February 2010 Notable Toys — All

Zhu Zhu Pets are designed as the world's first realistic, interactive, plush and artificially intelligent hamsters that actually talk and move around in their own playsets. This case of six individually packaged figures includes (subject to change): Baby Cakes, Peanut, Butter Cheeks, Pumkin, Muffin and Snickle Fritz. Launch date: February 2010.

Girls can create four fabulous butterflies by following the numbered pattern. The kit includes four shaped templates, four plastic hangers, and more than 1,900 foam and jewel pieces. Launch date: March 15, 2010.
— Sticky Mosaics have been consistent best sellers at Jillie Beans Toys & More in Westminster, Colo., since the store started carrying them in fall 2009. “These are just fun,” said Owner Valerie Elsea in April 2010. “Parents say that their kids are so engaged when they are doing this craft. Any and all are great!”

Jonti-Craft, Inc.® is pleased to announce the addition of the color orange to its Rainbow Accents® furniture line. There are now nine color options to add flair, personality and vivacity to any room. The Rainbow Accents® furniture features thermo-fused edgebanding to create a durable and moisture-resistant product. Edgebanding is stronger than t-molding and prevents the edging from being picked away, Nick Schwarz, VP Marketing, Jonti-Craft, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2010.

With this groovy craft kit, girls follow the numbered pattern, and use stunning foam tiles and jewels to create four fantastic images to hang on their wall. Launch date: March 15, 2010.

Girls can create their very own rock band with this Girls Rock craft kit. Simply follow the numbered template, then peel and stick sparkling jewels and foam tiles to create. "Only with Sticky Mosaics® can any child achieve perfect results every time, simply by following our numbered template. It's as easy as peel & stick!" Damien Crocker, U.S. Specialty Sales Manager, The Orb Factory Limited, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 15, 2010.

Part of the hands-on line of Silly Sam & Friends talking role-play toys, this is a shape sorter with personality. Kids press on his nose or push the front door to insert something and let him talk. There are four shapes, each with a different color and representing a different material to recycle. There are two modes of play. This product is not in the mass market, according to Kelly Christensen, Director of Sales, Kidz Delight. Launch date: May 15, 2010.

This is a fun, fast and furious two-string sport kite designed to provide excellent value for the money. The 69" wingspan is made with a durable fiberglass frame and a ripstop polyester sail for long-lasting excitement. The Trigger comes ready to fly with control handles, a flying line and instructions. Launch date: January 15, 2010.

Gift givers can add their personal touch by filling the "secret compartments" with gifts. To discover each surprise, the recipient opens the lid doors and punches through the tissue. First, assemble the box. Then, wrap your gifts in the tissue and "STUFF" the 24 secret compartments. This patent-pending products is made in the USA. Launch date: November 7, 2009.

Silly Sam Broom is part of hands-on line of Silly Sam & Friends talking role-play toys. Kids sweep and move the bristles or press the nose to hear one of six random speech and sound effects. Awards: American Baby Toy of the Year, Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products. Launch date: 2002.

This 100-percent organic clothing is made in the United States using fair-trade cotton and labor. "We are in the process of setting up a 5-percent donation for all online sales to go to selection of charities. All of our artwork is done by amazing artists all over the United States," Samantha Fowler, owner, Green as Wee Grow, told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2009.

This is a 1/18 scale, full-function radio control model, in red and yellow colors assorted. It's a 2009 model Mustang, modified by Shelby, in the Supersnake version. Launch date: January 10, 2010.

The PODEE Kwik’N-EZ Medicator™ is a baby-friendly medicine dropper designed to conveniently allow for clean and easy administration of liquid medicine to an infant or toddler. All parts are made of high-quality materials and are BPA FREE. "This product makes giving medicine hassle-free because the baby takes the medicine straight from the silicone nipple just has the baby would milk. And it's another product from Podee that offers parents a real helping hand," Brooke Cortese, Marketing and Sales Director, Podee International, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 10, 2010.

