Advertisement:
 |
TDMONTHLY HOT TOPIC |
 |
|||
 |
|
|
|||
 |
 |
 |
Around half of all toys are made of plastic. What if a large percentage of that plastic, PVC plastic, were causing serious health problems in our children … or worse?... 
Tom Conley, president of the Toy Industry Association (TIA), recently took the time to talk with TDmonthly Magazine about China’s increasing foray into toy design and development.... 
Use this catalogue to discover new and unique toys. ... |
COMICS |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
TDmonthly Magazine talked with publishers, distributors and store owners to find out how retailers can find those up-and-comers that will bring the fanboys — and family-conscious shoppers — back to their stores week in and week out.... 
Enter a major bookstore such as Borders or Barnes & Noble, and its "Graphic Novel" section may be as large as its "Mystery" or "Science Fiction" counterparts.... 
Comics have blossomed into a dual-gender art form, thanks mostly to the Japanese artists and writers who created the shojo manga books so popular with girls and young women.... |
DOLLS |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Little girls are picking up lifelike baby dolls meant for adult collectors, and they’re not putting them down.... 
How do you sell a specialty item that some fear isn´t so special anymore? When the Groovy Girls hit Target last January, a number of toy shop owners and managers who’d helped build the popular Manhattan Toy Company line felt betrayed.... |
INTERACTIVE AND ELECTRONIC LEARNING DEVICES |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Retailers and educators have been telling TDmonthly Magazine that the trend is toward a traditional “hands-on” learning approach, featuring manipulative aids, such as marbles, beads, blocks and non-electronic counting apparatuses.... 
Reading and writing never required an on/off switch. But the new electronic aids turn learning phonics, spelling and other language skills into fun.... |
SCIENCE & NATURE |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Sea-Monkeys, butterflies and ants — oh, my! Kids and creepy crawly things; every budding scientist starts somewhere, and live-animal kits have been perennial sellers for almost 50 years, starting when Uncle Milton introduced the Ant Farm.... 
Compared with most other toy categories, the science and nature toy market has been booming. Do companies in this lucrative field know something other toy companies don’t? TDmonthly Magazine recently interviewed several successful science kit manufacturers to find out. ... 
Whether building robots, collecting critters or mixing chemicals, today’s kids are eager to explore the world around them. According to a recent survey conducted by Funosophy Inc., kids are showing untapped interest in a variety of science and nature activity kits. ... |
TDMONTHLY TOY VIDEOS |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
These toys are too active to stay still.... 
What better way to experience a toy than firsthand?... 
Mr. TOYDIRECTORY has got his hands on a few more products this month, and he´s improving his style.... 
These toys just can´t sit still.... 
Take a moment to watch the following toys do their thing right before your very eyes!... 
Just click on the following links to see what antics the toys got up to with their beloved friend, Mr. Hands.... 
Oh dear; these toys have found their way in front of the camera.... |
RETAILING TIPS |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Nature and learning toys were the fastest growing toy market in 2004 according to the Toy Industry Association. Should you stock your store with nature items, and if so, how can you maximize sales? ... |
TDMONTHLY POPULAR STORIES |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
TDmonthly Magazine surveyed 16 toy shops from coast to coast to find out which toys fell flat and which flew high in Christmas 2004.... 
Last month, we published an article dealing with the incandescently popular Hello Kitty by Sanrio.... 
When specialty toy retailers have even a rudimentary knowledge of the conditions that affect special-needs kids, a new market opens up to them. Although reports vary, most studies show that the number of U.S. children with special needs ranks in the millions.... 
By using dynamic business practices, Corgi has plans to bring a die-cast British Invasion to America.... |
TDMONTHLY TOY BUZZ |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Even tarot cards couldn’t have predicted the road followed by U.S. Games Systems Inc.’s chairman and CEO, Stuart Kaplan.... |
TDMONTHLY COOL COMPANY |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
RETAILER SPOTLIGHT |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
TDMONTHLY BRASS RING |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
TDMONTHLY MOM´S PERSPECTIVE |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
TDMONTHLY TOP-10 MOST-WANTED LISTS |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Looking to create a new marketing niche for your store? How about selling to the unschooling parents?... 
TDmonthly spoke with over a dozen retailers across the country who said the following talking toys sell well at their stores.... 
September is just past summer and looking towards Christmas. It’s a humble-jumble month, and our recommendations run a wide gamut. ... 
We here at TDmonthly have seen quite a few toys in our time and according to us, the following may be something special.... |
TDMONTHLY UPCOMING ISSUES |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
TDmonthly examines the new economics of the toy retailer from a Wall Street point of view in next month´s issue.... 
What happens when violence sells more than peace, and edgy sells more than family? Where are the lines, and where do the toy companies stand in the difficult tight-rope walk between accounting and accountability?... 
Is China a threat to the world toy industry? TDmonthly explores this notion in next month´s issue.... 
