May 2010 New Specialty Toys — All

Each Webkinz animal comes with a special internet code that allow children to interact with it. They can name it, make it a home, and even play games.

This Springbok puzzle features unique interlocking pieces and offers 60, 350, and 400 piece formats.  Its pieces are 18 percent thicker than the industry average and are made in the United States from 100% recycled materials using soy-based inks.

Designed by artist Lori Schory, The Crazy Toys Jigsaw Puzzle is a 24” x 30,” 1000-piece toy-themed puzzle. The puzzle is made  in the United States from recycled materials.
— Sue Wrzesinski, owner of Toy House and Baby Too in Jackson, Mich., told TDmonthly in a Summer 2012 survey that puzzles from White Mountain were among her best sellers.

These larger-sized dice are designed to reinforce understanding of number concepts, counting, operations and probability.  The dice are red, yellow, green, light blue, orange and light purple, and come with a handy storage bucket.

The economical, easy-to-use Large Tie Dye Kit dyes up to 15 adult T-shirts; it comes with complete, easy-to-follow instructions and pattern tying guidelines. The kit also includes: red, blue and yellow pre-measured Procion MX dye powder in applicators; an extra applicator bottle for mixing secondary colors; soda ash dye fixer; rubber gloves and rubber bands.

Fun and practical, Tee Juice Broad Line markers let users make broad, bold strokes yet are soft to the touch. Kids can paint on fabric without the mess and hassle of paintbrushes and open bottles of paint.  Teens can use these markers to express themselves by writing messages or drawing images on t-shirts.  They are great for coloring in large blocks of color when using Fineliner or Medium Point Tee Juice Fabric Marking Pens. The markers come in eight colors, open stock and two boxed sets.

$3.99 (individual markers) and $14.99 (4 marker boxed set)

Swanson Christian Products offers more than 20 different design assortments of shaped rubber bands, with wholesale pricing as low as 60 cents per package depending on purchase quantities. The bands are formed in various shapes and colors including glow-in-dark and scented styles. They can be used as regular rubber bands, or collected and traded. They are designed to return to their original shape.

Build your own electric vehicles and machines, and then power them up with a hand-crank generator. Assemble 11 models including a racecar, “flying” car, radar car, satellite car, propeller airplane, drilling car, bulldozer, space station, well-digging machine, and portable camping torch. Experiment with your electric generator and your models: Alter the crank-time and the crank-frequency and see how these variables affect the performance of your cars and machines. The 36-page color instruction book included in this kit illustrates the step-by-step assembly of each model and related principles so that children learn through playing. The 122 building pieces included in this set are compatible with those in all Thames & Kosmos Construction Series kits, Physics Series kits, Wind Power, and Hydropower kits.

Build wind-powered generators to energize your electric vehicles and charge your rechargeable batteries! The wind spins the turbine, which turns an electric generator, which in turn charges your rechargeable AA batteries (not included). You can then use those wind-charged batteries to power the model vehicles you build. The six models include a glider, sail car, jet car, tractor, racecar, and tricycle. This kit includes two styles of wind turbine blades and a gearbox with three different gear ratios for experimenting. You can adjust the angle and number of wind turbine blades to make best use of wind, to make the LED light up brightly, and to charge the rechargeable battery as fast as possible. Explore this amazing, free source of renewable energy and store the electricity you generate for use in practical applications. Included also is a 40-page color instruction book with illustrated step-by-step instructions for assembling two windmills and six model vehicles, and conducting various experiments. The 133 building pieces included in this set are compatible with those in all Thames & Kosmos Construction Series kits, Physics Series kits, Wind Power, and Hydropower kits.

Pneumatic-Hydraulic Engines. Build your own models powered by air and water pressure to learn about the laws of physics. This unique kit allows you to build two different air-and-water-powered systems: water-jet propelled cars and hydro-pneumo (which simply means air pressure and water pressure) powered engines. The hydro-pneumo system uses a self-contained air-and-water turbine system as a motor. Construct 15 models including a truck, excavator, radar car, tank, antique car, helicopter, motorbike, backhoe, rocket car, forklift, roadster, propeller plane, grinder, and cutting machine. The water-jet propelled cars are a fun outdoor activity, while the self-contained hydro-pneumo powered models are fun both indoors and out. The 48-page color instruction book included in this kit illustrates the step-by-step assembly of each model and related principles so that children learn through playing. The 165 building pieces included in this set are compatible with those in all Thames & Kosmos Construction Series kits, Physics Series kits, Wind Power, and Hydropower kits.

The Tower of the Hand is the third installment of 40 fixed cards for the King’s Landing expansion to the A Game of Thrones card game, based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire saga. It contains 20 different never-before-seen cards designed to augment existing decks and add variety to the A Game of Thrones metagame. This is not a stand-alone deck. An A Game of Thrones: The Card Game core set is required to play. Launch date: July 22, 2009.

