Every year, Magna-Tiles top our list of holiday best-sellers, and for good reason: they’re terrific fun for everyone, and are one of the rare toys that can captivate a preschooler or a teenager. But this year, they will be in very short supply — and for a very sad reason. Magna-Tiles are manufactured in Thailand, which has suffered catastrophic flooding ... Read More »
Last night was the second night of Chanukah, and we gave our kids a 52-piece Tegu Block set. These blocks are a new arrival here at Magic Beans, and they’re addictive. They are wooden blocks embedded with magnets. The magnets are fully encased and powerful enough to support the weight of the wood without being so strong as to make ... Read More »
The first time I wrote about Magna-Tiles in 2007, I called them one of “the best kept secrets in the world of toys.” These days, the word is out and we can hardly keep these in stock. But the clear Magna-Tiles are always much more popular than the solid ones. I was on that bandwagon too – at first. The ... Read More »
Not since Blue Orange have I found a company with a suite of games that are all fresh, smart, fun, and great for all ages. Foxmind makes a group of solitaire, thinking, and spatial logic games. I opened 3 of the games at our Magic Beans store in Hingham today: Equilibrio, Zoologic, and Meta-Forms – and thoroughly distracted the staff ... Read More »
We’ve always loved Wedgits, the fabulous geometry toy from Imagability. There’s something compelling about the sleek shapes and angles that makes it difficult for even an adult to put them down after taking a moment to explore. For kids, these unique, imagination-charged building blocks offer lots of creative possibilties that also help them sharpen their spatial reasoning skills. Imagability offers ... Read More »
During 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, the tightrope walkers, the whole ... Read More »
Today was the 50th anniversary of the Lego brick, one of the most ubiquitous and well-loved toys on the planet. The date and time (1:58pm, in case you were wondering) marks the exact moment that the patent was filed. I received a press release from Lego with oodles of useless yet fascinating tidbits I didn’t know about Lego – until ... Read More »
Dado Cubes have been an instant hit – and why not? They’re a colorful, open-ended construction toy that are appealing to a wide age range. All that, plus they’re designed and made in the USA. Now fans of the Dado Cubes will be pleased to hear about the newest member of the Dado family – Dado Squares. Each set includes ... Read More »
Let’s talk about marbles for a minute. Marbles are so simple, but they’ve been a cornerstone of playtime for centuries. Set them in motion and you’ve got hours of entertainment. There are countless types of marble run construction toys out there, and many different interpretations. The newest one is Q Ba Maze. This marble construction toy looks like a piece ... Read More »
Magna-Tiles are not exactly new. In fact, they’ve been around for a while, and we’ve had them in the store since right before the holidays. But I’m starting to think they’re one of the best kept secrets in the world of toys. I’d heard rumblings about Magna-Tiles, but I wasn’t sure what the hoopla was all about. It’s a bunch ... Read More »