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Article Archive: Puzzles & Skill
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Puzzles 10/14/2024
Amazon.com: TOP SELLING BOARD GAMES LINK Sports Illustrated The Plucky Squire review: “made for kids” but still great fun for anyone The Plucky Squire strikes a difficult balance between a game that was created with kids...
10/1/2024
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JAKKS Pacific Launches New Toy Line This Week for Disney’s “Encanto”
The line coming to retail on Oct. 3 features interactive playsets including the Magical Casa Madrigal, Singing Mirabel and Magic Butterfly doll, Sing and Play Mirabel doll, Mirabel and Isabela fashion doll assortment, Mirabel’s Musical Accordion, 7” key character plush assortment and character role play dresses. The product assortment plays original scores from the upcoming movie and includes interactive elements that bring the plot of the movie to life...
10/1/2021
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MasterPieces Adds Three New Licenses
Smokey Bear 550-piece puzzle U.S. Navy 1000-piece puzzle Mossy Oak 1000-piece puzzle New Products Feature Smokey Bear, U.S. Navy, and Mossy Oak We're passionate about building a well-rounded and diverse product line for our consumers. We're proud to feature some of the most...
6/1/2021
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Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
Puzzles are a developmental powerhouse, teaching kids about shapes, patterns, and developing spacial reasoning and fine motor skills...
8/1/2015
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 Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
If you're trying to puzzle together which toys to carry in your store, you've come to the right place...
8/1/2014
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 Travel Fractiles Bend Time
Travel Size Fractiles-7 – a magnetic tiling toy from Fractiles Inc. – is a sneaky way to keep kids learning about math, science, engineering and technology (STEM) even as they ride in the car to grandma's or hang out on the beach...
5/1/2014
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 Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
TDmonthly Magazine interviewed retailers in July 2013 to find out about their best-selling puzzles. RAVENSBURGER was the most popular puzzle manufacturer, followed closely by MELISSA & DOUG...
8/1/2013
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 Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
Retailers weren't puzzled when we asked them about their best selling puzzles — MELISSA & DOUG and RAVENSBURGER were each named top-selling brands...
8/1/2012
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 Puzzles
Check out these recently added specialty and mass market puzzles...
8/1/2012
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 Interview with Tom Sebazco from ENI PUZZLE
In a market saturated with electronics and flashy licensed toys, it can be hard for a specialty toy company to get their products on store shelves. Below, Tom Sebazco from ENI PUZZLE told TDmonthly about the struggles his company has faced, how they've gotten this far, and what makes their specialty puzzle different from others on the market...
8/1/2012
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 Q&A With Anka Schmollinger of Ravensburger
Ravensburger has been a best selling brand of puzzles, according to specialty retailers in our Top-10 Best Selling Puzzles articles, for years. TDmonthly wanted to know more about the history of this iconic puzzle company...
8/1/2012
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 Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
When TDmonthly Magazine interviewed 12 retailers about their best-selling puzzles in Summer 2011, items from Melissa & Doug and Ravensburger were far and away the favorites...
8/1/2011
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 How to Make Money Without Really Trying
What would you say if someone invented an inexpensive, braintwisting puzzle that came in a multitude of designs that appeal to players from 4 to 104...
12/1/2010
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 Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
Ravensburger is the resounding favorite brand in puzzles, a survey of 40 specialty retailers told TDmonthly Magazine in summer 2010...
8/1/2010
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 Top-10 Toys at ASTRA 2010
Games were a hit with buyers at the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association's annual Marketplace in June, a post-show TDmonthly Magazine survey revealed...
7/1/2010
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 Summary of Online Toy Reviews
TDmonthly Magazine’s Review Scout scours the Web weekly for reviews of new and hot products so you don’t have to spend your time searching...
7/1/2010
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 July Staff Picks
Oblo Spheres from Great Circle Works demands precision at every layer, and words count as strokes in an educational game of golf...
7/1/2010
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Holiday Preview: Puzzles
Kids can study up on geography with puzzles from eeBoo and Smart Play or take a trip back in time as they piece together magazine covers...
5/1/2010
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 Hasbro Faces Big Threats on the Gaming Field
Back in April, I said in this space: “Hasbro’s board game business declined last year despite strong demand for the category. I predict this will happen again in 2009 and 2010.”...
12/1/2009
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 December Toy Videos Generate Holiday Warmth
Those happy holidays are here and TDmonthly Magazine’s December toy videos demonstrate lots of new games and toys that can let people stay warm and toasty indoors...
