Busy Week- Toy news everywhere

FIrst of all, the latest news is the Build A Bear recall-- dont all Build a Bears have these possible chokable parts??
Colorful Hearts teddy bear Recall:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/build-a-bear-recall-colorful-hearts_n_1173463.html


Second, there is the story of the new "girlie" LEGO:


Photo:Courtesy of LEGO

Here is the VP talking about LEGOs focus on girls:

http://www.businessweek.com/video/#video=pjcHM0MzoIrW1GDR-_yAih1oPF1acX57






Read this story:
LEGO IS FOR GIRLS: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/lego-is-for-girls-12142011.html

Last but not least, there is the story of the little girl Riley who does not enjoy the fact that all toy stuff for girls is pink:http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504784_162-57349485-10391705/little-girl-unloads-on-toy-industrys-double-standard/>

BLACK BARBIES GET NATURAL HAIR

Did anyone see the story on CNN.com today about black barbies that are redone to look more"black"? Meaning that their hair is redone to make it look more natural-- like kinky curls,etc? What do you think?? HMMM.. I think this is quite interesting.
Heres the thing, black comes in different shades. Being black is like being a crayone in a Crayola box-- there are many shades-- there is brown, tan, black, peach-- all people these shades can consider themselves black, African-American.
Ok now to the Barbie.Barbie is made by Mattel. Mattel has done a GREAt job making the peach and tan Barbie.It looks like they just took the white Barbie and dipped it in tan plastic. Now has Mattel done a good job making a "black" Barbie?? Of course not!!! I dont know one lady who is black and has naturally long silky hair..She may have long silky hair that she paid for, a weave, but it wont be natural.Seeing Barbies, on the mass level, being sold who have braids, cornrows in a classy way is unheard of.Seeing Barbies/dolls with hair that is worn "naturally" is unheard of.Unfortunatley, the word "doll" gets interchanged with the word"Barbie'.Sorry Mattel. The point is that, doll babies still have a long way to go.If Mattel can advance their Hot wheels cars (which they have) , then why cant they update their dolls and diversify them? if they need to hire more black toy designers or consultants, then do it.
Heres the thing, toys are for EVERYONE!! So if you work for a toy company, the field/place has to be diversified in order to ensure that you are hearing everyones side to the story, including everyones background and race.the more diversified the work place, the better the toys will be because they will be marketed to everyone.In summary, i like the idea of the black Barbie getting new hair, after all, isnt Brbie the style icon we all strive to be like?

MY 2011 TOY LIST

AMY 2011 TOY LIST:

Boys and Girls, I have the list you have all been waiting for, my 2011 LIST of TOP TOYS of the year. Christmas is approaching quite fast and if you haven’t bought gifts for your kids yet,good, because you really shouldn’t be buying toys for your kids yet without first reviewing my list.

So without much further ado, I’d like to introduce you to my list of TOP TOYS for 2011:

- The Disney What Not Muppet Workshop Kit: This is a kit that allows your kids to make their own muppets, essentially. The kit has one body, hair, mustache, beard, eyelids, nose .It’s really cool, but because there is only one body included in the kit, only one kid can play with it at a time. If you only have one child, its GREAT! If you have two or more kids, you’ll have to buy 2 or more kits so that each kid can have a “body” to place over their hands. But I really think that kids could get lost in their imagination playing with their own handy dandy hand puppets. Great for boys and girls.Each kit will cost $59.99.



- Smurf plush dolls—These big blue Smurf dolls are still realy cute and cuddly and fun to drag around. They are like the new teddy bear of the season and they are unisex. Everyone needs their own blue Smurf. Price : $13.99



- Bath Time Bath sets: if you have a kid below the age of 4, I highly recommend these. These are basically paint sets , that even come with a paint tray that can be suctioned to the wall. While your kids are showering, they can pain on the walls.These paint sets come in the Barbie and Spongebob Square Pants theme. Price: $12.99



- Lego Stereo CD Boombox/Hotwheels Boombox: If you like music but you don’t want to have a typical boring black boombox, why not invest in the LEGO boombox. I have one, and I love it.Great gift for a pre teenager and it comes in multiple colors- red, yellow, blue, and red.How many people can say they have a LEGO boombox?? The HOtwheels Boombox is cool too—it kind of looks like a car , the on switch is a car and there is a place to store hot wheel cars.Various parts of the boombox light up, the way a racetrack might.Both boomboxes are ideal, but the Hotwheel boombox is geared towards boys.



- If you have a kid who is above the age of 8 and enjoys gross ,nasty type of toys/gadgets, why not buy “Pig Out Pete”, made by FOTORAMA USA. Pig Out Pete is exactly what it sounds like, it’s a plastic figuring called Pete.You put gunk in him, turn him on, and wait for Pete to throw up. Once he throws up, it’s up to you to match the food chunks in the green gunk.This is not your everyday average toy, but it definitely gets a gold star for being unique,gross, and different.



