Hot Toys for 2010
Toy-makers show off their new gear at the annual American International Toy Fair
BY CLAUDIA ATTICOT AND VICKIE AN
This week, thousands of toy-makers from all over the world came together in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, in New York City, to kick off the 107th American International Toy Fair. This is a chance for companies to show off their hot new products for 2010. Which toy will be the must-have item of the year? Will old favorites win out over high-tech gadgets? TFK visited the big event for a sneak peek at what might soon be showing up in a toy store near you.
American International Toy Fair 2010
Bringing the Board Game Back
Old favorites have experienced a rise in sales, say trend-followers like Amazon. "Arts-and-crafts kits, building sets, things that you can use and reuse, and things you can get multiple uses out of tend to do well," Amazon's Sarah Wood Utter told TFK. The company has found that board games are a big seller when the economy is not doing well.
This year, toy-makers are cutting their prices to make their products more affordable. Several new toys will be marked at $25 or less when they hit store shelves later this year. "People will be shocked to see how inexpensive some of these products are," Adrienne Appell, spokesperson for the Toy Industry Association, told TFK. "It's pennies for play."
Classic card- and board-game maker Winning Moves is making some moves of its own to help out in the bad economy. The company has partnered with Guinness World Records to create a trivia game, based on the best-selling record books. The game is packed full of activities and props. Players take turns completing challenges based on actual records found in the books.
Create Your Own
LEGO has decided to put a new twist on board games. For the first time, the company is releasing constructible board games that kids can build and rebuild to create new games. "With a variety of game types, buildable game boards and changeable rules, no two LEGO Games experiences are ever the same," says game-developer Reiner Knizia, who helped the company invent the games.
Groovy Gadgets
As old favorites step into the spotlight, so do high-tech gadgets, from the Barbie doll that doubles as a video camera, to Puppy Tweets, a tag worn by your pet that posts up to 500 prerecorded tweets on your pet's Twitter account based on the dog's activity level. So if your dog is running around the backyard all morning, you might get a tweet from her that says, "I finally caught that tail I've been chasing and...OOUUUCHH!" But if you can't have a real pet, an interactive one like Hasbro's Furry Frenzies might do the trick. There are six to choose from, including Buster Bow Wow, the goofy puppy, and Captain Crash, the sneaky raccoon.
And for preschoolers who've been longing for an e-reader just like the ones the grown-ups have, the wait is over. Two toy giants are going head to head, each with a new handheld gadget it describes as Kindle for kids. Fisher Price introduced the iXL, a handheld device for kids 3 to 6 years old, which has six applications, including a game-player, art studio and storybook. VTech launched FLiP? the world's first animated e-reader for kids. Both toys promise to be at the top of kids' holiday gift lists this year.
As of many famous toys, these toys like Monopoly, LEGO, Barbie Dolls, are making some new gadgets. Like Monopoly, no more paper cash is made. Credit cards can keep track of accounts. But also, old Monopoly games have square boards and rectangular boxes. But at the new version of Monopoly, this time, no boxes are made, and the game board is a circle! Monopoly’s is going 75 this year, and I really don’t know this new kind of game board is used, and it changed my mind of only square game boards. Other toys like LEGO, which it can let you make your own game board, and Barbie Dolls, which isn’t only a doll after all. This new kind of doll has a video camera. As I know, these new kind of toys are cooler than the old ones, and I also like to buy the new toys and play!