12/1/2009
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Games & Puzzles
Go back to main article: "Award-Winning Toys for a Hassle-Free Holiday"...
12/1/2009
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 How a 5-MINUTE CHALLENGE® Trumps Challenging Times
On the prowl for a product that meets the needs of the times, TDmonthly Magazine and TOYDIRECTORY took a trip to Redondo Beach to visit Kathie and Marshall Gavin, founders of b. dazzle, inc. and makers of Scramble Squares® brain-teaser puzzles...
10/1/2009
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 SphereXYZ Engages Hands and Minds
Combine two inventors with a passion for brainteasers, and what do you get? SphereXYZ, a uniquely challenging 3-D puzzle that successfully blends fun and mental skill...
8/1/2009
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 Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
In June 2009, TDmonthly Magazine asked 47 specialty retailers about their best-selling puzzles...
8/1/2009
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Holiday Preview - Puzzles & Skill
From glow-in-the-dark puzzles and wooden configurations for kids, to a premium, light-up Rubik’s Cube (from Techno Source) and a cityscape that’ll give teens a history lesson, various traditional puzzles and skill-training models are ready to be wrapped up for holiday sales...
5/1/2009
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 MagnaPlay Cases Hit Market in Just Months
MagnaPlay, a magnet toy company, grew from a project that scientist Maya Gowri was working on with her 10-year-old son, who had to develop a board game for a class project, she told TDmonthly Magazine...
2/1/2009
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 TDmonthly’s Psychologist Mom
TDmonthly Magazine’s Psychologist Mom focused on gaming in her most recent reviews, finding fun with frogs, watching kids become a wizard’s apprentices, and seeing how the features of Blue Orange’s Double Shutter Jr. added up...
12/1/2008
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 Turning Electronic Appeals Into Specialty Deals
Despite constant advances in the technology market with gadgets, games and computers, as well as electronic toys for children, many specialty toy stores consciously keep their product selection founded in more traditional toys...
12/1/2008
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 In This Issue
First, let me tell you what’s new at ToyDirectory.com! We’ve redesigned the homepage to serve as a comprehensive research center — based on our communication with retailers and manufacturers every month...
11/1/2008
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 GeoPuzzle Teaches Homeschoolers European Geography
TDmonthly Magazine’s Homeschool Roundtable studied geography the fun way by constructing GeoToys’ GeoPuzzle Europe piece by piece. Their reviews show that the hands-on geography lesson was a huge hit...
8/1/2008
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 TDmonthly’s Psychologist Mom
In her latest round of reviews, TDmonthly Magazine’s Psychologist Mom found a 3-D puzzle up to the challenge, brushed up on world geography, and studied phonics in a flash...
8/1/2008
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 ThinkFun Puzzles Set Brains on Fire
When husband and wife Bill Richie and Andrea Barthello co-founded Binary Arts in 1985, they started with the premise that “having fun is a great way to learn"...
7/1/2008
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 U.S.-Made Buffalo Games Grow With Good Marketing
Buffalo Games began in 1986 as a family business. When Mark Predko, now director of sales and marketing, joined Buffalo Games in 1994, there were only seven people running the company, he told TDmonthly Magazine...
7/1/2008
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 TDmonthly’s Top-10 Most-Wanted Licensed Goods
Most of the 50 specialty retailers who spoke with TDmonthly Magazine revealed that licensed products — more common in the mass market — make up at least 1 percent of their merchandise.....
6/1/2008
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 Homeschool Panel Gives 3-D Puzzle Mixed Reviews
TDmonthly’s Homeschool Roundtable families recently faced the challenge of Voxal, a three-dimensional puzzle that is easier to describe than assemble. Did the families conquer it? Read on.....
5/1/2008
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 Get an Edge on Santa by Spying These Toys
Santa's hard at work on his list ... have you started yours? Find out what toys kids want in their stockings by taking a peek at TDmonthly's Holiday Preview articles...
5/1/2008
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 Picking Puzzles Apart
Take a look at these new puzzles to see which pieces fit best with your customers...
4/1/2008
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 TDmonthly’s Top-10 Most-Wanted Puzzles
Specialty retailers shared with TDmonthly magazine that the most popular selling puzzles were wooden puzzles, floor puzzles and wooden floor puzzles. Melissa & Doug and Ravensburger managed to produce all three...
