Archive for the ‘Mattel’ Category
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
The new Sing-a-ma-jigs from Fisher-Price
I loved Sing-a-ma-jigs when I first saw them last year at Toy Fair. To me they look like claymation characters with their little round mouths and big eyes.
Wallace and Gromit
I love that they are able to sing (and even harmonize) together. This year– the new versions come with a little mini-me attached the larger doll. They sing together. The upside, you don’t need to buy two dolls to have them harmonize. I’m not sure I love the mini-me aspect. The smaller doll cannot be removed and somehow the smaller animal looks slighter meaner than the bigger doe-eyed larger being. Kind of reminds me of the character Masterblaster from Mad Max.
To watch a video of the new dolls, click here.
For video of past videos, click here.
Masterblaster from Mad Max
Tags: claymation, Harmonizing, Hot High Tech toys, Mad Max, Masterblaster, mini-me, Sing-a-ma-jigs, Symbiotic, Toys that Sing, Wallace and Gromit
Posted in Best Music Toys for Kids, Best Plush Toys for Kids, Best Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Best Toys for Preschoolers, dolls, Gender Free Toys, High Tech toys, hot toys, Mattel, Play Time, preschoolers, pretend play, toy trends, toys, Toys for Kids with ADHD, Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
Today’s toddlers and preschoolers have a new addiction. Forget the boob tube and those pesky videos – now we’re talking about little fingers that are incredibly adept at navigating APPS on your pricey iPad and/or iPhone.
What’s a toy maker to do? How can they compete with such amazing graphics?
Wasn’t it bad enough that video games have rob them of the tween market?
Here’s the industry response to date…
1. The “Can’t beat them, join them” approach. It seems like everyone has an APP for your child. Barbie, Leapfrog, Hot Wheels, Thinkfun….everywhere we went at Toy Fair…there was an APP we needed to “let our readers know about.” (Except of course for the dizzying number of embargo dates). And yes, we will have to start taking a closer look at all of these toy related APPs. I haven’t gotten to play with it yet, but I do have to say that the Barbie Fashionista APP–looked really appealing (this coming from someone who really didn’t play with Barbies).
Barbie's Fashionista APP
2. “This is not your father’s iPad” – really. Toy makers are rolling out there own versions of iPad inspired tablets for your child. LeapFrog and VTech will go head to head with their platforms. Are they cheaper? Yes. Will your child be satisfied? Maybe. As with any of these toys, they just don’t have the sizzle of the real thing (which is why toy companies are hedging their bets with approach #1.) We will have to take a look at each of these products to review the content (remember that?) and whether the interface is pleasing. I have a sense that if your toddler or preschooler is already schooled in your gadgets, this is going to be a hard transition. On the other hand, if you start here–you may get to play with your gadget without the constant refrain of “my turn!”
Vying for attention (all to be released later this year):
LeapFrog Explorer Tablet
LeapPad Explorer Tablet (LeapFrog)- Promises to come with a 5″ screen and leverages the library of games and content from this educational toy company. It will also come with a built in camera. Suggested retail will be $99.99.
VTECH InnoPad
InnoPad (VTech) -Also features a 5″ touch screen, promises educational games, ebooks, USB port, a headphone jack. Suggested retail will be $79.99.
We’ll have to take a look. Sadly, both companies have moved away from partnerships with traditional publishers –leaving the ebook experience to the domain of mostly licensed materials. On this point alone, you may want to invest in a Color Nook–if you don’t want to go the bigger bucks on an iPad. Technology only goes so far. The CONTENT is still what should rule the day. We want our kids enjoy reading quality picture books no matter the format. Disney Princesses and Scooby Doo are fun–but they shouldn’t replace children’s books as part of your child’s daily experience.
3. The “Ok, you can play, but please don’t break it” approach. Handing off your expensive toys to a toddler or preschooler is a balancing act between achieving calm (at the grocery store, at the restaurant, in the car, etc.) and the possible damage that came come to such gadgets from liquids (those pesky sippy cups) or a plain old “oops” moments. For those parents, Fisher-Price hopes to be of assistance with their new Laugh & Learn I Can Play Case that puts your smart phone into a bigger case with easy-to-grab handles. We look forward to trying this case–will little fingers find the case too intrusive? Of course your 3 year old will find this way too babyish.
Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn I Can Play Case
Tags: Barbie, Barbie Fashionista, Fisher-Price, High Tech toys, Hot Wheels, InnoPad, ipad, iphone, Laugh & Learn I Can Play Case, Leapfrog, LeapPad Explorer, tablet toys, thinkfun, toy addiction, vtech
Posted in Best Books for Kids, Best Toys for Kids with Special Needs, Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Best Toys for Toddlers, dolls, Fisher-Price, Gender Free Toys, High Tech toys, hot toys, Leapfrog, Licensed Toys, Mattel, preschoolers, Toy Fair, toy trends, toys, Toys for Kids with ADHD, Toys for Kids with Special Needs, travel toys, Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
Friday, February 11th, 2011
Cookie Monster
We moved! Did you notice last year that there was no new Tickle Me Elmo? That’s because the Sesame Street license moved from Fisher-Price/Mattel to Hasbro, but not in time for Hasbro to roll out a new collection. In the absence of an Elmo novelty doll, last year Fisher-Price introduced Dance Star Mickey. He made our Platinum List. Our testers loved how he danced not to mention his ability to moonwalk!
This year, here’s what you’ll need to know:
1. It will be a battle of the Rock Star Mickey and Rock Star Elmo. We previewed both today.
Rock Star Mickey is pretty snazzy! 
He moves, he sings, he dances…and he can even do a Rock Star split (guitar in hand). Move over Mick Jagger! He is also interactive…teaching kids how to rock on! The demonstrator would not play along when it got to the split.
Rock Star Elmo is cute, although he doesn’t move the way Mickey does. But I think fans of Elmo will be happy to see him back. In his favor, he plays the drums, a tambourine and he also sings into a mic (all come with Elmo). 
There are also musical toys for your child that also magically sync with Elmo–so that your child can play a small guitar, a small keyboard or sing into a mic — and Elmo will be able to sing along. Rock Star Elmo will retail for $69.99 (the add on toys are $19.99 each).
We look forward to testing both. Both are planned for fall 2011 release.
2. Cookie Monster. Ok, I have to admit it…I LOVE Cookie Monster. I don’t really know too many people that don’t put Cookie Monster into the favorites category. This new interactive version, eats cookies. They disappear into his mouth and then the cookies will reappear in his backpack. He sometimes counts the cookies…that’s fun, but I have a sense just feeding him will be the big pay off.
Watch our video of both at http://www.youtube.com/user/toyportfolio.
Tags: battle of rock star toys, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Fisher-Price, Hasbro, hot toys, Mickey Mouse
Posted in Elmo, Fisher-Price, Hasbro, High Tech toys, hot toys, Licensed Toys, Mattel, Play Time, Toy Fair, toy trends, toys, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, December 6th, 2010
Grave Digger Truck from Hot Wheels
We are adding this one to our list of “what were they thinking toys”? I can’t really see an argument that supports making a toy truck for young children with the name Grave Digger. 
And even if you were to say, hey many of them aren’t even old enough to read the name (it’s on the truck as well as the box)…how about that artwork? Really? This seems more like a design school final project – intended as a spoof on a classic toy rather than an offering from the nation’s largest toy company intended for the six and under crowd. A major disappointment from the design department at Hot Wheels. 
Tags: Grave Digger, Hot Wheels, Mattel, What Were They Thinking?
Posted in Mattel | 6 Comments »
Saturday, December 4th, 2010
There’s always one toy that seems to draw the attention of the media…and this year it’s the new Barbie Video Girl. Critics are suggesting that she could be used as a tool for creating child pornography. It’s not lost on me that as a girl that never played with Barbies and as an adult toy reviewer that often questions Barbie’s various professions – that I am now feeling the need to defend this high-tech version of this doll icon. Many h
oliday stories about toys have a life of their own. One person makes a strong statement about a particular toy..and in this year, where there is no run away hot toy, editors and producers looking for a nice toy story will hold onto a story that has all the hot topics rolled into one. What’s more titillating than a story that draws Barbie, sex and crimes and against children?
