August 2011 Notable Toys — All

"Pizza for Breakfast" is the critically acclaimed first album of Mister G, a celebrated songwriter and educator who performs internationally.  The songs, which include fan favorites such as "Sneaky Chihuahua" and "Pony with a Problem," span a range of musical styles ranging from pop to rock, bluegrass to ska. Kids, and their parents, will be singing along with the environmental toe-tapper, "Don't Waste Stuff" and soaping up to "Bath." Launch date: January 2010.

Now made in Canada, our non-toxic, eco friendly bath comes with a non-slip mat for comfort and security. New York magazine has called Spa Baby "a soothingly womb like hot tub for infants." It is the "largest upright tub on the market to last infants the longest," Brandy Cameron, President of Spa Baby Tubs, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2011.

Caillou preschool products: Stimulate the imagination and creativity while participating in emotional development. Improve sociability and language. For boys and girls.

Invented by a British mother of six, My Wee Friend is a simple potty training method. It is a black disc which adheres to the bottom of a training potty. When the child uses the potty, the disc temporarily reveals a smiling face, then reverts to black. It can be left in the potty, cleaned as usual and reused for up to 12 weeks. Suitable for both boys and girls, it motivates the child and reinforces consistency. It is available in nine designs.

SeatSnug can easily be added to a vehicle’s existing seatbelt to allow the lap belt to be lightly tightened around a child’s hips.  This prevents looseness in the lap belt to enhance seatbelt performance, resulting in increased safety and improved comfort.  SeatSnug secures and stabilizes the child and the booster seat, yet allows the shoulder belt to operate normally for free upper body movement. "Formal crash tests have shown that SeatSnug significantly reduces the potential for injury when used with current vehicle seatbelts.  In one set of replicated real world tests, SeatSnug reduced the impact forces in a 30 mph frontal impact simulation by 7 Gs at the chest and 11 Gs at the hips of a 6 year old child test dummy," Bruce Mather, CTO and President of Lap Belt Cinch, told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2011 Australian Automotive Aftermarket Assoc. “Best New Aftermarket Accessory” Award; 2010 Popular Mechanics Editor’s Choice Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Design & Innovation;” 2010 The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval; 2010 Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association Global Media Award; 2009 BRAKE Fleet Safety Forum “Fleet Safety Product Award;” 2008 Adaptive Driving Alliance Finalist for the “New Technology Award;” 2007 National Street Machine Club Seal Of Approval; 2006 Ben Franklin “Most Innovative Product or Service” Award.

Baby Diner attaches to any smooth table top or structure and allows a parent or guardian to secure all types of smooth-bottom plates, bowls and any other dinnerware to prevent young children from accidentally knocking or throwing dishes on the floor. "Baby Diner can be used with all types of dishware such as: Ceramic, Glass, Plastic, Melamine and Stoneware dishes," Jesse Mills, Owner/CEO of Lil Diner, told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2009 Best of Utah.

Teddy Bear Stuffing Machine and Stuff a Plush Parties for retail and entertainment businesses allow customers to create a custom stuffed animal. Create venue specific plush Teddy Bears or other animals. Teddy Bear Stuffing machines are manufactured here in the USA. Services include Teddy Bear Stuffing Machines, Retail Merchandising Carts, and Retail Store Fixtures. Unstuffed Plush Skins include a full line of plush teddy bears & other Pawfect Pals Costumes - a wide variety that fits most other plush lines as well. Accessories include shoes, sunglasses, bows, sound modules and more. Supplies include stuffing, birth certificate software, critter boxes, and more. My Pawfect Bear manufacturers a diverse range of teddy bear stuffing machines that can be placed in a wide range of target locations including (but not limited to) family entertainment centers, gift stores, tourist spots, amusement parks, shopping malls, and more.

Diception is a strategic board and dice game for 2 to 4 people. Players must bluff and bid their way through the game. Each Diception board game comes with 20 dice, a Second Chance Cube, four high quality genuine leather tumblers, instruction booklet that reveals multiple different ways to play, and a convenient and durable carrying case, complete with carrying strap.

Come On, Let’s Go! will guide children (and their parents) on a musical and visual journey. Susie Tallman’s first DVD compiles 22 fun-filled music videos from the best of Children’s Songs, Nursery Rhymes and Let’s Go! Travel, Camp & Car Songs. The full-length DVD offers all the musical brilliance and charm of Susie Tallman with lots of new faces and wonderful, imaginative places. Join Susie and her friends on a farm horsin’ around, quack like ducks on a lake, jump on the bed with monkeys and eat cupcakes at a tea party.  "As with all Susie Tallman’s music CDs, Come On, Let’s Go! offers fresh, upbeat styles, real instruments, lots of voices, and interesting, inspired visual takes on old favorites," Amy Steadman, President of Rock Me Baby Records, told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2011.
Awards: Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award; Parent’s Choice Recommended Award.

The goal of Predikto is to score the most points at the end of 12 rounds. The game comes with several possible dice roll choices. Each choice includes both the probability of making the roll, as well as the points that can be won for actually rolling the prediction. "It's not your ordinary dice game where you roll numbers or totals to get points. You need to predict what you're going to roll and then actually roll what you predicted to score points," Kevin Greenberg, owner of All The King's Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2011.

For infants from 3 months to 24 months. A fun new design from the creative minds at Baby Banana Brush. The Baby Sharky Brush is still made from the highest quality medical grade silicone. His “teeth” are actually short massaging bristles, and his fins give babies additional places to chew. In fact, Baby Sharky can stand up all on his own using his unique back fins.

