December 2011 New Specialty Toys — All

Coloraturo, a new block set created by award winning toy designer Karen Hewitt, will delight and captivate the imagination of children and artists of all ages. This smart toy functions both as a designer art piece and a high quality children’s building toy providing endless experiences with color in both two and three dimensions. The color, form and sheer beauty of Coloraturo will attract young children as well as architects, designers and playful adults. "Displaying 36 unique, vibrant colors, this piece stands out from ordinary block sets, yet will still be a timeless toy for generations of children. This toy will provide endless building opportunities, yet looks beautiful enough to display anywhere in the house," Karen Hewitt, president/designer of Learning Materials Workshop, told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2011.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, January 2012; 2011 Dr. Toy 10 Best Creative Products Award; 2011 Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products Award.
— Why it won: Beautifully designed, kids can enjoy hours of pattern play, color sorting, and building. Meanwhile, parents won't mind having these colorful, geometric blocks left lying around.

This box can be decorated with the custom stickers to look like a fire station. They can also be drawn on and erased using washable markers. The play box consists of six (6) pieces: a front panel, a back panel, two side panels, the roof and the floor, which locks everything into place. The play box weighs approximately 16 lbs. Once assembled, the play box's dimensions are 55.75" L x 36" W x 57.5" H. Once stored, the play box and carrying case's dimensions are 53.25" L x 20.5" W x 3.5" H. The play box is 100% corrugated plastic, made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE).

Trick or Treat with Anthrax adorning a witch's hat, Flesh Eating with spooky, fake fangs, orange Amoeba with black mask, Black Death embroidered with a skull and crossbones, and Ebola costumed as Frankenstein with stitched mouth and neck bolts. Launch date: October 2011.

No one will suspect a barrage of mini marshmallows from this small 12” bow. Load mini marshmallows into the chamber and pull the sting back to unleash the white and fluffy ammo. Pull the sting back again to release another marshmallow. The bow will shoot as fast as it can be pulled. Launch date: 2011.

In spite of it's small size, this marshmallow shooter can go the distance. Load one mini marshmallow into the front barrel, pump the front grip 5-7 times, then pull the trigger and watch the marshmallow fly up to 30 feet away. This tiny 6” shooter is the perfect size for a stocking stuffer, or stash it in a desk drawer for emergency ‘mallow attacks. Launch date: 2011.

A celebration of popular music styles from the 1970's to today. Making Silly Faces is a family friendly album made for kids to enjoy with their parents. Launch date: 2011.

This book about loss follows beloved cat Tiger Rose as she says goodbye to her family and favorite things for the last time. Written by prolific children's author Jane Yolen and illustrated by Jim LaMarche. 32 pages. Launch date: May 24, 2011.

Create 10 accessories with this ultimate headband set. The Fashion Headbands craft kit includes a rainbow array of satin headbands, rhinestone, flowers, feathers a butterfly, yards of ribbon and more. Includes: 10 Colorful Satin Headbands, Sparkling Butterfly, Elastic Felt Pieces, 2 Fabric Flowers, Assorted Ribbons, Craft Glue, Craft Thread, Colorful Feathers, Assorted Colorful Rhinestones, Instructions and Ideas.
— Elmer Carranza, assistant manager of Doodlehopper 4 Kids in Falls Church, Va., told TDmonthly in a January 2012 survey that Fashion Headbands from Creativity for Kids was a best selling arts and crafts toy. They sell about 15 each month.
— In a May 2012 survey, Taka Andrews, owner of Miller's Toys in Mamaroneck, N.Y., told TDmonthly that they sell two dozen of this item each month.
— Kim Emigh, VP of E-commerce at Growing Tree Toys in State College, Penn., told TDmonthly in a Fall 2012 survey that this was a top-2 best selling jewelry item at their store.

Baby Lullaby takes baby on a soothing journey with classical lullabies by Bach, Brahms and Mozart. Enjoy relaxing ocean waves, sweet puppet shows and tranquil images. Includes DVD, CD, and picture book. 30 minute run time. Other titles in this series include World of Rhythm and Neptune's Oceans. Launch date: February 22, 2011.

