January 2011 Notable Toys — Interactive

These interactive kits offer introductory creative craft to children. They encourage step by step design, crafting skills and a creative sense of achievement. "Once assembled, the 3 different hand puppets can be used to create stories and play many other imaginative games, giving the product a much longer lifespan and room for creative play," Jack Wiggins, sales executive at Meadow Kids, told TDmonthly.

These interactive kits offer introductory creative craft to children. They encourage step by step design, crafting skills and a creative sense of achievement.

A straw that naturally transforms white milk into bold and delicious flavors. When kids drink milk through the Got Milk? Magic Straws, the milk becomes flavored and colored. "Parents and kids from 2 to 99 buy them year-round and it's completely new to toy stores with no competition," Paul Henson, CMO of Food Market Merchandising, Inc, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2010.
— In a late Summer 2012 survey, three out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that these were one of their top-2 bestselling candy items.

ActionJetz are cool diecast planes that each come with a Secret Game Code Card. With it, kids and paretns can chat, play and learn new stuff in the Online World of ActionJetz. Choose from the wide range of die cast planes which are about 3-6 inches small to collect.

Sqwishlanders – they are cute, they are collectible, they are fun – a craze every parent can afford to support and you don’t have to go far to find one. Available at those ubiquitous red vending machines found in every supermarket, convenience store, arcade and malls across America, put your quarter in, crank the handle and wait and see what comes out. The surprise of the catch is just part of the fun. Once you open the capsule and see which Sqwishland® character has been dispensed, a fortune cookie style secret code will reveal yet another surprise, an unknown bounty of virtual game cash will be discovered when the code is entered on line.

Chatimals are the latest in hamster entertainment. Just speak to Chatimals for up to 60 seconds and they will repeat what you say back to you. Available in hamster and meerkat varieties.
— Jenny of Mummy Reviews brought Oscar the Chatimal home and shared that her son “just giggles at it over and over again and it giggles back.” She reported great success using Oscar “to repeat instructions for our Little Garden Helpers when I need them to do something for me.”
— In her video review of Chatimals Oscar, Bubbles from Sweet Craftiness told of her son playing with Oscar and his grandfather; the hamster’s mimicry “had everybody in stitches,” young and old alike.

These spinning bears go round and round when baby pushes the knob on top. The brightly colored spinning top is made of sturdy plastic and has a flat bottom that sits flat on the floor. A fun toy for learning about cause and effect and for making things happen.
Awards:  Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award, Platinum, 2010.

An update of an old favorite, this high chair toy has a big suction cup to fasten on the high chair or it can be detached from its stand and used for two handed play. The bold contrast spinners are sure to attract visual attention and delight babies who love the power of toys that they activate with ease. There are two see-through balls with spinners inside and bright colored clackers that invite exploration by little fingers.
Awards:  Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Blue Chip Classic Award Winner, 2009.

TamaTown is a revamped version of the Tamagotchi virtual pet. It includes the original nurturing play pattern and character customization, along with additional features including a larger egg, and interchangeable design sheet and a more detailed display. TamaTown is a base for Tama characters, sold separately. Tama characters can be attached to activate character-specific new games.