Toys for Bob

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat, SubparMario63 and AlmightyKingPrawn

Captures by
SubparMario63, Broken Saw and EnormousRat

Video captures courtesy of
ENunn, Broken Saw and RetroGamer DataBase Brazil

Background

Toys for Bob is a game developer founded in Novato, California in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford, best known for the Star Control and Skylanders series, in addition to games such as Pandemonium, the video game adaptations of the first two Madagascar films, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. The studio worked with Crystal Dynamics until the end of their partnership in 2002. Toys for Bob would end up being acquired by games industry giant Activision on May 3, 2005, and is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary. In February 2024, the company announced that it would spin off from Activision.

1st Logo (September 2, 2003-February 19, 2010)

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Visuals: On a purple background with pulsating blue stars and scrolling curvy stripes is a silver rocket, emitting a white trail, which flies around the Toys for Bob logo, which is stylized like this:

TOyS FOr
BOB

The camera rotates around the rocket, and then stops in front of the logo.

Trivia: The rocket that appears in this logo is playable in the Madagascar video game, in the secret bonus game "Super Space Blastoid 1977", which can be found in the game's second level, "Marty's Escape". The object of said game is to control the rocket to shoot and avoid enemy UFOs in a similar manner to the classic arcade game Space Invaders.

Variants:

• A 16:9 ratio high-definition version exists, which is brighter than the original version.
• On Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, a parody of the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope plays out, with the rocket in place of the Star Destroyer. It then cross-fades to a frontal shot of the rocket, and when it gets close enough to the screen, the main logo animation plays.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The Orz theme from Star Control 2. The full version can be heard here.

Audio Variants:

• The HD version has the last note echoing out at the end.
• On Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, a dramatic orchestral theme is heard during the first half of the logo, followed in a cross-fade by the dizzy music.

Availability: Can be seen on Madagascar for the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. The high definition variant appears on Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and can also be seen inside the game files of Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

2nd Logo (October 13, 2011-March 3, 2017)

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Visuals: On a white background is the "Portal of Power" accessory. A kid's hand puts down a Trigger Happy Skylanders figure on the portal and it becomes alive. It points one of his guns at the screen and teleports out of the area, then two hands put letters together to form the words "Toys for" on the top and 2 uppercase B's on the bottom (the Portal of Power counting as the giant "O" in the logo). One hand fixes the "T" in "Toys" back into place and then the logo sinks into the portal to a black screen.

Technique: Live stop-motion editing, with Trigger Happy in CGI.

Audio: A kid's laugh in the beginning, Trigger Happy's laugh, the shuffling sound for when the letters are put into place, and a mysterious synthesised humming noise for when the logo sinks into black.

Availability: Appears on Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure and its sequels, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders: Trap Team and Skylanders Imaginators. This doesn't appear on Skylanders: Swap Force and Skylanders: SuperChargers, as those games were developed by Vicarious Visions.

3rd Logo (Spyro: Reignited Trilogy variant) (November 13, 2018-September 3, 2019)

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Visuals: On a dark purple cloudy background while the screen zooms in, Spyro flies from the top right turning to the left, then straight from left to right, leaving spark trails with the Toys for Bob logo in gold spinning. After Spyro leaves, a flare flashes when the background and the logo turns black and white (à la Sony Pictures Entertainment) with a rocket left in the "O".

Variant: A high gamma version also exists.

Technique: 3D animation done in Unreal Engine 4, albeit pre-rendered as a FMV.

Audio: A whoosh sound with magical twinkling, and a bing sound when the logo flashes.

Availability: Appears on Spyro: Reignited Trilogy.

4th Logo (Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time variant) (October 1, 2020-March 26, 2021)

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Visuals: On a black background, the Toys For Bob logo (without the rocket) in bluish-gray zooms out with a slight reflection. Crash Bandicoot pops out of the "O" in "BOB", and holds his hands out to strike a pose, but the "O" begins to tip over and he hits the ground headfirst, only his legs and shoes visible. Crash is then sucked into the "O" and jumps back out, lifting the letter back into place. Crash does his trademark spin to the right, and does a presenting pose as the "O" sparkles.

Variant: At the tail-end of the game's credits, the logo (in a yellow-white gradient color with Crash's face inside the "O") pans upwards and stops in the center of the screen. It then fades away and is followed by a memorial of Sammie and Grace (two of the studio's dogs), and a collage of photos of the development team and the game's main characters.

Technique: 3D animation done in Unreal Engine 4, albeit pre-rendered as a FMV.

Audio: A whoosh as the logo zooms out, which leads to cartoony tropical music based on the Crash Bandicoot series' past music, which goes along with the action in the logo, including woodwind and percussion instruments. We also hear Crash (voiced by Scott Whyte) grunting when the "O" falls, him straining when he lifts it up, a quiet metallic thud when he puts it back in place, and the sound of him spinning.

Audio Variant: The logo is silent on the Nintendo Switch port of the game, likely due to a bug that prevents the audio from playing.

Availability: Appears on Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and the pre-release beta of Crash Team Rumble.

5th Logo (Crash Team Rumble variant) (June 20, 2023)

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Visuals: Within a white space, Crash Bandicoot stares at a TNT crate labeled "TFB" while scratching his head, wondering what's inside it. He somersaults on top of the crate before hopping off. It starts to count down from "3" as Crash screams and runs around frantically while panicking. It then explodes, revealing the purple text "TOYS FOR BOB" in a surf-like font, with a burst of confetti as Crash shields his eyes. He then turns around, smiles with relief and poses with both his index fingers extended and a big smile as the logo shines.

Technique: 3D animation done in Unreal Engine 4, albeit pre-rendered as a FMV.

Audio: A quiet scratching sound when Crash scratches his head, him laughing when he jumps on crate, and him panicking during the countdown, provided once again by Scott Whyte. The TNT crate makes a thump when Crash activates it, as well the classic Crash Bandicoot "countdown" sounds as it counts down before exploding. The last half of the logo uses a marimba arrangement of the N-Sanity Beach theme from the original Crash Bandicoot game, as well as Crash chuckling.

Availability: It debuted on the released version of Crash Team Rumble.