Final Nominees Announced!

TDmonthly Magazine's 2008 Report on Specialty Toys

By Alison Marek & Julie L. Jones
August 2008

Submission forms and product samples rolled into our offices throughout the month of June, and evaluations have yielded a new crop of nominees for Positive Toys for a Promising Future: TDmonthly Magazine's 2008 Report on Specialty Toys. All of the products below were also in the running for one of four TDmonthly awards — Top Toy, Top Seller, Classic, Innovations and In the Lab, which were announced on August 8, 2008.

For more information on the report and awards program, take a look at last year's nominees and winners.

Product	Company
My Mini Sac Igloo	7 A.M. ENFANT INC.
Curiosity Kits Be a Brain Scientist	ACTION PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
Adorable Girl Dolls	ADORABLE ORIGINALS
Eloise	ALEXANDER DOLL CO. INC
Baby Deglingos	ALL NEW MATERIALS
Sixteen	ALPINE GAMES
Hippity Clown	ANIMALAND
Move Your Body Thumball	ANSWERS IN MOTION
Scramble Squares	b. dazzle, inc.
Madballs Sick Series 2	BASIC FUN INC.
Beantown Toys, "Spoon Racers"	BEANTOWN TOYS
Sand Tattoos	BOJEUX
beeboo Big Bubble Family Pack	EXTREME BUBBLES INC.
Beyond Chess Set	BEYOND CHESS
Big Eye Dummies	BIG EYE DUMMIES
Special Kind of Day	BIG TRUCK MUSIC LLC
Old Dinosaur	Birdcage Press
Peeko	BLABLA
Puppy Themed Kit	BRAIN NOODLES
Animal Soup	BRIARPATCH
MACK Granite Rear Loading Garbage Truck	BRUDER TOYS AMERICA, INC.
The T-Shirt Game	BUFFALO GAMES INC
Soft-Play Double-Headed Dragon	BULLYLAND TOYS INC.
Carrera GO!!! Speed Racer	CARRERA OF AMERICA INC.
The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition	CCA & B LLC
Chatterchix Trading Cards	CHATTERCHIX INC.
Sculpting Fun Modeling Kit	CLAYTRONICS
Xylophone Dots	Colori USA
CKidZ Medallion Set – Egypt	COMPASS KIDZ
Discombobulation™	CONTINUUM GAMES, INC.
Puzzler's Box Of Frustration	COPERNICUS
Calin Cheerful Pink	COROLLE DOLLS
Ultra Stomp Rocket	D&L COMPANY
The Origin of Expressions™	DISCOVERY BAY GAMES
Trash and Recycling "Paper Making" Kid Kit	EDC PUBLISHING
Camp	EDUCATION OUTDOORS
Blokus Trigon	EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS INC
Air Traffic Control Tower	EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS INC
Make a Pie! A Simple Game of Fractions	eeBoo corp.
Nana Star Doll and Book	ee publishing & productions llc
SC-300 Snap Circuits	ELENCO
WorldTeasers: World Geography	ELM EDUCATION MARKETING LLC
iQue	elogIQ
EcoRanch	ENLIGHTENED PLAY
TwigJig® Starter Kit	EPSILON INDUSTRIES INC.
Manga Drawing Kit	FABER-CASTELL
Inversé™	FAMILY GAMES INC.
Flippit™	FAMILY GAMES INC.
Eco Angels "I Re-Made It" Fashion Accessories Kit	FASHION ANGELS
Twig	FAT BRAIN TOYS
Brain Food Thinking Putty	FAT BRAIN TOYS
flattenme Gift Pack	flattenme
WebWilds	FOLKMANIS INC.
Abalone Classic	FOXMIND GAMES (CANADA)
Speaking Spelling Bee	FRANKLIN ELECTRONIC PUBLISHERS
Friends Forever Girl - Marlee	FRIENDS FOREVER GIRLS
Room Makeover Kit - Undersea	FunToSee Limited
When Pigs Fly	FUNDEX GAMES
Boochie™	GAMEWRIGHT
Tri-Cross™	GFC GEORGIA LLC
GIANTmicrobes Petri Dish – Stomach Ache	GIANTMICROBES
Helmet Duvet	GIGIS FOR LITTLE GIRLS
Griddly Headz Baseball Game	GRIDDLY GAMES, INC.
Stack the Trix Mix	HABERMAASS CORP
Bear House and Squirrel Tree – Midi Playboard	HAMA - MALTE HAANING PLASTIC AS
Handstand Kids Mexican Cookbook	HANDSTAND KIDS
Crutch Critters - Skippy	HEIDI'S HOME DESIGN
Cheerleader Funky Folks Gift Set	HERDOOS
Bella Sara™ Native Lights	HIDDEN CITY GAMES
Slider The Unscooter	IDEA MILL LLC
Natural Dream 3D Puzzles – Dragon	IMAGIPLAY
HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creature	INNOVATION FIRST INC.
i-Fly Vamp	INTERACTIVE TOY CONCEPTS LTD.
Mighty World Complete Base Camp Set	INTERNATIONAL PLAYTHINGS
Madi Doll	ITTY BITTY TOY CO.
Race n' Bake	JADEN TOYS
Jazzy Toes Baby Socks: Original Variety for Boys	JAZZIES LLC