- EduScience has created a PINK telescope. I do not think it is pink for breats cancer, I think it is pink to attract girls to science..its a simple 50MM Land and Sky II telescope. If you have girls who are into astrology and they are above the age of 10, this is a nice colorful gift to give. How many people can say they have a pink telescope? Not many.



- Insect Lore-Bug Grabber, Big Bug Magnifier, and Live Bug Projector: If you have a kid between the ages of 8-15, and they like bugs, these toys are for you. The Bug grabber is a device you put over a bug, slide a lever, and catch the bug, The big magnifier allows you to magnify bugs. My favorite is the Live Bug Projector. You have a device that’s like a mini viewmaster. You catch the bug in a device, close the device, and turn the device on. Once on, the light illuminates the fluttering bug onto the wall/ceiling/tent wall,etc.



- Crayola:Crayola obviously has new people working for them.Over the past 2 years, Crayola has been creating phenomenal toys, I mean phenomenal. Very soon, Crayola will need to open their own store because their designs and gadgets will be too much for TOYS R US to handle. If you have kid below the age of 7, anything you buy from Crayola will be worthwhile. I like the new “dry erase” tools Crayola is creating because they can be used over and over again. I love the dry erase board ( $10.99) and the dry erase travel set 3D Board ($19.99).Great for traveling in a car or on a plane.



- Crayola: This toy is specifically for girls (age 8 and up). The Crayola Jewelry Boutique ($ 19.99) and the Pop Art PixiesWristlet are quite crafty toys for girls. Like I said, Crayola is doing more than just making crayons nowadays.The Crayola Jewelry Boutique allows girls to make their own jewelry from scratch: earring,necklaces,and pendants. Great toy for creative minds. Great toy even for adults!! The Pop Art Wristlet is quite crafty too—the kit comes with a gray wristlet and a variety of snap on designs that allow you to change the design of your wristlet purse. These Crayola kits are wonderful because you can use the kits more than once and get more than one product out of the kits.You can get several jewelry pieces out of the jewelry kit and you can create several design combinations with the Crayola Pop Art Wristlet- it comes with at least 20 design snappable patches.This too would be a great gift for a fashionable woman.



- Kids age 3 and below:the CAT Honk and Rumble Steering wheel—This is a steering wheel that makes noise.Thats it. It makes noises like a car, and lights up.The steering wheel is full of buttons that can be touched and light up and make loud noises.. It’s a toy that stimulates a child’s mind. Something fun they can play with in their car seat,stroller, or crib.Price: $4.99



- Girl, between ages 4-8: Minnie Mouse Bow-tique Twinkle Bows Minnie and Cuddly Bear: Thiis is a teddy bear with a Minnie teddy bear. The great thing about this is that the big bear (Minnie Mouse), her bow tie lights up in a fluorescent color. That’s really cool. Plus the fact that she talks and laughs, but the glowing bow tie on Minnies head is the most admirable feature on this toy.This is the kind of toy your child will sleep with at night.Price : $21.99



- Lets Rock Microphone (preschool and above, unisex): This is part of the Sesame Street collection. This microphone plays sound but it also allows your kids to amplify their voices.



- PlayDoh: Age: any kid who knows that they shouldn’t eat Playdoh—the people at HASBRO are working hard to expand their playdoh line.Two new Playdoh additions are : the PlayDoh Twirl N Top Pizza Shop and the Playdoh Movie (with popcorn, hot dogs, and French fries). PlayDoh—if you have two little kids at home below the age of 9, they will have fun playing with these playdoh sets.



- Girls ages 8-15 : Mattel’s Designable Hair Extensions and Doll,price: $39.99—somehow someway, Mattel has found a way to creat hair which can be printed on.Seriously.this kit comes with hair, which looks like the bow string you would find on a violin bow. Somehow, the hair is on paper and you print your design on the hair paper.Then you clip the hair into your hair with a clip. It follows the hair feather mania. It is quite fascinating how Mattel came up with this concept.No one else is selling this anywhere on the market. Once other people catch onto this, this thing will sell like hot cakes because people will be able to sue it to create logos for their companies, show support for their schools, etc. Any teenage girl who gets this for XMAs will be the talk of the town because she will be able to create hair designs that no one else has. This is a MUST if you have a fashionable teenage girl/a young woman in your life who think they are a “diva”.



