Get These Toys BEFORE They’re Hot!

What’s a one-word explanation of the difference between 2010 and 2011? Excitement. Trade-show booths are selling out and more innovative products are making it into the marketplace. Even the mass media is whispering about a strong 4Q.

The specialty manufacturers that TDmonthly Magazine has been talking to are feeling the energy, and are pumped up about what they’re bringing out for the holiday season.

In this first in a series of TDmonthly’s Holiday Preview issues designed to help you research and buy the best toys and games, top specialty manufacturers tell you what they’re most enthused about for 4Q and why they believe kids will be, too.

Elaine Kollias of Folkmanis said that of the 20 new puppets the company’s preparing for the holidays, their Portuguese Water Dog puppet is expected to fetch the healthiest profits. Why will kids want to adopt it?

“It looks like the Presidential dog and is just a great, great puppet,” she said. The Portuguese Water Dog will first wag its tail at the ASTRA Marketplace in June.

These days, cupcake shops are springing up all over, so Devo Ihonde from eeBoo is serving up a game where kids get to create their own (cardboard) cupcakes, ingredient by ingredient.

“The illustrations for the Cupcake Game are done by a children’s book illustrator, Lizzy Rockwell, so it has a classic but contemporary feel,” Devo told TDmonthly. “It’s interactive for many different ages. If you’re very young, you don’t have to read. Older kids can get a lot out of it, because you get to pick what kind of cupcake you want to make, then spin to get all the ingredients for that particular cupcake: dry ingredients, frosting, colored paper liners. It’s especially good for older kids to think about what’s tantalizing to them.”

After consuming all those imaginary calories, kids can work off the frosting with a ride-on from Berg USA.

“We expect the new Buddys will most likely be our hits for the holidays,” said Matt Lindsay of Berg USA. “Grandparents like to have them around their house for kids to ride on and parents like them too.”

What sets the Buddys apart from other ride-ons is quality, said Matt. The vehicles feature sealed bearings, pneumatic tires and a drive system which allows pedaling forward and backward, plus freewheel coasting. They also come with a 2-year warranty.

But the best thing about the Buddy, continued Matt, is it “gets kids outside and gets them wanting to play.”

Tom Sebazco, from ENI Puzzle, is busy growing his new company and responding to client requests. This year, the fledgling operation moved its shipping from Astoria, Queens – where Tom did all the grunt work himself – to a fulfillment house in Texas, right in the middle of the country, to facilitate shipping to every corner of the nation.

“At February, we unveiled a new puzzle at Toy Fair – the mini and the keychain puzzles with numbers” for players who hankered for a more challenging, single solution, he told TDmonthly.

Over at Noodle Head, Susan DeCoste was looking forward to a new litter of Pawparazzi Pets.

“Two will be available in the summer and two in the holidays,” she said. The holiday releases include Mindy, a wildlife expert, and a re-release of Cocoa “one of our very first pets ― a free-spirited actor.”

The company also recently launched the Planet Pawparazzi website and a PawBlog.

“Engaging with kids in this new way and reaching them directly has brought a whole level of fun with them,” said Susan. The company is also expecting great things from their new Snuggle Paws line of plush-pet blanket carriers.

Cooperation will mark the coming year and beyond, predicts Jim Deacove of Family Pastimes. His company is releasing the Dragonfly game, which teaches kids that dragonflies are friends who eat mosquitoes, and 2012: The Mayan Calendar, a cooperative game for adults that addresses concerns about the prophesies of doom.

These games “introduce topics seldom being addressed and promote social skills so desperately needed to balance out the over-competitiveness of our society,” said Deacove.

The Learning Journey has a few innovative toys for 4Q, including a new WordPad that lets kids feel they’re part of the high-tech world, said Sherri Borelli.

Corolle Dolls remains low-tech but gives high-play value with its 2011 offerings.

“Some of our newest items include Bebe Amour from the Les Classiques collection, Miss Corolle's Coquettes, and the Les Cheries' latest, Capucine,” said Liza Grando for Corolle. “Corolle dolls are specially scaled and weight-proportioned to children of different ages, so children truly grow with Corolle. Corolle dolls have a delicate vanilla scent and celebrate ethnic diversity.”

Take a closer look at the new products, below: