February 2009 New Specialty Toys — Construction

This set has 128 pieces with free-rolling wheels, including mail trucks, police cars and buses, complete with working lights. Builders just set the vehicles in motion to activate the flashing light-up brick.

The Deluxe Set includes 15 clowns, 2 dowels, 6 toss rings, and an instruction booklet. Bill Ding Balancing Clowns are considered one of the best eye/hand coordination toys ever made.

This starter set of nine balancing clowns is a great introduction to the Bill Ding product, or a perfect addition to grow your set. Bill Ding Balancing Clowns are considered one of the best eye/hand coordination toys ever made.

These eco-friendly construction toys were inspired by children's board books and come with landscape and character pieces. Each set includes flat panels printed with colorful, water-based ink and slotted building blocks made from earth-friendly Sprigwood. The Palace and Barnyard are large sets. There are also medium sets: Construction Site, Ladybug Adventure and Safari Adventure (MSRP: $19.99). Large sets are 90 pieces; the medium are 60. Launch date: Fall 2009.

Based on the sizes and shapes of standard unit blocks, these blocks feature hand-scrolled and turned detailing that turns block towers into buildings with archways, buttresses and columns. These blocks are smooth-sanded hardwood with a natural finish, and come packed in a wooden crate for storage. The set contains 44 pieces in 11 shapes. 
― “Wooden blocks by Melissa & Doug” are best-selling wooden toys, Marianne Kearns, owner of Second Star to the Right in Bridgehampton, N.Y., told TDmonthly in January 2009. She said she sells an average of eight sets per month.

Made in the United States from sustainable basswood grown in Michigan, Uncle Goose's Nursery Rhyme Blocks give a whimsical twist to standard block play. The set of nine 1 1/3” cube-shaped blocks are embossed and painted with classic children's nursery rhymes. Two sides feature scenes in silhouette, while the other four feature the words to the rhyme itself, encouraging early reading and memory skills. Rhymes included with Set A are “Little Jack Horner,” “Three Little Kittens,” “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,” “Old Mother Hubbard,” “Humpty Dumpty,” “Diddle Diddle Dumpling,” “Little Boy Blue,” “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” and “Old King Cole.” 
― “I'd say blocks, and the manufacturer is Uncle Goose,” Rebecca Pfeil, owner of Timeless Toys in Homer, Alaska, told TDmonthly about best-selling wooden items.
― Sandra Bartholomew, owner of Wingdoodle in Warner, N.H., told TDmonthly her best-selling wooden toy is “wood blocks, the basic kind.”
― Ten percent of 56 retailers said blocks were a top-selling wood item in early 2009.

This colorful construction kit contains four pieces each of the five ZOOB shapes in sparkly shades. They come in a reusable tube that includes instructions for 17 simple projects, including a giraffe, rocket man, cell phone and tiara.

This set contains 1,250 Puzzibits pieces in 12 vibrant colors. It comes with building instructions and plenty of pieces to shape various creations. The "flexible interlocking pieces create flat and 3-D art," Julie Flann, manager of marketing and sales services for Manhattan Toy, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2008.

This garbage truck, featuring solid wood construction, measures more than 13" long when assembled, and does not require cutting or gluing. It includes a magnetic trash lift and disposal mechanism. Completed dimensions are 6.25" x 5.25" x 13.5".

Open the Sphinx’s secret mummy hiding place with your amulet. Includes two figures, skeleton that glows in the dark, and many other accessories. Recommended for ages four and up. Choking Hazard. Small parts. Not for ages under 3 years.
— Playmobil products continue to be great sellers at Melody’s Choices, as reported by Owner Steve Melody in spring 2009. “Although this line is in the big box, if you support it well, you have something the [big] box does not … selection,” he told TDmonthly.

Celebrate the newlyweds’ marriage at the Wedding Pavilion. Includes two figures, bride with veil and bouquet, table and chairs, champagne glasses, pink Wedding Pavilion, and many other accessories. Also comes with a pink jewel case to hold rings. Dimensions 11.4 x 22 x 15.7 inches (L x W x H). Recommended for ages four and up. Choking Hazard. Small parts. Not for ages under 3 years.

The Burj Al Arab — a luxury hotel built on an artificial island in the Persian Gulf - has already become an iconic landmark of Dubai. Currently it stands for the world's tallest hotel and the world's tallest structure with a membrane facade. Our 1/1000 scale model depicts all the beauty of the building, including the helipad and the hanging restaurant. Size when assembled: 12.8 x 5.5 x 5.1 in. / 32.5 x 14 x 13 cm. Launch date: November 20, 2008.

The LaQ Free Style Series includes all seven types of snap-and-click-together blocks in various color themes. LaQ Free Style Colors is a 400-piece kit of blocks in red, blue, yellow and green. "The innovative construction toy block LaQ has been shown to aid the growth of a child's mind. A child's mind shows activity in both the right and left hemisphere of the brain," Mo Saeki, manager of the Overseas Division for YOSHIRITSU CO., LTD., told TDmonthly. "All LaQ blocks materials, assembly and packing are handled in Japan." Launch date: December 2008.

