Marissa Cooper named Mayor of Boston

MARISSA COOPER, the 21-year-old personal adviser to the King, has been elected the first female Mayor of Boston after a close vote last Thursday.


Archive photo: New Boston Mayor Marissa Cooper, with her little sister Kaitlin, now 11, and Snuffles the guinea pig

The graduate of Sunnydale University School of Illustrating, and immigrant from San Diego, California in the United States, now becomes the youngest leader in Toyland history.

'I'm obviously really happy about this! I wanna thank my supporters and also say congratulations to Ducky and Whitey for a well-fought campaign.'

Perennial candidate and national poet Ducky Mallard lost the election once again and announced that he would not stand for Mayor another time. White Teddy, one-time boyfriend of Cooper, also sent his congratulations
'And I'm not really the youngest leader in Toyland. King Cheeksabot was, like, one year old in human years when he took the throne!'

Marissa will be seven human years old this Christmas. Ducky is six years old.

Birthday Special: Emily celebrates birthday

IN BOSTON, TOYLAND, AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT last night, Emily legally reached the age of 11*.

The most important public holiday in the Toyland calendar was greeted by fireworks and dancing in the streets, though not too loud in case anybody heard and it was very late, and well, there was school in the morning.

Emily will be presented with an orange iPod Nano, which is hoped to double up as a Bratz-sized flat-screen television, or perhaps a Jellycat sized iPad.

'Or a Ducky sized iPod', observed one mayoral candidate, who is to take a break from his campaigning duties later today to sign Emily happy birthday at double speed, as is traditional. Toys have heard him practising the past few nights when Emily is asleep - normally when she rolls over.

The holiday, which falls on a Tuesday this year, also sees several toys celebrate their birthdays or anniversaries of arriving in Toyland. Ducky Mallard him/herself turns six, whilst White Teddy turns eleven, like Emily.

Polly Pocket Airlines will perform a special fly-past, as flying restrictions are due to be lifted at 0700 GMT+1.

TE

Selected comments from YourView From our online community. Join the debate at toylandexpress.blogspot.com/prejudice


King.Cheeky2, Boston
'x_marissa_x88x<3x is absolutely right. Happy birthday Emily!'


chico_espanol, Barcelona (Bostonian passport)
'Feliz cumpleanos Emily!'


spurry1497460, Smallvania
'tHIS sTORY jUST hIGHLTSS how we need a new mayor cos lucASS gabrUBBISHiel is not fit for purpose! its political correctnessgone mad. oh yeh n happy birthday emily. this not actualy spurry just using my mum's account, i;t's stephen steakface hi everyone i'm 13'


*Though she must wait until 4.41pm this afternoon to technically get past 10.

From the archive
Emily's 10th birthday
Emily's 9th birthday
Emily's 8th birthday

Hurricane Julie causes massive dust cloud

HURRICANE JULIE HAS UNEXPECTEDLY caused a huge dust cloud to float into the air in central Boston after her weekly visit today.

The cloud was caused by hoovering around the sides of Shelf Close. All flights from Polly Pocket Airlines in Smallvania have been grounded until the cloud clears.

Angry traveller Graham Greybear said, 'I've been kept completely in the dark about what's going on. I had to sleep on the floor last night. I have no idea when I'll get to leave Smallvania. So not much different than usual, then.'

Meaningless graph inconclusive as to election result

THE LATEST OPINION POLLS conducted by the Toyland Express of voters in the upcoming Boston Mayoral election are completely inconclusive as to who will win.



While at 8.30 this morning Ducky had a commanding lead as the top answer to the question 'Who do you think you'll vote for?', by mid-afternoon all three current candidates were level pegging.

If there is a draw in the election, there will be three mayors, explained election expert Professor Gloves of Sunnydale University.

'This last happened in the election of 1742, and a new election was called twenty minutes later so just one mayor was left. If there are three mayors, decision-making will prove very difficult in Boston, Toyland.'

