Russia's Matryoshka dolls might be facing extinction due to a decline in production. Dave Grout reports for CBS News that the production of Matryoshka dolls have been on the decline since the 1990s. The Guardian and Russia Today also have stories about the dwindling supply of Matroyskas.
Supermodel Heidi Klum has a new Barbie doll made in her honor. The Heidi Klum Barbie doll will be availabe in September. The doll is part of Barbie's 50th Anniversary Blonde Ambition Collection.
Mattel has made Barbies based on the two leads from the popular Twilight movie. The detailed dolls portay Edward Cullen's ghostly pale face and Bella Swan's coat from the woods scene. They can be purchased here at toysrus.com for $34.99. Tonner also made Twilight dolls - see here.
Disney Consumer Products and ASUS have collaborated to develop the Disney Netpal, a netbook computer for kids. Features include 40+ parental control options, 8.9-inch LCD display, Wi-Fi capabilities, Windows XP Home, and kid-friendly software featuring Disney characters and icons.
The Disney Netpal will be available in late July in two models. The Disney Netpal by ASUS is designed for kids ages 6-12. Retailers include Toys "R" Us and Amazon.com, and the suggested retail price is $349.99. Carrying cases will also be available separately. Specs for the two models can be found here in the press release.
Pleo, the green robot dinosaur toy, may not go extinct after all. Robot Rules reports that a company named Jetta Company Limited purchased Pleo's assets from Ugobe and plan to relaunch Pleo and continue the Pleo line. Ugobe had filed Chapter 7 in April and it looked like all was lost but now there is hope Pleo will return.
Today there is wonderful news for the Pleo community. Jetta Company Limited, the company that manufactured the Pleo baby robot dinosaur for Ugobe, bought the intellectual property rights and other assets at the Ugobe bankruptcy sale that occurred on May 21. I spoke with Steve Ohler today, the United States liaison for the company, and he confirmed the news. He said the company is firmly committed to re-launching Pleo and continuing the line including accessories such as the vital battery and charger components.
Bubble Battle 2009 was held in Times Square Friday night. You can see lots of photos of the bubble revelers here on Flickr. It looks like some people had bubble blowing guns like the Gazillion Gazooka. Here's a video taken of the event. Take a look:
Amazon will be making a payment of $51 million to Toys "R" Us to settle legal claims from a 2004 lawsuit. Amazon used to have an ecommerce partnership with Toys "R" Us - a 10 year deal in which Amazon.com became the only place online to buy toys from Toys "R" Us. The deal did not last. Toys "R" Us abandoned Amazon.com and sued Amazon is 2004 for violating an exclusivity agreement. Amazon countersued but the courts ended up ruling against Amazon, as the Seattle Timesexplains.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Mattel Inc. and its subsidiary, Fisher-Price Inc. have agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for violating the federal lead paint ban. The CPSC says that in 2007, about 95 Mattel and Fisher-Price toy models were determined to have exceeded the lead limit in toys. This civil penalty is the third highest of any kind in CPSC history and the highest ever for CPSC regulated product violations.
"These highly publicized toy recalls helped spur Congressional action last year to strengthen CPSC and make even stricter the ban on lead paint on toys," said CPSC Acting Chairman Thomas Moore. "This penalty should serve notice to toy makers that CPSC is committed to the safety of children, to reducing their exposure to lead, and to the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act."
Mattel imported up to 900,000 non-compliant toys between September 2006 and August 2007, including a "Sarge" toy car and numerous Barbie accessory toys. Fisher-Price imported up to 1.1 million non-compliant toys between July 2006 and August 2007, including certain licensed character toys and the Bongo Band, Geotrax locomotive, and Go Diego Go Rescue Boat toys. These toys were all recalled in 2007.
This 5'3" Lego model of Buzz Lightyear aws constructed from 40,000 Lego bricks in 250 hours by 3 Master Builders. The Lego Buzz Lightyear was unveiled by Disney Consumer Products at the Licensing International Expo. Disney's Toy Story 3 comes out in 2010. You can see a teaser trailer here. Disney is also re-releasing the first two movies in 3D for a two week period in October. There will also be new Toy Story toys and other products.
A teaser trailer for Toy Story 3 has been released. It looks like all our favorite characters are back including Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Rex, Mr. Potato Head and the toy soldiers. Lee Unkrich is directing and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) is writing the screenplay. Take a look:
ABC News Now managed to score an interview with pop icon Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty has been celebrating her 35th anniversary this year. One of the launches for Hello Kitty's 35th anniversary is Hello Kitty Colors. She also has a line of Asics sneakers coming out this Fall.
