December 2009 New Specialty Toys — All

Conceal the scarabs within your pyramids to impede your opponent’s assault. Plan your strategy and attempt to get your opponent to reveal their pyramid's hidden secrets. Movement of the pyramids on the board requires close attention to both you and your opponents' pyramid location. Advance planning and careful execution will keep you ahead of your opponent and will eventually secure the battle for you. Combine the principles of strategic thinking, tactical planning, memory, and surprise to expose the opponent's pyramid secrets and win the battle. “Battle of the Pyramids” is a strategic game for two players ages 8 and up.

World Passport is a single player logical trip challenge. Take the trip in familiar as well as exotic countries and find your path through the country's icons and landmarks. World Passport includes 40 thinking challenges ascending in difficulty. Each challenge contains a country map with trivia facts about the country (such as flag, currency, capitol, famous landmarks, etc.). Put those facts together to find your way around the country.

This hardcover classic written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak follows the imaginative journey of a little boy named Max who is sent to bed without his dinner.
— Two of 44 specialty retailers named "Where the Wild Things Are" when asked about best-selling books in late 2009. Bill Sartain, co-owner of Tutoring Toy in Salt Lake City, cited sales of about 24 per month.
— Maryalice Miner, co-owner of Miner's Doll & Toy Store in Ocean Springs, Miss., told TDmonthly in a December 2011 survey that this book, along with other evergreen titles, sell well year round.

These animal-shaped rubber bands come in 12 piece blister packs. Themes include sea animals, farm animals, dinosaurs, zoo animals, cars, and shapes. These rubber bands can be used for many different functions including a bracelet around the wrist.

Available in chokers or bracelets, these bottle caps are reversible with different designs on each side of the bottlecap. The Nylonz material is made of a stretch nylonz pantyhouse material. Each bottlecap also comes with a rhinestone stone on each bottlecap.

Snap bracelets have push buttons at the ends of the straps that you snap together to form the bracelet. Available in various designs and assorted charms.

These lanyard necklaces, bracelets and anklets come in assorted colors and charms.

Designed for children ages 3 to 8, Pipperoos' creative drama kits include dress-up materials and an illustrated storybook. The Sea Play Octopus Kit features a Opus the Octopus costume and Pipperoos' first book, The Key in the Sea. While listening to the story, children can pantomime, act out the story independently, or explore the theme with related activities listed in the book. "Pipperoos' creative drama products encourage active participation in reading, storytelling, and learning," Jennifer Hastings, co-founder of Pipperoos, told TDmonthly.

Designed for children ages 3 to 8, Pipperoos' creative drama kits include dress-up materials and an illustrated storybook. The Sea Play Shark Kit features a Mark the Shark costume and Pipperoos' first book, The Key in the Sea. While listening to the story, children can pantomime, act out the story independently, or explore the theme with related activities listed in the book. "Pipperoos' creative drama products encourage active participation in reading, storytelling, and learning," Jennifer Hastings, co-founder of Pipperoos, told TDmonthly.

Designed for children ages 3 to 8, Pipperoos' creative drama kits include dress-up materials and an illustrated storybook. The Sea Play Jelly Kit features a Julie the Jelly costume and Pipperoos' first book, The Key in the Sea. While listening to the story, children can pantomime, act out the story independently, or explore the theme with related activities listed in the book. "Pipperoos' creative drama products encourage active participation in reading, storytelling, and learning," Jennifer Hastings, co-founder of Pipperoos, told TDmonthly.

This Halloween calendar outfitted with a haunted house, ghosts, jack o' lanterns and more, lets families count down to the 31st of October. They can put tricks on treats in the pockets of the calendar for a fun family tradition. The calendar may be personalized (optional).

This 32-piece wooden railway set includes 15 pieces of track to connect into the figure 8 pattern, a couple of trees, a conductor, three vehicles, a bridge and a Stop & Go Station.
— David Campbell, owner of Amazing Toys in Great Falls, Mont., told TDmonthly in late 2009 his store sells about two per week of this item.
— "I started doing a lot better with Thomas when they brought back reps," Steve Levy, owner of Toy City in Keene, N.H., said in fall 2009.

This 32-piece set of transparent tiles in various shapes makes for a colorful building project. It comes with 14 small squares, two large squares, four isosceles triangles, four right triangles and eight equilateral triangles.
— Four of 44 retailers told TDmonthly in late fall 2009 that Magna-Tiles is one of their best-selling products. Isaac Judd, CEO of Magic Beans in Brookline, Mass., estimated his store sold about 100 Magna-Tiles sets in November 2009.
― “[An] item I do very well with is from Valtech, their Magna-Tiles,” said Deran Muckjian, owner of Catch a Falling Star  in Lexington, Mass., of best-selling construction toys in April 2010.
― Three of 43 retailers surveyed in spring 2010 told TDmonthly Magna-Tiles are a best-selling construction item in their stores.

