January 2012 Notable Toys — Pretend Play

This wooden kitchen designed in Switzerland features a sink, stovetop, cupboard, oven with see-through plexiglass door, and backsplash with three pegs, and includes 23 wooden pieces of play cookware, food and utensils. Made of Baltic birch.

This Soft purse includes pretend accessories, such as a wallet, debit card, lipstick, keys, mirror and cell phone.

Even infants can enjoy building and repairing with these soft tools. This nine—piece set contains a hammer, a drill, a screwdriver, saw, and more, all of which make a variety of delightful noises and are soft enough for the tiniest construction workers.
— As of 11/16/2011 this product had 4.4 out of 5 stars from 26 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Cute; the vibrating drill is fun; soft yet durable; Machine washable. Cons: Toolbox seems flimsy.

This is a one of a kind educational sandbox fossil find, featuring a tasteful faux rock design.Comes with an on-line field manual that makes it educational and fun as it explains the dinosar bones that are uncovered. Kids can sit all the way around the sand box, and the bones are arranged in a 360 degree format so no one gets left out. Launch date: September 2011.

Defend the LEGO Star Wars Hoth Echo Base (7879) from the evil Imperial forces. Imperial forces have discovered the Rebel base hidden on the ice planet of Hoth and are preparing to crush the Rebel Alliance. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and protocol droid R—3PO get ready to fend off the attack as 2 snowtroopers approach. Luke Skywalker is in the bacta tank being treated by medical droid 2—1B. The LEGO Star Wars Hoth Echo Base (7879) includes: Tauntaun stable with locking gate, tauntaun, rotating radar dishes, falling icicle trap, working cargo crane, and medical bay with bacta tank; Han Solo, injured Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, 2—1B, protocol droid R—3PO, Chewbacca and 2 snowtroopers; flick missile gun turrets; repeating blaster and blaster rifle weapons; Measures over 21" wide and 5" tall; Imperial speeder bike measures over 5" long; Contains 773 pieces.

Stop the prisoners from escaping the police station through the pipe drain. They won't get far on foot. Use the police car to chase them down and transport them back to prison in the police van. Help keep LEGO City safe with this feature-packed set. The LEGO City Police Station (7498) features: Set Contains 783 Pieces; Includes 4 police officers, 2 robbers, a police dog and lots of accessories; Modular building make building easy; Includes police car, prisoner transport van, and bicycle; Station features 2 jail cells, command center with computers, helicopter landing pad on the roof, garage for two vehicles.
— As of 11/07/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 11 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Lots of accessories; fun to build; very detailed. Cons: Expensive; took one reviewer two days to assemble completely.
— As of 11/07/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 15 reviews on Amazon.com.
— Paul Sahagian, owner of Learning Express in Needham, Mass., told TDmonthly in a December 2014 interview that this Frozen Coloring book is one of the best-selling books at their store.

Each set includes a fashionable pet carrier purse and fuzzy blanket for celebrity naps.  Paired with Pet Personality Sets and Celebrity Pet Play Sets these couture purses pull the whole Pawparazzi look together for only $7.99. Launch date: September 2011.

Choose from 6 themes: Winter Fun, Celebrity Sleepover, Beach Boogie, Fun in the Sun, Celebrity Wedding, and Diva Ballerina. These accessory sets expand the pretend play experience for Pawparazzi fans. Launch date: September 2011.

Pawparazzi Pet Personality Sets are the newest addition to the Pawparazzi line. 6 new 'mini' Personality Sets offer kids their Pawparazzi pet fix at a retail price of only $9.99. Each set includes a plush pet, clothing accessory, sticker, and trading card with fun facts about the famous pet. "Kids become engaged in the fantasy world built around Pawparazzi. Every pet has a personality that is enhanced through the product accessories and offerings and online at PlanetPawparazzi.com," Susan DeCoste, marketing coordinator at Noodle Head,Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2011.

Smart Mat multi-purpose play mats are ideal indoors or out; for playrooms, story time, snack time, the beach, backyard, even classrooms. Children will engage in hours of imaginative play using their own vehicles, such as PlaSmart’s Wonky Wheels, as well as play figures. With a giant play surface (minimum 78” x 46”), Smart Mats are easy to clean, travel, and store. Made from high quality, coated, EVA foam.

The classic oven has been updated to be light bulb-free and comes with yummy mixes and pans for cooking up all kinds of sweet treats. Oven comes with baking pan, cupcake pan, pan pusher, chocolate chip cookie mix, red velvet cake mix, pink frosting mix, rainbow sugar crystals package, paper cupcake wraps and instructions/recipe booklet.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 4 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Easy, fun.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 3.9 out of 5 stars from 22 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: No assembly required; very easy;  Cons: Does not include many mixes; mixes make small quantities of food; extra mixes are expensive.

It's easy for kids to prepare meals for a birthday bash, picnic, backyard barbeque or to cook up just about anything with the Fisher-Price Dora Fiesta Favorites Kitchen Playset. The Fisher-Price Dora Fiesta Favorites Kitchen Playset includes: A double sided "fiesta recipe card" that kids can place in the kitchen window to cook delicious meals like tacos, huevos rancheros, hamburgers, and more; Dora talks kids through each recipe with fun phrases that correspond to the recipe; A refrigerator, oven, stovetop, grill, sink and a phone; More than 60 English and Spanish phrases, and 20 play pieces. Requires three AA batteries, included.

These Lalaloopsy have silly hair that bends every which way. Now kids can style their Lalaloopsy doll's hair and their pet's tail too. Includes fun hair styling brush, 4 clips and 6 hair beads. Pet has matching bendable tail.
— As of 10/10/2011 this product had 4.8 out of 5 stars from 4 reviews on ToysRUs.com.

The product is a Face mask based on the V for Vendetta movie. The white plastic mask fits most teens to adults.
— As of 10/10/2011 this product had 4.2 out of 5 stars from 138 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Good replica of mask from V for Vendetta. Cons: Several reviewers said the item was flimsy and scratched easily; a bit large for kids.

Playsilks are simply pieces of beautiful colored cloth that are used to make capes, skirts, and doll carriers, over and over again in different combination. Blue silks can be spread on the floor to "sail" boats on; green can be grass for horses to "graze" on. These toys are sustainable, eco-friendly and reusable so moms feel good about having them around the house. Sarah's Silks is proud to be Green America certified. Launch date: July 2011.
Awards: 2011 Green America

This box can be decorated with the custom stickers to look like a fire station. They can also be drawn on and erased using washable markers. The play box consists of six (6) pieces: a front panel, a back panel, two side panels, the roof and the floor, which locks everything into place. The play box weighs approximately 16 lbs. Once assembled, the play box's dimensions are 55.75" L x 36" W x 57.5" H. Once stored, the play box and carrying case's dimensions are 53.25" L x 20.5" W x 3.5" H. The play box is 100% corrugated plastic, made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE).