November 2012 Notable Toys — All

Trick or treat all year round with the Glow-in-the-Dark Halloween Designer TOOB® from Safari Ltd®. Eerie Halloween figures will help to celebrate All-Hallows’-Eve even when the holiday has come and gone. Packaged in a reusable acetate tube, this set contains eight glow-in-the-dark figures, including a Cat, Bat, Skeleton, Ghost, Witch, Cauldron, Spider & Web and Pumpkin. Hand painted figures measure 2” H (5 cm) and are suitable for ages 3 and up. All Safari Ltd® products are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety. Launch date: 2013.

Keep the holiday spirit alive with the Christmas Designer TOOB® from Safari Ltd®. Everything from Santa to his sleigh and candy canes to ornaments is included in this holiday collection. Packaged in a reusable acetate tube, this set contains eight figures, including a Christmas Tree, Candy Cane, Ornament, Snowman, Sleigh, Xmas Gift Boxes and Santa Claus. Hand painted figures measure 2” H (5 cm) and are suitable for ages 3 and up. All Safari Ltd® products are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety. Launch date: 2013.

Be extra careful not to touch its venomous tentacles. Its translucent appearance makes this Safari Ltd® Jellyfish difficult to spot, even if it glow-in-the-dark. This hand painted replica from Safari Ltd® measures 4.5” L x 4” W (11.5 x 10.25 cm) and is suitable for ages 3 and up. All Safari Ltd® products are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety. Launch date: 2013.

Dragons can be found in nearly any habitat. This blizzard-white Glow-in-the-Dark Snow Dragon from Safari Ltd® blends in with its icy home. This hand painted replica measures 6” L x 5” W x 5.5” H (15 x 12.5 x 14 cm) and is suitable for ages 4 and up. All Safari Ltd® products are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety. Launch date: 2013.

Day or night, kids will never lose sight of this Glow-in-the-Dark Starfish from Safari Ltd®. It’s soft, bumpy skin will trick kids into thinking they’re holding a real starfish. This hand painted replica measures 4.5” L x .5” H (11.5 x.5 cm) and is suitable for ages 3 and up. All Safari Ltd® products are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety.

Set contains 124 pieces. How do you want to travel today? This set gives lots of choices. Catch a Hi- Speed Train at the station, if that is too fast, what about a slower ride on the local line. If you want to go by car to the airport to watch the planes and helicopters don't forget to fill up at the petrol station before you go. Also included brightly colored houses, buildings, people, tunnel, trees, and vehicles.

Set contains 130 pieces. This set has so much included it will keep children ( and parents ) busy for hours. Low rail tracks, high rail tracks up above the forest, bridges, a tunnel, a turntable and a triple engine shed. Two freight trains chug along carrying their cargo to the crane depot to be unloaded. The people are very busy here there is so much to do. Also included brightly colored houses, trees, and vehicles.

Set contains 101 pieces. The passengers must make sure they know which line the train is going on, or they could arrive at the orchard instead of the post office ! The train with two carriages and a guards van is traveling through the town over the bridge and out into the countryside, passing houses, trees, and a lovely church. Vehicles wait patiently at the level crossing for the train to pass arriving at the station right on time.

Set contains 20 pieces. Perfect way to begin - starter set of circular track, brightly colored train & two carriages to push around the track, three colorful houses and trees included. Additional track pieces and accessories can be added as required.

Blossom Cottage is a wooden doll house that comes complete with a family of dolls, cat, dog and all the furniture kids need. It has a convenient carry handle in the roof so that it is easily transportable and the front folds down to make the garden.

Zingo! Sight Words is a fun, interactive game that teaches reading skills through fast-paced play. Designed for players ages 4-6, this game teaches early readers to recognize and read some of the most common words in the English language. The sight words featured in this game were identified by leading educators as the most fundamental. Learning and mastering them is key to becoming a successful, fluent reader - doing it through play makes learning fun. Launch date: September 2012.
Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval, Play On Words (PAL) Award
— As of 11/15/2012 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 17 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Helps kids learn to read; Easy to learn, but still challenging and fun.

PathWords Jr. is a clever word search puzzle with a twist. To complete each themed challenge, place colorful Tetris-style puzzle pieces over letters to spell a word forward or backwards. With its unique design and tactile appeal, PathWords Jr. builds spatial reasoning and strengthens vocabulary with clever graphic hints and funny word play. An ideal game for children ages 6 and  up, PathWords Jr. instills a lifelong love of word puzzles and logic games.
Awards: Dr. Toy Best Vacation Children's Product Award; ASTRA Best Toys winner in 2011; Creative Child Puzzle of the Year; Parents' Choice (Gold); Oppenheim Toy Portfolio (Platinum); Teachers' Choice; National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA).
— As of 11/15/2012 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 17 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Helps build logic and spacial skills; helps kids develop literacy skills.

