Fall Toy Preview Spotlight: Toys With Mass Appeal

Manufacturers unwrap select 2010 playthings at this month's Fall Toy Preview

By Cliff Annicelli -- Gifts and Dec, 10/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Battat

Battat Toys shows off its debut assortment of preschool learning, activity and role-play toys based on Baby Genius' preschool DVDs.

Highlights of the line include the All-In-One Musical Band, a musical set sized for the littlest hands; Musical Vacuum, a role-play vacuum with light, sound and motion features; Tempo's Musical Broom, featuring its namesake Baby Genius character that sings its trademark "Broom Song"; DJ's Sing-a-Long Keyboard; a Pet Care Center (pictured); and Old McVinko's Musical Farm playset.

Blue Orange

For 2010, Blue Orange Games plans a portable version of its Yamslam game, Pocket Yamslam. Like the original, Pocket Yamslam is a dice game in which calculated chances and strategic choices place the odds in the player's favor. The Pocket version is compact and self-contained, with a chip rack and what the company says is a "unique" design.

Bossa Nova Robotics

Bossa Nova Robotics unwraps the first of its line of robotic toys developed from technology created at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute.

Penbo is an interactive, waddling penguin that responds to touch. She also lays an egg that when opened reveals a tiny baby penguin that chirps and communicates with mom. Penbo plays six games.

Prime-8 is a robotic gorilla with a strong personality. Triggered by clapping or loud noises, Prime-8's transforms from a friend to a red-eyed 'Gone Bananas!' robot that beats the floor and roars. In 'guard' mode Prime-8 protects his owner's private space by firing rubber tipped safety rockets at intruders.

CitiBlocs

CitiBlocs offers up its self-named, open-ended construction toy line featuring wooden planks made of New Zealand pine. Seven kits are included in the current assortment: the 52 Piece Wooden Building Set, a starter set of unfinished planks; larger sets of unfinished planks in 100, 200, 300, 500 and 1,000 piece iterations; and a 54 Piece Red/Blue Color Wooden Building Set.

DuneCraft

DuneCraft adds imagery from children's book author Eric Carle to its line of grow-your-own garden kits. Among the initial products are The Very Hungry Caterpillar Butterfly Garden (pictured), a terrarium that contains an easy to grow butterfly plant; and The Tiny Seed Grow A Sunflower.

Educational Insights

Educational Insights' Foamfetti is an air-dry sculpting mix that lets kids make animal figures or other shapes, or that can be used to decorate objects since it sticks to unfinished wood, cardboard and paper. It's sold in several iterations.

Edushape

"Small" is the operative word for Edushape's EduBlocks soft blocks line this year with additions to its Mini kits, led by the Mini EduBlock Activity Mat, a double-sided playmat (pictured), plus Mini EduBlocks sets in 26 or 52 piece versions; a 28 piece EduTrain set, and EduAnimals, a 28 piece set of zoo animals.

Elope

Elope's new dress-up products will include a Disney-licensed Tinkerbell Felt Wig and a non-licensed Kid's Mad Hatter hat (pictured).

Endless Games

Leading off Endless Games' lineup for 2010 is Name 5 (pictured), a party game that asks players to name five things, like five vegetables that begin with the letter A or five things that would make a person sneeze.

Also new is the A-BEE-C Matching Game, a "match the letters" spelling game for kids that comes in a Bee-shaped package; Quackgammon, a quirky take on backgammon that features rubber ducky playing pieces; and Husker Du in new packaging.

Fashion Angels Enterprises

Fashion Angels Enterprises continues its focus on tween lifestyle products, with additions to its Crazeraser, Sketch Portfolio and Project Runway-licensed fashion design lines.

For Crazerasers, a spin on collectible puzzle erasers, Fashion Angels will release Series 3 in early 2010. Designs will focus on fashion icons for girls while boys get designs such as monsters and toilet plungers.

For its Sketch Portfolios, the company adds several half-size versions. Themes include Flower Power and Glitz and Glam.

The Project Runway line gets its own Sketch Portfolio assortment, plus a new Project Runway Light Box Fashion Design Set.

