Adventure loving, bilingual Dora the Explorer is going to be a ‘tween. Her new look will be revealed this fall according to Nickelodeon. They’re partnering with Mattel to bring out a new more fashionable Dora.
Dora will be moving, and have some new friends at a new middle school in the city. She will have all new mysteries to solve, and a new interactive online world with new dolls to go with it.
What will the new grown up Dora look like? The new Dora Fashion Doll is the key to her online world for tween girls, find out more …read more

Here’s another New York Toy Show video for you. Check out this Clone Wars Turbo Tank. One of many Star Wars Clone Wars toys from Hasbro featured at the 2009 Toy Fair.
Check out the removable command center, and all the compartments you can hide your favorite Star Wars action figures in. The tank is compatible with both Clone Wars and Star Wars Legacy action figures.

Video via YouTube rebelscumtv.

There’s a lot of buzz out there about the CPSA act that goes into affect on February 10th 2009, and the ability to sell used toys.
It sounds like resellers can only sell toys they are certain do not contain lead amounts in violation of the act, but they’re not required to certify toys. All resellers should check the CPSC website before selling a toy to make sure it has not been recalled.
The report also says toy resellers should avoid toys that may contain high levels of lead, and offers these tips-
From the CPSC Website:
WHILE CPSC EXPECTS EVERY COMPANY …read more

What toy trends should we look forward to in 2009? From gourmet baby food, to kid powered toys, Goody Blog featured Parents Magazine’s latest trends for toys.

What do you think? Old is new again? The retro 80’s trend continues, and Converse is getting in on the act.
I’m all over the puppy trend!
Video via You Tube~ Parents

I love Melissa and Doug toys, and I planned on writing about the Melissa and Doug Mailbox today (don’t worry, keep your eyes on PlayLibrary for that review in the coming days).  However, as I prepared to write about the mailbox, I stumbled on the Melissa and Doug Tree House Play Set, and was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it.
This toy looks so cool.  I’ve seen other tree house play sets, but they’re usually made with plastic and lots of small pieces that have to stick together.  The Melissa and Doug Tree House Play Set is …read more

LEGOs are one of those toys I’ve never really loved.  Even as a kid, I wanted to like them, but they just didn’t hold my interest.  These days, I have issues about the pieces being too small in some of the LEGO playsets, but I’ll save that complaint for another post.  For now, I want to hear opinions on LEGO play tables.
What do you think?  With triplets, I haven’t purchased a LEGO table yet, because I’ve only found one that looked large enough to give all three kids enough room to play without getting into eachother’s way and inevitably fighting.  …read more

The 2008 New York Toy Fair is still going on. It looks like there are some amazing toys that are being displayed from what I can see. I’ll be digging up all I can about the new toys so you can see what may be on toy store shelves soon.
Here’s a video from ivillage that shows some of the toys there:

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Okay, this little toy is very cool. Here’s a video of the Hexbug Microrobotic Creature that will be appearing at the 2008 New York Toy Fair. It will be available for purchase at Radio Shack. They are also coming out with a crab and an inch worm. I can’t wait to see those!

Technorati Tags: 2008 new york toy fair,new york toy fair,hexbug microrobotic creature,radio shack robots

 
Richard Knerr, co-founder of the company Wham-O who brought toys like the hula hoop, frisbee and silly string to our world, died Monday at his home in Arcadia, California. He was 83 years old and reportedly died of a stroke.
In 1958, Knerr, an avid games enthusiast, along with his business partner and longtime friend Arthur Melin, began mass-marketing the hula hoop after gaining inspiration for the product from a friend in Australia who used a wooden hoop as exercise.
The wide, hollow circle of plastic — that with the right combination of hip twisting and jerking could be made to …read more

Interesting question huh? Well, do you think gaming makes kids dumber? According to this year’s CES, that may be just the case.
Because of this report, the question of gaming and the impact it has on our kids has been brought up once again. A summit was held to discuss the effect on young brains that gaming has.
Here’s their conclusion:
The “Technology industry experts” who gathered to discuss the issue arrived at the conclusion that kids should not be exposed to such devices and games until they are at least seven.  Up until that point the synapse connections are being wired …read more