stuffed animals – The Next Kid Thing

Quirky Toy Fair Finds

February 26, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With every Toy Fair that I attend, I come away with a good idea of the direction that toy makers are going. In terms of toys, we’re getting more tech-enabled, yet we’re riding the throwback wave. I try to mentally catalog the cool new toys and how the kids will receive them. As the experts say, ultimately, it’s the kids who deem the cool factor of these shiny new toys and games.

BUT… that’s not to say that the Toy Fair showroom floor doesn’t have its crazy aspects. There are some crazy-cuckoo ideas and then there are some crazy-cool ideas, too. And then, there’s the quirky things that find their way home with me. And by quirky, of course I mean unique!

So, here’s a round up of a few things that I found quirky-cool.

Lady Gaga Brush Buddies

Ok, so, I love Gaga. I would go as far as saying that I secretly wish I could be one of her little Monsters. But alas, I’ll just continue to rock out to Paparazzi full blast while carting my kids around in the car. Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll rock out to “Born this Way” as I brush my teeth. What!

Brush Buddies features a replaceable brush head and two buttons to play two different songs. Each song plays for 2 minutes, which is the dentist-recommended time for brushing teeth. This Lady Gaga Brush plays Born this Way and, aptly, Teeth.

Rabbids

Who doesn’t need a collectible rabid, um, punk rock rabbit? Inspired by the hit video game-turned popular Nickelodeon show, Rabbids Invasion Toys embrace the quirkiness of these characters known for their wild antics.

This line, which is a part of McFarlane Toys, features a new lineup of crazy toys that include a sound blaster, action figures, plush and blind packs such as this. As you can imagine, each Rabbid is just as crazy as the next.

Lil Bub

Unbeknownst to me, Lil Bub is a full-blown internet sensation; as in, she has upwards to 357k followers on Instagram, 34K followers on Twitter and very own Wikipedia page—celebrity status. Lil Bub, who was born with several genetic mutations, has a short lower jaw and toothlessness which makes her tongue always hang out.

She also has osteoporosis and short legs, which is said to restrict her movement. She’s doing well thanks to her owner and therapy. Lil Bub’s story has been a heartwarming sensation; her owner has sold Lil Bub merchandise to benefit animal shelters.
Lil Bub will now have her very own plush to benefit even more great causes. My cat has made a friend with the plush Lil’ Bub.

Mad Lab from Fairy Dust

While walking the aisles of Toy Fair, I’m always on the hunt for something different, even if it’s totally gross. Fairy Dust, makers of girly bath gels, lip gloss, sugar scrubs and DIY bath product stations often found at little girl spas, made me stop in my tracks when I spotted their bowl of eyeballs and zombie heads. Amidst the pink and sparkly backdrop, with table after table of beautiful tubs of lotion and soap, in one corner sat a gross-looking selection of stuff that I knew my boy would LOVE.

I made my very own tub of bath gel with a green soap that pumped out like ooze, threw in a layer of sparkles, plus a few zombie heads, eyeballs and a finger for good measure. Oh, and the finger? It unscrews and is a bubblewand.

As crazy as it looks, it was an absolute hit with my zombie and gross stuff-loving dude. Bath time has never been more crazy.

Emoji Icons

Everyone loves Emojis, right? The fact that emoticons are now embedded into our vernacular says a lot about us. Emoji Icons extended everyone’s love for our digital expressions of emotion. They made Emojis into a bracelet that can be personalized and it features the fun little faces and even the quirky little poop icon. ha!

Rattlesnake Eggs

Now, this last one wasn’t a toy sample or anything. It was actually given to me in a trade show survival kit from one of my favorites, Prince Lionheart.

The kit was so memorable and functional; I ate the granola bar and used an Advil that was included in the kit. But the rattlesnake eggs, well, that knocked me off my socks! I got a kick out of it, for sure! If you’ve ever seen something like this before, I’m sure you know what I mean!

Toy Fair 2014 Day 2: Moose Toys, VTech, BToys, Hasbro, Skylanders and More

February 19, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Even though Toy Fair is winding down on day 4 now, I thought I’d share some thoughts from a few days ago.

By the middle of day 2 of Toy Fair, I was thinking about how many new toys I had just previewed. Nonetheless, it was a good variety of new toys, some good, others not so much.

