October 2011 Notable Toys — General Toys

The Nerf VORTEX NITRON Blaster features a cutting-edge acceleration trigger that propels a full-auto storm of discs toward targets with extreme range for an all-out assault. The Centerfire Tech electronic scope features pulsing targeting lights to help kids center their aim. The included 20-disc magazine and onboard magazine storage make reloading quick and simple. In addition to being fully automatic, the NITRON is fully customizable with the Tactical Rail System that is compatible with most VORTEX and N-Strike Mission Kit accessories (sold separately) for a fully customizable battlefield experience.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 3.6 out of 5 stars from 5 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Appealing visual design; automatic. Cons: There is a lag when firing; takes lots of batteries, which is expensive.

With a BEYSTADIUM™ arena to fight in and exclusive battle tops and launchers, kids can start their dueling practice as soon as they're set up. Customize the BEYSTADIUM with three battle cores: the Zip Core forces straight-line movement, the Chaos Core brings chaos to the tops' movement, and the Deflector Core brings craziness because it affects right-spin and left-spin tops differently. With the tournament grids and official rule book, kids will be ready to do battle . Set up the exclusive GALAXY PEGASUS™ and METEO L-DRAGO™ tops for a launching, spinning attack.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 4.4 out of 5 stars from 7 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Fun; good starter kit. Cons: Expensive.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 3.5 out of 5 stars from 22 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Bey Media L-Drago is is a left-spinning top and is great; beys come assembled. Cons: not very durable; top has to be set just right before spinning, otherwise it won't go.
— In a Summer 2012 survey Deran Muckjian, owner of Catch a Falling Star in Lexington, Mass., told TDmonthly that they sell 40 Hasbro Beyblade figures every month.

The classic oven has been updated to be light bulb-free and comes with yummy mixes and pans for cooking up all kinds of sweet treats. Oven comes with baking pan, cupcake pan, pan pusher, chocolate chip cookie mix, red velvet cake mix, pink frosting mix, rainbow sugar crystals package, paper cupcake wraps and instructions/recipe booklet.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 4 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Easy, fun.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 3.9 out of 5 stars from 22 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: No assembly required; very easy;  Cons: Does not include many mixes; mixes make small quantities of food; extra mixes are expensive.

Blast through the droid ambush with LEGO Star Wars Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter! With quad flick missiles and the reliable R8-B7 astromech droid to navigate and repair damage, Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter will be more than a match for the tactical droid TX-20 on his Separatist speeder.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from 14 reviews on Google Product Search. Pros: Mini Figures are great; lots of details and extras included. Cons: Many similar sets have been made.

Moshi Monsters love collecting Moshlings. Now kids can bring home Moshlings of their own with a Moshi Monsters 3 pack. Inside they'll discover 3 cute Moshlings and 1 secret code. The next time they log online,  they can use the code to retrieve 1 special item for their Moshi Monster. It's the perfect mystery gift for a Monster. Colors and styles vary. Three moshi monsters are selected at random at time of shipment. The Moshi Monsters 3-Pack Figures includes: 3 Moshling Figures; 1 Code for 1 Special Item; and a Bonus 3 Day Premium Trial Membership.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on ToysRUs.com.

Fly the LEGO Ninjago Lightning Dragon Battle (2521) to rescue Sensei Wu. Frakjaw and Kruncha have captured Sensei Wu and stole the nunchucks of lightning with their helicopter. Help Jay and the fearsome Lightning Dragon to rescue him and retrieve the golden weapon before they escape into the Underworld.! Beware of the helicopter's snapping jaws and flick missiles.
— As of 10/18/2011 this product had 4 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Dragon is durable; mini figures are great. Cons: Helicopter is not very durable.

