Fabulous Toys

After being not so nice about some of the weird toys that were shown off at London Toy Fair 2007, here are some of the newest toys that I thought were simply fab.

Halilit’s bath toy range featuring foam letters, numbers, clocks, dominos, mirror, and my favorite – a foam fishing game!

Perfect Petzzz are the most adorable life-like sleeping kitties and puppies. I was astonished to see their chest rise up and down and to touch their soft fur. “Each pet comes with its own Adoption Certificate, Petzzz Carrier, Collar and Petzzz Bed. Perfect Petzzz breathe for up to 4 months on 2 ‘D’ Alkaline batteries (not included)” Seen at the Selkin booth.

Dotty Dinosaurs game from Orchard Toys. “Can you help the dotty dinosaurs to find their missing spots? Throw the dice to match shapes or colours and be the first to cover your dinosaur board in this fun game for young players. Two games in one.”

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Weird Toys

Welcome, Boing Boing readers! Stay a while and have some fun then come back again tomorrow. It’s always playtime here at Play Library!

At the London Toy Fair, I picked up a new product listing catalog and Toy News magazine. Here are some of the weirdest toys I saw. If you can explain their appeal, please leave a comment!

Bamz Interactive insoles that you put inside your shoe and talk when you walk. You can program whatever messages you like.

Gymkids Cyberbike and other exercise equipment for kids. Speaking as someone who hates the gym, I’d rather get the kids outdoors walking and running around. Perhaps ok for winter months during bad weather but I can’t imagine gym equipment being that much fun for anyone let alone kids.

Stikfas and Cuboyds figures with interchangeable parts. There’s a whole range that will appeal to the collector in every child but their featureless faces freak me out! Cuboyds are a litte cuter, though, and I think my son would enjoy playing with them. Quite honestly, they look like pocket money toys given out as party favors.

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London Toy Fair Adventure Part 5: Reflections

Over the past few days, I’ve been going over some of my favorite finds at the 2007 London Toy Fair (at least those that I had time to see during my short one hour there). You may have noticed that I haven’t highlighted any toys from the major brands, such as Fisher Price, Hasbro, or Wowee. And the reason is that their particular sections of the convention hall were fortresses where none shall enter unless they know the secret password.

I regret not having taken a picture of the way these big toy companies set themselves up at Toy Fair. (I got camera shy after being told off at the Fashion Angels booth.) Unlike the smaller booths where people are free to wander in and out, these sanctums have four walls with windows cut into them so you can take a peek inside or only display windows with select merchandise. To get in, you have to go up to the counter set-up at the entrance of the booth and make an appointment. Actually, I’m not sure how to make an appointment because when I cluelessly went up to one, I was told that they were awfully busy that first day (media day) and that I should try again later. When later? I didn’t have time for later!

As for “busy”? Toy Fair was far from busy as far as I could see. The aisles had barely anyone and most of the stalls were full of employees talking to one another. It wasn’t much different at the larger companies but I suspect I was there too early to catch the hoopla with celebrities and swarms of press photographing inanimate objects.

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London Toy Fair Adventure Part 4: Le Toy Van

Strangely, dolls really appealed to me on my fast-paced roam through London Toy Fair (here are parts 1, 2, and 3 of my toy fair adventure). The next set of dolls that I thought was absolutely precious was the Fairyland range by Le Toy Van. Made of wood, the main characters in Fairyland are Rose Rabbit, Lizzy Fairy, Billy Bee Fairy, and Sweetpea Fairy. Who can resist the cheerfully orange pumpkin theatre (pictured) and whimsical lavender teapot cafe?

Le Toy Van also makes castles such as the Skull Fortress pictured below and other imaginative wooden toys that allow children to create their own fantasylands.

Le Toy Van toys can be found primarily in the UK and Ireland (links above are to Amazon.co.uk – aff).

Tags: le toy van, wooden toys, castles, doll houses, dolls, fairies, toys, children, kids, family, parenting, fun, toy fair

London Toy Fair Adventure Part 3: Fashion Angels

Continuing my series on London Toy Fair 2007. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.

After having some fun with the Aquapalz virtual pets, the Fashion Angels beckoned. Kerri and I have written mostly about Barbie and Bratz dolls but Fashion Angels seem like a better alternative to either. Produced by The Bead Shop, Fashion Angels are larger than the average Barbie or Bratz doll at 15 inches and are plush dolls instead of plastic. Their faces are embroidered and they wear wigs that can be changed.

The Fashion Angel Living Doll pictured is named Debo. Her profile says that she loves to design fashion and hope to have her own clothing line. Her pet peeves are school uniforms and people without their own original style. (Judgmental little thing, isn’t she?) The multicultural Fashion Angels also includes Bebe, Izzy, and Lulu (very Sloane).