What do puppies love? Puppies love to run and play, puppies love to eat and sleep, and puppies love you. This over-sized board book with a unique sliding-panel format is designed to introduce youngsters to the delights of puppies. With colorful illustrations and adorable photographs of puppies under sliding panels, youngsters will love discovering what puppies are all about. Launch date: June 7, 2011.

When renowned musician & songwriter Chip Taylor ("Wild Thing" & "Angel of the Morning") became a grandfather, he directed his creative energy to writing new songs with & for his grandkids. Golden Kids Rules melds the husky, time-worn vocals & the musical instincts of a seasoned performer with the charming artistry of his 3 young grandchildren. Taylor's brother, actor Jon Voight, offers an insightful introduction to the artist & the album. 13 tracks, 38 mins, 20+page booklet w/ lyrics. Launch date: October 18, 2011.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, January 2012.
— Why it won: A great CD that tackles topics relevant to kids without being patronizing or sacrificing the quality of the actual music. Lovely tunes that parents and kids can listen to together.

Celtic Christmas follows previous successful Putumayo Christmas releases such as A Jazz & Blues Christmas, New Orleans Christmas and Christmas Around the World, which combined have sold over 1 million copies. Celtic Christmas offers Celtic interpretations of Christmas classics along with an original recording. The collection begins with the joyful singing of The Albion Christmas Band on “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” and moves into Charles T. Cozen’s instrumental version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Dougie MacLean closes out the collection with a soulful Scottish rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.” Launch date: 2011.

The goal is to reach the exit before Sweet Little BOO gets upstairs. Who will succeed? Laura, Elliot, Albert, Rose, Alec, or Fixela? Together or by themselves, family members can engage in this exciting race. With each roll of the dice, some players will move faster, some will have to step back, others will discover secret passages, but everyone will have fun. Includes 1 game board, 7 character pawns, 3 dice, and Instructions.
Awards: Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval; Creative Child Magazine Seal of Excellence Award.

Spuzzle is a fun-filled race to see who can finish their puzzles first. Designed for children, this game will challenges kids to finish their five puzzles first. Includes 5 sets of 20 puzzle pieces (blue, yellow, purple and red), 1 game board, 28 Spuzzle cards, and Instructions.
Awards: PTPA Seal of Approval, Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award, National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

Codigo Cube is a socially interactive trivia game that uses players' web-enabled camera phone, a free app, and a patent-pending 2D bar-coded die. Codigo Cube is updated with new questions daily. Whenever breaking news happens Codigo Cube gets updated. Playing is fun and easy. Players simply download a free QR code reader for their phone, then scan any side of the cube. Roll the cube, scan the code, and answer the question from a list of four multiple choice answers. Guess correctly and re-roll. Guess wrong and the cube is passed to the next player. Launch date: October 2011.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, January 2012; 2011/2012 The Toy Man Award of Excellence; 2011/2012 The Toy Man eChoice Award; 2011 The Toy Man Top 50 Toy Of The Year Award.
— Why it won: Codigo Cube is harnessing new technology for an innovative and inexpensive new game. Players simply scan the QR code on the die with their Smartphone to access a trivia question online. The trivia questions are constantly being updated, so the game never gets old.
— As of 9/21/2012 this product had 4.7 out of 5 stars from 23 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Easy to use; more variety than a traditional trivia game because questions are always being updated. Cons: Needs to be played in a well-lit area or the QR code readers can scan the codes properly.

An extension of Ravensburger's popular puzzleball line, each of these buildings feature flat and hinged precision-cut pieces that snap together perfectly, and stand up to 15” high when completed. Other sets include Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and a New England lighthouse.

This puzzleball from Ravensburger is designed especially for pre-school kids. Extra large plastic pieces support 3D comprehension and fine motor skills. The 24 piece puzzleball comes with an assembly aide for the little puzzle beginners. 24 curved plastic pieces fit together to form a perfectly smooth surface. No glue required. The finished puzzleball is a "picture-perfect" decoration for every kids room. Colorful and age-appropriate puzzle fun for children from 4 to 6 years. Each puzzle piece is numbered on the back so kids can puzzle by the image or by number – their pick.
— In a July 2013 survey, five out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that Ravensburger was their best-selling puzzle brand.