Fat Brain

Fat Brain Toy has two new titles on tap for fans of thinking games: AnimaLogic a puzzle game that challenges kids to get 16 wooden safari animals across a bridge in a specific sequence; and Tri-Spy, a fast-paced spatial challenge game about spotting and matching patterns.

Fundex Games

Fundex focuses on four new game titles for 2010.

The Fred May Day Dice Game has players earn points by helping Internet sensation Fred May collect animals and his favorite food. The hoops&yoyo Gimme Donuts Dice and Card Game has players roll figural "dice" in an attempt to recreate the figures' poses. Jungle Grapevine: Race to the Watering Hole pits players against each other in race to get animal playing pieces to their drinking source. Alex Beard: Face to Face is a Cubist domino game in which players match eyes, mouths and noses in a strategic—and serendipitously artistic—manner.

GiddyUp

New Colorloco craft and Scientific Explorer science products for tweens from GiddyUp, Elmer's Products' kids division, include Colorloco's Dotza El Grande Kit, which includes 120 reusable picture creation guides for dot art and its Sprayza El Grande Kit that turns markers into an airbrush; plus Scientific Explorer's Magnificent Manicure Kit, which contains six spa science activities and a Pizza Activity Kit with 10 food science experiments.

The Goldberger Co.

Goldberger is introducing a new sub-brand, Yum Yums, with a line of "sweet and expressive" friends led by Musical Lights Lolli, a doll that lights up and plays a sweet song. Other new products include: Basic Training, an assorment of products that teach life skills, the lead item of which is Molly Manners, a doll who sings a song about being polite; Plumpee, a Baby's First brand soft doll; and Heart Glow Baby, part of Goldberg's scented Lavender Dreams doll line.

Greenlight Collectibles

After four years focused on 1:64 scale collector die-cast, GreenLight Collectibles unveils, Motor World, its first GreenLight Toys product line. It's a more affordably price 1:64 die-cast line that features vehicles from US automakers, plus the company's first cars from international manufacturers. Series One includes 12 cars. 1:43 scale cars will follow. Additionally, new collector cars join Greenlight's line of 1:64 scale Hot Pursuit vehicles officially licensed from individual police departments; and with Warner Bros., it recreates the famed chase scene from 1968's Bullitt with a diorama and two 1:64 scale cars.

Jacquard Products

Jacquard Products' Funky Groovy Tie Dye Kit (pictured) includes everything a parent needs to supervise the creation of up to five adult T-shirts. The company's Hoop Painting Fun Bag includes professional-quality supplies for painting silk hoops, which can be used as sun catchers or as wall art.

Jakks Pacific

Jakks Pacific's spring 2010 product introductions center on licenses.

The Disney Fairies doll line includes several 4.5-inch styles (pictured) based around the property's five core pixie characters, plus two 4.5-inch scale playsets: Balloon Play Set with Terence Doll and Mini Play Set with Pet, featuring the line's only Blaze figure. There are also 40 Pixie Treasures 2-inch figurines sold in 2- and 5-packs and a Pixie Treasures Doll & Pet assortment.

Hello Kitty gets 6-inch bean bag plush with internationally themed designs, a 12-inch plush Vintage Assortment with Kitty dressed in retro styles, and playsets.

Jakks' GX Racers line adds a Multi Pack Assortment of 1:64 extreme vehicles with interchangeable gyros that race up to 600 scale miles per hour. The GX Racers Snake Escape is a playset that boasts magnetic features on both the playset and the cars for gravity-defying stunts. The GX line also adds a GX Skaters Assortment, motorcycle focused GX Moto Performance Assortment, GX Moto Stunt Pack and GX Moto Monster Air Jump playset.

The Lucky Bee Bee Honeycomb Display gives girls a new way to show off their Lucky Bee Bee 3-D charm collections in a stackable stand.

TV Games adds two titles with accelerometer technology: Motion Triple Header Sports and Motion Toy Story.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship line adds Deluxe Figures.

Jakks' Bella Sara line offers collectible horse figures, including 5-inch Magical Horse & Winged Magical Horse; Mom & Baby sets; and a Bella Ball Playset.

The Club Penguin line adds 2-inch figures with vehicles; 6.5-inch plush; Puffles, the penguins' mood reflecting pets; and Mix 'n' Match Figures with interchangeable costumes.