The LaQ Free Style Series includes all seven types of LaQ snap-and-click-together blocks in various color themes. The 400-piece Free Style Pastel kit features the blocks in pink, orange, sky blue and yellow green. "The intellectual construction toy block LaQ makes a fun snap! and click! noise when piecing the parts together. This encourages the child that the pieces are firmly connected. The basic square and triangle parts connect together with angled joint pieces. The joint parts make possible the creation of flat, two-dimensional, three-dimensional and spherical models," Mo Saeki, manager of the Overseas Division for YOSHIRITSU CO., LTD., told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2008.

The 16" x 16" polymer panels are designed so that kids can safely build three-dimensional structures kids. Launch date: March 2009.
— Dave Taylor of The Attachment Parenting Blog said Brik-A-Blok was a huge hit with his kids (ages 6 and 9). He noted that his kids’ constructions took up a great deal of space, with Brik-A-Blok tunnels stretching throughout their home. Taylor called the building system “fabulously cool,” though he lamented the high price tag.
— Brik-A-blok was the "most funnest review ever!" for She Scribes’ Kimberley and her son. Her kids enjoyed creating new structures with the versatile panels. However, Kimberley also pointed out the large amount of space needed for the toy as well as the panels’ inability to support much weight.

These colorful wooden blocks, featuring all sorts of creatures from both land and sea, stack up to almost 3'. Package size is 5.75" x 5.75" x 5.7".
— “Melissa & Doug are phenomenal. They have great margins for volumes and are supportive. I wish we had five more of them,” Fred Meyer, owner of Meyer’s Toy World in Battle Creek, Mich., told TDmonthly in late 2008 when naming the company one of his favorite vendors. Forty-eight percent of 52 retailers surveyed praised Melissa & Doug as a favorite supplier.

LiveCubes are to cube puzzles as genes are to living organisms. . Just as genes are combined to form unique individuals, LiveCube cubes can be used to make all manner of puzzles by simply  snapping the cubes together. The puzzles  come apart after assembly and, thus, are  reusable. A LiveCube package includes play manuals and a total of 120 cubes (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm) comprising 24 white two-stud cubes; and six red, six blue, six green, six yellow and 72 white four-stud cubes.

It is a new concept of construction toy that can have endless possibilities. It is a teaching tool that will teach kids about colored shape matching, structure, and spatial skills. With livecube manual it is an intelligent toy that can guide kids to use their analytical, logical and motor skills through playing. It comes with four different packages – Lion, Rhino, Goat and Elephant version. Each package includes: 6 red, 6 blue, 6 green, 6 yellow and 24 blocks; a total of 48 blocks (2x2x2 cm) and play manuals.

In livecube classic, we offer our puzzle lover a unique puzzle set. Each set of the livecube has a different color combination so your set of livecube is personalized and has a unique ID number to only your set. In addition, we introduce the cube 3X4X5 play cards, this shape can form about 4000 different combinations itself and with our play card system, it’s a never-ending puzzle game. Includes 1 unique puzzle color puzzle (12 pieces), 90 classic play cards, and carrying bag.

Livecube for Kids & Parents is a proud winner of the Parents’ Choice Award, The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval and The Best Toy Winner from Dr. Toy. This is an exciting 3D adventure for the entire family developing visual, logical and problem solving skills. The package includes: 1 sets of 2 color mix puzzle(12 pieces); 30 Kids & Parents play cards (from 2D to 3D); 5 advance play cards; one carrying bag.

Crazy Forts is a construction toy that uses 25 solid plastic balls and 44 reinforced sticks and allows children to create whatever their imagination allows. Then, they simply add their own bed sheets to complete their creation. A house, an igloo, an princess castle or pirate ship are all possible with Crazy Forts. "Crazy Forts has proven to sell itself. Our first test involved a small chain of nine stores. They sold out of 350 units in three and a half weeks," President Geoff Thomas of Crazy Forts told TDmonthly.

Don't let the name intimidate you. InfiniTrax's™ 1080 Beast can be tamed by the beginner. The Beast challenges you to a whole new level of imagination and building larger and bigger than anything else InfiniTrax™ has to offer! Your driving champ now has the most awesome amount of track-building power to be had at their finger tips. So many pieces and so many configurations, you'll never run out of new ways to race! It's time to step up to the ultimate fun, the ultimate challenge. It's time to tame the Beast!

InfiniTrax™ challenges you to a whole new level of imagination and building challenge courtesy of our next level of racing fun! With the 720 Burn, your driving champ will have one of our most powerful and flexible racetrack kits. The 720 Burn will keep them busy for hours dreaming up so many track configurations they may never get to actually racing their cars! Forget just the simple oval and drag racing configurations; it's time to step up to some hairpin racing turns and serious straight-a-ways designed for speed and control.

Are you ready to really have some fun? Then step up a notch and see if you can master the next level of InfiniTrax™ racing fun. The 540 Shred gives you some serious building power to see what your racer can do with an unlimited world of race track building and play. Your racing champ can build track in multiple configurations from a simple oval to hairpin turns and twists!