I started the day by meeting with Pillow Pets, the makers of the plush pets/pillows. The brand has a variety of new characters joining their already robust lineup. They’re also introducing an inspirational line with faith-inspired sayings and designs featured. The highlight of their new offerings, however, are Tricksters, a line of bike helmets with the plush characters on top of the helmet. Stuffed animals meet function and safety.

I checked out Moose Toys’ latest wares, which included the latest series of Trashies and Ugglys. Moose Toys, known for their gross factor and great girly crafts, are set to release lifelike electronic pets. The Little Live Pets look and feel real, without all the fuss.

The butterfly pets have a cool fluttering feature that seems so tranquil and the birds look so exotic and cool.

My personal favorite from Moose’s new line up are Shopkins, which is being dubbed as Trashies for girls.

These tiny collectibles are shaped as food items that you’d find at a grocery store. Emblazoned with cutesy faces with lots of pink throughout the line, this new line of toys from Moose will be a hit with girls looking for that next big collectible.

B. Toys, one of my absolute favorite toy lines has some great beach toys coming out this year. Ranging in size, the beach toys are grouped into sets featuring gender-neutral pieces.

Perhaps one of the most eye-catching elements of this line is the jewel-toned color scheme. I’m always a fan of the musical instruments from B. Toys, and that makes no exception for the beautiful carousel bells.

In my travels, I found several new toys including baby toys constructed from plant materials and silicone and other cool baby accessories. I discovered Sand Alive, which is one of my favorite play materials, something I think would be ideal for OT and Early Intervention. I found this sand product in other booths, sometimes referred to as Kinetic Sand. In particular, I’ll definitely be checking out where I can get these for my guy now.

Surprisingly, I haven’t found too many Rainbow Loom accessories. Rainbow Loom, who isn’t at the show, but won four Toy of the Year awards. I did find, however, Loomey Time, which is a company that creates time pieces that are compatible with Rainbow Loom bracelets

VTech was my next appointment of the day. At this electronic toy maker’s meeting room, I had a chance to preview the highlights in their line’s new toys. The Switch and Go Dinos have a new starting point and also a a cool RC car joining this popular lineup.

I checked out Playmobil who had a cool offering up new toys. Their warrior line is the main focus, with dragons and fairies as awesome focal points, too.

Skylanders showcased a few new characters being released for Swap Force. My favorite? Springtime Trigger happy which will be available in the next few months.

Hasbro was the highlight of my day because it meant that I got to see Transformers, Super Heroes, Sesame Street, Ponies and much more. There was so much to see and check out in their showroom, but a few of my favorite highlights were definitely Dohvinci, a new take on Play-Doh, but much more malleable and can be released in a hot glue gun-like device. The Star Wars toys, too, look to be incredible, as well as the Marvel Mashers which are my absolute favorite thing right now. Elmo has a new toy, which touts his imagination and use of hats. My Little Pony has a quite a few new offering such as a DIY pony line and rockstar Equestria Girls.

There was so much fun to see and check out, I’ll be sure to share more soon.

Build-A-Bear and St. Jude Kick Off Cause for Celebration

March 7, 2011March 7, 2011 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Mondays are usually unbearable for me, but not today. Today, in fact, will involve…well, a few bears. We’ll be at the Build-A-Bear flagship store in NYC helping Build-A-Bear Workshop and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital kick off their new partnership, Cause for Celebration.

In an effort to make even more children happy, Cause for Celebration is a national fundraising partnership between Build-A-Bear Workshop and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Starting today, party hosts will have a Cause for Celebration: those who schedule a party at any Build-A-Bear Workshop store have the option of adding an additional $10 dollar donation to their party. Their entire ten dollar donation will be directed to St. Jude to support research and treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The charitable aspect of the party goes both ways: In honor of each Guest donation to the hospital to help with research and treatment, Build-A-Bear Workshop will give a St. Jude patient a gift card to any Build-A-Bear Workshop.

To celebrate the launch of Cause for Celebration in NYC, Marlo Thomas, the national spokesperson for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Maxine Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop will be onhand to meet fellow partygoers.

