It’s that time of year again! While it may be snowy, icy and all around dismal here in NYC, toy makers’ latest wares are sizzling under spotlights here at the Javits Center.
These next few days on the west side of Manhattan are all about the next big thing or…the next kid thing, if you will.
For my first day at the fair, I had a long day of scheduled meetings with mostly closed booths. Even though the fair is closed to the public, many bigger companies have closed booths to control traffic, among other reasons.
For day 1, I met with Playmobil, VTech, Moose Toys, Jazwares, Tomy, Educational Insights, Learning Resources, and then PR companies, Freeman and Southard. I’ll have much more photos on Flickr and more details in upcoming posts, but here are som initial thoughts from my day.
I was excited to start my day off at Playmobil, one of my all time favorites. This company, well known for their intricate kid-powered playsets, doesn’t disappoint with their latest upcoming additions. A few sets from their new and upcoming lineup that caught my eye include: the dinosaur set, Playmobil 123 take barn and firestation take along sets, deep sea submarine (which has an underwater motor!) and the pretty sweet pony ranch.
What I’m most looking forward to seeing are the hotel, Pop Star and their piece d’resistance, the Western sets (for which their booth paid a nod!) I particularly loved the rock star vibe of Pop Star, and how it features music playback and complementing lights. Even better, this set is a U.S. exlusive for this global line.
VTech
Vtech which gets a lot of love in our home, undboutedly has a lot of new toys that both of my kids (1 and 5) love.
For babes, Go Go Smart Wheels is an intuitive track and vehicle system for the toddler set. I enjoyed watching the chubby colorful cars go over the smart points, which would relay interesting info about surrounding areas when crossed over.
Innotab 2 Baby caught my eye because I have a baby in this age range and I love/write about tech, too. While I appreciate and know that babies love gadgets as much as most kids and parents, I’m sort of unsure if there’s really a specific need for this. I guess there is, since VTech made it, but I’m such a fan of print, that it’s hard for me to get behind a tablet for babies. It’s geared to 12months and up, but I truly will have to learn more about it first hand to give a thorough review/thoughts.
On the upside, VTech’s Switch and Go Dinos is expanding this awesome line. I’m truly surprised this toy didn’t win accolades for the boy category. (I can confirm this later) The Mega T-Rex/Construction Vehicle can obey commands. Like a robot! Will have a video to update soon!
I have more, but I need to hit the ground running! Will be back with more!
