Toys for Bob

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat and SubparMario63

Captures by
SubparMario63, Broken Saw and EnormousRat

Video captures courtesy of
ENunn and Broken Saw

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.

1st Logo (September 2, 2003-December 22, 2009)

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Nickname: "The Kid Rocket"

Logo: On a purple background with pulsating blue stars and scrolling curvy stripes, we see a silver rocket, emitting a white trail, which rotates 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.

Variants:

• A 16:9 ratio high-definition version exists, which is brighter than the original version.
• On the Wii version of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, we see a parody of the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope, 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.

FX/SFX: The logo, the background rotating, the rocket, all in CGI.

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.

Music/Sounds: A dizzy soundtrack with a beeping synth section, a burp-like noise and Scooby-Doo's "Aroo?". A later version has the very last note echoing out at the end.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the Wii version of 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.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The music actually comes from Star Control 2, a game made by Toys for Bob in 1992. The theme belongs to the alien race known as the Orz. The full version can be heard here.

Availability: Can be seen on Madagascar for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. Don't expect the Wii variant of the latter to appear on the PlayStation 2 version, as the regular variant is shown instead. The high definition variant appears on Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and can also be seen inside the game files of Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

Legacy: This logo can be seen as weird or childish by many due to its cartoonish visuals and music, but it's decent for a developer's first logo. The THDJ Wii variant can amuse Star Wars fans, but can surprise you if you were expecting the normal variant.

2nd Logo (October 16, 2011-March 3, 2017)

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Nickname: "Skylanders for Bob"

Logo: On a white background, we see the "Portal of Power" accessory, then a kid's hand put down a Trigger Happy Skylanders figure on the portal and it becomes alive, points one of his guns at the screen and teleports out of the area, then we see 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), then the one hand fixes the "T" on Toys back into place and then the logo sinks into the portal to a black screen.

FX/SFX: Even though the kid's hand is live action, it is stop motion for when it places Trigger Happy and forms the company name. Trigger Happy is CGI.

Music/Sounds: A kids' laugh in the beginning, Trigger Happy's laugh, the shuffling sound for when the letters are put into place, 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 did not appear on Skylanders: Swap Force, or Skylanders: SuperChargers, because those games were developed by Vicarious Visions.

Legacy: This logo has quite a unique and amusing concept, satirising the game's use of the Portal of Power and the Skylanders figures used to play the game. Some might find Trigger Happy's laughter annoying though.

3rd Logo (November 13, 2018, September 3, 2019)

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Nicknames: "Toys for Bob Reignited", "Spyro for Bob"

Logo: On a dark purple cloudy background while we zoom in, we see Spyro flying from the top right turning to the left then flying straight from left to right leaving spark trails with the gold text 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.

Variants: A high gamma version also exists.

FX/SFX: CGI effects, which may also be rendered in-game.

Music/Sounds: A woosh sound with magical spark dusts, and then a bing sound.

Availability: Appears on Spyro: Reignited Trilogy.

Legacy: This is a cool logo, showing off the game's pretty visuals rather well.

4th Logo (October 1, 2020, March 12, 2021)

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Nicknames: "Toys for Bob: It's About Time", "Crash for Bob"

Logo: On a black background, the Toys For Bob logo (without the rocket) zooms out, with a slight reflection. We then see Crash Bandicoot pop 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 holds his hand out toward the logo in another pose as if he was presenting it.

FX/SFX: CGI effects, which may also be rendered in-game.

Music/Sounds: A whoosh as the logo zooms out, which leads to appropriate cartoony tropical music based on the series' past music and goes along with the action in the logo, including woodwind and percussion instruments.

Availability: Appears on Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Legacy: This logo has a funny Looney Tunes vibe to it.