All three candidates refused to answer speculation over whether they would co-operate with their rivals.

'I've just got one question, though' said duck candidate Ducky Mallard. 'Who is making these polls?'

Ducky is five years old, though he will be six by the time of the election, a factor that he is emphasising on his campaign, saying it gives him unrivalled Toyland experience. This is despite Marissa and Whitey both having been in Toyland for longer. Marissa celebrated her sixth anniversary here at Christmas, and White Teddy has been a toy for nearly eleven years.

For up-to-the-second election coverage, follow us online: toylandexpress.blogspot.com/nonstop-coverage-of-duck-doll-teddy-election

TE

King Cheeky calls Boston Mayoral Election

KING CHEEKY ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK that there would be another election for the position of Mayor of Boston.

The last mayoral election in Toyland was in Smallvania in November 2008. The last election for Boston mayor was in May 2007, when Winnie the Pooh received more votes than Ducky and Marissa.

The election will be held on May 6th 2010, three years after the last Bostonian mayor election. For some characters, such as Warty Warthog, Professor Gloves and Joanna Giraffe, this is their first time to vote.

White Teddy took over as Mayor when Emily moved Winnie downstairs to be Mayor of the Land of Old Toys. So far Ducky has said he will stand. Any other candidates should comment on this story below (Hint, Emily!).

TE

Tap Farm reopens

AFTER A FIVE DAY BREAK, in which it was feared that it would be closed until August, virtual toyish iPhone farm 'TapFarm' has reopened.

The success was celebrated by everything that grows on the farm being harvested, and all the fields ploughed and replanted with cotton seeds. Dragon fruit, which is not as profitable as cotton, was also unlocked.


Tap Farm today.

TE

Stocks and Shares

BUY

Toyland School of Music Plc 200p per share
Sales of clarinets and keyboards enjoying sudden boost. Big concert coming up, ticket sales still returning high profits. Buy.

Apprender Lengua Inc 7222p per share
Company producing Spanish language podcasts, notebooks etc. Every member of Emily's family to visit Spain in next few months. Toys likely to go too. Expect high return on investment. Buy.

SELL

Bramble Enterprises Plc 109p per share
Hours of play spent at Smallvanian Department Store fell 500% in the last month. Dust caking most of toy shop. Dead moth still in cafe. Sell.

Chilli's R Us Plc 6p per share
Expected growth targets of chilli plants downstairs not met. Traders question whether anything will grow. Sell.

Schoolgirl stays up

KAITLIN COOPER, aged ten, stayed up until the latest time ever last night after being sent to bed at her regular time.

The Sunnydale Juniors pupil fell asleep at 11.57pm, after being officially sent to bed 'sometime between eight-thirty and nine.'

Not tired

Cooper is believed to have spent most of the time reading cult children's novel Harry Potter, for the 47th time, and playing her Nintendo DS. Her housemates said she was also heard 'messing about', known to mean going to the bathroom after-hours.

Fellow school pupil Chico Gonzales commented: 'I am shocked she came just three minutes to staying up past midnight. Then it would actually be the morning again. Who knows what would have happened then?'


Exemplary: Gonzales

Cooper faced the consequences of her irresponsible reading this morning, when she confessed she 'struggled to get out of bed', waking up with 'utter disbelief' that it was time to get up and go to school once again.

Despite this, she is expected to stay up late again tonight.

'I just really wanna finish this chapter,' she told an Express reporter. 'Ssshh! Wait is that somebody coming up the stairs?' she added in a quick whisper, before suddenly switching of her bedside lamp.

From the archive: Superstore plan outrages residents

First published in The Toyland Express March 11th, 2004.

RESIDENTS OF TOYTOWN ARE CAMPAIGNING against a proposed department store development which promises to 'rejuvenate' an untidy and underpopulated area of the village.