- Boys ages 6-16: Hot wheels Video Racer : This is quite nifty. Basically, this is a mini hot wheel car that you can attach you your helmet if you are skateboarding, biking,doing something fun.And when you aredown recording your event, all you have to do is flip the car over to watch the video on the underside of the car.Mattel made a video Babrie and now the same company has made a video recording device for boys, but this one is wayyyy cooler.if the screen on the belly of the car is too small, you can download your video onto your computer, and even edit the video with cool sound effects, music, and transitions—the downloadable software looks very much like Final Cut Pro.Not only will your kids get to record their fun daily activities but they will also get to become video editing pros. Price : $59.99



These are my top picks for the 2011 XMAS SEASON

LITTLE TIKES ,TOYS, AND ME

This weekend there was a scare on the East Coast due to Hurricane Irene. Everywhere you went, water was sold out--everything was sold out--radios and flashlights.But I knew that there was one place that would have everything I needed and that one place was TOYS R US. Gosh, I love that place!! Even if its hard yo find a cut out of Geoffrey!! I went there in the arly morning and luckily no one was really there saturday monrning.And yes they had water,flashlights, radios, you name it,I will share my purchases with you soon.BUt first let me share my finds with you:

LITTLE TIKES PLAY WITH MUD SERIES:




OMG!! What in the world are the LIttle Tikes people thinking??This was the CRAZIEST TOY idea i had ever seen and it was on the clearance shelf.Honestly, mad respect for the product designers-- it made me laugh and open my mouth in amazement.Im impressed.BUTTTTTTTTTTTTT really??? Dont you think the kids might eat the fake mud food by accident?Thats how this toy become a bit dangerous..But then I thought about it....PlaY-Doh has its toy sets where you use playdoh to make cakes and other types of food.. so Play Doh is guilty of this fake food phenomenom too, right? But the Little Tikes food looks SO REAL because they are not supplying the "doh"..Instead, the kids get their "doh" from the mud and make real life looking burgers, hot dogs, chocolate ice cream,, anything brown, that can be made from the food.
This toy line is ingenious, yes, id love to meet the designers who came up with this whole "PLAY WITH MUD" concept...its unique kind of.It just gets little tricky if little unior calls his friend over for a burger and the friend eats it because he thinks its real-- thats where it gets a bit dicey..But im impressed that Little Tikes knows that they need to venture out from toy trucks-- if they want to capture more of the toy world, they need to do more, and their PLAY WITH MUD line is a start:) A weird and wacky start that I dont think parents are buying into, but you have tio give it to little tikes for being creative--A+ for creativity:

SMURFS MCDS FABULOUS-SMURFS VISIT IKEA

CSPI and McDonalds Law Suit due to Happy Meal Toys

California Mother and CSPI Class Action Suit Against McDonald's Happy Meal Toys:

I know you guys have been dying to know what I think of this class action suit, right? Well here it goes-- this whole law suit is nothing but rubbish.Its complete NONSENSE and I can not believe it is garnering all this attention.And let me tell you why.

Parents today can not control their kids--- many of them.YOU as a parent, do NOT have to take your kid to McDs, Burger King, or any other place that has toys with their meals.But yet parents do not know how to say NO to their kids and let their kids control them.So when the kids starts crying saying,"i want mcDonalds NOWWWWWWWWWWWWW" then the parents want to make them quiet and give in to what the kid wants.The kid doesnt work, and half of the time the kid may not even be potty trained yet, but yet the kid wants McDS. How does the kid even know what McDonalds is?Did McDonalds give birth to your child?Did McDs come to your house and spend a day with your child brainwashing them? NO! Instead, you as a parent, took your child to McDonalds.And when you did, you did NOT buy them the healthy stuff. You got them the fries and the nuggets, and ensured that your kid got the toy so that they would be happy and quiet in the car.But now you are complaining that McDonalds is deceptive!!!! This is RUBBISH!!!!

Let me enlighten you guys-- you do NOT have to buy a HAPPY MEAL to get the toy.Being the toy freak that I am, trust me, I know. Yesterday i drove to McDonalds, got a smoothie and PAID to buy the Happy Meal toy- it cost around $2 something and I got the Hello Kitty series watch-the Keroppi watch. You do NOT have to buy the meal to get the toy.Doesnt everyone know that?!?!?!?!?
To hear Monet Parham say "I object to the fact that McDonald's is getting into my kids' heads without my permission and actually changing what my kids want to eat" is rubbish.HOw did McDs get into your kids head?Arent YOU the one who introduced your kid to McDs because you didnt feel like cooking on some days when your kid was hungry.Did McDs FORCE you to get the Hapy Meal?How long has your kid been eating Happy Meals-- probably before they could read right? so how did they know what to ask for? Did your kid talk to the person at the McDs counter when they were 2 or 3 and say,"i want a Happy Meal." NO!! The PARENT said it, not the child. Dont blame McDonalds for your irresponsible behavior.Im not saying that eating at McDs is irresponsible, but what I am saying is that it is irresponsible to blame McDs for supposedly "enticing" your kids to eat unhealthy meals." Who pays for the meal, the kid or the parent?My point exactly.
You can go to the store, buy a salad and stop by McDonalds and buy the toy solo, so this lawsuit is rubbish, as I stated earlier.

