July 2009 New Specialty Toys — Pretend Play

This silver and pink tiara is trimmed with marabou feathers and embellished with pink gemstones. "This tiara is our unique design and it's sold only in the specialty toy market," Veesha Knight, sales and marketing manager for Creative Education of Canada, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

Kids Crooked House can customize a playhouse specifically to the interests or needs of a child. Custom-designed playhouses are handcrafted and built to individual requirements. Parents can turn to the company's existing designs for inspiration or ask their kids (or inner kid) to describe their dream playhouse. Launch date: June 2009.

Kids can learn about healthy food choices by running their own market stall filled with wooden fruits and vegetables. Produce sold separately.

This durable metal shopping cart looks just like those in real stores. Sturdy metal construction includes pivoting front wheels, a folding doll seat and protective corner bumpers to navigate the aisles in style and safety. It measures 18.5" x 13.5" x 22.5" assembled. Contains small parts. Adult assembly required. Launch date: 2009.
— These carts are best sellers at Learning Resources Toy Magic in Fort Walton, Fla. "There are between 25 and 35 on hold for Christmas," Owner Mark Pattison told TDmonthly in late October 2009.
— Jamie Burdette, owner of LB Toys in Media, Pa., said in fall 2009 that his store sells about 60 of these shopping carts per month.

This set comes with a hooded zipper jacket, sweats with tie string, and a loose long sleeve striped shirt. For dressing up 18" dolls.

This set comes with a tartan patterned skirt and a white tee for the top and is for dressing up 18" dolls.

This light pink tiara features maribou feathers and artificial pink gemstones. One size fits all.

Wooden dolls with yarn hair are available in an assortment of ethnicities, ages and genders.

These fluffy feather boas with silver tinsel make a glamorous addition to any dress up outfit. Each boa measures 3 feet long; the perfect size for little ones. One size fits most. They come in pink, lilac and white.
— In an early fall 2010 TDmonthly survey, seven percent of 44 retailers cited Little Adventures costumes as a top-selling accessory item.

This set features a detailed Santa with his toy sack and best friend Rudolph the Reindeer for pretend play. The figures may be used with other WOW toys sets. Launch date: July 9, 2009.

This friction-powered cement truck has an automatic revolving mixer. Mike’s motor rotates his inner cement drum, tossing and turning all the mix of cement ingredients with real cement-making sounds. He is operated by a friendly removable construction driver figure who can either drive him to his next job or watch the mixing process from the top of his truck. A detachable bollard can be fixed to the back for easy storage. "Mix ‘n’ Fix Mike, as with all other vehicles from WOW’s toy range, has been designed to help children make sense of the world around them through imaginative play. Every WOW toy is compatible with others from the range, [and] they are extremely resilient, don’t require batteries, and exceed all toy safety regulations," Tanya Laperouse, PR manager for WOW Toys, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 9, 2009.

Little chefs fill pies, roll cookies and more. This set invites kids to imagine holding a pretend bake-off, making special treats for company, running their own bakery, or entering the school bake sale. It features an egg that cracks open to release the yolk, cookies in four shapes to cut out, and more. The set introduces parts of a whole with a sliceable, three-piece loaf of bread and a pie with three, two-piece slices kids can fill with the included fruit. It comes with 31 plastic pieces, including favorite baked goods, a measuring cup and spoon, and other utensils a baker needs. The rolling pin (the set’s largest piece) measures 8.5” L. "From mimicking what happens in the kitchen at home to imaginative play such as running a restaurant, the Pretend and Play Bakery Set offers a realistic hands-on play experience as well as educational play," Nancy Davies, group account director for Salmon Borre Group, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

With the Pretend & Play Birthday Set, kids can design custom invitations for special guests, and decorate the cake and three presents. The five cake pieces feature candles numbered one to five to help with counting. Also included is a birthday crown, a pretend camera, birthday cards and more. "It encourages creativity through the design of invitations and cake decorations to number play with the numbered candles and cake slices," Nancy Davies, group account director for Salmon Borre Group, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

Little anglers can hook the catch of the day, and an adjustable vest makes play more realistic. Kids can play a size-matching game with worms and fish. It features six pages of write-and-wipe, fishing-themed activities. Plastic pieces include a pole with magnetic hook, three magnetic fish, three worms, a net and a vest (plastic, nylon and canvas). All magnets are embedded for safety, and the plastic tackle box stores all pieces. "This fishing set is a realistic representation of fishing, allowing imaginative play, while also being able to play matching games with the various size worms and colored fish that come with the set," Nancy Davies, group account director at Salmon Borre Group, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 15, 2009.
— Deborah Smith from Toys That Teach in Richmond, Va., told TDmonthly in a December 2011 survey that Learning Resources Pretend & Play kits were among her best selling Halloween products.

