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Show Biz: Toy Fair

Toy Fair 2010

Gerri Hunt -- Kids Today, 2/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

YooHoos and BuckleyBoos, Habas and Hapes, plush, wood and interactive … more than 7,000 toys will debut this month, joining the other 100,000 products being showcased under one roof during Toy Fair. This must-see show for the infant and juvenile industry is being held at the Javits Center in New York Feb. 14-17.

A birthday assortment of YooHoo & Friends from Aurora World includes two styles and each plays the song “Happy Birthday” when squeezed, $8, auroragift.com, 888-287-6722, booth 745.

	The Junior Yellow Firefighter with Helmet is new to the Get Real Gear collection from Aeromax. Set includes bib overalls with pockets, knee patches and adjustable suspenders; coat with buckles, zipper, pockets, authentic gauntlet cuffs and reinforced elbow patches; and an adjustable hard helmet. Boots sold separately. Available in sizes 6 months to adult, $60 (price varies for adult size), aeromaxtoys.com, 877-776-2291, booth 2274.
The innovative grow-and-go design of the BuckleyMobile extends the life of this toy with a multi-stage product for newborns and toddlers. By integrating the BuckleyBoo Click Buddies into the product design, the mobile comes with four individual rattles/finger puppets that can be clipped onto any stroller, highchair or car seat. Wind up the mobile to hear Brahms’ Lullaby, $50, buckleyboo.com, 800-277-5872, booth 1169.
	A fiery sun or a vibrant flower is just the start of what can be built with these uniform-sized wooden planks in an assortment of orange, pink, red, yellow and natural colors. The Hot Colors Wooden Building Blocks from CitiBlocs are available in 50, 100 and 200 piece sets, $13 to $44, citiblocs.com, 770-733-1863, booth 1390.
Chicco’s Turbo Touch Speed Truck transforms into a race track. It transports up to five Turbo Touch vehicles (one included). The 3-foot track includes a working race light, finish line, green light and fans that clap and cheer. Batteries are required, chiccousa.com, 908-756-1110, booth 1963.

The multiple award-winning Alphabotz Superphonic Decoder Cards are an educational toy for beginning readers, from Alphabotz by Ideopolis. The set includes a variety of games and activities designed to promote vital early literacy skills such as phonemic awareness and are geared toward children of various skill levels, $20, alphabotz.com, 225-663-6012, booth 2683.

	The Pretty Princess FeltTales Story Board from Babalu is mess-free and quiet. Children can entertain themselves and hone their creativity and storytelling skills, $20, babaluinc.com, 203-225-0414, booth 142.
Penbo, from Bossa Nova’s new iloveRobots brand, is interactive and waddling. She responds to touch with blinking eyes, flapping wings, and cooing sounds – and she lays an egg. When the egg is opened, out comes Bebe – a tiny baby penguin that chirps and communicates with its mother. Put Bebe in Penbo’s pouch and they sing to one another while the mom dances with joy. Penbo plays five games, $60, bnrobotics.com, 412-348-8070, booth 3163.
	Learn to Dress Kitty joins the Little Hands collection from Alex. The 20-inch cat features 11 dressing activities that help develop fine motor skills. Learn to button, snap, hook and loop, buckle, tie, zipper and more. Includes real socks and lace up sneakers, $35, alextoys.com, 800-666-2539, booth 1917.
The Baby Bidou MP3 player is designed for children under 5. It’s durable enough for toddlers, and large enough to not pose a choking hazard. It has easy-to-use buttons, a built-in speaker, parental volume controls and a fade feature the gradually reduces volume and lulls babies to sleep, $60; or get it pre-loaded with any Brainy Baby CD, $64, brainybaby.com, 678-762-1122, booths 3232, 2D10.
	Animal Planet Cahootie is a line of educationally oriented, animal-themed products based on the iconic folded paper game that features questions, fortunes, and challenges related to kids and their love of animals. Made of pre-folded, rip-resistant paper with colorful photographs from Animal Planet, these Cahooties fit one of four animal themes: Dogs Rule!, Cats Rule!, Sea Creatures, and Endangered Creatures, $7, cahootie.com, 877-253-5929, booth 6249.