Crayola Super Tips Markers have unique, durable tips for drawing thick or thin lines. Use the sides for coloring in large areas and the tips for adding details. Super Tips are great for school projects, doodling, and coloring fun.These markers use ink that's formulated to easily wash from skin and most children's clothing. As an added bonus, these sets include some Silly Scent markers. The set of 50 contains 12 markers with silly scents.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 3.9 out of 5 stars from 5 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros:  Very washable; scented markers smell good. Cons: Yellow marker is actually orange; colors aren't true to their cap colors.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 4.2 out of 5 stars from 16 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Glides smoothly; good color variety; comfortable grip. Cons: Messy; two reviewers said that the markers were not, in fact, washable.

Battle for control of the four Spinjitzu weapons has begun. Sensei Wu, Kai, Zane and Nya need help to keep Lord Garmadon and his evil skeleton army from taking the ultimate Spinjitzu weapon – the Dragon Sword of Fire. As the temple splits into two, the fearsome Fire Dragon emerges to protect the sword by spitting fire at Lord Garmadon. Set also includes Samukai and Kruncha figures, all four golden weapons and 14 other weapons. 1174 pieces. Launch date: Summer 2011.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 4.7 out of 5 stars from 3 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Helps build fine motor skills and logic skills; challenging. Cons: Finished structure not very durable.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on ToysRUs.com. Pros: Very detailed; lots of moving parts.

Kids can transform, configure, and manipulate Block Builders for endless building and perpetual design. Fold and unfold the six distinctively hinged blocks to create skyscrapers, modern art sculptures, geometric marvels - just about anything imaginable. Includes 50 puzzle challenge cards. Block Builders puzzle challenge cards range from beginner to expert. Look at the design on the front of the card and recreate the shape using the indicated number of blocks. The solution is provided in an exploded view on the opposite side of the card.

This Pigeon plush toy, from Caldecott Honor Award Winning Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, has a bean-filled body of soft chenille with embroidered eyes, and velour feet and legs. Squeeze Pigeon and hear him plead "Let Me Drive the Bus!!!"... in author Mo Willems' own voice.
— As of 10/14/2011 this product had 4.3 out of 5 stars from 7 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Cute; good for kids who are fans of the book. Cons: No off switch.

Includes 24 blue and turquoise magnetic rods & 20 chromed steel spheres. Magnetic rods combined with non-magnetic spheres transform into thousands of geometric forms.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Products For Kids

Kids can send marbles down the wooden 99-piece Quadrilla Twist & Rail Set. Curved rails, straight rails, and a big twist make up this set.  50 marbles are included along with a cloth bag for safe storage.
Awards: Dr. Toy's 10 Best Toys - 2011

FyrFlyz is a revolutionary new spinning toy that puts the power to create an amazing light show in kids’ very own hands. Each FyrFlyz toy is a precision balanced instrument designed to spin on its axis. Simply by swinging the connected two strings and applying tension or allowing slack, kids create a continuous movement (figure eights, rings, etc.). The fun begins when the lights go out and the FyrFlyz multi-color LED lights turn the movement into an amazing light show that kids can play themselves or show their friends.
Awards: Dr. Toy's 10 Best Toys - 2011

55 piece Jigsaw puzzle. Pieces shaped like the states. Complete children's geography lesson of the USA. Fun for the whole family.

This 500 Piece Puzzle of the USA is actually shaped like the United States of America. The groups of pieces are shaped like the individual States. Alaska and Hawaii are their own separate puzzles. Each state is overlaid with it's own flag. The entire familiy can be entertained while learning a complete geographic lesson of the USA.

Since the pieces are actually shaped like the Countries of the World, you can't complete this 600-piece puzzle without figuring out where every Country is located. No other puzzle comes with such a superb geography lesson! 600 pieces.

"Starry Night", the newest version of the best selling Find It game, has some real "star power." The first Find It® game to feature a custom star shaped container, adding a whole new dimension to game play. The "Starry Night" game features 40 items nestled among the brightly colored pellets, all packaged inside a three dimensional star shape. As an added bonus, many of the items inside glow in the dark which allows for a whole new way to play. Use the enclosed score pad to check off items as you find them in this "contained adventure". Launch date: September 2011.

