The vote on RIF’s funding has been moved until tomorrow morning. Please take a moment and contact your Senators on the very easy to use link provided by the good folks at RIF. It will take you less than two minutes! Here’s the link: http://www.rif.org/us/get-involved/advocate.htm
Ever wonder how certain things get made whether it’s something to wear (in a hideous shade or impossible to wear shape) or a kitchen appliance you can’t imagine you’d ever use more than once-a la the Chickenborg Egg Cuber. 
I often find myself asking this question in toyland. It would be fun to sit in the design meetings (that perhaps were held during happy hour). Now take that ridiculous design concept and imagine it’s been sold to the brand manager, the sales force, etc. And then there are the retailers who also drink the kool aid and fill their shelves with these products. I then wonder if the design team that had a silly idea or I- can’t-believe- they’ll-go- for -it concept – has a good laugh.
Now one of these toys made our top Platinum Award list this year – I don’t necessarily mean they’re terrible products…I just wonder how they came to be. (Ok, for some, I do think they’re pretty dreadful.)
1. Cuponk – This wins as the ugliest designed toy we received. Much like playing quarters, the aim here is to get the eyeball into the container. 
Is it just me or does this just seem like great training for drinking games? And take a look at the images. They’re not just ghoulish, they’re unpleasant and certainly not visuals that are important to the 8 and up set.
2. Fish with Removable Bone– I’m all for pretend play but this one just struck me as going a bit too far. I think our kids can pretend to fillet the fish. Of course this is a refreshing and healthier choice than the countless number of plastic hot dogs and french fries we receive every year. 
3. Barbie Video Girl– This product is on our Platinum List…but we still would have loved to have been in the meeting where they decided to place the camera in the middle of Barbie’s chest. I’m just saying. In fact, I’ve spent way too long discussing where they could have placed it instead.
Barbie Video Girl
A possible solution that won the most votes–Barbie could have been holding a video camera rather than being the video camera. I see it–but I also appreciate the design elegance of having it where it is (on her “necklace”). If you want to talk pure silliness, the Barbie Glitterizer, where Barbie is put into a chamber and sprayed with glitter, wins hands down in my book.
4. Detainee Kit– If your child is saying “Mommy when I grow up I want to be a TSA employee”, then I guess this set makes sense! Complete with a body scanner and handcuffs…you’re child is ready for post 9/11 cops and robbers. The set also comes with a lie detector and evidence kit. 
Now that I’ve pointed out the obvious “wow, really” factor of this kit- I should point out that some kids will really love this kind of role playing…and enjoy the realistic props. For others role playing with the security wand may make the real life airport security experience a little less scary. It just makes me sad.
5.WWE Accessories. On the other hand if your child aspires to be a WWE champion, why not strap on the championship belt now, right? Complete with sounds effects (to me it sounds like Charo!).
6.Flatsy– Here’s how this meeting probably went. “What if it looks like you drove over your child’s doll with the mini-van?” “Yeah!” “Cool!” 
Truth be told, I kind of like the absolute silliness of the design-although I can already hear well-meaning body image advocates raising issues about what kind of dangerous role model these dolls present to young girls.
7.Learn & Groove Musical Wand. Really? No comment. 
Thought this press release from the Center for Environmental Health was interesting…You’ll see that they tested a batch of current toys for lead. As you know we require companies to verify that they meet the end point of the federal regulations that are phasing in. We do not test the toys independently. What we found from our foray into testing for lead that the testing itself presents many murky questions. Depending on the method of testing – the results can vary greatly.
Good and Bad News for Holiday Shoppers: Top Toys Are Safe, But Some Lead-Tainted Products Remain
Children’s products and adult jewelry found with lead
Oakland, CA-Testing by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has found that toys listed as among those expected to be the most popular for this year’s holiday shopping season are free from lead hazards. But the Center’s recent testing has found lead problems in several children’s products, including a Sanrio “Hello Kitty” doll dress-up set, a child’s NFL lunchbox from TJ Maxx, and a backpack from Big Lots. An adult necklace from Styles for Less that was marked “lead-free” was found with a clasp that was 25% lead, more than four times the legal limit for adult jewelry in California. Other jewelry with lead content in violation of California law was found at Bloomingdales, Nordstroms, Sears, and Walmart.
The California Attorney General’s office has notified Sanrio, Big Lots and TJ Maxx that the children’s products violate the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The Attorney General has also informed Styles for Less and the other retailers about the adult jewelry violations. Sears told the Attorney General yesterday that they have pulled the item from their stores.
Additionally, CEH tested a reusable children’s panda shopping bag purchased online from ToysRUs.com and found more than double the legal limit for lead. The item no longer appears on the company’s website.
“It’s good to see that the top selling toys are not a lead threat, but there are still a few lead problems on store shelves,” said Caroline Cox, Research Director at CEH. “Our hope is to erase all of the hidden lead hazards in stores, but for now it’s an almost lead-free holiday season.”