Based on the Disney Channel series, Phineas & Ferb toys include include 3-inch figures with action features; Slammer Plush with Sound Bytes; and a Transforming Perry that becomes Secret Agent P when turned inside out.

Funky Town Alvin is a feature plush that sings and dances. Alvin & The Chipmunks plush are offered in 6- and 12-inch sizes.

Jazwares

Armed with toy rights to Imagi Studios' upcoming Astro Boy movie, Jazwares plans a fall 2010 product line that will include 3.75- and 6-inch action figures, 5-inch JUVI figures, a 10-inch deluxe electronic Astro Boy (pictured), Light-Up Cores role-play toys and a plush collection.

KidKraft

KidKraft focuses on personalization in the near term, with more than 80 items upon which customers can add children's names and designs. Personalization options include printing and embroidery on wooden room accessories, furniture, toys and upholstered items in a variety of fonts, colors and graphic images.

The Lafayette Puzzle Factory

Lafayette Puzzle Factory has new puzzles, educational products, playing cards and calendars lined up to usher in 2010.

Under license from Crayola, Lafayette's Crayola Chalkboard Puzzles are 2-ft. by 3-ft. floor puzzles that include sidewalk chalk; also new are Crayola branded educational products, such as flash cards and lapboards with an exclusive chalkboard finish. Chris Flisher Mandalas is a series of six 500-piece round puzzles of circular mandala designs. Fodors "Places to Visit" Puzzle Books feature images of popular tourist spots in special packaging designed to look and feel like a hardcover book. ColorView 1,000-piece 3-D puzzles use special ChromoColor 3-D glasses to take the frustration out of assembling lenticular puzzles. In a similar vein, Holographic 1,000-piece puzzles feature the fantasy castles of artist Ciro Marchetti. 500-piece Cupcake puzzles include cupcake recipes from well-known chefs.

Learning Curve

Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train joins Learning Curve's list of licensed toys for 2010. The line will feature collectible dinosaurs, interactive dinosaur action figures, plush, puzzles and ELAs for preschoolers.

Learning Curve's spring 2010 highlights for Super WHY! include the High Flying Super WHY! Action Figure, which includes several action features; and a Super WHY! vehicle with figure.

The Thomas Wooden Railway system adds a toddler-targeted sub-brand, the Thomas Wooden Railway Early Engineers Line. Caring Corners grows with the addition of the Miss Butterfly Bliss Portable Cottage.

The Lamaze Infant Development System adds a Space Symphony Motion Gym, a Discover the Sea Carousel and a Play House Gym.

Ertl John Deere debuts more than 70 new items, led by the Radio Controlled John Deere 'Monster Treads' Gator. The Johnny Lightning Forever 64 die-cast series adds new models and themes.

Lego

Lego's big news is the debut of a game line.

The first five games, due out in March, are: Lava Dragon, in which players build a volcano and then must get their knight to the summit first; Monster 4, in which players vie to be the first to get four monsters in a row; Pirate Code, wherein players try to break the codes of others' treasure chests before others break yours; Minotaurus, in which players build and navigate a maze; and Creationary (pictured, previous page), in which players guess what other players have built.

Lucy Hammett Games

Lucy Hammet Games expands its Educational Picture Bingo games with Music Bingo and Fruit and Vegetable Bingo. Each game contains six picture boards, chips and a deck of informative cards.

Moose Mountain 

New Star Wholesale

New Star Wholesale grows its selection of toddler ride-ons with Scooby-Doo and Tweety Mini Express Trains with Trailers, and a Mack Truck Granite with Trailer.

Noodle Head

Noodle Head gives its Pawparazzi fashion plush line a packaging makeover, with boxes that look like a stage and include a collectible, pop-out trading card. Each set comes with a plush pet, couture "pet-carrier" purse and various accessories. Noodle Head's Travel Buddies line of kids' neck pillows adds a new design, Bunny (pictured).

Norscot

Norscot is adding two die-cast UPS trucks to its roster: the modern UPS P80 Delivery Truck in 1:87 scale and the 1913 UPS Brown Delivery Truck, a replica of the United Parcel Service's original "Package Car," in 1:18 scale.

