If you have a Thomas & Friends fan at home, chances are they will love the new jumbo floor puzzles from Briarpatch. Working on a puzzle with your preschooler is a great way to build their problem solving skills and ability to stick with a task. Click here to read our complete review. 
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!)
Probably not a necessity unless you have a child into serious homeland security role playing – but we enjoyed the demo of Wild Planet’s Spy Gear Spy Handcuffs. Click here to watch the video demo.
Mythbuster Game from ZimZala Games
I watched the Jon Stewart rally last weekend with my son Matthew. We both loved that they included the guys from Mythbusters (Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage) to warm up the crowd. The experiments with waves and sound were fun and in keeping with the spirit of their show. Finding games (especially non-electronic games) that will be of interest to your teenager seems to get harder and harder each year. That’s why I was particularly thrilled when we saw that ZimZala Games was introducing a Mythbusters Game. It’s fun–full of wonderfully geeky/science trivia and the opportunity to have catapult Buster is just very pleasing – no matter how old you are. Jacobe Chrisman, Founder of ZimZala Games, gave us a preview of how the game works.
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.
Wanna know why you’re kids are going to want a Kinect for the holidays? Read James article jamesgames.com
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.
We’re getting ready for our annual trip uptown to see Richard Davies at ABC Radio Network. Richard was one of the first members of the mainstream press to take a chance on the toyportfolio when we first started. Each year we go up to the ABC studios with a collection of NOISY toys. It’s radio after all–so the noisier the better! Last year Richard started doing podcasts of his interviews – so now this also means there is video tape–calling for more toys and oh yes, some hair and makeup.
Radio -especially shows that are going to be edited always invite a much more laid back feeling to them. The video camera is another aspect – you have to sit up straight–you can’t poke your mother in the same way you would if no one was looking. No wacky faces. In other words you have to behave more.
We probably have too many toys in our bag–many are talking all on their own. The snake is hissing, Mickey is asking us to dance along!
Laura Rangel - CEO of KidsGive
Karito Kids from Kids Give is one of our favorite award-winning collections of multi-cultural dolls this year. The collection has been updated and features a range of dolls from all over the world. When I was growing up I had dolls from other lands — but these were all no-touching dolls. The ones meant to be put on a shelf and appreciated. The only one that was able to play with was my London go-go girl. She had hair like Marlo Thomas and she had white go-go boots just like mine. Maybe she wasn’t meant to be played with either–but since I so rarely played with dolls, my mother never said a word.
I love that these dolls are meant to be enjoyed. Their clothes reflect modern girls from all over the world. The books that come with them aren’t my favorite…but it doesn’t take away that these dolls do help introduce girls to a more global view. Here’s my visit with founder Laura Rangel. The company also has a commitment to giving back to the communities where the dolls come from as well as new bracelets that are being made here in the USA by people with disabilities.
Reviews of the new dolls are all on our site at www.toyportfolio.com.
New Dolls from Karito Kids
A walk through some of this year’s new Barbies...
