Earlier this week, a dose of World Cup fever arrived in a UPS box from Meanwhile UK. While the world has been losing sleep for the past three weeks, watching match after match, mulling over the odds, the boys here at STIKFAS™ HQ (well, most of the boys and some of the girls too) were knee deep in football mania as well. So when this box arrived, we thought we'd join in the fun in a little prediction on who should win the cup in 2006. Yes, we've all gone absolutely bananas.

"I Love Children" movement is led by a group of individuals who have come together through their shared love for children and the belief that children add value to living, and help us lead more balanced and fulfilling lives. The Movement aims to link up and be the link to like-minded individuals and groups, and where possible, to act together to initiate, influence and be the catalyst in changing current attitudes of Singaporeans to be more positive towards family and children. Its broader mission is a Singapore that is children friendly, where children can be mainstreamed into society and be welcomed - into homes, public places, by corporations and businesses.
So when they held a fund-raising carnival in East Coast Park and asked STIKFAS™ to lend a hand, we thought it would be great to spend a Sunday doing something for a charitable cause. While the weather wasn't exactly agreeable that day, spirits were hardly dampened. Parents led their children to our "Kootikooti™ Rumble" booth for some simple Kootikooti™ games and they stand to win some STIKFAS™ or Kootikooti™ goodies. The more adventurous even took to the muddy field for a large scale game with our inflatable Kootikooti™ displays. Much fun was had by all, and all for a good cause. Check it out.

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) runs a programme dubbed “MICA Inno-Speaker Series”. The key objective of the programme is to expose MICA officers to individuals for whom innovation has made a difference and in doing so, encourage them to be innovative or innovate at work. Hence under the auspices of the "MICA Inno-Speaker Series", MICA hopes to invite prominent local personalities who have  made a name for themselves in the fields of design, creativity or innovation to share their perspectives and experiences with MICA staff as well as those from its statutory boards. Mr Banyj has been invited as the inaugural speaker for the first "Inno-Speaker Series" held on 23rd June in the MICA Building and we've got pictures to show.

Asia Pacific Breweries together with the National Library Board has organised the APB-NLB “Come Together” Design Competition Finale, a design competition targeting designers and design students aged 18-28. It begins with a series of workshops which culminate in a 24-hour competition for the finalists. The finals were held at the Events Plaza of the National Library, on Saturday 24th June. Participants had to come up with an installation design piece using Tiger Beer (APB's flagship beverage) bottles and cans, to depict the theme of friendship or their definition of friendship through the term "Come Together". Mr Banyj was invited to be a judge in the final event. Here are some pictures.

The Global Enterprise Challenge 2006, formerly known as Enterprise Olympics, is an international program in Innovation and Enterprise for students from Junior Colleges, International Schools and Polytechnics. It runs for two days, involving preparation and motivation workshop sessions, culminating to a 24 hours business challenge that involve teams from over 20 participating countries. The Challenge was announced in a live web cast by a NASA astronaut recently returned from the International Space Station. Each team has a facilitator and a mentor for the two day event. And STIKFAS™ has been invited to facilitate and mentor one of the local teams. Mr Banyj. of course was the mentor for the team. Our team, comprising of members Moana, Alex, Oliver, Ming Hao, Theresa and Sheila, were lively but prudent and practical in their approach. It was an overall fun and enriching experience for both the students and ourselves. Here are some pictures from the two day affair.

We all know STIKFAS™ has been in Japan for a while now, but we seldom get to see how things really are in the retail. Fortunately, StikFans are active everywhere. Here we have a fan who sent us a picture from a Kiddy Land outlet in Tokyo. Kiddy Land, in a great boutique for toys, games and all things 'kiddy'. And this particular outlet here is in the prestigious Omotesando street, it's a five storey toy store that is supposed to be the place where local and foreign celebrrities shop for toys, so it says in the travel guide.

Some of you are actually proficient in the ways of Stiks and Stik-assembly and some of you might be relatively new to the hobby. Once in a while we do get requests for assembly instructions and the reasons vary. So we thought, why not put all the instructions we have in one section so folks can simple find what they need in one place. Again, we do stress that while these are the suggested way figures and kits are put together, nothing's really going to stop you from putting the kit together in totally different ways. The joints are all standard after all. Check it out.

Indigo is a free monthly publication featuring lifestyle, entertainment and technology, distributed in boutiques, malls, F7B outlets and even institutions in Singapore. As advocates of creative individuality, each issue of Indigo features a collaboration with home grown design talents. In this issue, theme 'cartoon/ manga', Mr Banyj has been invited to customise an Apple iBook G4, sponsored by JK Technology Pte Ltd, Singapore. This piece, dubbed 'White Space' by Mr Banyj, will be won by one lucky reader among those who write in to Indigo magazine. Check it out.

7th June - After the 'Meet A Designer' session held in May at Stikfas HQ, the Ministry of Education followed up with another session for the teachers to interact with Mr Banyj. So on this fine afternoon, around twenty teachers from various schools gathered for a 'clay modelling workshop' with Mr Ban. It was a simple hands-on session where the teachers took the roles of students and got to working with polymer clay. Mr Banyj shared some simple tips on how to handle the material, use simple sculpting tools and use simple shapes to make little clay models. But more importantly, it allowed the teachers an opportunity to do something different and have some fun for one afternoon. They made quite a number of little 'white elephants' (literally, check out the pictures) but the time was certainly well spent.

The StikFan! advertorial in Quanto magazine has been a rather regular feature since our debut in Japan. Quanto, for those of you unfamiliar, is one of the largest toy and action figure magazines in Japan. After a short hiatus, Tomy Direct reintroduces this section to the pages of Quanto, presenting the debut of Cuboyds™ in Japan followed by the new wave of products, including the Assault Team and the Egyptian in a movie-like scenario. And to top it off, the StikFan section is also featuring retailers in Japan with outstanding displays in STIKFAS™ products. Take a closer look at the KiddyLand outlet in Harajuku, Tokyo.

STIKFAS™ print advertisements has always been a significant part of our branding package and a talking point for some. So today we've added a new section in our website featuring all the print ads that we have designed. The "Print Ads" section displays everything from the very first "Geared For A New Way To Play" teaser through the Hasbro® STIKFAS™ ads, right to the latest one you see in the magazines this month. The section will be updated on a regular basis. Check it out.

Animax, the cable channel that broadcasts great action programming, recently did a series of fillers featuring innovative people and Mr Banyj can be seen in three such short clips. Check out the nifty background images of STIKFAS™ in action and see Mr Banyj wax lyrical.

Say say say, who here loves new STIKFAS™ kits? And who here loves robots? And who doesn't adore robots that can be piloted by figures? And needless to say, most guys just love clear plastic domes, don't ask me why. Put all these elements together and we have, the all new STIKFAS™ Mega pack kit - The Dome Robot Walker. This fancy kit comes with a G2 Alpha Male Figure but fits other STIKFAS™ figures as well (save the huge ones like the Mechana, the horse or the dragon of course). And on its own, the walker has got its own nifty little accessories - a retro vacuum cleaner and classic ray guns. So now your evil maniacal STIKFAS™ villain can ride around town in this neat mecha and wreak havoc, and he'll have a little 'bullet-proof bubble' to match. This is one kit you'll enjoy!