True, Barbie Video Camera could be used in inappropriate ways. Yet, I’m not sure why the same isn’t being said of the other video cameras for children this year. It’s a hot category that includes a spy watch with a built in video camera that can used to entice both boys and girls…or how about the little toy helicopter with a built in video camera. We need to be careful about the people in our children’s lives – but to suggest that this camera is particularly dangerous is ridiculous.
Tags: Barbie Video Girl, In Defense of Barbie, Stephanie Oppenheim
Posted in Barbie, hot toys, Mattel | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Stephanie Oppenheim, Al Roker and Natalie Morales
This morning’s segment was about the toyportfolio.com’s BEST HIGH TECH TOYS for 2010, the complete list of products is on our site. If you missed the segment from this morning you can watch it by clicking here.
This morning Joanne and I were in the upstairs green room. Usually we have so many kids with us that we are in the larger downstairs green room. As much as upstairs is very dignified, there’s usually a lot more action downstairs. I was down there for hair and make up. Rascal Flatts was getting ready. I got to see Peter Krause out of the corner of one eye while getting mascara put on. Love his show Parenthood!
The set seemed strange without my usual ten or twelve kids milling about but since I had a lot of high tech toys we decided to go without kids in the studio. We turned on all the bugs and many of the Hexbug Nanos jumped from their Battle Bridge and ended up on the floor. We had a fun collection of games, bugs, spiders, a motion activated snake, Crayola Color Studio, and an assortment of video cameras include Barbie Video Girl that seemed to really disturb Al! I see his point about the placement of Barbie’s camera (on a necklace–on her chest) but our kid testers really liked using this high tech version of Barbie.
Al taking a look at Barbie Video Camera
At the end we did a demo of the hot new KINECT for XBOX 360 from Microsoft. I was planning on wearing a dress but I was told last night that the sensors might not read my legs in a dress. There’s nothing like having to pick out an outfit where you know the camera is going to shoot you from behind (every woman’s dream). So I decided to go Matrix-y – all in black with the highest heeled boots I own! For the live tease Whitney (from Microsoft PR team) did a demo with me–she did great! And thankfully Tim (my tech hero this morning) was making sure that the KINECT game was up and running. Hard to play a game and talk about it as you’re playing I’ve discovered.
Al Roker and Stephanie Oppenheim playing KINECT
Usually after I do one of these segments I remember all the things I didn’t say. This morning the list includes: I didn’t mention that you need alot of space to play KINECT so it’s not great for really tiny apartments or dorm rooms. You need to be about 8 feet back and you also need room to move side to side (or run the risk of really hitting your opponent!). Als0 – most of the games that have come out for the holiday season are family and action oriented. So if you’re more of a point/shoot XBOX 360 fan, there aren’t titles for you yet…but suspect they’ll be on their way. I love playing Rallyball – it’s like Dodgeball but no one gets hurt! While it’s true that you don’t need to use a controller to play KINECT you will need to know how to use one to set it up initially…(in otherwords, if you’re not comfortable with controllers…you’ll want to get someone who know what they’re doing). The last thing I forgot to mention is that KINECT has facial recognition so that if you make your own Avatar and you turn it on–it will recognize you. How cool is that? Also there is voice recognition as well (also pretty Jetson like if you ask me!). That said…there is a learning curve for selecting games that can seem slow which seems kind of odd since the whole concept is so cutting edge. Ok…now I’ve said it all!
