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• Liveblogging Toy Fair: Our Favorite Things

  Now for our final trick, here are a few things we loved (and haven't yet covered)... 1. Hot Wheels Color Shifters These are like the color-change Hot Wheels you may remember from the 80s, which changed color when they got wet. The difference is that these have “color memory technology”, so when, say, a green car turns red, it actually stays red until you re-wet it. The best part about this Toy Fair booth was that the PR reps needed constant changes of hot and cold water to demonstrate the cars, so they kept running back and forth with Starbucks cups, then dipping in the cars like they were biscotti. Read More... Posted Feb 19 2009, 03:00 PM by editors with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair: 80's Nostalgia

  Remember when the Fisher Price house looked like this... ...instead of this?   Read More... Posted Feb 19 2009, 11:15 AM by editors with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, 80s, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair: The Home Stretch

  Okay, so at this point, I'm no longer technically liveblogging Toy Fair. But there's so much I haven't shown you! The chandelier made of high heels in the Barbie room! The hipster action figure in the Lego city set! (Actually, he's the one in the photo at right. Don't you just want to read his blog?)    Read More... Posted Feb 19 2009, 10:14 AM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, Legos, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 12: Show Some Emotion

  Talking to kids about their feelings can be tricky. Hell, talking to adults about their emotions can be tricky, and they have much bigger vocabularies. Here are two toys that are designed to help -- and also happen to be among the cutest at Toy Fair. First up: Kimochis. Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 03:50 PM by editors with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 11: We Taste-Test Edible Play-doh

  Our photo editor, Lauren, dared go where I did not: to the Yummy Dough booth at Toy Fair. Here's her fearless report from the front: Yummy Dough is made by PlaSmart, though the brand on the packaging says “Sarah & Luisa”.  Apparently it was invented by two kids in Germany (Sarah and Luisa, perhaps?).   It’s “the first modeling clay in the world that you can eat and it  tastes really good” (I beg to differ on that one, since I ate many a play dough creation when I was a tot, and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Mmm, salty).  Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 02:41 PM by editors with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 10: The 3 Best Eco-Friendly Toys of 2009

  1. Sprig Toys: Sprig Hollow This year, Sprig is expanding its line of non-toxic and sustainable toys (they don't even use paint, instead making all the colorful parts of their toys from plastic biocomposites) AND lowering its prices. They're also unveiling a bunch of new toys, including our favorite: Spring Hollow, an outdoor playset that will actually survive if you leave it out in the elements for an entire summer.  All the play pieces and vehicles double as sand/dirt/water toys, all are sturdy as a rock, and they even have a sensitive side -- the bugs' "faces" change expression when you flip their wings.   Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 12:51 PM by editors with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: organic, toy fair, eco-friendly gifts, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 9: All the Obama Toys

  Morning, all! We kick off today's Toy Fair blogging with a photo series of every Obama toy we spotted in our mad dash around the Javits Center. Enjoy! -- Gwynne Watkins Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 10:01 AM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, obama, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 8: Watch Me Move a Ball WITH MY MIND

  We'd never heard of toy maker Uncle Milton until today, but their booth has become a Toy Fair hot spot thanks to an amazing toy that grants the player telekinetic powers: The Star Wars Force Trainer. This fascinating gadget (which will retail for about a grand) uses that same EEG technology as the Mattel Mind Flex game we saw earlier, but with the added bonus of sound clips from Star Wars. Here's how it works...       Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 04:58 PM by editors with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, star wars, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 7: The 12 Biggest Toy Fair Trends for 2009

  1. USB Ports Remember when you used to buy a stuffed animal, and it didn't come with an attachment that plugged into your computer and took you to a magical online world completely separate from your actual stuffed animal? Yeah. Those days are over. 2. Nintendo Wii Knock-Offs Interactive games with wireless controllers are all the rage for little kids, and most of them don't require any kind of gaming console.  Speaking of which... 3. Sports & activities You Can Play On Your TV Our future children will all be very pale from lack of actual sunlight. 4. Spas for Dolls Apparently it's pretty stressful to be a fashion doll.  Why else would Polly Pocket, the Disney Princesses or Barbie need to "get away from it all" in resorts equipped with bathtubs, cushy beds and flat-screen TVs? 5. Electronic Sensors Your baby doll can tell if she has a bottle in her mouth. Your toy dump truck can tell if there's a rock in its bed. Elmo can tell if you're dancing along to his song. Thanks to built-in sensors, your toys know more than they should never, ever know.   Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 03:05 PM by editors with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, 2009, liveblogging toy fair, top 10 toy fair trends

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 6: Spawn of Tickle Me Elmo

  See this hand? This is Elmo's hand. ON MY BODY. Building on the gargantuan success of the Tickle Me Elmo doll, "Elmo's Tickle Hands" are being marketed as a low-budget alternative. Simply put Elmo's dismembered hands over your own, tickle the nearest ticklish person or object, and the gloves start giggling uncontrollably. ("The more you tickle, the more they giggle!") Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 02:15 PM by editors with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 5: Watching YouTube Videos is Exactly Like Being There

  And now, some exclusive video we took in the Mattel/Fisher Price galleria... Wow Wow Wubbzy and His Kickity Kick Ball.  (Lauren asked the PR rep why Wubbzy was wearing tighty whities. She did not receive a satisfactory answer.) Video after the jump! Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 01:15 PM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 4: The Disney Princess Sorority House

  Welcome to the Disney Princess Favorite Moments Castle, where all your Disney princess dolls can finally live together under one roof. They can dance under plastic fireworks, then relax in a plastic bubble bath, and retire under a plastic quilt. Princes? Who needs princes?   Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 12:15 PM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 3: Rocky the Truck Has a Secret