Peg Perego

Peg Perego taps into the brand appeal of John Deere, Polaris and Ducati for new ride-on vehicles. The designs come in single-speed 6-volt versions, and two-speed 12- and 24-volt models with features likes reverse and a Smart Pedal accelerator that reduces jerky starts and increases riding time.

RMS International

RMS International will enter the US market in 2010 with two products leading the way: IN Motion Games Console, a wireless console that comes with 42 interactive games; and the stationery-filled Giant Crayon, with an assortment of paper, colored pencils, felt tip markers, crayons and gel pens.

Robonica

Robonica will debut its Roboni-I Action Games, the first entry in what the South African/US company calls the "robotic gaming" category. Roboni-I offers competitive game play and fully programmable functionality that Robonica says was previously unseen in consumer robots.

Safari

Safari's Toob line welcomes Bundles of Babies, a gaggle of 1.5-inch baby figurines in different ethnicities and variously colored diapers, plus includes a tiny teddy bear.

Safari's Fairy Fantasies Collection adds a Fairy Fantasies Tea Party set with two figures. The Wild Safari Dinos series adds a 7-inch Liopleurodon. Wildlife Wonders adds a 10-inch Asian Elephant.

Sakar

Sakar International has drawn up new lines of preschool electronics based on Nickelodeon favorites Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, including digital cameras, walkie talkies and alarm clocks.

Silverlit

Silverlit harnesses the power of superheroes for two assortments of radio-controlled vehicles. The company's Marvel Universe R/C Whip-It series are full function R/C vehicles, each themed around a specific character, including Iron Man, Wolverine and Captain America. They boast sound effects and lights that illuminate the top and sides of the body. The Super Hero Squad Team Mini I/R Series vehicles (pictured) are 12 pint sized designs with small but fully functioning IR controls and working headlights.

Techno Source

Techno Source focuses on "innovative basics" for 2010. For Toy Story 3, the toymaker offers handheld and keychain LCD games with multiple levels, full-color screens, and real movie music and sound effects. Its Printies Keepsake Ornaments let kids create six custom holiday ornaments using the company's innovative printer-based technology. Smiley Central Studio Series 2 plush includes new 7-inch and 3-inch plush keychain characters. The Rubik's line adds the Rubik's Slide.

Tier Toys

Australia's Tier Toys is launching its Stackers' Puzzle, Sorter & Storage Case product line in the U.S. It debuts with Noah's Ark, featuring the Ark sliced into 12 stackable layers, and includes 44 figures.

Uncle Milton

Uncle Milton's Star Wars Science line grows by two items: the Mini Lightsaber Tech Lab, which lets kids build their own 8.25-inch lightsaber replicas, and the CT-5 Exploration Unit, a bug catcher.

Uniset

Denmark's Uniset is bringing two sets of travel-friendly, Disney-themed activity kits to the US. Its Magic Stickers Activity Set (pictured) has two background scenes, stickers, activity and coloring sheets, and colored pencils. The Magic Stickers Drawing set consists of a booklet with drawing paper, stickers and colored pencils.

USAopoly

USAopoly's latest licensing-enhanced versions of Hasbro's board games include Clue in 24 and The Office editions; Monopoly in Seinfeld, G.I. Joe and Star Trek editions; Trivial Pursuit: The Beatles Collector's Edition; and Risk: Halo Wars Collector's Edition. Non-Hasbro games include Chess: Super Mario Bros. Collector's Edition and Telestrations, a version of the classic telephone game in which players draw pictures instead of whisper in each others' ears.

Wild Planet

Wild Planet is expanding its popular Spy Gear brand with two items: Spy Handcuffs that feature a motion-activateda alarm instead of an actual lock, and the Split-Blaster, a dart launcher with barrels that fire in different directions simultaneously.

Joining the Fizz 'n' Find brand is Squatz (pictured), a line of 1.5-inch collectable figures with interchangeable heads. Each figure is embedded in a solid tablet twice its size, and wrapped and labeled with a question mark because the exact character purchased is a mystery until the tablet is submerged in a bowl of warm water in order to emerge. The first dozen designs include robots, aliens, pirates and ninjas, sold in single and double packs.

Winning Moves

Winning Moves' Cir*kis is strategy game in which players attempt to outwit their opponents by successfully creating circles and stars. The game features a dimensional board that includes scoring tracks and corner compartments for storing its pieces.