Featuring cool transparent cards, Swish is an innovative spatial game for children ages 8 and up that challenges mental muscles to the extreme. Players must examine cards, mentally flipping & rotating to make matches, or “Swishes.” Swishes are made by layering cards so that every ball swishes into a hoop of the same color. Players must prepare their brain for a seriously fun workout during this fast-paced challenge that’s fun for the whole family.
Awards: Parents’ Choice Silver Honors award; TOTY Nominee for Educational Toy of the Year 2012.
— As of 11/15/2012 this product had 4.7 out of 5 stars from 56 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Helps develop spatial relation skills; Well designed; innovative gameplay. Cons: Might be difficult for younger kids.

The Hot Dots pen works with dozens of Hot Dots card sets, providing instantaneous visual and audio feedback. Simply press the pen to choose an answer on any Hot Dots or Hot Dots Jr. card for an immediate response—cool, kid-friendly phrases for correct answers and gentle redirection for incorrect responses.

First Grade Activities Homework Helper provides children in first grade with extra help in learning important skills. Packed full of fun-to-do activities and appealing art, children will have fun completing the reproducible pages while learning first grade skills at the same time. Answer keys are also included where needed. These workbooks provide help for students who need extra practice with basic skills, for the accelerated student who enjoys an extra challenge, and for the young learner who is developing basic concepts and readiness skills. They also help boost self-confidence and reinforce basic skills with activities that are geared to the specific grade level.
— Gregory Sahagian, owner of Learning Express of Beverly in Beverly, Mass., told TDmonthly in a Fall 2012 survey that they sell 4-5 dozen Kumon Homework Helpers each month, making them a top-2 best selling educational products.

A rich vocabulary is critical for successful test-taking, particularly in reading comprehension. Hot Dots Laugh It Up! Vocabulary Card sets are a fun and interactive way to grow kids’ vocabularies. Includes 6 Interactive vocabulary card sets in all, including synonyms (2730), antonyms (2731), multiple-meaning words (shown here), prefixes and suffixes (2735), context clues (2733), and homophones (2732). 50 double-sided, illustrated cards per set (100 questions), featuring jokes, riddles, cartoons, and kid-friendly questions.
— In a Fall 2012 survey, two out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that Hot Dots were their best selling educational toy.

Men of Iron relates the thrilling adventures of a young man seeking justice for himself and his family in fifteenth-century England. With his father unfairly outlawed by King Henry IV, Myles Falworth faces enormous odds before he can become a knight and champion his family’s cause against powerful foes. With the help of loyal friends, Myles demonstrates courage and persistence as he confronts his opponents one by one, winning self-understanding and love along the way. In addition to being a classic adventure, Men of Iron offers fascinating details of castle life and of the long road to knighthood. This book is sure to become a favorite of any boy or girl who loves adventure, and will turn anyone new to the medieval era into a lifelong devotee. Written by Howard Pyle, unabridged reading by Jim Weiss.

Plants vs. Zombies - 7" Plush Assortment (2-92831 Regular Zombie, 2-92832 Squash Plush, 2-92833 Peashooter Plush, 2-92834 Sunflower Plush)

Plants vs. Zombies - 2" Multi Pack Assortment (Regular Zombie, Imp Zombie, Football Zombie, Peashooter, Cherry Bomb and Squash)

Plants vs. Zombies - 3" Figure Assortment  (3-92801 Ducky Zombie with Peashooter, 3-92802 Disco Zombie with Walnut, 3-Conehead Zombie with Sunflower)

HB Flintstones and Jetsons - 7" Plush  (4-71061 Pebbles, 4-71062, Bam Bam, 4-71066 Elroy and 4-71067 Astro)

HB Flintstones - 2" Collector  6 Pack (Includes Fred, Dino, Barney, Pebbles, Bam Bam and the Flintstones Car)

The rotors allow for flex, so should there be a crash (an R/C heli nightmare), LitehHawk is tough enough to stand up to impacts that others simply cannot. Gyro stabilization allows LiteHawk to fly effortlessly, no "twitch", no headaches...just stable flight. The 2 in 1 Remote Control is a charger for the LiteHawk too. Simply plug the Remote into the helicopter and the on-board Lithium batteries take care of the rest.
— Marc Holcomb, owner of Toys & Co. in Greensboro, N.C., told TDmonthly in a Fall 2012 survey that they sell about 12 of these helicopters each month, making them a best selling aircraft/flying toy in the store.
— In a July 2013 survey Dean Smith, owner of JaZams in Princeton, N.J., told TDmonthly that LightHawk Helicopters are his store's best-selling electronic or battery-operated toy. "I'm selling about 12 a month," he said.

A collection of 6 colorful foam gliders that assemble in minutes without glue or scissors. With the catapult launchers, there beauties fly up to 150 feet.
— Dean Smith, owner of Jazams in Princeton, N.J. told TDmonthly in a Fall 2012 survey that they sell about 24 of these each month, making them a best selling aircraft/flying toy.