For infants ages 3 months and up. Thick, massaging bristles are perfect for sore teething gums. “A-peel-ing” handles are easy for little hands to hold, or for a parent to loop a binki strap through. Dishwasher and Freezer Safe. Made from highest quality medical grade silicone. Teething and brushing can be fun!
Awards: 2010 National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

Who will be the player/team to win the most cards by guessing other players' words correctly the fastest, and with the fewest letters possible?  Players take turns making a word from the lettered cards in their hand, but they don’t show their word to any of the other players. Instead, they place each lettered card of their word face down on the table.  Then... the first letter of the word is revealed (and the timer is started) as the other players begin to shout out possible words for what the hidden word could be. A player must guess the word before the timer runs out... so if at any time two or more players agree to see another letter, another card is turned over and players continue to try and guess the word. The player who first guesses the hidden word correctly wins the number of cards that are still left face down... or ALL of the cards if the word is discovered with only one letter revealed. Launch date: June 2012.

Small World Underground is a stand-alone game set beneath the surface of the same fun, light-hearted Small World universe of epic conquests and fallen empires. Featuring new Races and Special Powers, Small World Underground also introduces Monster occupied regions that protect Relics and Places of great power! It can be played on its own or combined with other Small World game elements, and is recommended for experienced Small World players. "The new game mechanic (conquering Monster-occupied regions to gain Righteous Relics and Popular Places) brings a new twist to original game play," Mark Kaufmann, VP of Sales & Marketing at Days of Wonder, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2011.

Robotime is a real wood three dimensional puzzle that when assembled is a fully functional robotic dinosaur.  It is an intelligent high-tech toy with high simulation and interaction. No tools needed to construct these creatures. Approximately 100 pieces. Launch date: August 2010.
Awards: 2010 Creative Child Magazine Toy of the Year; 2010 Preferred Choice Award.

WallPops is a Peel & stick, repositionable and totally removable wall art designed for kids of all ages, including baby, toddlers, tweens and teens. WallPops is affordable, easy to apply and can dramatically transform a room in minutes, without harming the wall. "WallPops offers an extensive array of colors and designs that allows one to create their own signature style," Paula Berberian, Creative Services Manager at Brewster Home Fashions, told TDmonthly.

This soft and safe ring toss pops open for portable fun. Kids can take it and play anywhere, outdoors or indoors. Play solo or with the whole family. To collapse, hold the mat at the corners and twist. Comes with six rings, PopOut target with posts and storage bag. It's "A classic game that POPS open for big fun!" Jenny Stern, VP& Founder of Diggin Active Inc, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2011.
Awards: 2011 Oppenheim GOLD Award

The more brain cells you have, the smarter you are.

Merry Christmas Microbes! Tree Ornaments: Trim your tree with Common Cold, Brain Cell, Kissing Disease, E. coli and the limited-edition Red Amoeba, festively adorned with a Santa hat, reindeer antlers, winter scarf, candy cane, and mistletoe.
Launch date: November 2010.

Illuminate your message with Shains Glow in the Dark Starter Kit with 30 Glow in the Dark elements. Perfect for the Halloween season. "What sets these apart is the ability to change your message whenever you want and the ability to mix, match and combine various Shains products to create new cool looks," Chris Ohama from Shainware told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2010.
Awards: 2010 Women in Toys Green Award
— Diana Nelson, owner of Kazoo Toys in Denver, Colo., told TDmonthly in a Fall 2012 survey that Shains bracelets are one of her top-2 best selling jewelry items. "This is a great new line," she told us.

Got Something to Say? Want to keep your thoughts in writing? Kids can let their inspiration and imagination flow with Shains Notebook. Personalize the cover with their name, class subject, or decorate and change it whenever you want. Use the unlined paper as a journal, sketchbook or scrapbook. Portable. Available with 30, 60 or 100 elements. Price quoted is for 30 elements. "What sets these apart is the ability to change your message whenever you want and the ability to mix, match and combine various Shains products to create new cool looks," Chris Ohama from Shainware told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2007.
Awards: 2010 Women in Toys Green Award

This recycled cuff bracelet features two rows to display colorful, snap-on Shains letters and icons. The cuffs are now available in our favorite Popsicle colors; Blue Hawaiian, Grape, Cherry and Lime. "What sets these apart is the ability to change your message whenever you want and the ability to mix, match and combine various Shains products to create new cool looks," Chris Ohama from Shainware told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2007.
Awards: 2010 Women in Toys Green Award

In the game Fauna, players are not expected to know all the answers, simply gather their wits and make an educated guess. Right on target? Great! Close? That's good too, since players can score partial points. The more they play, the better they get.  Playing Fauna involves some fun betting for points. Contents: 1 double-sided game board (metric & imperial units); 180 animal cards with 360 animals; 1 card box; 42 bet markers, divided in 6 colors; 30 black evaluation markers; 1 lion marker (for the starting player). Launch date: July 2011.
Awards: 2009 Spiel des Jahres Nominee Germany

The taiga is home to many kinds of animals. Families of red foxes, porcupines, beavers, snowy owls and caribou live there, hidden in nature. Sarah and Jacob, two biologists, are trying to study them and need to take a closer look. Players must help them find the hidden animals. In this memory and deduction game, flip the wooden disks to reveal the animals hidden below. Contents: 10 cards; 10 wooden discs; 1 bag; Wooden tokens; Game rules. Launch date: July 2011.