Building Thinking Skills Beginning is designed to provide fun, highly effective and engaging reasoning activities to improve the vocabulary, pre-reading, pre-writing, math, logic, spatial, and auditory processing skills of preschoolers. It teaches children to use organized analysis instead of guesswork to solve problems as it develops critical thinking skills necessary for success in reading, math, writing, and science. The book uses colorful, easy-to-understand activities, sequenced in small steps, many gamelike, and solvable in a short period. "Our thinking approach makes learning fun, motivating and effective. Empowering the mind through critical thinking is one of the best ways to prepare for life's journey," Nile Duppstadt, VP, The Critical Thinking Co., told TDmonthly. Awards: 2009 Teacher's Choice Award for the Family, Learning® Magazine, 2010 Best Products iParenting Media Award, Book category. Launch date: February 5, 2009.

Some of the fun and frivolous uses found for this game are determining the starting player, or deciding who is going to pay for snacks, or dinner. It can be played with a large group of people to spark a bedlam of humor. Le Boomb!™ is available from any of Mayfair's distributors or directly from Mayfair. Each Le Boomb! ™ is presented in a small clamshell that may be placed on a shelf, or peg hooked, depending upon your needs. The rules are tiny and fit on the back of the information header card inside each clamshell. As a side note, the bomb opens like an Easter Egg and the die can be stored within. Le Boomb! ™ is packed in a display box of 12 pieces featuring seven colors. Each display contains six black Le Boomb! and one each of six other colors: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, White and Purple. Launch date: December 2009.

Animal and shape bracelets are made to be worn, traded and collected. These shaped bands are made of 100-percent silicone, and they bounce right back to their cool shape after each and every wear. The 24-band Stretchy Shapes packs are exclusive designs in custom colors, sized to fit comfortably on the wrist. The line includes tie-dyed, glow-in-the-dark and scented bands. "An all-kid test group even helped develop our product. Product sales success is proven — a retail store in Birmingham, Alabama, sold over 10,000 of the three original Stretchy Shapes packs shown above in less than one month," April Mraz, CEO, OCG Products, LLC, told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2009.

The YBIKE balance bike is designed with a lightweight aluminum frame, rubber wheels and a narrow back wheel base. It's available in two colors and was designed by Chrome Cherry Design Studio in South Africa. Launch date: May 15, 2010.

With the Model Magic Presto Dots set, kids cover the plastic base with Model Magic, use the Pop-Dot tool to start fashioning a sheep with round dots of the modeling material, then create the final accents for a finished piece. Launch date: 2010.

These collectible 1.5" figures have interchangeable heads and are sold in a wrapped tablet double their size. When placed in warm water, the tablet fizzes and eventually dissolves to reveal the character. There are 12 Squatz, in robot, pirate, ninja and alien varieties. Launch date: January 2010.

These 5" animal characters are full of personality and can be clipped onto a backpack or purse as a fun accent. When squeezed, each felt creature utters the sound of the animal it represents. The collection features a tiger, lion, zebra, monkey, elephant, dolphin, turtle, penguin, seahorse, lobster, orca and shark. Launch date: 2010.

Each bright crayon in this eight-pack can be used on a dry-erase surface and is said to erase cleanly and not dry out. The pack, which comes with an eraser mitt and crayon sharpener, includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown and black shades. Launch date: 2010.

This app-enabled, remote-controlled vehicle has video capability and features live transmission of video and audio to a color LCD panel and speaker on the remote. It comes preloaded with applications but can also be connected to a computer through a USB so that owners can create or modify apps online. It includes an SD card slot for recording, a speaker and microphone, and a software development kit for programming usage. Launch date: Fall 2010.

This environmentally friendly plush doll is part of Hosung's My Natural brand and is made from certified non-toxic cotton and shaded via a chemical-free PureWaterWash process. It's in partnership with the Lorax Project, an environmental initiative for the Dr. Seuss brand. Launch date: Spring 2010.

This single-player game puts the classic Scrabble game on the move, as the player shuffles and slides electronic letter tiles to form words within a minute. Equipped with Smart Tile Technology, Scrabble Flash Cubes reads words once the tiles are in place and keeps score accordingly. Launch date: Fall 2010.

The object of Cattura is to "capture" as many cards as you can. The player with the most cards wins. Cattura comes with imported Italian cards and instructions on how to play.