  At first, I thought this Mattel toy was a retro throwback: an old-fashioned, sturdy dump truck. When a Toy Fair employee put a rock in the truck bed, it lit up and drove forward. So far, so good. Then a voice came out of the truck and started having a conversation with me. And then, it did this: Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 11:15 AM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 2: Everything You Need to Know About Tween Dora

  Much has been made in the media of the fact that Bratz knocked Barbie off their long-held pedestal as the bestselling fashion dolls in the world. Those of you who were discouraged by this news will be pleased to know that Mattel is preparing a counter-attack, and she goes by the name of Dora the Explorer. Wait, Dora? You mean the mushroom-shaped little bilingual girl who urges you to jump up and down until you wish she'd shove that monkey sidekick down her throat? No. Tween Dora. Unfortunately, we have no photos of Tween Dora, because photography was expressly forbidden in the Dora zone.  When we arrived at the Fisher Price/Mattel galleria, we were immediately ushered into a  tiny room furnished with fuzzy hot pink butterfly chairs.  We were told that what we were about to see would “revolutionize the way girls play with dolls.”  And then they unveiled her.   Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 10:00 AM by editors with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Morning News: Economy Kills Kids' Fun As We Know It

  The economic downturn may change the way our kids play. It might even be for the better. The Washington Post reports from the annual Toy Fair in New York that this year's breakout toy hits aren't Wii's and Furby's and cars that drive on walls.  Instead, the fair features lots of familiar games and toys in new and improved (and Disneyfied) versions. Babble's live-blogging the Toy Fair so check back later today to get a close-up of 2009 recession/depression style fun.    Now for some bad news: childhood obesity isn't in a downturn. The good news is ...   Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 09:00 AM by Madeline Holler with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, michelle obama, Michael Phelps, morning news, rote memorization, cholesterol levels in children, eduation

• Liveblogging Toy Fair, Part 1: What is Toy Fair?

  Toy Fair (Feb 15-18) is every kid's dream: a giant building full of toys, as far as the eye can see. Toy Fair is also every kid's nightmare: a giant building full of plays that you're not allowed to play with. Of course, seeing as no one under 18 is admitted to Toy Fair in the first place, perhaps this is the wrong analogy altogether. So what's the purpose of Toy Fair?  Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 07:30 AM by editors with | with no comments Filed under: toy fair, liveblogging toy fair

• Geeking Out: Science Toys Are Hot At Toy Fair '07

  CNet reporter Caroline McCarthy found an interesting trend at Toy Fair: just about every manufacturer, even those who don't normally specialize in educational products, is pushing some kind of science-oriented toy this year. No longer the guilty pleasure of the nerd, science toys and kits are one of the hottest segments of the market. One toy rep credited the rise in homeschooling, and increased competition across the educational board may contribute to the demand for toys that enhance skills that children will require for future success. McCarthy wonders whether the media may be influencing the demand for such toys: are parents influenced to buy medical- or spy-themed toys because they watch House or saw the new James Bond movie? Or, could the popularity of such media be influencing the manufacturers to follow suit with such toys, in the way that our dads played with rockets as Sputnik passed above them?  Either way, expect to find a lot of messy, fun, and enriching new toys on the shelves this year. Posted Feb 13 2007, 06:37 PM by Patti with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: toys, media influence, toy fair, science, educational toys

• American International Toy Fair 2007: More Crap Your Kids Want That You Can't Afford

  Remember when you were a kid, and your dad would say things like, "Eh, back in my day, all we had to play with was a dried chicken bone and a ball of navel lint and we were happy!" and you'd say, "Yeah, pop, sounds great" and go right back to your prized possession, the new electronic game you had to have because it was the culmination of thousands of years of toy development? Well, as much as we'd like to think that ours is a unique generation, the toymakers still have kids' numbers, and they continue to push high tech - and high price - products out into the market. The American International Toy Fair kicks off this Sunday in New York City. The fair's motto, "Inspiring Growth", surely refers to the profit margins of the companies that will be in attendance. Manufacturers will be rolling out the latest in cutting edge toys, with advances in electronics making it possible for 50 percent of toys sold in stores to have "some sort of microchip in them" (you know, people laugh at me when I take them to my fortified bunker, hidden somewhere in the Sierra Nevada range, but when TMX Elmo and his legions of robot toys become self-aware and rise up to slay their human masters and dominate the world, well...). Read More... Posted Feb 09 2007, 09:35 AM by JasonAvant with | with no comments Filed under: toys, business, toys'r'us, toy, toy fair, American International Toy Fair

• Richard Simmons Wants Your Children (To Be Healthy)!

  According to a press release, Richard Simmons and Fisher Price announced at the New York Toy Fair that they would be teaming up to introduce the Smart Cycle, a stationary bike that plugs into an ordinary television set and allows children ages 3-6 to play video games by pedaling and steering. Retailing for about a hundred bucks, the bike is designed as a fun way to help combat rising childhood obesity. The games will feature popular characters such as Sponge Bob and Dora, and retail for about twenty bucks each. Simmons is also involved in the AskAmerica program, which hopes to bring full-scale physical education programs back to public schools. I have misgivings about the Smart Cycle, to be honest. I have quite a bit of control over my children's physical activity levels at this point, and don't see that changing until they're older--past the age for which the Smart Cycle is designed. But I suppose that's what Dance Dance Revolution is for, right? Seriously though, I feel like it's better for them (and for me! I need to exercise too!) if we just go outside and ride our dumb cycles.   Posted Feb 09 2007, 07:40 AM by Patti with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: health, physical education, childhood obesity, fisher price, richard simmons, smart cycle, toy fair