CEH is a member of the Get the Lead Out coalition, which last week held a toy testing event in Union Square. The nonprofit is also holding free toy testing events through Christmas in Oakland, Marin, Berkeley, and San Mateo. CEH also contributes to the www.healthystuff.org <http://www.healthystuff.org/> database, which lists the toxic hazards in thousands of toys and other products.
CEH is testing children’s products for compliance to the federal and California laws as part of a state compliance testing program, and is funded for this work by a grant from the California Attorney General that is administered by the nonprofit Public Health Trust. The nonprofit also tests jewelry for compliance with a legal agreement and with California law using a grant from the Proposition 65 Jewelry Testing Fund. The fund was established through litigation brought by the California Attorney General, CEH, and others.
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Top Toys – Found Lead-Safe in Testing by CEH
Kung Zhu Battle Arena
Zhu Zhu Pets (Bamboo)
Disney Fairies Collection
Stinky the Garbage Truck
Imaginext Bigfoot the Monster
FurReal Friends Furry Frenzies (Scoot & Scurry City)
Sing-A-Ma-Jigs (pink and purple)
Zoobles
Lalaloopsy Peanut Big Top
NERF N-Striek Stampede ECS Blaster
Loops Memory Music Game
Pillow Pet (Purple Unicorn)
Please read this important note from Carol Rasco, the President of RIF:
On Monday, November 29 the U. S. Senate will vote on an amendment which, if passed, could spell the end of 12 or more national education organizations including Reading Is Fundamental that I am honored to head. I would appreciate your help in sending a message to your state’s current Senators asking them to VOTE NO on this amendment.
During this busy holiday period we have tried to make this as easy on you as possible. Please visit http://www.rif.org/us/get-involved/advocate.htm to compose and send your message quickly—you can also use this site to forward the message to your friends and family.
We join Carol and ask everyone to please send the message that our country will not prosper if we turn our back on literacy.
A classic just got better. If you buy a box of Crayola Crayons (48 crayons or more)…you’ll find a code for their new on-line Story Studio. So for about $3.99, you can go on-line, upload pics of your kids (or anyone in your family) and make coloring book pages featuring that person. A great project to do with your kids to give as gifts!
toyportfolio.com's New Free Mobile App
We’re pretty psyched about our new mobile app. You can preview all of our Platinum Toy Award winners (for all ages). We’ll be adding more features as the holidays get closer! Our app is free all season long.
Here’s what you need to do:
Enter this link directly into your smartphone: http://stephanieoppenheim.com/iplat/
(This is a mobile web app– so it will work on all smartphones. You can also view it in Safari from your computer, but it is not supported by Firefox).
Touch the iPhone image to launch our free mobile web app.
Happy Shopping!!
Here’s my semi-annual plea to buy building sets for girls. While I don’t 
really see the need to color code such building sets, if pink is what will do it for you or the girls in your life…go for it. You can buy CitiBlocs new Hot Colors set. LEGO also offers a bucket of pink bricks (read our review here). If we want our girls to excel in math and on their standardized math tests…part of that comes from playing with blocks. Spatial relations, visual discrimination and other essential skills that are key to success in math, engineering and architecture all begin with being exposed to construction toys as kids. Not to mention that such open-ended sets are great for developing your child’s sense of what can be. For a full review of CitiBlocs, click here.
Doing a quick interview on Philly’s WOGL this morning about toy trends. Not sure it’s live or taped. Love doing radio over the phone…no planes!
We’ve just posted our list of top green toys. It’s a fun mix of beautifully crafted wooden toys from companies like Plan Toys, Wonderworld, Citiblocs, Tegu and
Schylling. As well as some plastic toys from recycled materials (Green Toys) and even a nod to a plastic lamp that you crank rather than load with batteries. We even have two solar powered devices that will appeal to tween and teens.
What we passed on: scratchy organic dolls, dolls that got credit for being organic but were very muted, and in our opinion a little sad looking. We also passed on many solar activity kits that just didn’t work. Nothing like having a solar panel that just doesn’t feel like powering anything.
At the end of the day, I find any labels like Green or Educational to be only part of the story. If the toy isn’t fun and engaging, it doesn’t matter what great list it should be on. Probably too many negatives there–but you get the point. It doesn’t make the cut with us unless it’s also something that engages our testers.
A shout out to toy industry folks! The Toy Drive is looking for donations. Have inventory you’d like to write off…here’s a perfect opportunity to do some good at the same time! According to the show’s press release: “Last holiday season, TODAY viewers, website visitors and corporate contributors teamed up to provide nearly $35 million worth of toys, books, games, clothing, toiletries, electronics, musical instruments, CDs, videos, cosmetics and other suitable gifts to more than five million children via 203 organizations in all 50 states. If you are interested in making a contribution, and all donations are appreciated, no matter how big or small, please call 212-664-7508 and talk to either Sam Sagenkahn or Kate Cook at the Toy Drive.”