Mary Meyer plush toys introduced a new line of stuffed animals at Toy Fair, “Fuzz that Wuzz”, constructed entirely of materials recycled from old soda bottles. The concept is timely, as eco-chic is most certainly hot in the toy industry right now. The fuzz is not as soft as some other fleece plush, but it [...]
Archive for the ‘Toy Fair’ Category
Boom Chickyboom
Monday, February 16th, 2009There’s a reason why they don’t let kids into Toy Fair. They’d touch everything, knock things over and make a mess. Fortunately for me, they don’t discriminate against clumsy adults with similar tendencies. I arrived at the Blue Orange booth this morning, fresh as a daisy. The first thing I saw was Chickyboom, a new [...]
P’kolino enters the world of easels
Monday, February 16th, 2009The Melissa & Doug easel has been our best-seller for the past several years, combining funcitonality and value to win market share. But prices have slowly crept up as manufacturing costs have increased worldwide, and this easel which was once a steal at $49.99 increased to $59.99 last year, and will be more of a [...]
Skip Hop Debuts Bags for Kids
Monday, February 16th, 2009I love Skip Hop diaper bags for their comfortable designs, great features and excellent value. Now my kids can share in the fun. Skip Hop has designed three kids’ backpacks, called Zoo Packs. Inspired by animals, the backpacks look great and have a smart, insulated pocket right in front for snacks or lunches. The best [...]
Toy Fair Day One
Monday, February 16th, 2009This year at Toy Fair is a little different than the years before. This is the first year I’ve had to juggle the demands of the show with the demands of a baby who is still exclusively breasftfeeding (minus a couple of well-aimed spoonsful of rice cereal a day). Toy Fair has a stringent “No [...]
Swinxs Set
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008If you’re wondering what the founder of Bugaboo is up to these days, the answer may surprise you. I bumped into Eduard Zanen at Toy Fair this year, where he was promoting a new toy concept that he is developing in the Netherlands. Swinxs aims to be an unvideo game - an interactive gaming console [...]
Got fear? Get Shrunks.
Monday, February 25th, 2008The Shrunks is a new line of toys designed to help kids address their nighttime fears. The company takes an interesting approach to this, with a line of soft plush toys that represent the most common kids’ fears and also a line of tools to help kids feel more secure at night.
The tools include a [...]
The Circus makes a comeback
Monday, February 25th, 2008During my tour of the Playmobil booth at Toy Fair, I was nearly apoplectic with joy when I saw that they have redesigned and resurrected one of my all-time favorite Playmobil themes - the Circus. When we were little, my parents bought us the complete set with the big top tent, the horses, the elephants, [...]
A whole new dimension for Set
Monday, February 25th, 2008I became a fan of the game Set during my senior year of high school when our college guidance counselors kept it on hand for distracting stressed-out students during free periods. Long after our letters had come, we still hung out in their basement office, playing that addictive game.
If you’ve never played, Set is a [...]
One heck of a cardboard box
Monday, February 25th, 2008Making environmentally friendly toys has become a priority for a lot of toymakers, but one is taking that to a whole new level. Cardboard Design has come out with a line of sturdy, foldable cardboard play environments that are beautifully done and incredibly kind to the planet. My favorite is probably the Lemonade stand, coming [...]