Tags: Al Roker, Best High Tech Toys for 2010, Crayola Color Studio, Dodgeball, KINECT for XBOX 360, Microsoft, Natalie Morales, Parenthood, Peter Krause, Rallyball, Rascal Flatts, Stephanie Oppenheim, Today Show, toyportfolio.com
Posted in Best Games for Kids, Best Toys for Preschoolers, Best Toys for School Aged Kids, Best Toys for Tweens, Crayola, Fisher-Price, High Tech toys, hot toys, Mattel, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Winners, Play Time, preschoolers, Today Show, toy trends, travel toys, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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 »
Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Video Girl Barbie
When we were first brought around the corner at Mattel’s showroom space at Toy Fair – and shown Video Girl Barbie – I turned around several times. I was positive that we were being punk’d. I kept looking at my mother, the pr folks…but they were all going straight ahead with the demo of Barbie as a video camera.
Here’s the deal. Barbie has a camera in the middle of her chest. My mother points out that it’s on a necklace. “Where else would you have liked them to put it?” she asked. True, the middle of her forehead? I guess the necklace option was the best choice.
I have always had a very jumbled relationship with Barbie. My brothers shamed me out of playing with them as a kid. We were very much a Hot Wheels house. I didn’t much like playing with dolls anyway…and the only Barbie I can remember actually asking for – I bought at Davco’s toy store in Monticello. She had on go-go boots and a short mini-dress. As a 4-5 year old, this was my dream outfit. (I had two pairs of go-go boots and going to any restaurant with a jukebox meant it was a dancing opportunity). This Barbie doll was left in a compromising position with a GI Joe doll in our hamper — and that was the end of Barbie in our house.
As a tween and teen that advocated for women’s right, the whole Barbie mystique just didn’t fit with my desire for women to be taken seriously. By this point I had traded in my go-go boots for gender-free work boots (much to the dismay of my mother). I also would not play with anyone who had Barbies in their room. During the 70s- girls played with Barbies well into their tween years (as opposed to now when they seem to age out of Barbie earlier and earlier.)
So here I am defending Barbie. We got the Video Now Barbie during the summer when we had several teenage interns. They were quite amused that the batteries must be loaded into her thigh and that her display screen is in her back. We had to take many, many videos before I could get them to settle down. At the end of the day when we tested Barbie- we discovered that she worked extremely well. Our kid testers loved that her USB cord is pink (of course) and that they could use her with ease to record their doll play or other aspects of their life in general.
Could, as the Australian psychologist suggests, this video camera be used in inappropriate ways? Sure. As could ALL of the new video cameras targeted to kids this year. In fact, video cameras designed specifically for kids is one of the hottest categories in toyland this holiday season. I’m not sure why the Barbie camera should be singled out. On our award list this year, we feature a Fisher Price Kid Touch Video Camera–even easier to use than Barbie. There is also a Spy Watch Video Camera from Jakks Pacific and the new Air Hogs RC Helicopter with Video Camera from Spinmaster. All of these are marketed to children–and without supervision all could be used to capture and post inappropriate content.
The back of Video Camera Barbie
To call for a boycott of the Barbie Video Camera is ridiculous. If you want to pick on Barbie because of the body image issues she raises, that’s one thing. But because she has a video camera proudly in the middle of her chest– that’s just really discriminating against a girl that just wants to be part of the digital age.
To read our full review at toyportfolio.com, click here.
To read our article about all the other video cameras for kids this season, click here.
Posted in Barbie, dolls, Mattel, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
One of our readers pointed out that there were California Prop 65 warnings on several Mattel track sets on Amazon. Prop 65 requires companies to provide notice that their product may contain certain chemicals that are known to cause cancer or birth defects. Two of our current award winners were posted with such a warning. So we asked Mattel for a statement.
From Mattel:
Recently several of our Hot Wheels products: Hot Wheels Color Shifter Blaster, Hot Wheels Color Shifters Stunt Set and the Hot Wheels Tub Racers Playset were incorrectly listed on Amazon.com as requiring a California Proposition 65 warning. These warnings were posted in error and Amazon.com is working to correct this information immediately. Mattel is committed to providing safe, engaging play experiences for kids of all ages.
Thanks to our reader for pointing this out! If you’d like to read more about the history and current requirements of Prop 65, click here.
Tags: Amazon.com, California Prop 65, Mattel, toy safety
Posted in Mattel, toy safety, toys | No Comments »