Shrinky Dinks Enchanted Kingdom Fun Pack	JOOBLI STUDIO
DEBO™ Superheroes	KAMIBASHI
Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach	KIDS CAN PRESS
Tree House Bugs	KLUTZ
Hoppel Rabbit	KOESEN
Space Age Crystal Growing Kit - Citrine	KRISTAL EDUCATIONAL INC.
Kubit2me Lil' Scholars ABC's & 123's	KUBIT2ME INC.
Head1Liners Board Game	KVALE GOOD NATURED GAMES LLC
On the Go Peel & Stick Jr.	LAURI TOYS
Toobaloo	LEARNING LOFT
Smart Snacks® Counting Fun Fruit Bowl™	LEARNING RESOURCES INC
Periodic Table Playing Cards	LES ENTREPRISES SYNHEME
Tinkerbelle Fairy	LITTLE ADVENTURES
GO Art Watercolor Kit	MAGNETIC POETRY
Manifest Your Magnificence	MAGNIFICENT CREATIONS LIMITEE
Groovy Girls	MANHATTAN TOY
Puzzibits™ Flexible 3D Puzzle Art™ - Ocean Depths	MANHATTAN TOY
Schoolhouse Naturals Push Pulls	MAPLE LANDMARK WOODCRAFT CO.
Xeko Mission: Indonesia	MATTER GROUP LLC
My Invisible Diary	MAZEOLOGY
Senet: The Ancient Tomb Treasures Game	MAZEOLOGY
Flibbix	MERILLIAN
COM-MU'-NI-CA'-TION - A Father Daughter Game	MINDAMICS LLC
TimberKits – The Pianist	MK AND COMPANY
OOgal!	MOUNTAINMEN ENTERPRISES
Robots Magnetic Figures	MUDPUPPY PRESS
ZipBin® Softie™ Wheelie™	NEAT-OH! INTERNATIONAL LLC
MeteorLight L.E.D. Ball - Disc-O	NITE IZE INC.
Pawparazzi Set	NOODLE HEAD INC.
ScienceWiz DNA	NORMAN & GLOBUS
Culture Club Kids	NORTH AMERICAN BEAR
My Own Monster Buster	NORTH AMERICAN BEAR
Zen Benders	OUT OF THE BOX GAMES
Professor Noggin's Extraordinary Women	OUTSET MEDIA
Mini Solar Kit – Valiant Viking Ship	OWI INC.
When I Grow Up Tent & Tunnel Combo	PACIFIC PLAY TENTS INC.
Costume Club Kids™	PADDYWHACK LANE LLC
Cynthia Jabar Woodkins - Diva	PAMELA DRAKE INC.
Food Chain Friends	PINT SIZE PRODUCTIONS
Rubbabu Balls	PLASMART INC.
Sock Monkey Yo-Yo	PLAY VISIONS INC.
PlayMais Fun Farm Activity Box	PLAYMAISUSA LLC
Slinky	POOF-SLINKY
Adventures From the Book of Virtues: The Box Set	PORCHLIGHT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Me & My Plush Mermaid Costume	POSH INTERNATIONAL LTD.
Potty Monkey	POTTYMD
Frog Tennis	PRESSMAN TOY CORP.
Ceratasaur Puppet	PUPPETOYS INC.
Qubits	QUBITS TOY COMPANY
AQube	RENO PUZZLE COMPANY
Sassy Earth Brights Cherry Tree Rattle	SASSY
Schoenhut Fancy Baby Grand Toy Piano w/Bench	SCHOENHUT PIANO CO. INC.
Quiddler	SET ENTERPRISES
Set Cubed	SET ENTERPRISES
Zen™ - A Game of Skill and Balance™	SILLY WILLY TOYS INC.
What's a DAME to do?!	SISTERS 2 INC.
My Belly Button Baby	SMALL WORLD TOYS
Tolo - Shake, Rattle and Roll	SMALL WORLD TOYS
Teething Bling	SMART MOM LLC
ArtLab Horse Drawing Studio	SMARTLAB TOYS
SoundSleep for Babies	SOUNDSCIENCE
Grow-A-Head™ Bugs	SOURCING INTERNATIONAL
Special Edition You Explore It Human Body	SMARTLAB TOYS
Stack & Stick Grande Villa	STACK & STICK
Glow-and-Throw UFO Flying Disc	STAMOS ENTERPRISES
Sweet Shoppe Birthday Party Fabric Creativity Kit	STORYBOOK STUDIO
4th Corner	STRATEGIC SPACE INC.
Blunders	SUCCESSFUL KIDS INC.
Sweeters Pals	SWEETERS
Earlyears Activity Quilt	TAGGIES INC.
Guess What I Am!	TECHNO-SOURCE
Microcontroller	THAMES & KOSMOS
The Family Dinner Box of Questions	THE BOX GIRLS
Nuchi™ 15-Piece Circle Train Set	THE LITTLE LITTLE LITTLE TOY COMPANY
Sticky Mosaics Jewelry Box	THE ORB FACTORY
Think-ets	THINK-A-LOT TOYS
Zingo	THINKFUN
Chocolate Fix	THINKFUN
U.S.A. + World Map Eat, Speak, Explore & Draw Placemat	TOT TALK INC.
Clics	TOYLINKS INC.
FunFlyStick	TOYS i.e. LLC
Pocket Volcano	TOYSMITH
Creepy Worm Ball	TOYSMITH
Wooden Blocks Set	TREE BY KERRI LEE LLC
Sphereplay™ The Starter Kit	TRYOUT TOYS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
Night Yackle	TTALF "TOYS" CORPORATION
Bambooga	UNCLE SKUNKLE TOYS
Banana Split Card Game	US GAMES SYSTEMS
Mini Voxal	VOXAL LLC
Peapod Pig	WARM WHISKERS
Wikki Stix Tons of Fun! Kit	WIKKI STIX
Chimalong XR by Woodstock Music Collection	WOODSTOCK CHIMES
ZinkoTek Building System	ZINKOTEK
Zoo Collection - Bobo the Baboon	ZOOBIES