Heres point # 2: to say that having a toy in the meal is causing bad behavior is CRAZY!! When i go to the store, they have BUY ONE GET ONE FREE sales. They do it with toothbrushes, mouthwash,cookies, everything.
So do I have the right to sue Colgate and say, 'I am suing Colgate because my gums are bleeding due to overbrushing , which happened due to Colgate enticing me to buy 2 toothbrushes instead of one.' Can i say Colgate is violating the law by using a free toothbrush to market teeth brushing to kids?
Do you see my point or do you need another example?

Noone can force you to do anything you do not want to do.if you go to Africa, none of those kids know what McDonalds is because the parents have never taken them there.
So in summary: This McDs lawsuit is rubbish and I will continue to go to McDs to buy my Happy Meal toy, minus the actual meal. I just want the toy.You too can go to McDs and just buy the toy.

CRAYOLA- MORE THAN JUST CRAYONS

When you think of Crayola, what comes to mind?

Crayons
Crayons
Crayons,yes yes….

Crayola Crayons—the big yellow box with the array of colored crayons. Then of Course there are the Crayola Markers- which are fat and juicy and come in your standard ROY G BIV colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown,black, and gray.
When you had projects in school or had to make posters for games, you always bought CRAYOLA – that was the ONLY way to go right?!?!?!

Well guess what? I truly believe, and hopefully someone will email me and tell me, that Crayola is undergoing an extensive shake up.Is Jill Barad from Mattel working for Crayola and no one knows it?!?!?!? Crayola, is by far, going to be, according to my estimations, one of the BIGGEST winners this holiday season. Crayola, in case you haven’t noticed, has all of a sudden awakened from their multi colored dream and has taken the kid world by storm - so much so that even I have noticed. And we all know that once I notice, it must be a good thing.

Crayola was once known as Binney and Smith. However, in early 2007, they officially changed their name to Crayola LLC, probably due to the fact that Crayola is more recognized than the Binney & Smith name. And to me, it seems like Crayola LLC has really been charging forward at an accelerated pace since then.

Most everything I want this Christmas is made by Crayola—and that has NEVER happened.

In case you have missed the new gadgets Crayola LLC is creating, let me educate you.

A. The Crayola Glo Dome: This is such a great innovative toy. Its a globe that allows you to draw on it and it “glows”. It’s so simple yet so fascinating. The Crayola Glo Dome is a simple toy that can keep you fascinated for hours. I want one of these for XMAS.

B. The Crayola Glo Board/Glo Station: Same idea—it’s a board that allows you to draw on it and your images “glow”. How cool is that. Its almost like Lite Brite, but different. Yes, we must all acknowledge that Lite Brite was the first toy that glowed, but they didn’t advance that “glowing” technology the way Crayola has. Hasbro knew toys that “glowed” were fascinating, that is why they made the Lite Brite and the Glo Worm. But HASBRO should have kept expanding on the whole “glow” idea. Where they ended is where Crayola has taken off. FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!


C. The Crayola Color Me A Song Pad : This is so fascinating. I want this for XMAS TOO !! This is a “toy” which allows your toddler to color and hear music at the same time. The faster the kid draws, the faster the music goes. The slower they draw, the slower the music. How neat!! I think this is a great toy to have if you have little kids AND you are traveling. If you are the driver and you give this toy to your child, you will know they have fallen asleep once the music stops or slows down. This “technology” is absolutely mind blowing because it can be used in many ways. This SAME technology can be used in elementary schools, when teaching kids how to write. As their writing improves, the tempo of the music will increase. This technology has a lot of potential…..trust me.

D. The Crayola Color Wonder set: I really like this. This is a coloring set which allows the painter to draw, but yet there is no paint. The set uses special paper and special paint. Its all magically connected in some odd strange way. It’s like the paintbrush has a brain of its own and is electronically/magnetically connected to the special paper and the special paint. Don’t ask me how it works—I don’t know—but the fact that it is so magical makes me want one. You should want one too. It’s one of the “wonders” of the toy world I suppose.

So you see, Crayola is a top player this holiday season. If you are at the toy store and you feel overwhelmed, stop by the Crayola section because they have A LOT to offer this holiday season. Whether its 3D Sidewalk Chalk or Glo Globes- the selections is remarkable!!