Inside Out

Snail mail is cool again! Hundreds of U.S. mailboxes will soon be modeled after R2-D2, the famous Star Wars droid, replacing 400 of the standard blue U.S. Postal Service (USPS), collection boxes in 200 cities as part of a special partnership with Lucasfilm. The droid mail boxes will be replaced in some "highly visible" locations throughout the country, according to the Washington-based USPS, to help launch its marketing campaign celebrating the 30th anniversary of George Lucas' first film in the franchise. The boxes will feature the Web site URL www.uspsjedimaster.com to encourage fans to find out more details about the special promotion. (Stay tuned to Playthings and Playthings.com for more details as they become available!) … Bunny-shaped chocolates, Cadbury Eggs, Peeps, jelly beans—all are staples of a classic Easter basket. But KB Toys, Pittsfield, Mass., is leading the customization trend this month, offering more toy-filled versions of Easter baskets for its holiday shoppers. Suggested themes include: Artistic, a beach pail filled with arts and crafts goodies like Play-Doh, crayons and paint sets; Action Figure, which can feature Star Wars Galactic Heroes as well as Spider-Man and Friends action figures; Barbie, with dolls and accessories from Mattel's iconic brand; Die-cast Car, a plastic dump truck filled with Matchbox cars and figures from the Disney/Pixar movie Cars; and Polly Pocket, featuring a pail of mini dolls, accessories and sets … In other Easter news, 57 percent of parents thought their kids would prefer toys over candy in their Easter baskets this year, according to a survey by Denver, Colo.-based eToys.com. Both candy and toys are given by 79 percent of those surveyed.

In anticipation the July 21 release of the next Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Scholastic, New York, will launch a multi-million dollar marketing campaign entitled "There Will Soon Be 7." Included in the push will be a Knight Bus Tour and 7 Questions of Harry Potter events. The Knight Bus Tour begins seven weeks before publication and features a special Potter vehicle that will leave New York and trek to 40 libraries in 10 metropolitan areas, where fans will be invited into the bus to share their thoughts about the books on camera. Video clips will then be viewable on a special Web site. For the tour, Scholastic will release one burning question that fans have asked about the books online every two weeks, questions that fans hope J.K. Rowling will answer in the final installment of the series. Retail promotions will include freebie collectible bookmarks featuring the seven questions on the back, in-store special displays, tattoo giveaways and midnight parties in participating bookstores ... Hong Kong-based Wowwee has teamed up with Mcdonald's Happy Meals to feature eight limited edition robotic toys, beginning now through May, including the Walking Robosapien, Roaring Roboraptor, Talking Robosapien V2, Running Roboreptile, Walking Robopet, Chomping Roboraptor, Stand Up Robosapien and V2 and Biting Roboreptile.