Hasbro's RC Walking Iron Man Toy Introduced at Toy Fair
The new Iron Man 2 RC Walking Iron Man figure can be operated with a handheld remote control. It makes electronic lights and movie sounds. It can also shoot projectiles. The toy will arrive in stores this fall with an MSRP of $49.99. You can see the RC Iron Man toy in action in this video from heroesarentborn.com. Take a look:
Taylor Lautner played with Nerf toys from Hasbro at the Toy Fair in New York City. Taylor tries out the new Nerf Raider blaster in the first photograph and he is playing with the Nerf Bop It! Bounce toy in the second photograph. He is also wearing a Hasbro tag. Taylor recently signed on to be Hasbro's stretchable action star in an upcoming movie version of Hasbro's toy Stretch Armstrong. Actor Robert Downey also stopped by one Hasbro's booths at the Toy Fair this year. He visited the Iron Man 2 booth.
Daryl Hannah Talks About Her Liebrary Game at Toy Fair
Actress Daryl Hannah appeared at this year's Toy Fair to promote two more games she co-created, Famous Last Lines and Call It. Daryl Hannah and Hilary Shepard found success with the game they created called Liebrary so Discovery Bay Games had them launch two more. Famous Last Lines is a writing and bluffing game based on the last lines of popular movies and Call It! is a memory challenge game. In this video from Toy Man eNews, Daryl Hannah talks about her game, Liebrary Family Edition. Take a look:
Gund Celebrates Snuffles 30th Birthday With $10,000 Bear
Gund celebrated the 30th birthday of its huggable teddy bear, Snuffles, at this year's Toy Fair. Gund says Snuffles is the most successful and well-known bear in its 111-year history. The Snuffles presented at the Toy Fair is blinged out with a necklace and is valued at over $10,000. You can see an interview with the security guard tasked with guarding Snuffles at the Toy Fair here. The blingy Snuffles will be auctioned off for charity.
Winners of Tenth Annual Toy of the Year Awards Announced
The tenth annual Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards were announced at this year's Toy Fair in New York City. Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia, LLC was named as the overall Toy of the Year winner. Zhu Zhu Pets also won two category awards.
Here is a list of the winners.
Activity Toy of the Year: Crayon Town by Wild Planet Entertainment
Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 3 Helps Kick Off Toy Fair in NYC
Disney-Pixar's Toy Story 3 helped kick off the American International Toy Fair in New York City yesterday. The franchise will have over 250 new toys launching this summer and this holiday season from several toy manufacturers. Many of the toys will launch this summer to coincide with the arrival of Toy Story 3 in theaters on June 18th. The new Toy Story 3 toy line features action figures, dolls, role play, games, play sets, construction sets, vehicles, talking plush toys and robots.
In a Toy Story-themed setting before an invitation-only crowd of toy industry insiders, Green Army Men descended from the ceiling in "take-over" mode. The Green Army Men helped John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, Lee Unkrich, director, Toy Story 3, Darla K. Anderson, producer, Toy Story 3 and John Ratzenberger, voice of Hamm, unveil a first look at some of the new toys. The Toy Story 3 launch also included a life-size Lego bust of John Lasseter.
"I've always had a great love and fascination with toys and that's really where the idea for Toy Story began," said Lasseter. "When we set out to create Toy Story, I imagined this really amazing group of characters that would entertain kids and families for hours. And that's also what we set out to do with the toys inspired by the films. Working with some of the best toy companies, we took every single detail into consideration to develop a great toy line that is true to this franchise. Taking a look around the room today, I think we again achieved our vision with Toy Story 3."
Here are some highlights of the over 250 new Toy Story 3 toys that will be coming out in 2010.
A plush bear character named Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear is one of the 14 new toys featured in Toy Story 3's Sunnyside Day Care. Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear has over 45 adorable sayings.
There is a new Toy Story 3 edition of the Ultimate Buzz Lightyear Programmable Robot.
The Toy Story Ultra Blast Gauntlet is a forearm cuff with lights, sounds and other galactic features.
Toy Story Action Links sets are linkable play sets that snap together to create an interactive and adventurous Toy Story world.
The Lego Group's first Toy Story-inspired toy line comes out this year. It includes the Toy Story 3 Western Train and the Toy Story 3 Lotso's Dump Truck.
Lego will also have Lego versions of the green army men.
Hasbro will have a new collection of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head figures, including Mr. and Mrs. from the movie dressed as Buzz, Woody and Jessie. There will also be plush versions.