Check it

Even if you’re not hosting a party, during the month of March, you can still make a donation to St. Jude’s during the check-out process at any store or at buildabear.com

In line with the launch of the Cause for Celebration program, Build-A-Bear Workshop is giving their Facebook fans with the opportunity to win a “Cause for Celebration” party valued at $300 for themselves and friends. Build-A-Bear Workshop will award one party each month from March through August. All participants in this contest will be entered to win the grand prize, a Build-A-Party celebration valued at $500 and plus a $500 contribution to St. Jude made in their name. Check out their Facebook page for more details.

Photo credit: Marlothomas.com

TOTY: Best Toys and Games Honored at TF11

February 24, 2011 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Toy Fair may have been a grand stage to unveil the latest and greatest toys, but it was also the perfect backdrop to honor the best innovations from the previous year.

To kick off Toy Fair, the Toy Industry Association held their annual Toy of The Year Awards Celebration at a gala at Lincoln Center. I may not have attended the event, but I “watched” from a distance on Twitter. Among the best in show included many NKT faves such as LeapFrog, Crayola, Squinkies and Hexbug, with Mattel’s Sing-a-ma-jigs nabbing the Toy of the Year title.

Here’s the list of this year’s TOTY winners:

Meet the Freaky Pets

November 5, 2010November 5, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

If you think all plush toys are all cute and cuddly, then you’re partially right. Combine cute and cranky, then you’ve got this new line of plush pets called Freaky Pets.

At first glance these imaginary creatures are sweet and innocent, then with a quick tuck, the Freaky Pets reveal their cranky alter ego.

The Hub Debuts; Fraggle Rock Toys Live On

October 13, 2010October 13, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

In case you haven’t heard all the hubbub (pun intended), The Hub, a new kid’s channel debuted on 10/10/10. If you’re a longtime NKT reader, you may remember that I posted last year about the then-yet-to-be-named Hub, which is a collaborative effort between Hasbro and The Discovery Communications.

So far, from what I’ve seen, reviews of the this new channel have been positive, especially with the emphasis on co-viewing. Although the shows are a collection of familiar brands that our kids love, there are also a few shows that may make you nostalgic for your own childhood. I’m talking about Fraggle Rock! It’s so awesome to see them back on tv again, even if they are reruns. I’m digging The Hub’s programming choices and appreciate their tactics for integrating family viewership.

If there’s a show, as you know, toys will follow. Manhattan Toys is helping reignite the Fraggle Rock love with their line of plush toys and puppets. While at the Time to Play Holiday Showcase, I literally stopped in my tracks when I spotted Red on the Jim Henson Company’s table.

Manhattan Toys has a line of Fraggle Rock plush and puppets, ranging from Red to Wembley to Traveling Matt. No word yet if the Garbage Heap will make an appearance.

Like a lovesick school girl, I think I rambled on way too long to the Jim Henson Company’s publicist about my love for Fraggle Rock. Here’s to hoping my kid loves these sing-songy creatures as much as I do. Manhattan Toys’ Fraggle Rock plush can be found on their site, as well as at The Fraggle Rock Store.

Time to Play Announces Holiday Must Haves

October 1, 2010October 1, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

It’s October, and fall is officially in full swing. (How did that happen so quickly?)

Even though the season is just now starting to change, media and bloggers alike have had the holidays in mind for months now. In fact, I think I went to my first holiday preview back in May?

Nevertheless, I’m excited once again to curate—what I consider—cool new kid gear that would make fun gift for the holidays. But this week, to get the season started right, I had the chance to attend Time to Play magazines Holiday Showcase here in NYC.

The pros, Chris Byrne, content director, and Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TimetoPlayMag.com unveiled Time to Play’s Most Wanted list, the 16 toys they predict will be the “must haves” for the upcoming holiday season. And once again, NKT was onhand to check things out and tweet all about it.

