Archive for the ‘active play’ Category
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Razor USA's new Graffiti Action Scooter
The rain this morning made me hopeful that Spring can’t be that far away. And for some reason…when I think Spring…I think scooters. As I’m writing this I realize that many people probably don’t go directly to scooters…but hey, I play with toys.
I’m looking forward to testing the newest scooter from Razor USA…this one has a piece of chalk in the back. Wondering how it will work…without the chalk breaking. Last year they had a “spark” off the back end…something our testers enjoyed as a novelty. Even though this has been given an edgy name, it’s called the Graffiti Action Scooter, this is a kinder and gentler scooter that will probably appeal to a different audience. Stay tuned.
Tags: Graffiti Action Scooter, helmets, Outdoor toys, Razor USA, Scooters, toy safety, toyportfolio.com
Posted in active play, hot toys, Outdoor toys, Play Time, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized, Wheel Toys | No Comments »
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
On the one hand, this foosball table demonstrates how active Barbie can be. Look, she can block and kick that little ball down the field. She’s playing what has been a male dominated game. That’s something. Yet, it just seems really wrong that these Barbies are armless – as if underscoring their lack of control in determining their own fate. With a flick of a wrist, you can now send an entire line of Barbies upside down (hope they’re wearing proper underwear). For $25,000 I wonder if the toy comes with a hair stylist to do touch ups when the round is over! Exclusively at FAO. (Thanks to our one of our testing families for sending this to me!)
Tags: $25, 000 toys, Barbie Foosball, FAO Exclusive Toy, Gender Specific Toys, toyportfolio.com
Posted in active play, Barbie, Mattel | No Comments »
Friday, November 5th, 2010
A whole new bunch of toys arrived from Sassy just in time for our holiday list! I love this activity ball–lots of aspects for babies to explore. Not only is this the perfect kind of floor toy to enjoy with your baby and toddler–it’s under $10- which just goes to show that you don’t have to spend a fortune on great toys. Read our full review.
Tags: Sassy's Bumpy Ball, toyportfolio.com, Toys for Babies and Toddlers
Posted in active play, Best Toys for Babies, Best Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Best Toys for Toddlers, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Winners, Play Time, toy trends, toys, Toys for Kids with Special Needs | 1 Comment »
Friday, October 29th, 2010
As I’m sitting here listening to the new terror threats, this toy was jogged from my memory. The new Security Scanner with Free Secret Agent Glasses is part of the spy line from Wild Planet. Your kids can practice airport security procedures. Gone are the days I suppose when airport toys just meant toy airplanes. We haven’t tested this toy–and while the whole concept makes me incredibly sad, for some kids–role playing what happens at the airport may be comforting. 
Tags: airport scanners, Terrorism and toys, toy airport scanners, wildplanet.com
Posted in active play, Gender Free Toys, High Tech toys, pretend play, toy trends, toys, travel toys | No Comments »
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
May the Force Be with You!
While we do have a general policy against toys that have aggressive themes and those that have projectile parts–each year we do bend the rules a bit for Star Wars. Why? Because I love Star Wars, it’s fantasy play, and at the end of the day good overcomes evil in the universe. Part of the fun of going to Toy Fair each year is to see the new toys in this category. The best news is that because of the Clone Wars cartoon–there’s a whole new generation of kids that love Star Wars. So much of pop culture is generational – so it’s pretty special when a series is able to span several generations of followers. It also means there will be new Star Wars toys for years to come!
This new AT-AT from Hasbro is over two feet tall.
Star Wars Imperial AT-AT (from Hasbro)
It will provide young Star Wars fans with a pretend setting. It comes with a small vehicle and one storm trooper. There are sound effects right from the movie–also very pleasing. There are projectiles that you should remove if you have young children at home so that no one aims at a little brother or sister (by accident, of course). For a complete review and shopping info, see our review. To watch our video, click here.
Tags: Hasbro, Star Wars, Star Wars Imperial AT-AT, Stephanie Oppenheim
Posted in active play, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Hasbro, hot toys, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Winners, Star Wars, Toy Fair, toy trends | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
How fast can you solve a Rubik's Cube?
Wanna feel slow? Just got word that 15 year old Sergey Ryabko of Russia is now the European Rubik’s European Champion. He beat out the Netherlands’ Erik Akkersdijk (10.38) and Germany’s relatively slow (just kidding!) Cornelius Dieckmann (10.78 seconds!). The championship was held in Budapest, Hungary with more than 250 cubers from 26 different countries. The World Record is still held by Scotland’s Breandan Vallance (8.31 seconds!!)