This game asks the question, "Can you keep your dinosaur alive into the 21st century?" It's a board game full of pitfalls and promotions as each player's dino works its way from the Jurassic to modern times, trying to avoid terrifying predators and extraordinary earth events in order to survive and be the winner. It comes with six free dinosaur replicas and is made in the USA. This game received an Oppenheim Gold Award. Launch date: March 31, 2008.

This dinosaur is almost a foot long, 6" tall, and designed to be in a realistic, frightening pose. Like other Papo dinosaur figures, the Spinosaurus's mouth opens and closes. Launch date: June 2007.

The articulated jaw of this Allosaurus really opens and closes. The hand-painted dinosaur is approximately 1:20 scale and measures about 10.5". It is made of durable synthetic material. Launch date: July 2008.

Parents can attach this little apple, banana, onion or eggplant to the handle or side of the shopping cart to entertain baby. The fruit and veggie characters have smiling, symmetrical faces with high-contrast eyes. Black and white striped leggings and tethers provide visual stimulation and focus for even the youngest babies. Each little character wears tennis shoes and has interesting textures to touch and teethe on. Smooth teethable rings circle one leg on each character for added tactile exploration. Each character makes a soft rattling sound and most have leaves, or petals, that crinkle to the touch. The toys come two to a pack and hook on to shopping carts, strollers, infant carrier handles, high chairs, and other surfaces with simple plastic clamps. Launch date: July 2009.

This colorful tent with a flag on top is constructed of cotton and polyester, mesh fabric and plastic rods. It can be folded for storage, and the mirror and window are removable.

The original Scout Elf Skirt is a dazzling ice-white, pleated skirt, sure to please the most fashion conscious female scout elf. Beautifully embellished with holly berry red snowflakes, this skirt will make your girl elf outshine the stars this Christmas season. Simply place the skirt where your elf can see it and she’ll fly into it during the night. One size fits all.
— The Claus Couture Scout Elf Skirt is deceptively simple. At first glance it may appear to be some simple scraps of cloth. Diana Nelson, owner of Kazoo & Company in Denver, was skeptical when she first saw it, but overwhelming sales erased her doubts and made her regret her reduced order of the item. Parents who have experienced the magical tradition of The Elf on the Shelf know that the watchful gaze of the elf can transform misbehaving children into angels. Similarly, the Claus Couture Scout Elf Skirt transforms a generic elf into a fashionable female elf. More important, it can transform a sale, adding another item to a purchase or even encouraging customers to buy a second so their boys and girls can each have an Elf on the Shelf.

Kids can name the five figurines and take charge of the day, from writing on the "blackboard" to extra-long recess. This set is compatible with other Gears! Gears! Gears! sets. Kids can follow the color-coded building instructions or use their imaginations. The 60-piece set includes 20 colorful gears, five figurines, playground equipment, a write-and-wipe schoolhouse, a flag, a sticker sheet and a base. All pieces except the cardboard school house are plastic. "Gears! Gears! Gears! School Set is a hands-on educational product that builds fine motor skills while creating positive feelings about school," Nancy Davies, group account director at the Salmon Borre Group, PR agency for Learning Resources, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2009.

This two-story house comes with attic windows that tilt, an extendable marquee, a garden and a grill, plus four figures. The house has a functioning door bell and two AAA batteries are required. Dimensions are 26" L x 16.9" W x 18.8" H inches (L x W x H). Recommended for ages 4 and up. Choking Hazard. Small parts. Not for children under 3 years. "Playmobil develops toys that help foster the child’s imagination," Michelle Winfrey, marketing and PR manager for Playmobil, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2009.

Designed to provide a thoughtful and imaginative play experience, this game features a princess who needs to be rescued from a mean guard and fierce dog. Players go through fields, woods, mountains and villages in search of things magical and practical that are needed to free the Princess. Participants share and help each other remember where special things are hidden, and together think their way past the obstacles. The games includes a 12" x 12" board, die, movers, night cards, good grief cards and special things.

Little kids can practice whipping up nutritional meals with this wooden cook station. Launch date: Early 2009.