	Baby Doll is part of Dandelion’s organic Pink line: A portion of the proceeds supports breast cancer research. It comes packed with four shape blocks and is designed to stimulate babies’ sensory, motor and social skills, $13 to $45, dandelionforbaby.com, 888-222-3053.
Fiesta’s Paul Frank 12-inch character heads, like Skurvy, are made of soft polar fleece, $7.50 to $19, fiestatoy.com, 323-581-9988.
	Monster Factory is a new line of plush from GP Toys. Colin is a teen green monster in a hoodie who divides his time between playing video games and fretting about his future, $40, monsterfactory.net, 416-913-6673.
Mozart in Piano from Folkmanis is a two-handed puppet that allows for animation of keys with one hand and operation of the removable Mozart hiding inside the grand piano with the other hand. Designed in velvet, it measures 10 inches wide, $40, folkmanis.com, 800-654-8922.
	Haba’s Discoverer’s Meadow Play Mat includes two detachable bunnies and the fold-up house where they live. It has a carrying handle and storage places for bunnies to rest, $90, habausa.com, 800-468-6873.

The Rock-n-Roll Guitar Sillo Sak from Douglas is one of 11 new designs. Shaped like a guitar complete with a shoulder strap, it has a bright color combination and fashion-forward fabric. It is trimmed with coordinating cording and has a zipper closure and a pocket, $20, douglascuddletoy.com, 800-922-9002, booth 455.
	The Caspian Tiger is part of the Endangered Animals collection from Hansa Toys. It is lifelike yet cuddly, and comes with a ‘Toys that Teach’ tag detailing the habitat, lifestyle, gestation period, care of young and eating habits, $59, hansatoys.com, 877-365-4060.
Adorable Kinders Rag Dolls from Granza are 18 inches tall, made in the USA, and stuffed with non-allergenic 100% polyester. Dolls have yarn hair and come in a colorful, removable outfit with separate underwear, socks and shoes. The dolls and outfits are washable, and come with an Internet key-code that can be used to register for the Adorable Kinders eSchool. Choose from 26 different styles, one doll for each letter of the alphabet, $60, adorablekinders.com, 407-542-3965.
	Fisher Price’s Kid-Tough Music Player includes realistic features while being tough enough and easy enough for preschoolers to use. It features built-in speakers, a sing-along microphone, a black and white LCD screen to find favorite songs; built-in memory to store over four hours of music, five fun sing-along songs, and simple software that makes it easy to get music from a computer, $50, fisher-price.com, 716-687-3000.
The Sleep Sheep & Friends Aromatherapy Pillows from Cloud B is a plush toy that becomes relaxing sleep time pillow. It is a pediatrician recommended size, ideal for use at home or on the go. It includes a removable eco-friendly pillowcase and aromatherapy lavender blend pouch, $23 to $25, cloudb.com, 888-425-6832.

	Bing the Bumble Bee from Zoobies is soft and fuzzy – a perfect buddy for snuggling and play. Not only a plush animal, it is also pillow and super-soft blanket, $34, zoobies.com, 801-721-7262.
Take-Along-Teddies from The Vermont Teddy Bear Co. are soft and flat, making them great for bedtime and travel, $20, vermontteddybear.com, 800-829-2327.
	Taggies expands its Colours line with Treasures, a 6-inch plush square featuring four picture pockets, cute animals and vibrant colorful tags, $25, taggies.com, 508-885-3535.
For kids with nighttime fears, ScareMeNots from Innovative Toys offer an extra sense of protection and comfort. Guardian Gus, Protector Patty, Fearless Fred, Valiant Valerie, Defender Dave and Watchdog Wally have Velcro strips on their long tails so they can hang anywhere, $25, scaremenot.com, 978-835-7030.
	Mary Meyer’s Cheery Cheeks is a bright, fun cast of characters. Made of a blend of textured fabrics and a mixture of patterns, the eyes, mouth, nose and freckles are. They are soft and squeezable, 14 inches and include Lively Lion, Sunny Bunny, Giddy Kitty, Dandy Dog, Merry Monkey and Happity Frog, $20, marymeyer.com, 800-451-4387.

