Virtual Playgrounds See Gradual Decline About a year ago, I wrote an article in the UK Toy News Magazine that said that there were really only five virtual playgrounds worth talking about – Mattel’s Barbie Girls, Ganz’s Webkinz, Disney’s Club Penguin (toy license: Jakks Pacific), Neopets (toy license: Jakks Pacific) and Russ Berrie’s Shining Stars...
7/1/2009
2.
OnLive Threatens Video Gaming As We Know It After a stellar 2008, the video game market is entering choppy waters. January and February were still decent, according to the numbers, but the advent of OnLive and the expansion of used-game sellers are likely to shake up sales in the near future...
4/1/2009
Additional Articles (from most recent)
1.
Virtual Playgrounds See Gradual Decline About a year ago, I wrote an article in the UK Toy News Magazine that said that there were really only five virtual playgrounds worth talking about – Mattel’s Barbie Girls, Ganz’s Webkinz, Disney’s Club Penguin (toy license: Jakks Pacific), Neopets (toy license: Jakks Pacific) and Russ Berrie’s Shining Stars...
7/1/2009
2.
OnLive Threatens Video Gaming As We Know It After a stellar 2008, the video game market is entering choppy waters. January and February were still decent, according to the numbers, but the advent of OnLive and the expansion of used-game sellers are likely to shake up sales in the near future...
4/1/2009
3.
Innovations of 2009 In the January issue of TDmonthly Magazine, check in to see which toys will be turning heads throughout 2009...
10/1/2008
4.
Webkinz Chicken “Coming Home to Roost” I have a lot of friends among small toy retailers. I sold to them when I ran a toy company in the late ‘90s, and always felt that many large manufacturers were taking advantage of them just because they were small...
7/1/2008
5.
Webkinz Speaks At Toy Fair 2008, George Kacic, vice president of sales and marketing for Ganz, said he felt TDmonthly Magazine hadn’t covered his company’s point of view about the Webkinz shortage last year...
4/1/2008
6.
Webkinz Get Sued! Dec. 11, 2007 — From the "could it get any worse" department comes the news that toy-store owners are suing Ganz, Ganz may be returning the favor, Wal-Mart is...
12/1/2007
7.
Tweens: Living a Virtual Life Going virtual with a marketing campaign makes sense (and cents) for companies today, according to COO Jay Goss of tween/teen virtual world Whyville...
4/1/2007
8.
Micro Blow Revitalizes Plush The introduction of first-generation motion-sensing toys more than 10 years ago created market demand for more intelligent, less expensive and easier-to-operate animated products...
Math Toys Get Back to the Basics Retailers and educators have been telling TDmonthly Magazine that the trend is toward a traditional “hands-on” learning approach, featuring manipulative aids, such as marbles, beads, blocks and non-electronic counting apparatuses...
Turning Kids on to Language Skills Reading and writing never required an on/off switch. But the new electronic aids turn learning phonics, spelling and other language skills into fun...
TDmonthly´s Top 10 Most Wanted Interactive Games The future of toys is now, as today´s interactive playthings incorporate components like invisible data streams, voice activation and color recognition technology. Interactive products have become user-friendly, insisting children participate with the toy instead of simply playing with it in a one-sided fashion. Tom Conley of the Charleston Post...
11/1/2004
15.
Electronic Learning for Kids: Working Hard or Hardly Working? Electronic learning toys currently account for nearly 10% of annual sales in the $21 billion toy industry. Overall, educational toys are the fastest growing segment in the toy industry. Current trends within the electronic learning toy segment include:...
Educational Insights, Inc. is a Leader in Interactive Educational Toys Educational Insights, Inc., a leader in the interactive/educational toy market, has been in the business since 1962 when founder Burt Cutler, an electronic engineer, and his wife, Diana, decided to develop a phonics course for their own children...
9/1/2004
18.
Fun 4 Everyone: Toys for Girls AND Boys According to the National Toy Council, boys and girls play differently and usually prefer different toys. It has been said that if you give footballs to a group of girls and dolls to a group of boys, the girls would be nursing the footballs and the boys would be kicking the dolls within an hour...
MULTIMEDIA TV Games JAKKS Pacific introduces additions to its award-winning TV Games line based on top brands and licenses. New releases include: Ms. Pac-Man TV Games, featuring miltiple classic games including Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position, Xevious and Mappy; the Atari Paddle TV Games, which look like the...
3/1/2004
Featured Products in TDmonthly Magazine: Interactive
Active Minds is an exciting new company that has developed unique educational games that stimulate learning in a fun and engaging way.Active Minds was founded by Canadian born Sandy Evans, an author and artist, who’s mission for Active Minds is to create culturally important products and a company that gives back to its community... More information on ACTIVE MINDS INC products.
Bossa Nova Robotics creates a new breed of dynamic personal robots. Based in the nation's robotics capital, Pittsburgh, PA, Bossa Nova is a spinoff from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute. Both Prime-8 and Penbo are built on Animotion Technology. Animotion is an innovative robotic bipedal platform that makes Bossa Nova robots agile and lively, allowing them to outmaneuver, outrun, and outsmart other Bots. The technology allows the robots to balance and walk by rotating arms or legs around the body. This gives... More information on BOSSA NOVA ROBOTICS products.