Jakks Pacific will offer Halloween costumes, play furniture and electronic games.
There will also be Toy Story 3 versions of Hasbro's games aincluding Yahtzee, Memory, Operation, Trouble, Connect 4 and Chutes and Ladders.
We will have more details on the individual new Toy Story 3 toys in future posts.
American International Toy Fair Opens in New York City
The 107th American International Toy Fair opened its doors today for a four-day run in New York City. The annual trade event owned by the Toy Industry Association (TIA) is expected to bring to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center more than 32,000 attendees – including more than 21,000 retailers, wholesalers, importers, buying groups and trade guests from nearly 100 countries. There are over 1,100 exhibitors at this year's Toy Fair. Show organizers estimate the number of unique products on display to be well over 100,000. Many of the new toys launched at the Toy Fair will show up on store shelves this fall in time for the holiday shopping season.
The Toy Fair kicked off this morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring a parade of characters and a high energy marching band. The TTA says four major toy trends have already spotted on the show floor this year. The trends have been dubbed the "Four A's" to describe products that are Active, Accessible, Affordable and Aspirational. Here is an explanation of these four trends from the TTA:
Active toys encourage little ones to use their minds and bodies – tying together physical play with active intelligence and imagination. Examples of products within this category range from brain teasers and creativity generators to exercise toys that keep the body up and moving.
Accessible toys refer to the category of products that make playtime available to kids and families wherever they are – whether on-the-go or in the home. Many connect kids to their favorite characters 24/7 through online or travel play through iPhone or mobile applications and e-reader programs that offer playable content for kids.
Affordable toys are part of the "economy" trend that gained traction in 2009 as consumers continued to face challenging economic times. This year there are even more affordable toy options priced at $25 and under - all with tons of value built in. The types of toys in this category range from action figures and dolls to accessories and child-size role-play options. Construction toys, games and arts and crafts are priced at pennies per play due to their reusable nature.
Aspirational toys are a new category of products that empower kids to make their own choices. These toys include eco-friendly products that help to make the world a greener place, foster innovation and creativity, and embrace community-strengthening activities such as mentoring and charitable giving.
Best-Lock Launches Green Blocks at Nuremberg Toy Fair
Best-Lock introduced a set of green and yellow interlocking building blocks made from renewable materials at the 2010 Nuremberg Toy Fair. Best-Lock says its blocks work with the plastic building blocks from Best-Lock, Mega-Bloks and Lego. Best-Lock also introduced a plastic container where the lid forms a base and the bottom can be used as a play table.
"We are doing our part to help the climate but still creating a fantasy play world," says Torsten Geller, CEO of the traditional company. "There is a global trend towards ecological toys and we intend to stay abreast of these changes and focus to an ever greater degree on plant-based materials. Even the packaging made of recycling paper reflects environmental friendliness thanks to its better carbon footprint."
More Twilight merchandise was unveiled at the New York Toy Fair. There's already over 100+ Twilight products sold here on HotTopic.com and Wal-Mart is planning special Twilight shops for the release of the Twilight DVD on March 21st. MTV interviewed a representative from NECA who says more Twilight products are on the way including totes, jewelry, stickers, pathes, watches, belts, action figures, hats and more. Coming out this spring in April are a two pack of action figures of Edward and Bella. In May an Alice Cullen action figure will be released. New Moon action figures will be released in November.
Path is a new strategy board game for kids 8 and older from ToySmart. The object of the game is to complete a path using colored tiles from your side of the board to your opponent's side.
Path is a unique game that combines elements of thinking, strategy, memory and luck. This version of the game is designed for two players and lasts 30 to 90 minutes.
A single player can use the game pieces for solving a range of puzzles of differing skill levels, as explained below. Solving the puzzles allows the player to learn the game pieces properly and train his memory and spatial perception that will help play the board game.
The game can also be played as a solitaire puzzle game by a single player. The game is not up for sale yet on the ToySmart website. Boing Boing saysPath is expected to retail for around $25.