Here are some Hello Kitty facts from the interview.
Hello Kitty does not have a visible mouth because she speaks from her heart.
Hello Kitty is as tall as five apples.
Hello Kitty is not a cat, she is a girl.
She made her first appearance on a coin purse in Japan in 1974.
Hello Kitty has a twin sister named Mimmy.
She has a boyfriend named Dear Daniel but she is too shy to discuss it.
With the second Transformers movie just weeks away it is no surprise that the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toys are already in stores. One of the most popular toys will probably be this cool looking Bumblebee Voice Mixer Helmet. There's also a Bumblebee plasma cannon (sold seperately) that would work great with the helmet.
The product description from Hasbro's product listing says the voice of the person wearing the helmet can be remixed with six different music styles. It also plays "realistic conversion sounds of the Bumblebee character."
Become the street-smart, frontline autobot warrior! Use your wits and power to battle the Decepticons and protect Earth from their evil. When youve got the power of Bumblebee, nothing can stand in your way! Suit up just like the Bumblebee character and prepare to save the universe with your amazing voice-mixer helmet! With three different modes and awesome electronic features on this detailed helmet, youll look like the Transformers Movie hero, and youll even sound like him, too! Switch on voice mixer mode to have your voice remixed with six different music styles. The helmet also plays realistic conversion sounds of the Bumblebee character changing from a car to a robot and back again, or his movie battle phrases including, Bumblebee to the rescue! Your MissionProtect the world from evil and several more! Easy-to-adjust straps help you get a comfortable fit. Adjusts to fit head sizes ages 5 through adult.
The helmet is currently in stock on , Walmart.com and Toysrus.com. These voice altering helmets tend to be very popular and are usually hard to find during the holiday shopping season. The popularity of the voice helmets usually depends on the quality of the voice changer. They called the helmet a "voice mixer" and not a "voice changer" or a "voice altering" helmet so the helmet may not do as much as kids may wish it does.
Wiredreports that building Wall-E has become the focus of DIY roboticists.
"It's a lot of reverse engineering," says Bruce Shields, who is better known among DIY roboticists by his screen name Jawa Lunk. "It's a release, a relaxing hobby that is enjoyable. When you are done you can look at it and say 'this is it, this is the end.'"
Wall-E, the bug-eyed robot star of the movie, is clearly the hot favorite in this DIY community. But other robots from the film, such as Eve, M-O and Autopilot, have also been brought to life. Some of the group's homemade bots will be on display this weekend at the Maker Faire, a festival of DIY arts, crafts and technology in San Mateo, California.
When the first trailer of Wall-E was released in October 2007, Shields says he found a robot that the world could love. A Michigan-based pastor with a strong interest in robotics, he created the Wall-E builders' group. In its first few weeks, the group collected about 400 members. And they tried to find every little nugget, image or slice of video that could offer a hint to how the robot functioned.
A Wall-E builders' group has nearly 3,000 members worldwide. The groups website can be found at wall-ebuilders.com. They also have posted lots of photos here on Flickr of the Wall-E bots they have built.
FAO Schwarz salutes its new owners Toys R' Us. Toys 'R' Us has acquired its rival toy retailer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bloomberg reports that Toys R' Us plans to continue operating FAO Schwarz's two big retail stores in New York and Las Vegas under the same name. The FAO Schwarz website and catalog businesses will also retail the same name.
Chris Byrne, a toy analyst at TimetoPlayMag.com, told Bloomberg that financially it's a brillaint move to combine the two toy companies.
The deal combines two closely held retailers that have faced increased competition from the Internet and discount chains during the recession. U.S. retail sales of toys generated $21.6 billion in 2008, a 3 percent drop from 2007, according to researcher NPD Group Inc. Mass merchant, discount and online retailers saw the most modest declines, NPD said, as consumers looked for ways to buy non-necessities at the lowest cost.
"Financially, I think it's brilliant," Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy-industry analyst and director of content at TimetoPlayMag.com, said today in a telephone interview. "You get all of the cachet and the look of a specialty store and a destination with the operational efficiencies of a giant like Toys "R" Us."
At Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, entertainment, electronics and toys accounted for 14 percent of sales in the year that ended Jan. 31.
A Bizjournals.com article says the deal means there will be no more FAO Schwarz stores inside Macy's locations.
Barney's New York is selling a leather and chrome version of the famous Rubik's Cube puzzle. The specialty Rubik's Cube can be purchased here from Barney's for $195.
Pleo, the green robot dinosaur toy, may not go extinct after all. Robot Rules 
Amazon 
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) 