And here they are, TimetoPlayMag.com’s Most Wanted List for the 2010 Holiday Season:

AIR HOGS MOTO FRENZY
(Spin Master/Ages 8 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)

DISNEY PRINCESS & ME DOLLS
(JAKKS Pacific/Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $49.99)

HOT WHEELS R/C STEALTH RIDES
(Mattel/Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)

LEAPSTER EXPLORER
(LeapFrog/Ages 4 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $69.99)

LEGO Games – LEGO Systems
(LEGO/Ages 7 years & up/Approx. Retail Price $29.99)

LOOPZ
(Mattel/Ages 7 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $29.99)

MONSTER HIGH Dolls
(Mattel/Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $16.99)

NERF N-STRIKE STAMPEDE ECS Blaster
(Hasbro/Ages 8 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $49.99)

PAPER JAMZ
(WowWee/Ages 5 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)

REAL CONSTRUCTION
(JAKKS Pacific/Ages 5 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)

SCRABBLE FLASH
(Hasbro/Ages 8 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $29.99)

SING-A-MA-JIGS
(Mattel/Ages 3 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $12.99)

SQUINKIES
(Blip Toys/Ages 4 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $6.99)

TONKA CHUCK & FRIENDS CHUCK’S STUNT PARK Playset
(Hasbro Playskool/Ages 3 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $39.99)

V.READER
(VTech/Ages 3 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $59.99)

ZOOBLES
(Spin Master/Ages 4 years & up/ Approx. Retail Price: $4.99)

They also highlighted three family-friendly video games, which include:

Kirby’s epicYarn
Epic Mickey
Dance Central

Most of the toys at the showcase were toys that I’ve had the chance to check out at Toy Fair, at media previews or have even been dubbed NKT faves, so some of the “must haves” were no surprise. They’re all great picks, but I have several more on my radar that I think should’ve made the mark. I’ll be sure to share those in my holiday gift guide, which is coming soon.

Do you guys see any toys that you think might be the “it” toy this year?

Whatever you think might be hot, put it on your radar NOW. Time to Play’s sage advice for consumers and industry insiders alike: “If you see it early, grab it early.”

Gift Idea: PetCakes Combine What Kids Crave

August 13, 2010August 13, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

One of the best aspects of staying with our family* for the past few weeks is that we’ve been able to hang out with my husband and kid’s cousins. Since I don’t have a daughter, these two adorable little girls have helped me better grasp the latest in cool girl play things.

I typically cover girls’ products, trying my best to go beyond princesses and dolls. Ultimately, many girls love princesses and other girly-ish toys, but other that, what else is there? Two words: cupcakes and pets.

I was introduced to Petcakes, a new collectible plush toy, at the Time to Play Spring and Summer Showcase. Well Made Toys, the brains behind these plush toys, had the foresight to combine two things that many girls crave: lovable pets and the ongoing trend of cupcakes.

Disney Pook-A-Looz are Cute, Edgy and Sweet

June 9, 2010June 9, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

I’ve been reading some blurbs about the Licensing Expo that was recently held in Vegas. Of the interesting information that was dispersed from the annual show that showcases all the hottest licenses in the industry, I was interested to see this one from Disney Consumer Products, which I’ll get into later.

Speaking of Disney, at the Time to Play Spring and Summer Showcase, Disney Consumer Products had a diverse selection of their latest toys. Aside from the much-hyped Toy Story and the ever-popular Princesses toys, DCP had some new, but familiar faces.

DCP recently introduced Pook-A-Looz, a plush line of their classic characters who have received a modern-meets-vintage twist. That probably doesn’t make too much sense, but according to Disney, Pook-A-Looz were designed to capture the personalities of iconic Disney characters in an edgy, offbeat way. They’re said to be inspired by the urban vinyl toy culture, which began in Asia a decade ago.

Toy Fair 2010: They Call it Puppy Love

February 23, 2010March 3, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

In perhaps every imaginable shade of pink on the spectrum, Toy Fair 2010 offered a glimpse of some of the girliest toys a girl could imagine.

Beyond the obvious girl toys–dolls– Toy Fair showcased a lot of girls’ (and guys’) best friends, too. Continuing the ongoing trend of taking stuffed animals to the next dimension, here are just a few of the many, many pet-themed toys I learned about at Toy Fair.

Littlest Pet Shop

One of Hasbro’s best selling girls properties that are best known for their cute, beady eyes, The Littlest Pet Shop, has quite a few new goodies this year. Just a few of the many new additions to their line include the Rescue Tails Center that will give girls a platform to care for their pets. This set comes with an ambulance with a light-up X-ray machine and plenty of accessories to provide thorough check-ups. Retail Price: $39.99/Available: Fall 10