November 2009 New Specialty Toys — Puzzles & Skill

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

Puzzle Doubles Create A Scene Ocean combines a puzzle with additional activities to create a fun and interactive learning experience for your child. After assembling the puzzle, children can create their own scenes and stories by placing the reuseable static stickers on the surface of completed puzzle. Then turn the puzzle over for a big coloring activity! The bright illustrations encourage parent-child conversation. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

Puzzle Doubles Create A Scene Farm combines a puzzle with additional activities to create a fun and interactive learning experience for your child. After assembling the puzzle, children can create their own scenes and stories by placing the reuseable static stickers on the surface of completed puzzle. Then turn the puzzle over for a big coloring activity! The bright illustrations encourage parent-child conversation. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

This 200-piece puzzle shows a vast space scene and provides the names of the planets. Once assembled, it measures 19 1/3” x 14 1/4".
— Main Street Toy Shop in Columbus, Ga., sells about 30 Ravensburger puzzles per month, Owner Gladys Griffin told TDmonthly in fall 2009 when discussing best-selling educational items.
— "Ravensburger jigsaw puzzles; a dozen per month" Linda Laramy, owner of Crackerjacks in Easton, Md., told TDmonthly.

This picture-filled wooden puzzle of the United States includes 40 pieces created to help develop map skills. When each puzzle piece is placed in the correct location, the puzzle speaks the names of the states and capitals. It measures 0.8” x 15.8” x 11.9”. It requires three AAA batteries (not included).
— Ten percent of 40 retailers named Melissa & Doug as a best-selling brand when it comes to educational products. LB Toys in Media, Pa., sells about 30 per month of the U.S. wooden map puzzle, Owner Jamie Burdette told TDmonthly in fall 2009.
— Michael O'Dell of Toys from the Attic in Rehoboth Beach, Del., told TDmonthly in a Summer 2011 survey that they don't sell many electronic or battery operated toys, but of those they do have, sound puzzles from Melissa & Doug sell best.

The Eni Puzzle is a unique puzzle that is simple to play and designed to enhance problem solving and dexterity in both young children and seniors. The Eni Puzzle is cylindrically shaped and divided by several ring shaped sections. Each ring section is composed of a multitude of colored tiles that rotate independently. The tiles can travel each ring by one empty space and then be rotated into different positions. The puzzle is solved by a combination of ring rotations and the movement of colored tiles between rings.

The Amazing Wave of Light Animatronic Dolphin is a work of art that combines lights, sound and movement. The visual experience is hypnotic, creating a relaxing tranquil environment for any room in your home or office. You can choose from three modes: 1) Watch it move in a well-lit room with the Sound & Movement Mode; 2) Bring it into the bedroom shut the light off and watch the Movement, Sound and Light Mode take over - completely relaxing you; 3) Simply use it in the Movement Only Mode (with no sound or light) and be mesmerized by the slow graceful movement of the Dolphin. The Amazing Wave of Light Animatronic™ Dolphin has a built-in Sleep Timer Mode; with the push of a button it can be set to turn off in a 30 minutes to one hour. Cons: One user reported that the dolphin's nose got stuck and wouldn't go back down.

The Amazing Magnetic FridgiGears Deluxe Light Show Puzzle Gear Edition lets kids make creations light up & glow in the dark. Each gear is a puzzle that a child puts together to create a moving work of art. A rotating magnetic black light is included. The motorized picture frame gear powers all 20 gears with an easy "tap on/tap off" function. Included are over 103 black-light responsive magnetic fridgi puzzle pieces.

An updated and more complex version of the classic 3x3 Rubik's Cube, this brainteaser has twists and turns to baffle even experienced puzzlers. Winning Moves Games warns that due to the complex mechanics required to allow movement of the four row Rubik's Cube, care should be taken during play to align the rows fully before attempting to twist. 
― Two of 39 retailers told TDmonthly in October 2009 that Rubik's Cubes are their top seller for tween boys.

First just turn the eight magnetic puzzle wheels left and right to mix up the picture. Then reverse the process until all images are complete. Too easy? Now separate the wheels, mix them up and try again.  Hidden magnets keep the wheels together while you try to solve the puzzle, making it ideal for travel.

This 16-piece 3D puzzle comes with a travel tin for easy porting. Kids can remove all the magnetic pieces from the cover and then try to reassemble the entire puzzle from scratch. Or, they can keep out a single piece and place the other pieces on the board in any order, then slide them to and fro to solve the puzzle that way. Everyting fits inside the tin when they're ready to go. Other designs are available.

Quarks!® is a spherical 3D puzzle based on the sliding shell mechanism. It is also a brainteaser that makes the players familiar with some concepts of modern physics. Inspired by the world of quarks (subatomic particles that are one of the fundamental building blocks of all matter in the universe), Quarks!®  is an amazing game that will challenge anyone at any age. Holding the ball with both hands, twist the hemispheres in any direction to scramble the color pattern. The objective of the puzzle is to bring all the six colored spiral shaped quarks back to their original order. As an alternative to giving up, Quarks!® can easily be taken apart and recombined; a puzzle in itself. Once assembled, the Quarks! globe is returned to the original “out of the box” configuration.

In this 1000pc jigsaw puzzle the famous Polar Bear images of the 1990's portraits an adorable polar bear family enjoying Coca-Cola.

This 1000pc jigsaw puzzle captures the innocences of childhood in A Gift For Santa.

Scramble Squares® are nine-piece puzzles that feature original art and only one solution. They're great for everyone from age 4 to 104. Interesting fact: Modern football had its start in the mid 1800s, when Webb Ellis of England’s Rugby School scored a goal in a game of English soccer football by picking up the ball and running it over the goal line in a desperate attempt to win the game before the school’s five o’clock curfew bell. From that day forward, English football divided into two distinct games: the “handling game,” rugby, where the ball could be advanced by carrying it, and the “dribbling game,” soccer, where the ball must be advanced by kicking it.

These nine-piece puzzles are easy to play, but hard to solve. They feature original artwork, plus educational facts on the back of the travel-size package. Interesting fact:  In 1964, the general manager of Pontiac, John DeLorean, created the first “muscle car” by approving the installation of 389 cubic inch, 6.3-liter engine in the Pontiac LeMans, adding the designation “GTO” that had been a name first used by Ferrari, Europe’s leading sports car company.

Scramble Squares puzzles look easy, but are difficult to solve. Players of all ages can play together or alone, challenging their brains to find the single pattern that will solve the puzzle. Interesting fact:
The spicy heat of chili peppers is measured in Scoville Units, an index developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. Scoville Units measure chili pepper heat in multiples of 100, with bell peppers at 0 and the habanero at over 300,000 Scoville Units.

These bilingual puzzles teach children words in both English and Spanish. Varieties include "ABCs," "Addition and Subtraction" and "My Body." Launch date: 2009.

This 100-piece puzzle features bright artwork and three embedded gemstones. Launch date: 2009.