Wedgits from Rubbabut by Imagibility are building toys made from all natural rubber instead of synthetic foam, $20 to $40, wedgits.com, 530-295-8570.
	The wooden My Backyard BBQ Set from Hape Intl. is part of the Educo collection, $120, hapetoys.com, 800-661-4142.
Mandy and Pandy Visit the Zoo is an exciting story journey through the local zoo, the characters stopping by different exhibits and greeting the animals. Children can learn the Chinese and English names for creatures such as tigers, hippos and flamingos in this book from Mandy & Pandy Books, $13, mandyandpandy.com, 734-904-1916.
	The Lovey Dove from Plushy Feely Corp comes with her baby, Turtle Dove. She has a pouch under each wing that holds Kimochis – little pillows printed with the word happy, proud and hopeful on one side and a face on the other. Using the characters and their Kimochis, kids can get in touch with their emotions through puppetry and play. The included Feel Guide introduces personalities, $25, kimochis.com, 415-454-4600.
BubbleTalk is a board game from Techno Source that asks players to match funny captions with funnier pictures. It’s a fast-paced, multi-player tabletop game for three to eight players. Each game includes 150 picture cards and 300 hilarious caption cards that allow for hours of game play, $18, technosourceusa.com, 212-929-5200.

	The tie dye experts at Jacquard Products created the Camo Tie Dye Kit to make true camouflage tye dying easier. The kit includes instructions to create a classic camo pattern, plus ideas for creating three other tie dye patterns. The kit contains two applicator bottles of dye, one container of dye for immersion bath, soda ash, gloves, rubber bands and written instructions. Dyes up to four T-shirts, $12, jacquardproducts.com, 800-442-0455.
Multi-Solution Shape Puzzles from P’kolino can be assembled in several different combinations. The simple shapes make it suitable for early developmental stages, $20, pkolino.com, 888-403-8992.
	The I-Splash Zippies Scrambler from Prime Time Toys is a diving fish game requiring a little speed and a lot of endurance. Try not to laugh underwater while attempting to capture zippies, the motorized fish that twists, turns and dives unexpectedly. Luckily a net is included to grab the little guy, $12, primetimetoys.com, 973-839-5711.
Atticus the beagle is part of the FuzzyNation Darn Cute Plush line from Manhattan Toys. He wears a tie-dyed striped hoodie and a very blingy “puff piece” pendant with chain that a child can take off and wear. Coffee-brown and white modacrylic garment fur make up his ultra-soft body, $30, manhattantoy.com, 800-541-1345.
	The Hide & Seek Safari Junior collection from R&R Games features plush animals that can be hidden. When a button is pressed, the animal emits a sound so children can try to find it, $20, rnrgames.com, 813-835-0163.

Kids will want to pull caterpillar into the kitchen when he gets very hungry, just like in the storybook. The Caterpillar Wood Pull Toy from Kids Preferred has rich colors inspired by Eric Carle, kidspreferred.com, 866-763-8869.
	Going on Vacation joins the Chimp and Zee line from Pressman Toys. Be the first player to pack everything in a backpack and head out to the car and win. Vacation item cards, children movers, backpacks and packing lists will have children excited about getting ready for vacation, $15, pressmantoy.com, 212-675-7910.
The Whirl Balance Scooter from Prince Lionheart is a transitional ride-on toy that teaches balance, steering, coordination and postural development. Instead of worrying about pedals, toddlers can focus on fun while cultivating fine and gross motor skills. The birch scooter features 12-inch rubber tires, solid rubber hand grips and adjustable height, $99, princelionheart.com, 800-544-1132.
	Step2’s Sizzlin’ Shapes Kitchen has shape shape-sorting refrigerator doors and sink. The counter has an electronic burner with real cooking sounds, and the microwave has a clear plastic door and “clicker” buttons. It comes with a can, frying pan, egg, cheese, milk, orange, apple and cup, step2.com, 888-783-7896.
Screenlife DVDiscoveries Baby Animal Edition is full of Animal Planet footage and features. Learn about baby animals and their habitats with the help of on-screen activities, video clips and wooden puzzle blocks. Children will learn essential pre-school skills as they play. Includes activity DVD, six puzzles on nine puzzle blocks, three puzzle block mats and an instruction sheet, $20, screenlifegames.com, 866-383-4263.
	The eco-friendly Jolly Walker from Smart Gear has a removable soft storage compartment, a wooden frame, friction control on wheels for safety, a rattle sound, and non-toxic paints and lacquer, $95 to $100, smartgeartoys.com, 732-663-0000.

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Show Biz: Toy Fair

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