2005 was a notable year for me personally: I first started this blog, my niece was born, something I wrote was performed on a New York stage, I got married.
And in March of that year, Kiwa Hirsuta, the yeti crab, was first discovered in the deep vents of the South Pacific Ocean south of Easter Island along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge 7,200 ft below the surface living on hydrothermal vents.
In honor of this 15th Anniversary year, here's a Hirsuta Hodge-Podge of everything yeti crab I found recently!
The best Not Yeti Gift of 2014's Yeti Gift Guide was the Fisher-Price Imaginext Saquatch toy, but I'm pleased to report that Fisher-Price put out a whole bunch of their own yetis in the series this year:
WARNING: An additional "Yeti Mountain" playset in the same Imaginext series contains NO YETI. Crazy.
Meanwhile, Playskool has a partnership with Transformers, so put out a Rescue Bot that can disguise itself as a Yeti:
Playskool heroes Rescue Bots - Yeti Robot
Longtime readers might recall that yetis have had little to do with the Transformers universe (they get a brief cameo in a G.I. Joe crossover comic), so this is exciting.
And internationally, one could get a variety of cute little abominable snowmen as a Kinder Egg surprise:
Speaking of the talented Yeti lover Dex Black of DexDexign Labs, he curated a yeti show called Yetimageddon! at the Mothership Gallery in Philadelphia PA this last winter. Two favs of mine from it:
And speaking of the other amazing Yeti lovers at Yetis & Friends, they got their own show this last spring called "Adventure Awaits" at Flower Pepper Gallery in Pasadena CA.
This is just a sampling, check out the rest of the show here.
PLUSH:
Moving from hard bodies to more soft bodies, there were a few new commercially available yeti plush this year:
A cursory glance at the last year shows people weren't feeling all that heroic on Halloween. In other words, not a whole lot of folks' chose the Yeti as their costume that night.
But there were a couple of advancements in the field of Yeti Guising that I should make you aware of in the hopes you'll consider the virtous Path of the Hero and assume the Mantle of Champions (i.e. a yeti mask) on the days and/or nights in and around October 31, 2017.
Newsflash! A new technology has been developed! Now your mouth can be opened and closed yourself. Get a new Ani-Motion Mask ! Only $30!
A Nepalese film about the Yeti called Yeti was released in September.
And the final musical of Michael Friedman, "The Abominables" opened in September. It featured yeti characters.
GAMES:
Looks like the biggest event in video games (re: yeti) was the Yeti Winston Skin for Overwatch which caught the public imagination as most things Overwatch do:
And I got a big kick out of this other picture book, "Henry and the Yeti" as yours truly is actually named Henry.
Description: "Henry is sure yetis do exist, and he sets off on an expedition to find one. He has packed everything he needs, including a camera to take photos for evidence. But can he find a yeti? And will anyone believe him when he returns home"
In the world of comic books, the series "Dark" features robotic dinos fighting werewolves, and at least on one occasion, yeti. A wish come true, even if I never articulated it.
So Yeti made yeti 'nother appearance on the Simpsons this year (December 11, 2016) as part of a dream sequence in the episode "The Nightmare After Krustmas":
And there was nice horned one in the kids show Kazoops!
The anime Schoolgirl Strikers featured yeti merch:
Check out this theatrical puppetry performance of Yana And the Yeti touring in the UK and Europe in the next year:
And a new animated adventure film is coming soon:
It's called "Mission Yeti"!
(Although it looks like in English countries it will be released as "Mission Kathmandu" instead, which is disappointing. Not sure why they think Kathmandu is a better title. Some other copyright issue?)
Here's the trailer:
Description:
Quebec City, 1955. Nelly Maloye, an ebullient novice detective, accidentally crosses paths with Simon Picard, an ambitious research assistant in anthropology at the local university. Backed by a glory-seeking philanthropist, the intuitive but disorganized Nelly and the methodical, obsessive Simon set off on a wild adventure, determined to prove the existence of the Abominable Snowman. To achieve this goal, Simon relies on the coded diary of a missing explorer - a diary that should lead them to the mythic creature's lair. Accompanied by Tenzig Gombu, a clever and enigmatic young Sherpa guide, and Jazzmin, a talkative myna bird, our heroes confront a host of dangers in the heart of the Himalayas as they seek that legendary beast: the Yeti.
A bit of concept art I found:
And a new board game is available at the end of December 2017: "Dicey Peaks"!
Which is a fun pun, you know, 'cuz the game involves dice.
Big news in video games: yeti'll be an enemy to fight in God of War 4 when that comes out next year:
OK well I think that should tide us over until next time!
