Playskool – The Next Kid Thing

Coolest Star Wars Toys from Hasbro

December 18, 2015December 18, 2015 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Like so many of you, we are in total Star Wars mode these days. In honor of the long awaited debut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I thought I’d share some of the new Star Wars toys from Hasbro. Back in September, my family was invited to the Global Day of Play where bloggers and other media were invited to play with all of the newly released Star Wars toys. I can’t even begin to describe how excited we all were to geek out with these awesome toys.

Hasbro has a huge selection of Star Wars-branded toys, ranging from toys for preschoolers in their Playskool line to board games to role playing games to cool items for collectors. Because there’s something for Star Wars fans of all ages, my entire family loved being among the first ones to get a look at the Next Kid Things from Hasbro.

There was so much to see and try out, but our favorites include:

Playskool Heroes Star Wars Series

I love the Playskool Heroes Star Wars Series because of its chunky characters and easy to handle vehicles and accessories. Preschoolers like my little guy love these Star Wars sets because they’re more age-appropriate and perfect for open-ended creative play. ($4.99-39.99)

Blade Builders
My older Star Wars fan loved creating his own powerful Lightsaber with the Blade Builders set. By connecting and twisting various different weapons, young Jedis can create their own custom Lightsaber that boasts realistic sounds to be used in battle. ($49.99)

Play-Doh Can Heads

My Play-Doh fanatic can’t get enough of the Star Wars themed Can Heads. I love the way the cans become characters and can be included in open play patterns. Little Padawans can mold and sculpt their favorite Star Wars shapes with these fun sets. ($9.99-19.99)

Kylo Ren Black Series Lightsaber
This super sleek lightsaber is geared to the collectors and die hard fans. It has solid features, light effects, movie sound effects, 3 blades and metal hilt. ($199.99)

Star Wars Mr. Potato Head
What better way to introduce Star Wars to the toddler and preschool set than with the iconic Mr. Potato Head toys. Mr. Potato Head takes on the Dark Side with all the coolest Star Wars accessories. Choose from Frylo Ren, Darth Tater, Spud Trooper and more. ($9.99-19.99)

BB-8
Ok, so, like everyone else, we want BB-8 for ourselves. Biggie loved maneuvering the RC BB-8 and had a great time navigating the Dark Side obstacle course. This BB-8 boasts movie-accurate sounds and expressive droid sounds, just as one would imagine.

We absolutely loved getting our hands on all of these fun toys. To say we were over the moon with excitement at the Global Day of Play was a total understatement. Check out the highlights from the Star Wars Global Day of Play to see these toys and more in action! Biggie was so giddy to train with a Jedi and Littles, my Play-Doh fanatic, LOVES Can Heads!

I truly can’t pick a fave, the whole day was such a treat. If you’re Star Wars fans like we are, I have no doubt that some of these fun goodies are on those wish lists.

Thank you to Hasbro for hosting us at the Star Wars Global Day of Play.

Review: Playskool Stack ‘n Spin Monkey Gears

September 22, 2014October 8, 2014 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Playtime for Littles is usually quite colorful and musical lately. Because he plays so much as part of therapy, unstructured play usually involves building and tinkering and lots of singing, too!

We had the chance to check out Playskool Stack n Spin Monkey Gears , which Littles totally loves! The Stack ’n Spin isn’t a new concept, but the combination of that familiar Playskool monkey makes this version even more fun.

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With lots of twinkling lights, melodic chimes and spinning gears, the Stack ’n Spin Monkey Gears keeps toddlers engaged. Tots can stack and arrange the various gears; once they’re done, they can push a button to watch and listen to their handiwork.

This toy encourages creativity, logic and cause and effect. By arranging the gears, kids work on their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. What’s great about this toy is that babies to preschoolers can get in on the Monkeying action.

My tinkerer absolutely loves puzzles, music and monkeys, so the Playskool Stack ’n Spin Monkey Gears makes for a go-to toddler toy.

The Playskool Stack ’n Spin Monkey Gears can be found at major retailers such as Toys ‘R Us and Target, as well as online at Amazon.com.

