This chunky and exciting nine-piece construction set features a friction-powered truck with a grabber arm. It includes an extending crane arm with grabber jaws, a swivelling crane cab, a tipper bucket, two construction workers, five building blocks, and a friction motor with realistic engine sound.

Recycling has never been so much fun as with this friction-powered recycling truck with tip and release action. Children can use Fred’s bucket to tip waste into the truck or sort the three recycling bins and flip them into the rear. There’s also a powerful friction motor with realistic engine sounds, an automatic waste crusher, a boy and girl recycling team, and a sturdy carry handle.

This new line of assorted building blocks features red, green, pink, black and white blocks for creative play. The small-scale blocks are perfect for young hands.

These solid rubberwood blocks are cut into a variety of fun, architectural shapes, and finished to prevent splinters and slightly rounded at the corners to keep play safe. Each of the precisely engineered blocks — rectangles, columns, pillars, arches, triangles and more — is exactly related in size to the basic unit blocks, which helps develop problem-solving and perception skills while nurturing creativity.

This customized radio control vehicle is easy to build, race and rebuild after a crash. Reconfigure 58 pieces, creating an off-road racer, monster truck, or whatever vehicle a kid can imagine.

It’s easy for young hands to snap together these colorful chunky Kid K’nex pieces. Rockin’ Robots kit includes an idea guide, as well as a handy case, making storage and on-the-go fun a snap.
― “K'Nex … has very good deals for the specialty market,” Bill of Tutoring Toy told TDmonthly in spring 2007.

This hefty tub of LEGO DUPLO bricks, elements and figures is perfect for inspiring little hands and big imaginations to build a whole zoo full of familiar animals, from elephants to penguins, lions to giraffes.

The RC Forklift is incredibly functional and life-like. Kids can use it in their Rack’em & Stack’em Warehouse to stack, load and sort beams, barrels and balls. The warehouse includes six pellet racks and ROK bins, two barrel skids, eight barrels and two beam racks. It requires a start set and three AA batteries (not included).
— "Rokenbok finally took off. I’ve been carrying it for six years and this is the first year I remember selling a lot. It's a good construction toy," was the insight given by Karen Williams-Fox, owner of Woodbury Mountain Toys in Montpelier, Vt.
— "Rokenbok is a perennial favorite," added Kathie Dockstader, buyer for Top Ten Toys Inc. in Seattle.
— Rokenbok is the “one thing that sells every year,” Teresa Newman, buyer and manager at Toy World in Wayanta, Minn., told TDmonthly about the holidays.

Children can build the complete travel experience on a micro-scale with the LEGO Factory Airport. Kids can learn how to create the communications tower, passenger terminal, landing strip and jet plane, plus their very own airport 5-star hotel. With a variety of great LEGO elements, this set makes a wonderful introduction to the world of micro-building or a great addition to any LEGO collection. It received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award for 2007.

This 20-piece set includes 13 pieces of track, a motorized engine and trail car, a yield sign, a crossing sign, a gantry with a crate, a coal loader, and a crossing gate. It also comes with a live-action DVD. This product received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award for 2007.

At the DUPLO Airport, the ground crew uses the forklift and truck to load the plane’s cargo and passenger luggage, while the pilot prepares for takeoff. Children can put the orange cones in position to guide the plane down the runway, and then radio the control tower for clearance. The 105-piece set includes a plane, a control tower, a forklift, a truck, a pilot, a passenger, two crew figures, and lots of tools and equipment. This product received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award for 2007.

This set contains 36 ball-shaped connectors that fit together in patterns or random shapes. Determining how to fit the arms together will help toddlers with dexterity and problem solving, and they may also work on color words and counting skills.

These soft-play vinyl stacking blocks form a colorful pyramid.

Imaginations take flight with this amazing kit of parts to create flying dragons, mythical beasts and ancient monsters. New FX brick lights up eyes and “breathes fire” to create authentic dragon traits. Step-by-step building instructions for eight models come in one kit, with photo inspiration for more. “Every LEGO Creator set is a virtual creativity toolbox,” said Michael McNally, senior brand manager for LEGO Systems Inc.  Launch date: August 2006.

These soft, pliable peg-top blocks come in four shapes and colors. This product received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award for 2007. “Our EduBlocks stand alone in the industry with their soft, flexible and child-safe construction,” Judith Culberson, national sales manager for Edushape, told TDmonthly.

This hefty tub of LEGO DUPLO bricks, elements and figures is perfect for inspiring little hands and big imaginations to build a whole zoo full of familiar animals – elephants to penguins, lions to giraffes. The handy storage container is stackable and makes clean-up easy and fun. The set includes 128 pieces. “Specially designed for a preschooler’s small hands, DUPLO bricks encourage hands-on, minds-on exploration and storytelling while fostering hand-eye coordination, problem solving, patterns, motor skills and more,” Karen Lynch at Flashpoint PR told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 1, 2006.

