WAYNE, PA (PRWEB) February 27, 2004
After spending hours playing 20Q and singing E-L-M-O, Grandparents Magazine is ready with its wrap-up of the International Toy Fair in New York. Our mission was not only to discover the hot new toys and trends, but also to learn all about the latest technology so that we could translate it for grandparents everywhere. So, here are the themes from this year's Toy Fair:
Nostalgia
Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Transformers, and Cabbage Patch dolls may seem familiar to you. But do you remember Dream Pets? These were by far our favorite picks from Toy Fair that fit the retro/nostalgia theme. These stuffed animals were originally brought to the United States from Japan in the 1950s. They were so popular that there were more than 2,000
individual characters. Today's Dream Pets by Applause are so cute that both you and your grandchildren will be requesting them! With a retail price of $ 9.99, they're affordable, too. You and your grandchildren can collect all 24 of the current line together. You can create your own stories about their adventures and start a whole new world of communication with your grandkids!
Pre-school trends
Potty training was a big theme this year with Corolle, Fisher-Price, and Zapf-Creation all creating dolls that use the potty. Fisher-Price's doll even features parenting tips for potty training. For parents of boys who know how hard it is to find boy dolls that are anatomically correct, Corolle has just the doll -- and he's got his own blue potty.
Preschoolers who are fans of Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, or Elmo will enjoy the new pretend play and interactive dolls. There is a singing Blue, an Elmo that singes E-L-M-O to the tune of "YMCA" by the Village People, and a Dress-Up Adventure Dora, so that kids can dress Dora in different outfits designed to match her many adventures.
Fisher-Price has also introduced INTERACTV. This interactive learning system enables children to interact and learn with their favorite characters from popular TV shows, right on their own TVs using their home DVD players. The system, to be available in July, features episodes from Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Barney, Sesame Street, and SpongeBob.
Parents who own PlayStation, GameCube, or Xbox will be thrilled with V-Tech's new V.Smile, an education-oriented video game system. This
brilliantly designed system has easy-to-use controllers and offers games with popular characters. The controller is adjustable for either a right-handed or left-handed person to use.
School-age kids
Barbie has another DVD due out in October -- "The Princess and the Pauper." We like the fact that Barbie is involved in the arts. Her
"Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake" DVDs were well done and entertaining. For boys, Mattel is launching interactive Batman toys using VEIL technology.
VEIL (Visibly Encoded Invisible Light) enables the toys to interact with the Batman animated program on television. It sounded a little bit like Big Brother at first, but it's all very benign and purely entertainment driven.
For kids whose passion is building K'Nex has once again taken building to a whole new level. K'Nex has introduced it's Big Air Ball Tower. This outrageous building set was even featured on the Today Show. With over 1,300 pieces it's sure to be builders dream. For alternative building fun that grandparents are doing there are Pixel Blocks. With these translucent building blocks you can create gorgeous colorful creations where your grandchild's only limitation is their imagination. Grandparents are also getting into the swing of Pixel Block using their Digital Stained Glass Creator. You can visit their site, download a picture of your grandchild and it creates a grid of colors and explains exactly how to create your Stained glass creation.
LeapFrog Enterprises won a T.O.T.Y. award for its Leapster, and it's well deserved. The handheld educational game player teaches kids core skills through play. It's also an electronic book reader and interactive video
player. LeapFrog's fall offerings include educational games for grades 1 through 4 based on themes from Disney's new movie "The Incredibles" and DreamWorks' "Shrek 2."
Kid collectors
Items designed for collecting range from trading cards -- including Pokemon, Superior Defender, Knights of the Zodiac, Gundam, and Digimon
to interactive Aquapets from Wild Planet. Aquapets, already a huge hit in Japan, appear to interact with their owners. If you have two or more, they "communicate" with each other. These "pets" come in small vials of water. The first three to be introduced are Kiko, Puki, and Tu.
Meanwhile, tween girls will be talking about Star Sisterz. This collectible charm game features dares and challenges -- all acceptable to parents, of course!
Tweens & Teens
As an ever-growing market, tweens are in the toy industry spotlight. So what's hot, new, and cool? The Bead Shop has created some great tween items. The Chime Time kit consists of glittery and metallic beads that you string together to make a lovely-sounding wind chime. For a cool twist on secret journals, the Fashion Angels Chronicles & Collectibles is a journal scrapbook disguised as a fat book on the shelf. Open the lock, and there are picture frames, drawers, and stickers. A Tween dream!
You can't talk about tween trends and not mention Bratz, the dolls with the passion for fashion. Now MGA Entertainment is launching Bratz Petz: four cool "catz" with distinct fashion personalities. They will have mix-and-match fashion looks to dress 'em up and posable legs and tail to show 'em off. If you thought Bratz were hot, wait till you see these Catz!
Last but not least, what could be more fun then a game of Radica's 20Q at a slumber party? This cool little blue sphere, with its "artificial intelligence," appears to read your mind! To play, think of something ... anything ...then answer a series of 20 questions. If 20Q guesses your thoughts correctly within 20 questions, it wins. If not, you win! It's a blast not only for tweens, but for all ages.
Games
Some old favorites, like Hasbro's Candyland and Operation, get a brand-new look this year. Operation will feature Shrek from DreamWorks' "Shrek 2," and should have kids laughing as they try to remove his earwax without making him buzz. Cranium is introducing three new games: Cranium Zigity, a card game for the whole family; Balloon Lagoon, a carnival game for kids ages 5 and up; and Cranium Turbo Edition for teens. Cranium's Cadoo and Cariboo have won best game honors on our site, and we're sure these new games will be just as great. The demonstration/play we did with the people
at Cranium have us itching to get our hands on the real thing!
Anniversaries
Madeline, the classic literary heroine, celebrates her 65th birthday in 2004 with a whole new look. RC2 will be offering a new line of age-appropriate role-play dolls, including "My First Madeline." G.I. Joe turns 40 and doesn't look a day over 29! Hasbro's bringing out a collection of replicas and accessories packaged like the vintage dolls. They should appeal to all generations from grandpa down to grandson. Also, the original "Star Wars" trilogy is coming out on DVD, and Hasbro will be introducing the Trilogy Collection, which will include Basic Figures like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader, as well as two themed waves of newly sculpted figures.
So what will be the hottest toys of 2004? We have our guesses, but we'll wait for all our toy testers to review products, and we'll tell you their results!
About Grandparents Magazine
Katrina Hayday Wester, founder of Grandparents Magazine. Determined to give grandparents a resource to find fun, free things to do on the Internet with their grandchildren, she launched Grandparents. Grandparents Magazine offers articles, song lyrics, and links to coloring pages, sweepstakes and more. Become a member and you?ll get a monthly newsletter with articles, recipes, craft ideas and the best part is that membership is free! Visit http://www.grandparentsmagazine.net and join in on the fun ? it?s not just for grandparents!
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