The Underground Time Capsule is toy for children who like the idea of being able to bury some secret items in the backyard. The advantage with Backyard Safari's Underground Time Capsule is that it comes with a screw-on rock top so kids can return to it later and add new items. Backyard Safari is a division of Summit Toys. The product debuted at the Toy Fair and can be purchased
here on Amazon.com. (via Geekologie, Dvice)
Topobo is the world's first construction toy with kinetic memory, the ability to record and playback physical motion. The toys were invented by Hayes Raffle, Amanda Parkes, Hiroshi Ishii and the MIT Media Lab and won the Most Playful Robotic Toy award at the Robots at Play competition. The toys are available in limited amounts and are not cheap because they are not yet being mass-marketed. A 100 piece starter set costs $499, a 500 piece set costs $2499 and a 1,000 peice set costs $4999.
Here's a video that shows each of the different Topobo parts and how they can be taught what to do. (via BB Gadgets, OhGizmo)
Jakks Launches Eyeclops Mini Projector at Toy Fair
Jakks Pacific Inc. will unveil its Eyeclops Mini Projector at the New York Toy Fair. It's meant for kids but it does function like a real projector. These pocket sized projector can connect to DVD players, video games consoles, and digital cameras. They can display images up to 70 inches using its LED lighting. It is expected to retail for under $100. Jakks also makes the EyeClops Bionic Eye. (via Engagdet)
Mattel's not coming out with a new Elmo doll this year. Instead they will be releasing Elmo Tickle Hands, which are red, furry interactive Elmo hands that children can wear. The hands vibrate and make giggling noises when they are touched to any surface. The hands will be less expensive than the Elmo dolls. They are expected to retail for $29.99. There will also be a dance the interactive hands can perform called the Tickle Hand Groove that won't be fully revealed until the release date in August, 2009. I4U says Elmo's Tickle Hands come with a DVD that describes the dance.
When using the Elmo Tickle Hands for tickling, Elmo starts to laugh harder and harder. The interactive Elmo gloves can do even more. When pushing Elmo's nose again the hands enter a dance mode. Motion sensors inside the gloves can recognize dance moves. The Elmo hands guide kids through a new Elmo Dance. Elmo Tickle Hands ship with a DVD that shows the new dance in more details.
Here's a video of a Mattel representative describing the Elmo Tickle Hands toy at the New York Toy Fair. (via NonToxicReviews.com)
Update 7-28-09: A song called the Tickle Hand Groove has been released.
Rubik's Cube has gone “touch” with the Rubik's TouchCube. The new cube will make its debut in New York City next week at the American International Toy Fair February 15th-18th. Rubik's cube also recently debuted the Rubiks 360, which is a new design from Erno Rubik, the creator of the original Rubik's Cube.
"We've been working on Rubik’s TouchCube for the last three years—with engineering teams on two different continents-and are really excited to share it with the world," says Eric Levin, president, Techno Source. "Rubik's TouchCube is the 'dream cube' for anyone who's into high-tech gadgets-it combines today's most current technologies with the iconic Rubik's Cube."
Here's some facts about the new touch cube:
How does it work? Rubik's TouchCube features touch sensor technology on all six sides, a motion-detecting accelerometer, and colored lights in every square. It even mimics the movements of the original 3x3 Cube-swipe a finger across three squares and the lights will follow, "turning" a side of the Cube; make an "L" shape to turn the top face of the Cube a quarter turn. Rubik's TouchCube's motion-detecting accelerometer only recognizes moves made on the top side of the Cube, so that a player's fingers won’t move the lights on other sides when holding it.
Need some help? Solving the frustrations of hundreds of millions of Rubik's Cube players, Rubik's TouchCube also includes a built-in solver, so now anyone can easily learn how to solve the Cube step by step. Ask for a hint or watch Rubik's TouchCube solve itself.
Afraid you'll lose your place? Internal memory allows players to save their current puzzle so they can resume play anytime.
Love that iconic Rubik's Cube sound? Players can choose between modern or classic sound effects at varying volume levels to have a new or nostalgic Rubik’s experience as they swipe.
Still stressed? Rubik's TouchCube stands alone as a great desk accessory-the colors slide and change while it recharges in its display stand.
The tenth annual Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards were announced at this year's Toy Fair in New York City. Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia, LLC was named as the overall Toy of the Year winner. Zhu Zhu Pets also won two category awards.
Here is a list of the winners.
Mattel's not coming out with a new Elmo doll this year. Instead they will be releasing Elmo Tickle Hands, which are red, furry interactive Elmo hands that children can wear. The hands vibrate and make giggling noises when they are touched to any surface. The hands will be less expensive than the Elmo dolls. They are expected to retail for $29.99. There will also be a dance the interactive hands can perform called the Tickle Hand Groove that won't be fully revealed until the release date in August, 2009. I4U 