Affordability and Accessibility at Toy Fair

February 19, 2010 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Apologies for the lack of posts, but as Toy Fair wrapped up, I had my own wrapping up to do, to the tune of 3,000 photos and bags upon bags of flyers and flashdrives of press kits. I’m sure you noticed, but I did much more Facebooking and Tweeting than updating over here, simply because internet access was scarce in the media room. But I digress…

For my First Toy Fair, this was an exciting and extremely productive event. I was been able to meet with a number of the big companies to hear about their latest and greatest, but, as you know, I also love learning about the smaller, lesser known companies as well.

I’ll try not to be redundant in my posts, as I’m sure a few of you have read some of my updates already. So, as I continue to wrap my brain around all of these toys, I thought I’d offer a quick update. Next week, I’ll go through a myriad of topics, but for now I thought I’d talk about what I saw and relate it to what the “real” experts had to say.

Several of the “Toy Experts” have cited accessibility and affordability as prominent themes throughout the event. Obviously, I’m no expert, but as a parent and writer who seeks out these trends, I’m always drawn to see how it all fits.

Generally speaking, of all the modern and attention-grabbing products, I found, for the most part, many new products were being marketed as affordable. Of course, affordability is a subjective term in this context, but nonetheless, affordability is a burgeoning theme throughout this industry.

Heavily influenced by the turbulent economic crisis and volatile job market, companies recognize the consumers’ needs, thus emphasizing affordability of their new products. There’s so many to include in the affordable category, but since I met with MegaBloks, Goldberger and ImagiPlay, these companies come to mind. All three of these companies had seemingly different new products to showcase that were tailored for budget-minded families.

MegaBloks, well known for their Preschool Construction Toys, had several new items that I know my kid would love, most notably the new Thomas construction train sets, which are in the $20 range. Goldberger had a variety of dolls I loved, but the new Lily dolls from their eco-friendly line are under $20. ImagiPlay, as one of my favorite sites tweeted, is pioneering the eco-affordable toys, especially with their new yoyos

But, perhaps accessibility of toys is most noticeable in the size of toys. As the toy experts said, many toys were compact, condensed and suitable for on-the-go play.

For both boys and girls, from tiny tots to teens, compact toys ranged from new variations of plush rattles as seen in Playskool’s new Gloworld line to wooden playsets such as the ones from ImgaiPlay to electronic readers like VTech Toy’s Flip to the new bikes like those from Tech Deck.

(I’m still updating photos, but I’ll be sure to update as soon as they’re all up!)

Kidz haz cheezburger: Play-Doh Burger Builder

August 28, 2009August 28, 2009 by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Play-Doh has cooked up some new items, specifically, some new food sets, some of which are set to roll out this fall. With school starting up for many, the unofficial end of summer might be imminent, but the kids can BBQ all year round with the Play-Doh Burger Builder. With the Burger Builder, kids can press, knead and “cook” up their own burgers and all the “fixins” (That’s how they say it back home) How ever they might like their burgers—lettuce, tomato, pickles, fries on the side—the possibilities are endless with the Play-Doh Burger Builder.

Play-Doh Burger Builder

We had the chance to check out this latest set, which, like all of its timeless playsets, the Play-Doh Burger is entertaining for boys and girls. Even with the various pieces, it’s easy put together and take apart. It comes with five small canisters of Play-Doh, and the cool looking molds. Even with all the glorious electronics out on the market, there’s nothing like good old fashioned play with classic toys that encourage creativity. I love that the allure of Play-Doh will never get old. Anyone remember the Fun Factory?

The sets are recommended for kids 3 and up, but in my opinion, I’d push that age range to whenever kids “get it.” I know some parents might think of Play-Doh, as one of “those” toys, but really, if the kids get it, then it’s much more fun for everyone.

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The Play-Doh Burger Builder can be found at toys stores and will retail for $15.99.

In addition to the new Burger Builder set, Play-Doh has rolled out the Spaghetti Factory where, you guessed it: kids can create a spectrum of noodles, meatballs and even shrimp. And for all all the budding Star Wars Fans, keep your eyes out for the R2-D2 playset.

But, Happy Friday, I’ve got the Play-Doh Burger Builder playset for one of you!

Want it?
Just tell me any of the items that you can make with the Burger Builder!

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