Take the fun outdoors with eeBoo Sidewalk Games. Set includes a gold coin to toss, four vibrant chalk sticks and a booklet of instructions for sidewalk games such as Hopscotch, Skelly, London Calling and more. "A child, a coin, some colored chalk bring hours of fun to a plain sidewalk. Learn games that generations played when fun and toys were all homemade!" Regina Gelin, sales & marketing associate for eeBoo, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2011.

Standing over two feet tall, the Weird & Wacky Contraption Lab has 60 mix-and-match pieces to build an unlimited amount of contraptions.  Kids can dream up crazy courses, then build and test them using this easy-to-construct Velcro-like system.  Instructions offer tips and tricks on how to best manipulate the kit's components.  It guides kids through five sample contraption designs while they learn how to predict the outcome of each. "Contraption Lab offers full-circle skill building from prediction and planning to testing and experimentation," Nancy Storment, marketing & PR rep for SmartLab Toys, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2011.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, January 2012.
— Why it won: A great product that encourages creativity.

An easy craft project that is sure to have kids entertained for hours on end, eeBoo Paper Chains spruce up a room, bring life to a party or just get crafty. Each pack features 120 colorful links with easy to assemble slide-in tabs (no glue needed) and stretches 24 feet. Three paper chain designs to choose from: Animal Chain, Ribbon Chain, and Chain Letter. "Each link has a simple slot and tab, allowing the chains to be recombined and used over and over again," Regina Gelin, sales & marketing associate at eeBoo, told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2011.

Shoot potato pellets over 50 feet. Just combine one potato with this 6 inch potato gun for hours of fun. Each potato will yield about 300 pellets.
— John Blair, owner of Science Safari in Cary, N.C., told TDmonthly in a September 2011 survey that they sell about 15 of this item each month.

The Magic Coloring Book has become a favorite with children's magicians for good reason: it's quick, visual and completely deceptive. Ours is printed exclusively for Fantasma and is offered at a great price. First, the magician shows blank pages. Next, the pages show pictures of some of the things the magician likes most, "favorite things," cars, ice cream, popcorn. The pictures are in black and white. Somehow they don't seem real enough. A bit of magic and they are now the magician's favorite things in full color. Oh, and did we mention, we've also hidden card images in the book, so it can be used with card magic. Instructions for the book and for the card tricks are included.
— Joe Berardoni, owner of Pun's Toys in Brynn Mawr, Pa., told TDmonthly in a September 2011 survey that "the best-selling novelty item is the magic coloring book from Schylling, but only because I love to demo it. Very seldom does that not result in a sale. I can sell a couple of dozen in any particular month."

These micro-sized building blocks will enable kids to execute even the finest details like never before. With over 100 pieces, kids watch in amazement as this regal bird takes shape right beneath your fingertips. With a finished size of 1.5″w x 1.5″d x 2.36h, only this giant penguin is able to fit perfectly in the palm of a hand.  Includes detailed color instructions. 9 animal designs currently available.
— In a Summer 2012 survey, Shana Hack, owner of Moon Rabbit Toys in Santa Fe, N.M., told TDmonthly that nanoblocks were an overall best seller at their store.

Packaged with a ribbon and greeting card, ready to give. 8 sturdy cardboard boxes, each with a hand drawn illustration, contained in an outer, brightly colored package. This beautiful package will decorate your home as one box is opened each night OR Remove them from the outer carton and give one box at a time with no wrapping required. Toys included are: Switch Pitch ball, Jacob's Ladder, Dreidel, milk chocolate gelt, Amazing Flying Monkey, Fortune Telling Fish, Punch Balloons, Disappearing coin trick, Paper Ballons, and Silly Bands. Also available without gifts for $19.95.