September 2012 Notable Toys — All

This soft and cuddly hippo is loaded with discovery for the young mind. Features attached legs (pull one the other retracts), a teether hand, a baby safe mirrored hand, a peek-a boo silky bellybutton (just got to poke it!) and an ergonomically designed teether tail which encourages gripping. When pulled, it makes Soft Hippo vibrate with excitement. Launch date: July 2012.

Baby Fitness Center. Baby sized innovative products to develop baby's fine and gross motor skills and strengthen core muscles. Includes Edu-Training Mat, Edu-Weights (only 1.5 ounces each), Power Stretch and My First Ball. A perfect gift set or each available separately. Launch date: June 2012.

Edushape's new Rock 'n Table is an adorable play table for two toddlers, but turn it upside down and it instantly converts to a see saw. Brightly colored and extremely sturdy, it is a toddler’s dream for both indoor & outdoor play. Launch date: August 2012.

Healthy riding colors the world beautiful. Creativity for sidewalks, parking lots, and streets. Hook Chalktrail® to a bike, then get riding. Draw figure eights, wavy meandering paths, perfect circles, fascinating designs by retracing the same route again and again in succession. It’s freshly invigorating, beautiful play. Works with all bike sizes and training wheels. Includes highly durable Chalktrail® connector  Easy on, easy off - no tools or parents required. Comes with one piece non-toxic, washable chalk. Launch date: August 2012.

It’s a busy day in Crazy Cake Café. Baker Bernie needs kids' help getting cakes stacked as quickly as possible so they can be delivered. The first player to finish stacking one of Baker Bernie’s famous twelve layer cakes wins a recipe card. Collect ten recipe cards and winning the game will be the icing on the cake. This fast-moving game is a delectable visual-spatial, brain-teasing treat. 2 to 4 players. Launch date: August 2012.

Kids can bring Mario Kart Wii to life as they race Mario and Bowser through a series of ice-themed obstacles. The set includes the parts to build Mario and Bowser, 2 Standard Karts with super-fast battery-powered motors, 2 moving obstacles: Penguins & Shy-Guy Snowboarders PLUS 2 collectible items from the game: a golden mushroom and a spiked blue shell. Also includes 16 pieces of buildable, interconnectable track that creates a closed loop - combine this set with other sets from the Mario Kart Wii Series to build even bigger tracks. Building set includes 182 parts. Launch date: May 2012.

Commemorate with pride the patriotism of the seven men through whose courage and vision gave birth to the nation we love. George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Jay. Seven magnificently sculpted coins, lavishly coated in 24 karat gold reflect the image of each Founding Father on the front and an inspirational quote from them on the back. The collection comes with a personalizable hardback book of the US Constitution, a magnifying glass and deluxe gloves for studying the coins and a deluxe hardwood display box, also with a personalizable nameplate to preserve and protect the collection for years to come. Also included are a set of history cards that describe the contributions of each of the celebrated patriots and a Certificate of Authenticity. Launch date: August 2012.

Children's quartz watches feature: 3 Dimensional bands; some are teaching time dials, other have minute increments; Battery good for approximately 2 years (can be replaced); Bands are available in several hundred designs; Moving disc on dial.  "We have several hundred designs in stock including some that have teaching time dials," Ricky Wilhelm from Solo Time Ltd. told TDmonthly.
— Karen Laroche, manager of Kid's Ketch in Lews, Del., told TDmonthly in a Fall 2013 survey that they sell 15-20 Solo Time watches each month, making them a best-seller in the jewelry category.
— Shirley Reilly, owner of Let's Play in Hillsboro, Ore., told TDmonthly in an October 2014 survey that Solo Time watches were her store's best-selling jewelry and accessories item.

Each mini figure in Safari Ltd®’s Toob® ranges from 1” to 3” and is carefully sculpted and finely hand painted. Packaged in a reusable acetate Toob®, the figures guarantee years of learning fun. Safari Ltd® introduces for 2012 small, highly detailed musical instruments that play together in symphony. This Toob® includes a violin, guitar, clarinet, flute, French horn, saxophone, trombone and horn. All figures are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety. Suggested ages 3+. Launch date: January 2012.
Awards: 2013 TDmonthly Seal of Approval

Each mini figure in Safari Ltd®’s Toob® ranges from 1” to 3” and is carefully sculpted and finely hand painted. Packaged in a reusable acetate Toob®, the figures guarantee years of learning fun. Safari Ltd® introduces for 2012 highly detailed butterflies from around the world that flaunt their vibrantly colored wings. This Toob® includes a Red Glider, Green Swallowtail, Orange Barred Sulphur, White Angled Sulphur, Evenus regalis, Anaea clytemnestra and a Papilio garleppi. All figures are 100% guaranteed and lead free to ensure children’s safety. Suggested ages 3+. Launch date: January 2012.