A Time of Trials is the second installment of 40 fixed cards for the King's Landing expansion to the A Game of Thrones card game, based on the George R.R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire saga. It contains 20 different never-before-seen cards designed to augment existing decks and add variety to the A Game of Thrones metagame. This is a not a stand-alone deck. An A Game of Thrones: The Card Game core set is required to play. Launch date: June 29, 2009.

The LEGO Mars ZipBin Large Basket is a traditionally shaped basket with handles for easy storage and mobility. The ZipBin Basket becomes an activity center for play when unzipped, and captures toys within when play is done. LEGO blocks are not included. Awards: Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award - March 2010. Launch date: 2010.

The LEGO CITY ZipBin Large Basket is traditionally shaped with handles for easy storage and mobility. ZipBin Baskets become an activity center for play when unzipped and capture toys within when play is done. LEGO blocks are not included. Launch date: 2010.
Awards: Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award - March 2010.

In the game of Cornerstone, players build and climb towers in a race to reach the top. Each turn, players build by strategically placing blocks, gaining a better vantage point for their climber, or blocking an opponent as the towers grow taller and more unstable. Matt Mette, Co-Founder of Good Company Games, told TDmonthly, "This game is universally appealing." Awards: 2009 Mensa Select; Parents' Choice Silver Honor. Launch date: October 2008.

"The Final Funktier" presents Recess Monkey on an intergalactic voyage in outer space: 15 songs of high-energy funk and new-wave grooves, taking listeners on a stratospheric dance party that occasionally touches down on solid ground with moon boots, jet packs, sunglasses, satellites and booster seats in hand. Jack Forman of Recess Monkey told TDmonthly, “We think of our classrooms as focus groups for what's on kids' minds. ... Laughter permeates our experiences with kids, in the classroom and out!” Launch date: June 15, 2010.

For birthday parties, classroom projects and even fund-raisers. The party pack comes with ten 1 lb. bags of different colored sand and 25 bottles with caps. The Sandtastik Colored Sand included in the Party Pack is blue, black, red, emerald green, mauve, orange, pink, light blue, white and yellow.

Sandtastik supplies safe non-toxic colored PlasterMix in 8 different colors including white, yellow, blue, purple, red, brown, orange and green molding PlasterMix. PlasterMix is perfect to use with Plaster Molds, for creating exciting craft projects like handprints or animal paw prints and can even be used as chalk when dried. Available in 1 kg bags, 10 kg bags, and 5 lb bags. Custom Packaging also available.

"Panda-Cutie and YOU... in Los Angeles" for SMART KIDS ONLY! features Panda-Cutie who takes children ages 8 to 16 on a fascinating city tour of Los Angeles. This E-Book on CD-ROM comes in a sturdy cover and is ready for easy download to a PC or laptop. It serves as a unique travel guide for parents who like to make a trip to L.A. with their kids and want to have a preview of what to expect. The program also includes useful information about transportation, parking, admission fees, etc. Features 177 A-4 pages with more than 150 photos of Panda-Cutie strolling around; and even having his picture taken with celebrities such as Paula Abdul, Peter Fonda, Olivia Newton-John, Hector Elizondo, and others.

Word Builder challenges children to build new words by twisting the rings in order to create different letter combinations. With the help of their caregivers, children learn how to use consonants and vowels to build words between two and six letters long. The rings are easily removed and rearranged, creating a multitude of possibilities.

The Story Starter is designed for shared use with young children and their caregivers. A child twists the rings in order to create one of several thousand combinations of story introductions. The caregiver can continue to tell a story from the introduction, or encourage the child to use his or her imagination and continue the story himself or herself.

Alphabet Matcher challenges children to choose a letter and find the five corresponding images that begin with that letter. For example, select the letter “F” and find Fish, Foot, Frog, Flower and Flag. An answer guide is included. Alphabet Matcher engages skills ranging from logic to spelling. It contains three extra sets of rings, covering 24 letters and 120 images.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010; 2011 PAL (Play Advances Language) Award.

The nic CombiCar is a basic vehicle with four different set-ups. It's now also availabe with a trailer. The set-ups are very easily interchangeable. The system is suited for use inside and outside, but should be kept dry. Made of beech wood.
— “In our view, it’s the best scooter toy that's ever been made," said Dean Ruggierio Smith, co-owner of JaZams in Princeton, NJ.

The 1,000-piece Canvas Collection brings four images to life as real art. Both box and puzzle feature a linen texture offering the look and feel of the original painting. The beautiful imagery features magnificent country scenes that may take the puzzler to another place.