First of all, thank you. We’ve had a huge show of support, and it’s really made us feel a whole lot better about this situation. In four years of blogging, I’ve only called a company on the carpet one other time, and it was when an Amtrak conductor insisted I cover up while breastfeeding on [...]
Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category
Playmobil: the grinch who stole Christmas (or at least the Pyramids)
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009An Open Letter to Playmobil:
Dear Playmobil,
As soon as we saw your new Pyramid at Toy Fair, we were enchanted. We gave it top billing during our 31 Days of Giveaways in July. A full page in our annual catalog. We assembled it here in our office for the photo shoot (note to Santa: this took [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 17 - Star Wars Force Trainer
Monday, November 30th, 2009Rumors were flying at Toy Fair. There was a new toy that used the power of your brain waves to make an object move. Awesome. I had to try it. I hunted down the Uncle Milton booth and got on line. Sadly, the Force was not with me and although people before and after me [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 16 - Deluxe Grocery Cart
Saturday, November 28th, 2009Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. We brought the Melissa & Doug Grocery Cart to Cape Cod with us this summer to photograph it for our catalog. Mira was a willing model, but the first few shots were a little stiff and we were trying to get her to loosen up. Suddenly, [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 15 - Kettler Happy Navigator
Friday, November 27th, 2009Riding a tricycle is blessedly straightforward. Sit, pedal, go. But riding a tricycle also has a number of benefits for children, both expected and unexpected.
Expected: tricycles help kids develop their gross motor skills.Frequent riding makes them stronger and more coordinated. The more time kids spend riding a trike, the better their foundation for learning to [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 14 - Bananagrams
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009I’m not much of a banana person. I don’t like bananas au natural. I don’t like banana bread - not even when my friend Dustin makes it, though it is reportedly amazing. I don’t like banana in my smoothies. I don’t like slices of banana in my cereal. Elvis’s preferred combination of peanut butter and [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 13 - Annabel Karmel Kitchen
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Four days ago, a British woman named Annabel Karmel won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious Mother & Baby Awards in the UK. For any mom who has already been introduced to Annabel Karmel, this will not come as a surprise. She is the most prolific and progressive author of cookbooks for parents and [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 12 - Knitted Donuts 5-Pack
Saturday, November 21st, 2009I have been ogling these knitted donuts at trade shows for several years. Until very recently, the company did not offer any retail packaging, and our stores are not exactly look-but-don’t-touch sorts of places. Beautiful handmade toys sitting unprotected on a shelf is not usually a recipe for success. I was thrilled when I heard [...]
Is it a boy-toy or a girl-toy?
Friday, November 20th, 2009I wish there were less gender discrimination in toys. Toy manufacturers have little choice but to gear their packaging designs and marketing towards specific genders when the product warrants it, but that means it’s up to parents to keep an open mind.
My son is only 16 months old, but he’s already far more obsessed with [...]
Holiday Giveaways # 11 - Bruder Trucks
Friday, November 20th, 2009I hadn’t heard of Bruder trucks until we were opening Magic Beans. At Toy Fair that first year, I was introduced to the brand and learned that these were THE trucks to sell. I still remember watching in awe as they demonstrated the Fire Truck, with its working water hose. The attention to detail is [...]