This 200-piece easy-to-carry magnetic building case features a base with a silver platform and four metal poles with adjusting bars of metallic colors. Children can design planets, stars and other shapes, then hook them, spin them or hang them. Parts include curves, flexors, twisters, lateral rods, bars, lights, extenders and a chain. The MagnaCase is compatible with all Magnetix Building Sets. It was named one of the 100 Best Children’s Products of 2006 by Dr. Toy and received a Spring 2007 Best Products iParenting Media Award. “For the first time, [Magnetix] features a MagnaBase for base and aerial building. The MagnaCase is a creative factory,” Stephanie Santini of MEGA Brands Inc. told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2006.

This large-scale modular construction toy includes colorful, precision-engineered thermoplastic components. Kids can build and rebuild designs and then climb, slide and play indoors and outdoors. The kit helps children with social interaction and motor skills, and was named one of the 100 Best Children’s Products of 2006 by Dr. Toy. “Quadro is the ‘only’ modular large-scale construction toy that you can build multiple designs and then actually play on them. Other products are designed to be constructed and then admired, but they do not have the strength and durability to take the weight of kids playing on them,” George Maday of Phunzone told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2006.

Children can easily snap together 100 rugged plastic pieces to form these poseable creatures: Blue Crab, Dimorphodon, Horse, Sea Lion, Conure Parrot, Hadrosaur, African Elephant, Swallowtail Butterfly, Bull Trout, and Platypus. Or, they can morph and interchange pieces to make various fantasy creatures. Extra pieces and an educational booklet are included with the reusable tub. “Zoomorphs has used PVC in almost every piece. It has a much softer and warmer (emotionally) feel than typical hard plastic. We are also the only animal-only building toy ever created,” president Mark McFarland of River Dolphin Toys told TDmonthly. Zoomorphs has spread through the specialty toy market based almost solely on word of mouth. From around 50 stores back in 2005, Zoomorphs can now be found in almost 1,100 gift and toy stores. The Deluxe tub sets "are opening up a whole new market for us — the educational market," said McFarland. Retailers are again expecting the new Zoomorph set to be as successful as the smaller sets were last Christmas. Launch date: October 2006.

Children can create Illuma-Bot any way they want. This 105-piece set includes unique pieces for innovative building, including a remote-controlled infrared motor with a 25-foot range, a chrome robot head with flashing lights, dome lights, detachable claws, a large light gear and more. Color-coded instructions for building four motorized models are included, or children can design their own creatures. The set is compatible with any authentic Gears! Gears! Gears! building set. It was named one of the Top 100 Best Children’s Products of 2006 by Dr. Toy. Launch date: January 2006.

This construction set can be used to make a variety of structures that work with a battery-powered motor box. The helicopter propeller spins and features firing action, the spider crawls, and the bumper car moves forward and backward. The set includes step-by-step building instructions for three models, along with other construction ideas. This product comes with 607 pieces and requires 6 AA batteries (not included). It was named one of the Top 100 Best Children’s Products of 2006 by Dr. Toy. Launch date: August 2006.

Touted as the premier manipulative for spatial visualization and learning, this building block playset can be used to teach art, architecture, design, geometry and problem solving. It was voted a top-ten educational toy by NBC’s Today Show and is a winner of the Oppenheim Gold Award. Based on fundamental shapes of nature, these blocks work with existing magnetic "stick and ball" systems, yet have longer, more diversified play value. The line includes Pyra Puzzle, My First MagneBlocks, MagneBlocks Early Years, Buildex, and Gigantex. “Each of the nine unique block shapes have color-coded magnetic polarity, which can provide a challenge for solving specific shapes, or it can be used for purely abstract, creative construction, resulting in an addictive play quality for all ages,” Warren Scott Fentress, president of Geometix International, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2005 (original); January 2007 (new block shapes and new packaging).

In this beginner’s version of the classic wooden building set, the pieces are big, but are specifically designed for little hands. It also comes in “School” and “Farm” versions.
— Lincoln Logs was among the best-selling classic toys for Sylvia Pudtice, co-owner of Giggles for Kids in Suwanee, Ga. She added, “What makes them so popular is that mothers and grandmothers like them, so they buy their kids something they had as a child.”
— Lincoln Logs was also a best-selling classic for Roberta Kennedy, owner of Abracadabra Toys in Greenville, N.C.
— Seven of 27 retailers told TDmonthly that Lincoln Logs was a classic best seller. Most said that the toy’s success was because of the ability of parents and grandparents to pass on the joy of the product to younger generations.

This 202-piece pack contains 112 bars in an equal mixture of seven rainbow colors, 64 spheres and 26 tripods, which are new to the line. The educational toy features fascinating magnetic capabilities and can help improve children’s problem-solving skills. It also appeals to professionals as a stress reducer, and can help elderly people who have trouble with motor skills. The permanent carrying case is available in four color options and features a magnetic locking system and insert holder. Launch date: October 18, 2006.

Intermediate and advanced builders can use the latest specialized K’NEX parts to building the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Chrysler Building and other structures from around the world. Experienced builders can create everything from bridges to monuments with the rods, connector pieces, and new flexi-rods and flexi-panels. A battery operated motor puts models in motions, and the set comes with a storage case. Launch date: Fall 2006.