4/1/2008
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 ZEN™ Challenges Players’ Concentration
Jerrett Metzger, founder of Silly Willy Toys, hopes ZEN, his fortuitous creation, becomes one of those celebrated stories about accidental inventions that made millions...
2/1/2008
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 Why b. dazzle, inc. Chose North America
Since the founding of b. dazzle, inc. in 1993, Marshall and Kathie Gavin have built their company into one defined by hard work, excellent customer service and uncompromising quality...
8/1/2007
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 Sudoku Takes a Slide
As the industry welcomes the addition of several new puzzles, just as many pieces — including some that bear the name Sudoku — are becoming misfits in the specialty market...
4/1/2007
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 Liberty Puzzles Fought for Freedom
Christopher Wirth had what many would consider a great job making good money as a corporate attorney for a financial firm. But after eight years .....
10/1/2006
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 A Puzzling Business
Since childhood, Andrew Snowie has been fascinated by construction and logic toys...
9/1/2006
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 Curiouser and Curiouser
What is the key to a good puzzle? Is it the difficulty? The inventiveness? That it looks cool? TDmonthly Magazine talked to manufacturers in order to take the puzzle out of puzzles...
7/1/2006
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 Specialty Puzzles: A Unique Fit
Casual puzzlers are now being introduced to mind-boggling puzzles as they become increasingly available at mainstream retail locations...
4/1/2006
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 Sudoku Fans Spawn Toy Inventions
The popularity of the one-digit Sudoku electronic puzzles, developed from the forerunning puzzles that appear in newspapers, is just beginning to grow in the United States...
1/1/2006
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 A Sensible Dream: elogIQ
Dror Rom began designing his own puzzles long before he could afford to bring his ideas to fruition. Twenty years later, he is realizing his dream...
5/1/2005
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 These Aren´t Your Grandma´s Puzzles
For many, nothing could be further from hip than the time-honored puzzle. Yet, as consumers increasingly demand challenge and beauty, size and intricacy, a few leading puzzle makers have emerged, pushing the borders of puzzle design in their wake...
4/1/2005
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 Game On: Traditional Escapes for 2005
The 2005 American International Toy Fair displayed many of the newest toys of 2005. A majority of the products highlighted by the national media were electronic in nature. Yet, traditional toys are as strong as ever. Below, TDmonthly staff has spotlighted a number of our favorite puzzles and games of 2005...
4/1/2005
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Games & Puzzles Move Beyond the Box
Taking a simple medium to whole new level, these familiar pastimes—whether shared with family and friends or played solo—have evolved considerably over the past few decades. Now, puzzles and games often involve interactive components that stretch the mind along with the field of play. The following innovative games and puzzles reflect the expansive market,...
1/1/2005
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 Heritage Puzzles: A Beacon of an Idea
If there is a special landmark in your memory, there is a good chance that it has been made into a quality puzzle by some local artists and Karen Everhart. She searches out some of the best works by well known local artists and makes them into jigsaw puzzles for the sophisticated puzzler. Heritage Puzzle Inc., with a distinguished eye for marketing, works very hard to stand out from other puzzle makers by using well-known local artists to depict historical landmarks...
12/1/2004
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b. dazzle inc. Introduces a New Exciting Puzzle for All
b. dazzle, inc.´s (ToyShow) “American Native Flowers” Scramble Squares has recently been named one of Dr. Toy’s “10 Best Socially Responsible Products” in October 2004. b. dazzle, inc. collaborated with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and they created “American Native Flowers,” as a first installment of a series of...
11/1/2004
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Puzzles
Uniset Inc. Want more from a puzzle than a pretty picture? With the Uniset Magic Puzzle by Uniset Inc., you use geometric Magic Stickers to form a picture. The fun continues when the puzzle is complete. Find hidden characters and objects in the scene, count up who shows up...
10/1/2004
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 What In The World?
Open this book, take apart a continent, then piece it back together...
8/1/2004
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Hot Board Games for 2004
Board games are back in vogue. Following are some of the new board games that will surely have people talking and playing...
3/1/2004
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GAMES & PUZZLES
UDE Launches New Trading Card Games New from Upper Deck Entertainment, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trading Card Game features the shelled crusaders as they battle their arch nemesis, Shredder and the Foot Clan. BreaKey is a strategic battle game where two or more opponents use collectible keys, knowledge...
3/1/2004
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