Top-10 Most-Wanted Action Figures In July 2009, TDmonthly Magazine interviewed 49 specialty retailers around the country concerning their sales of play and action figures...
TDmonthly's June Staff Picks From baby shoes with crazy attitude to cute comics for little kids, there are plenty of exciting new releases to keep your eye on as you sail through the summer and prepare for autumn...
6/1/2009
PlayTown Mats™ Map the Way to Fun When Sam R. Harkreader was told his line of PlayTown Mats™ couldn’t be made in the United States, he saw a challenge. As he works to keep his cost margins down, he told TDmonthly Magazine, he’s “almost ready to jump up and down and claim victory.”...
4/1/2009
Kids Drawn to Magnetic Sets by Discovery Post Five families in TDmonthly Magazine’s Grade School Roundtable played with Discovery Post’s Discover Packs and Magnet Display Boards in the Fairy and Dinosaur series...
2/1/2009
Playmobil Offers Foundation for Kids’ Creative Play Introducing between 80 and 100 themed playsets, accessories and figures every year, Playmobil toys help to stimulate children’s imaginations and create endless adventures...
My Best Sellers: Pun’s Toy Store Pun’s Toy Store is a family business that offers unusual products and exceptional customer service to the surrounding community of Bryn Mawr, Pa...
12/1/2008
Top-10 Most-Anticipated Holiday Sellers Affected by slow sales and a frightening economy, some of the 32 specialty toy-store owners TDmonthly Magazine interviewed in late October didn't feel they could positively name which products will be their strongest sellers for Christmas...
11/1/2008
Retailer Spotlight: The Gifted Child For the first 17 years of her business, Owner Randy Austin of The Gifted Child in Lenox, Mass., lived in New York City and was only at her store — three hours away — on the weekends...
10/1/2008
My Best Sellers: The Gifted Child Playsets, figurines, outdoor toys and select plush are customer favorites at The Gifted Child in Lenox, Mass., where toys, clothing and baby gear are all organized by category...
10/1/2008
TDmonthly’s Psychologist Mom Dr. Wright put on her sports mind for this round of reviews, delving into soccer, football and racing. Read on to see how the products scored:...
Retailer Spotlight: LB Toys Glitches in the rise to success may sometimes serve as launching pads into unexpected careers. Such was the case for Jamie Burdette, owner of LB Toys in Media, Pa...
6/1/2008
My Best Sellers: LB Toys Customer service — including a play area for kids and activities for the community to enjoy — is a key element at LB Toys in Media, Pa...
6/1/2008
Retailers' Top 10: Toy Fair and Pomona What did specialty retailers think about this year’s American International Toy Fair in New York City and the Western States Toy & Hobby Show in Pomona, Calif.?...
4/1/2008
Preschool Roundtable: Using Felt for Fun Inspiring and easy-to-carry Felt Tales playsets by Babalu won parents’ praises and kept the attention of most of the children participating in this month’s Preschool Roundtable, earning a favorable score overall...
Kids Take Culture "To Go" Straight to the moon! Or the rodeo. Kids travel the universe, using playsets that emphasize the world outside their doors...
6/1/2007
Awesome Kids Adds Animation Animation targeted to children aged 5 to 8 is gradually becoming one of Awesome Kids’ biggest successes...
6/1/2007
Awesome Kids Believes in Awesome Kids When Frank Phelps and Joan de Souza started Awesome Kids in 1991, they knew it would be awesome for kids, but little did they realize that by 2006 their product line of six themed toys-in-the-box products would grow to 42...
11/1/2006
Lions and Tigers and Arks — Oh My! The makers of non-licensed playsets have found that the way to sell without a big name character is by promoting recognizable scenes...
Playing with Playsets Playsets come and playsets go, but the category is evergreen. In the article “Ready, Set, Playset!” TDmonthly looks at future trends, but here we look at what’s selling Right Now...
10/1/2005
Ready, Set, Playset! Playsets: those ubiquitous catch-alls that provide an entire world in a box to a child. In recent years, the top-sellers have been action-figure driven. But that’s changing. What’s the playset wave of the future, and can retail stores capitalize on it?...
Playground Kids Forever In 1999, three toy professionals who had worked together previously in developing and selling toys targeted at mass-market accounts, decided they were disillusioned with the direction of the toy industry, so they decided to alter it. Jeff Alward, Susan McDonnell and Jim Fink are the creators of Playground Enterprises...
10/1/2004
New Play Sets for 2004 These play sets keep kids entertained for hours and are full-participation activities that are so fun, even adults will want to play...
10/1/2004
Activity Kits Worth Digging Into Youngsters want to express themselves; parents want to keep kids entertained. The solution: A variety of new activity kits guaranteed to beat boredom...
10/1/2004
Valtech: Magna-Tiles and the Triangle of Learning Valenta came home, bought the product rights, re-packaged the toy and renamed it Magna-Tiles. Its slogan is: "where math, science and creativity meet."...
10/1/2004
PLAY SETS & BUILDING KITS LizzyBee Toys The Hide & Seek Castle playset has lots of places to play and hide, such as doors, trapdoors and towers. Six royal mice characters live inside; toddlers love the castle’s brightly colored illustrations. A rainbow handle makes it easy to carry. Guidecraft Inc. Shimming Water is a...
8/1/2004
PLAYSETS Bandai America Inc. Bandai America Inc. offers the Hello Kitty Deluxe Furniture Set with 2.5 ™ . Each set includes detailed accessories that make a sound or project light. The piano makes music when the keyboard is pressed and the lamp post lights up. There is also a full-count Dinner...