This quirky, 14" plush pet is a helpful little fellow who aspires to be just like his owner. Launch date: 2009.
— Four of 44 specialty retailers named Uglydolls when asked about their best-selling toys and games in late fall 2009, citing sales from 25 to more than 100 pieces per month.
— Uglydolls are top sellers at the Toy Shop of Concord in Concord, Mass., Owner David Hesel told TDmonthly at the end of 2009.

Go, Matria! is an educational word game based on the ancient Kaballah system of numerology, Gematria, where each letter has a numerical value based on its placement in the alphabet. As time begins, players roll the die and race each other to collect letters, but they must be careful – players can steal each other’s letters! Once a player collects ten letters they must yell out, “Go, Matria!” to be safe from having their letters stolen by another player. They then race the timer and each other to create as many words as possible with the highest point value, using each letter only once. For 2-4 players.

Enter the world of word strategy with Word for Word. Players embark on a race of wits from one side of the board to the other with their pawns by correctly answering the designated, category questions. Armed with an arsenal of 1,500 razor-sharp questions, Word for Word challenges players to spell words, provide definitions, identify antonyms and synonyms and solve word puzzles hidden in rhymes and scrambled letters. For 2-4 players.

Show your baseball team spirit with the Baseball Car Kit for vehicles. One baseball for your car window and a baseball for the front grille make the look complete! Weather resistant.

With 48 game cards and six transparent puzzle pieces, this spatial reasoning game challenges kids to cover up arctic animals, making sure they don't overlap with people in the scenes. The single-player game has four levels of difficulty and built-in storage for all the pieces.
— "By the end of the month, I'll be selling 200 to 300 [of this game]," Lori Hershman, owner of Evan's Toy Shoppe in Camden, Conn., told TDmonthly in early December 2009. "It's very easy to explain and every age is attracted to it. Maybe it's because we (the staff) love it so much."
— Two of 44 specialty retailers named it as an overall best seller in late fall 2009.

This three-pack of socks features colorful designs that make it appear as if baby is wearing flip flops. They are available for ages 0 to 24 months (o to 12 and 12 to 24 months) in Little Sunshine and Little Athlete varieties.

This stainless steel puzzle features 15 number tiles that the player must slide into numerical order after scrambling.

Written by James Mayhew and illustrated by Jackie Morris, this hardcover book takes readers on a rhyming dreamland adventure complete with flying dragons, whales and singing mermaids.

Shaped to look just like a Pug (with a bit of extra design detail), this purse is outfitted with a silk blend outer fabric with a floral pattern, a zippered pouch for keys, makeup and cell phone, and the signature silver leatherette paw bearing the company's bone cross logo. It comes in a gift box with a paw-shaped "breathing hole."
— "What's been a surprise to me is the Fuzzy Nation stuff. I honestly chided my wife for ordering them, and I can't keep them in stock," Jude Larene, co-owner of Izilla Toys in Seattle, told TDmonthly in late fall 2009. "Even the expensive $50 purses are just flying out."

The first member of the Perplexus family, this see-through sphere houses a 3-D labyrinth game with 100 barriers, turns, twists and cliffhangers that serve as obstacles to getting a small steel ball to the end. Invented in 1970 by Michael McGinnis, a design teacher, Perplexus helps develop motor and dexterity skills, along with hand-eye coordination.
― As of 12/17/2012 this product had 4.4 out of 5 stars from 393 reviews on Amazon.com and was No. 12 on the top 100 bestselling toys and games.
— At Izilla Toys in Seattle, "Perplexus is selling really, really well for us," Co-owner Jude Larene told TDmonthly in late fall 2009.
— In summer 2010 this game was a top-10 best seller at Dancing Bear Toys in Asheville and Hendersonville, N.C..
Awards: 2012 Parents’ Choice Awards - Silver, 2011 Time Magazine – 15 Smartest Toys for Young Geniuses, 2011 Parent Tested Parent Approved – Seal of Approval, 2011 Grand Prix Kidexpo – Elu par les Parents (Parents’Choice), 2011 Children of Museum of Indianapolis – Top 10 Toys of 2011, 2011 Canadian Toy Testing Council – Children’s Choice, 2011 Babble List – Best Kids Toys, 2010 Toy Insider – Hot 20, 2010 The National Parenting Center – Seal of Approval, 2010 Prémio Brazil – Award of Excellence, 2010 Parents’ Magazine – Top Toys, 2010 NAPPA – Gold, 2010 ASTRA – Best Toy for Kids

This 16" doll with bright eyes and pigtails has poly filling and a plush exterior.