Erik Akkersdijk, Sergey Ryabko, Cornelius Dieckmann
They also have one handed Rubik Cube winners (Michal Pleskovitz of Poland) and blindfolded specialists (Rafal Guzewicz of Poland). Who knew?!
I still have my old Rubik’s Cube..and I’m still working on it!
Congrats!
Tags: Breandan Vallance, Cornelious Kieckmann, Erik Akkerskijk, Michal Pleskovitz, Rafal Guzewicz, Rubik Cube, Rubik Cube's European Championship, rubiks.com, Sergey Ryabko
Posted in active play, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Best Toys for Tweens, classic toys, Retro Toys | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Toy testers Henry and Harper playing with the Water Table
This morning at the Today Show was great fun. You can watch the segment by clicking here. I was worried that I only had two kids coming on the show with me. I usually have between eight and ten kids demonstrating our picks on the set. I always like the energy of having kids there–their reactions say volumes more than my talking about the details! So this morning I had 3 year old Henry and 3 year old Harper. Both were enjoying the water table on the set–sharing well and doing what kids do at water tables–they explored all the buckets (many with holes) and they got a little wet while they spilled and filled the center post of the toy.
Harper with me, being very quiet while Ann did the news on the otherside of the wall!
Right as the segment started, Harper wanted to see the bug things I was showing to Ann. And from that moment on — it was really Harper’s segment. I loved it. She was really into seeing the bugs and I’m not sure it came through but she wanted everyone to know about a grasshopper she had seen recently. She then decided to play a little bit with the water table–and then she needed to visit her Dad, the wonderful Art/Set Director for the show…she got a hug and then came back to the set. Henry continued to play at the water table with his Dad even when Ann crashed the big Titan Airplane right into the table! No tears–he just kept on playing!
Harper checking out the bugs and magnifiers
While we didn’t get to all of the products I had brought, it was a fun segment thanks to Ann and two really cute three year olds!
For all of the details about the products from this morning, visit www.toyportfolio.com.
Tags: Ann Curry, Best Toys for Summer Play, Stephanie Oppenheim, Today Show, Toy testers, toyportfolio.com
Posted in active play, Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Best Toys for Toddlers, Best Toys for Tweens, Gender Free Toys, Outdoor toys, Play Time, preschoolers, pretend play, Today Show, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized, Vehicles | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
When I saw this toy at Toy Fair, I was psyched. Little Tikes made a teeter toy years ago so I was happy to see it back in the line. I used to love teeter toys as a kid — it is a toy that involved having a good friend. Someone that would not give you too rough a ride, calm it down if it was going too fast (clearly you can see that I had issues). Rollercoasters were never my thing – a good teeter ball ride was as adventuresome as I got. Lame, probably–but just how I’m wired.
I sent a sample of the new Teeter Ball to one of our go to tester families…they have two boys, 6 and 3, and they like active play. Last year they were big on water/sand toys–not afraid of water, dirt, mud, etc. either– my kind of family!
While the boys enjoyed the toy, their dad gave the toy low marks when it came to putting it together. While he said you didn’t need a power drill, he had one and used it where screws were required. The most challenging part was “attaching the yellow ring and the inflatable purple ball.” He warned that this could pose a problem for people not comfortable putting things together. I’m certainly in that category. While I know that lots of people do have power drills and are far more handy than I am with putting things together, I really question from a consumer point of view why such effort and skill should be necessary for a toy. I appreciate the cost-cutting opportunity that at-home assembly provides, but I can’t imagine that such assembly engenders a great deal of good will. For $69 it seems to me the toy should either come good to go or without a huge amount of effort.
Our family also noted that the toy did not hold the boys interest for long stretches of time. I think that’s true of most teeter toys–they’re the type of toy you run to on the playground…take a turn and then go onto the next activity.
So be forewarned, almost all of the big plastic toys we have received this year required a power drill and a certain comfort zone in reading complicated directions (and making inferences from the picture on the box).
I was happy to read that the older brother waited for his little brother to get back on his seat when he fell off …that’s a very good sign that while the toy may not be a home run, these boys already have a lovely relationship.
Our testers trying out Little Tikes new Teeter Ball
Tags: active play, Brothers, Little Tikes Teeter Ball, More Assembly Required by Parents, Teeter Toys, toyportfolio.com
Posted in active play, Gender Free Toys, Little Tikes, Outdoor toys, Play Time, Retro Toys, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Probably not a necessity unless you have a child into serious homeland security role playing – but we enjoyed the demo of Wild Planet’s 