Local start-up businessman Finbar 'Barry' Bramble, 35, has applied for permission from King Cheeky to erect a massive four-storey department store, containing a cafe, toyshop, clothes shop and hair salon. He claims it will bring much needed investment in the corner of Toyland, currently occupied by the plastic Dressing Table, whose batteries for its lights have been flat for some years now.

While local residents have continually maligned the Dressing Table as a 'blight', 'ruin', and 'ghost of a version of Emily passed', opposition to the proposed development has been heated and, at times, vitriolic.

Citizens of Toytown currently confine themselves to a row of Lego and Sylvanian shops and houses opposite the dolls house, which adjoins the controversial Dressing Table area. Lately, rubbish has begun to be dumped around the Dressing Table chair - crumpled up colouring-in pages and felt tips that have long run out provide eyesores that make Toytown a source of embarassment for Toyland on the international stage.

However, while the toys clearly want something to restore the area, it is clear from the discussions of huddled-together local pressure groups gathered at the foot of the bed at Sunshine Avenue/Toytown Way that the Bramble 'behemoth' (as one resident branded it) is not what they had in mind.

'The development is simply too big. It will destroy the character of the village and run local businesses into ruin. We are not opposed to Bramble's development in principle, just in scale,' said Graham Greybear, holding an impressive placard.

King Cheeky will announce whether the four-storey proposal will go ahead next week.

Was Lucas' first year a failure?

When Mayor Lucas Gabriel was sworn into office in January 2009, toys rejoiced the election of Smallvania's first non-Sylvanian Mayor. That the Bratz, a minority in Toyland, could provide a popular mainstream leader, ushered in a new age of relative optimism. Over a year on, and Lucas faces opposition from the 'tea party' movement, and even reportedly sleeps on the sofa in the dolls house because 'there aren't enough beds'.

Former Mayor, P.Puddleduck, has led the anti-Lucas 'tea party' movement, where toys sit in the Bramble Cafe drinking tea and moaning about how they don't like the current Mayor.


Pictured: Lucas came to power after a slick and inspiring campaign.

'I mean, what has Mayor Lucas actually done?' asked Puddleduck at a tea party last Thursday, to cheers from mostly Sylvanian supporters. 'Toyland today looks exactly the same as it did a year ago... If not worse!'

Lucas supporters contend that the Mayor has made significant progress, pointing to the Bramble toy shop and cafe being switched over, and the entire of Smallvania being quickly rebuilt, from dolls house living room to juice stand, after a particularly bad Hurricane Julie last month.

Lucas still has nearly three years left in his job, so whether the handsome plastic toy can bring meaningful change to Smallvania really remains to be seen.

Have your say: "Norovirus"

Toys celebrated Emily coming home from school three times last week, brightening up the otherwise dull weekday daytime period when toys traditionally are not played with. What do you think?


Cheeky Spots, King: 'I think its marvellous that Emily is spending more time with us and with Dr Sabrina's help she'll be right as rain in no time.'


Ducky Mallard, schoolduck: 'All of us here are the Duckdale Academy wish Emily a speedy recovery!'


Claire McKuchen, Catchphrase Generator: 'Don't sit next to me! It's contagious!'

Express returns after 4 month hiatus

THE TOYLAND EXPRESS has restarted its printing presses once again after a successful private equity funded management buy-out of its holding company, Toyland Presses Plc. What do you think?


Ducky Mallard, 5, national poet: 'Well I'm not sure what that means but my mummy has said I should start reading the business pages.'


Mrs Mouse, 38, toy shop attendant:
'I think it's great given the squeaking awful press mice have been getting recently. Where was the Express to cover the shocking murder of a mouse in Phi... (continued on page 89)


Phoebe Nightingale, 20, professional sleeper:
'I think it's great as long as it's not going to be filled with loads of opinions of random toys. I didn't get out of bed to read what some character I'd never heard of has to say! In fact, I didn't get out of bed at all.'

TE