February 2009 New Specialty Toys — Battery Operated

Kids can build a multi-terrain robotic vehicle, complete with six S-shaped legs designed to conquer tough terrains, such as sand, rocks, and grass. They'll test its limits by towing toy cars, climbing a stack of books, or negotiating a wall. Includes instructions for five guided projects that touch upon the science of motion and energy to explain why RoboXplorer reacts differently to various terrains.

Suitable for ages 6 months and up, this snail is outfitted with a shell that spins as it rolls. It comes with a five-piece stacker shell and one with colorful beads that move all around.
— “They're very easy to communicate with [and] their billing is straightforward,” Pat Cooley of Cooleykatz Toys in Livermore, Calif., said of this preferred vendor. Seventeen percent of 52 retailers named International Playthings as a favorite supplier in fall 2008.
— Two of 64 retailers named this product as a best-selling infant and toddler toy in March 2009.
— “It grows with the child and lasts,” pointed out Theresa Oppenheimer, owner of Toy World in Wayzata, Minn. Janet Hoo of Hoomade Toys in Phoenix, Ariz., told TDmonthly in spring 2009 her store sells about 40 of this item each month.