catalog written by Asterios Kokkinos and illustrated/designed by Jimmy Hasse. Together they mock everything from Politics to G.I. Joe… with politics. They poke a lot of fun at Marvel, Star Wars and every other Disney property they can. They basically take a look at popular toys from the past fifty years and twist them in a way that makes it hilarious. Reading this was like picking up MAD Magazine prior to DC/WB purchasing the magazine and making it irrelevant.

The art/design is fantastic. Everything looks legit. It’s very details and believable. At first glance, you’ll just think “yeah that’s the Ghostbusters… wait, why are they torturing ghosts?” That was more of an entire thought, but you get the picture. The gags are great, but the art makes them a hit.

Will you re-read this over and over? Probably not. Much in the way that MAD Magzine or even The Onion is a one and done, that’s exactly what Devastator’s Toys “4” Cheap is. It’s pure entertainment, one time. You don’t ask it to perform again, but you cherish what it gave you from the first performance. Reading this was like being a kid again. It’s why I’ve always loved Devastator’s work because it fills the void left by MAD and a dozen other satirical magazines that no longer exist because they were bought up by media conglomerates so that they would stop making fun of their shortcomings. If you know, toys and you’re looking for a lot of laughs, and I do mean real laughter, not just mouth-breathing, then pick up Toys “4” Cheap from Devastator, but bring your parent’s credit cards because these toys are expensive.

Score: 5/5

Toys “4” Cheap!
Writer: Asterios Kokkinos
Artist: Jimmy Hasse
Publisher: The Devastator