In the Old West, the sly snake oil salesman had a special talent: he could get the most skeptical customer to buy the most dubious product. Now players can have their turn, inventing their own crazy two-word products and selling them to all types of customers. If the customer buys a product, the player wins. With over 280 wild words and 70 oddball customers, players will never run out of new combinations. Launch date: November 2010.
Awards: 2012 Mensa Select; 2012 Dr. Toy; 2012 Toy Man Seal of Excellence
— In a late Summer 2012 survey, Charles from Miller's Toys in Mamoronec, N.Y., told TDmonthly that Snake Oil is one of their top-2 best selling card games. They sell about 2 dozen copies a month.
— As of 12/6/2012 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Fun for all ages.
— Gary Green, owner of Toy Box of Asheville Inc in Asheville, N.C., told TDmonthly in a February 2015 survey that Snake Oil was his store's best-selling game.

18 Scale figurine set to complete displays of die cast model cars. Limited edition, hand painted original figurines. Launch date: August 2012.

18 scale figurine sets themed to complete the best in diorama and display case presentations of die cast automotive models. Limited to 1201 sets for the world. Launch date: August 2012.

Our Peace Van Scoot is a simple, durable wooden vehicle great for toddlers and sized perfectly for playmats. Crafted from locally sourced, responsibly harvested pine with hardwood wheels and printed Peace and Love details on both sides. The Peace Van measures approximately 2-5/8" tall by 4" long by 2-1/8" thick. Designed and Made in the USA. Launch date: June 2012.

Our Name Train Peace Train Car Set contains a flower power engine, a dove & love car and a peace sign car on one 9" straight piece of track. Individual cars measure about 3" long by 2" high each and have a non-toxic finish. Each car is printed on both sides. Track is sanded smooth with laser-engraved stripes and is unfinished. All pieces are crafted from locally sourced, sustainably harvested hard maple and are compatible with our and other wooden railway systems. Cars sold individually. Launch date: June 2012.

Every little girl likes to play dress-up. These memory tiles have fun outfits that can be matched and mixed. Dress-Up Memory Tiles come with 24 tiles (12 pairs) with a brightly colored clothing and accessories on one side and the Maple Landmark logo on the other. Each tile measures 2-1/2" square by 3/16" thick and is cut from high quality birch plywood. A cloth pouch for storage and instructions are included. Made in the USA. Launch date: June 2012.

Robbin’ Eggs is the eggciting game of math, memory, and luck. Each egg has a number on the bottom - some positive, some negative. Players turn over eggs trying to get the sum as close to the rolled number on the die, all while following sometimes silly rules on the cards. Meanwhile, opponents might have a “rob” card and can steal the egg other players need.  Players try to remember the location of numbers as the game progresses…that is, until another player scrambles the locations with a drawn card. The player with the lowest score at the end wins the game. "This game is much more than just an educational math game or a memory game.  Because it adds these components together along with the uniqueness of the nest and eggs, and the randomness of the action cards, this game becomes an entertaining family game that happens to help players hone their math skills," Tami Murphy, marketing manager at The Haywire Group, told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2012.

Cluck 'N' Chuck is a game that’s bursting with fun – and chickens! This game for two to four players will leave kids in hysterics as they try to contain runaway chickens. Players roll the die to see which chickens they can chuck into the coop. But move quickly before the coop jumps up and they all fly out. It’s a race to see who can round up their chickens first in this rowdy cluck-cluck game. For ages 4 and up.

Don’t Rock the Boat will have kids channeling their inner pirates without fear of having to walk the plank! The play pieces for this game are fun pirate penguins, and play takes place aboard their pirate ship. Take turns trying to balance the pirate penguins on the ship, but if you rock the boat and send some mateys overboard, ye be a loser! For ages 5 and up. Launch date: 2012.

Super Shooter Basketball is for one or more players. Shoot hoops with the miniature basketballs and gain mad skills! The game includes rules for three well-known games. Super Shooter Basketball is for ages 5 and up. Launch date: 2012.

Spurtle Turtle is also for one or more players. In this fun matching game, press the button on the turtle’s back to spurt out tokens. Then, find the matching sets of tokens! The turtle is also a convenient storage case. Spurtle Turtle is for ages 3 and up. Launch date: 2012.

This Ready to Run, Scale 1:20, 2.4GHz Carrera Red Jumper Radio Control (R/C) car represents state of the art technology by combining a Lithium ion Battery with a high powered engine. Included with this Ready to Run car is the controller, 2 - AA Batteries and a Lithium ion Battery and a Charger for your Lithium ion Battery. The car is fully functional and can be controlled in all directions. This R/C car provides racing excitement for both indoor and outdoor fun.  It has digital proportional (Servo Tronic) steering.  It comes with an ergonomic controller and runs at speeds up to 13mph.  Utilizing state of the art battery technology, the power pack has a short recharging time of 80 minutes and allows the vehicle to run for up to 40 minutes. The Carrera Red Jumper R/C combines innovative features with excellent quality and high speed performance for hours of racing fun. Launch date: July 2012.

Race “Spider Racer” and “Lizard Tail Spinner” down straights, around curves and loops as they chase each other. Race Set includes Spider Racer, Lizard Tail Spinner, straights, curves, loops, hand controllers and transformer. It comes with 17.38 feet of track. It fits in a footprint of 7.12 ft.x3.90 feet. Launch date: May 2012.

Bowl, Spell and Score is a wacky word bowling game in which bowlers roll a unique wooden character ball to determine the amount and location of bowling pin letter tiles to flip over in an attempt to spell words for points each frame. Launch date: 2011.
Awards: December 2011 Toyman Award