Although Fashion Angels might not appeal to mothers who are above such frivolities , they are well made and perky rather than trashy (Bratz) and not so provocative (Barbie). Their wardrobe is amazing – glitter, sequens, and leopard print trims all sturdily tailored for endless changes of ensemble. Fashion Angels Enterprises also include a vast range of accessories including doll houses, sketchbooks, pens, magnetic dress-up doll sets, and Design Studio Sets where children can design clothing for 15-inch paper dolls. Their website also has a Fan Club where kids can send in their fashion designs. I was pretty impressed with the children’s creations.

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London Toy Fair 2007 Adventure Part 2

Once I finished ogling the Nikko R2-D2 multimedia entertainment system at Toy Fair yesterday, I popped right across and found Gamze, a division of Nikko that produces small handheld electronic toys similar to the Tamagotchi. Their newest this year is the Aquapalz fishies you see here.

Nikko UK describes Aquapalz Virtual Pets:

Aqualpalz are cute virtual marine pets available in Tropical Fish, Dolphins, and Jelly Fish pets. Featuring a touch-sensitive screen for you to communicate with your Aquapalz, there are 3 interactive games to play and you can watch your pet play in its very own aquatic playground.

The most impressive part of Aquapalz is its ability to flip ends no matter which side you hold up! So you can play with it even while it hangs on your neck or when holding it in your hand. Aquapalz are also Skype-enabled and you can dock it in the base you see in the poster below and play PC games with it.

Tags: aquapalz, gamez, nikko, electronic handheld games, children, kids, toys, toy fair, family, parenting

Nikko Star Wars R2D2 Mobile Entertainment System

Here’s a video of the R2-D2 I mentioned earlier in part 1 of my series on London Toy Fair 2007.

Tags: r2d2, r2-d2, nikko r2d2 mobile entertainment system, robots, star wars, toys, children, kids, family, parenting

My London Toy Fair 2007 Adventure Part 1

This morning, I was all psyched to go to London Toy Fair until I drew back the curtains and saw this:

Snow! For the first time since I moved to London a year ago, there was snow. We had a lot of fun playing in it but I knew it would be trouble.

The subway train I needed to take was severely delayed so a journey that should have taken me one and a half hours ended up taking two and a half hours. As the announcements rang through the stations, I wondered if I should even bother at all but I forged on. I didn’t want to waste my first opportunity to attend a trade show as a memeber of the Press.

Welcome to Toy Fair!

I pinned on my badge and grabbed the official Toy Fair bag for brochures and other materials.

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We’re Going to London Toy Fair!

With the exception of one person who didn’t care whether I was going to London Toy Fair or not, I wanted to thank everyone who offered encouragement and support when I was busy stressing myself out yesterday. I especially appreciate the folks at Toyology who sent me a private email urging me to go and to bring my son with me. They’re experienced trade show goers who know what it’s like so the email went a long way towards calming my nerves. I hope I’ll get to meet the toyologists in person next week!

The London Toy Fair will be the first non-science related trade show I’ve ever been to and the first I attend as press. I can’t wait until next Wednesday partly because I’m still not sure if I can manage to get myself in! But I will try to be my most charming and persistent self. *cough*

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Should I go to London Toy Fair?

Am I insane? I am trying to organize myself to attend next week’s Toy Fair as a member of the media and am starting to have second thoughts.

First of all, from my house to the exhibition center takes at least an hour and a half so if I have to pick up my four-year-old from school mid-afternoon, that gives me only about two hours at the Fair (and three-plus hours commuting) each day on the safe side. The other option is to bring my son since press are allowed to bring their children, but that would mean I’d have to keep an eye on him instead of taking as many pictures or talking to as many people as I would like. And, of course, if he were in a bad mood that day, it wouldn’t be any fun at all. Although how could he be in a bad mood when surrounded by the newest and latest toys?!

In any case, I seem unable to register via their online form right now. If I can’t manage to do that then all bets are off. Not to mention that since all my work with toys is online here at Play Library, I’m not sure they’d be enlightened enough to let me in on a press pass. Although, bloggers were treated as press at this month’s Consumer Electronics Show.

I really feel that I must take advantage of being in London (since my family will be moving again in a few years’ time) and shouldn’t let silly things like bureaucracy and other nonsense get in my way. On the other hand, how devoted am I to the whole toy scene? I’m just a scientist for goodness sakes!

So what do you think I should do? Help me decide by taking the poll below!

Update: I registered online successfully for both my son and me! But I still don’t know if I should bring him.

HT: Toyology

Tags: toys, london, toy fair, children, kids, parenting, family

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