Players take turns to search the Labyrinth for their magical objects and characters by carefully moving through the constantly changing maze. The treasure cards are divided between the players, without revealing them to the other players. The maze cards are randomly placed on the playing board and the first player uses the extra card to start moving the first wall. Players strategically move the walls so they can collect their treasures, but block the path for the other players. Labyrinth comes complete with 1 game board, 34 moving wall cards, 24 treasure cards and 4 different colored playing pieces. This 25th Anniversary Edition of the game comes packaged in a high-quality and stylish tin. Content: 1 game board 34 maze cards 24 treasure cards 4 playing pieces Instructions. 1 game board, 34 maze cards, 24 treasure cards, 4 playing pieces, Instructions.

Whoowasit? is an interactive board game with an exciting electronic feature. Players must find the magical ring that was stolen from the wise king by a castle resident under the spell of the evil wizard. Playing against the clock, players move through the castle rooms to uncover clues to who stole the precious gem. Along the way, talking animals help players solve the mystery of the stolen ring with the help of a treasure chest that randomly supplies clues on behalf of the animals. Players must seek food, communicate with and then feed the animals to receive clues that help eliminate the suspects. Whoowasit? helps reinforce memory, tactical and teambuilding skills. Playing time 40 minutes. Contents 1 game board, 4 doors (to place on the board), 1 electronic chest, 4 playing pieces (red, yellow, green, blue), 1 ghost, 1 cat (game board), 9 food tokens, 4 key tokens, 10 suspect cards, 1 die, 1 ring, 1 ring base.
Awards: Children's Game of the Year 2008 in Germany

Winter Wagner bears come in two styles of 18" bears and three styles of 12" bears. These soft teddy bears wear cozy, trendy winter hats. Launch date: Fall 2011.

Named for its 2 horns similar to those of a bull, this carnivore had extremely short arms, even shorter than those of the T-Rex. This Carnotaurus is in scale and was developed with the collaboration of paleontologists of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. This model is intricately hand-painted and is phthalate and lead free and thoroughly safety tested. The scale for this figure is 1:30 and measures approx. 1.75” tall. It includes educational information in 5 languages and is appropriate for ages 3+.

Now available in both girl and boy, these Plushee Pals™ are toy versions of their REAL North Pole scout elf counterparts. Unbelievably soft to the touch and gentle to the cheek, these elves are meant to be held and squeezed at Christmas and all year. Each elf is made of the softest material Santa’s toy makers could find—perfect for a child’s loving arms. The elves are available in both light and dark skin tones, and each comes with a special gift tag attached. Each elf stands 19” tall.

An Elf’s Story™, the animated Christmas special that premiered on CBS last holiday season, is the first Elf on the Shelf® Christmas special that features cutting edge animation, memorable songs, and a tale about the spirit of the season. Nine-year old Taylor McTuttle has reached a crossroads. Does he believe Santa Claus really knows who is naughty or nice? Does he even believe in Santa Claus anymore? An Elf’s Story™ is the inspirational tale of Chippey, the young scout elf who is assigned by Santa to restore Taylor’s belief in Christmas magic. When the boy breaks the number one Elf on the Shelf rule, Chippey loses his Christmas magic; the entire McTuttle family loses its scout elf, and both Taylor and Chippey lose their self-respect. Through the power of love and forgiveness, both of them learn that true belief cannot be taught. Each pack includes: An Elf’s Story ™ 23-minute holiday special; TV trailer; Behind-the-scenes look at the making of An Elf’s Story™; Filmmaker’s commentary; and Special Code for website access to Santa's Shipping Yard.

Our 100% corduroy cotton bag has a beautifully embroidered pastoral scene Bag measures 13" x 12". Strap is 36" long. Purple fleece inner lining. Snap closure. Machine Washable. Launch date: June 2011.