What’s IN and What’s OUT in toyland 2010

Our list of What’s In and What’s Out in Toyland for 2010.  Every year there are trends that emerge in toyland. Last year there were dinosaurs everywhere…this year they have been replaced by bugs. Elmo is no where to be found (he’ll be relaunched next holiday season by Hasbro), and like everything else in our world these days, toys have also gone 3-D. We’re not sorry to see some the OUT toys go bye-bye and the same is true of many of the IN toys. This is more our observation from a year of testing rather than an thumbs up to either list.

Toys that Are Out for 2o1o                   Toys that Are IN for 2010

Cute Hamsters                                                 Hamster Ready for Battle

Barbie al natural                                             Barbie with an (video) implant

Hannah Montana Doll                                  Justin Bieber Doll

Wireless Controllers                                      No Controllers

Elmo                                                                 Dance Star Mickey

Scrabble                                                           Scrabble Flash

Avatar Toys                                                     Anything Iron Man

Hand Held Electronic Toys                         Your Smartphone

Remote Controlled Dinosaurs                    Remote Controlled Bugs

Friendship Bracelets                                     Toy Handcuffs

Dolls that Wet                                                Dolls with simulate

Rococo Plastic Toys                                      Wooden Toys

Bubbles and Chalk                                         3-D Bubbles and Chalk

Polly Pockets                                                    Zoobles

Zhu Zhu Pets

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For a list of the toys we do recommend–visit www.toyportfolio.com where you’ll find all of our Platinum, Gold, SNAP (special needs adaptable products) and Blue Chip Award winners.

toyportfolio.com’s Top Green Toys for 2010

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.

Best Green Toy of the Week: Citiblocs (Addictive on the coffee table)

Sometimes we get toys that are marketed to kids and yet we find that almost every grown-up that comes near them  just starts playing with them.  Since playing is good at any age, I feel it’s very important to write about these types of products.  You may remember that the magnetic building sets that burst onto the market several years ago had that appeal – making them a great choice to just have  on the coffee table for some open-ended play time for anyone so inclined. Research also indicates that type of activity for adults is great for keeping those brain neurons firing.

This year’s winner in this category is Citiblocs by Citiblocs.  At first you might think a box of equally- sized precision cut wooden pieces wouldn’t be that enthralling – at any age…but once you get building, it’s just fun to see how many different variations you can make.  The pieces are very smooth and are made of Radiata Pine from certified renewable forests in New Zealand – making them not only fun, but onto our Green Toy list as well.

Each set comes with ideas for building…they are marked 3 & up, we’d say more like 5 & up and & up and & up!

One of our tester moms (an architect) — LOVED this product.  Somehow we knew she would.

Pick of the Day: Chickyboom from Blue Orange Games

Chickyboom from Blue Orange Games is a fun balancing game that appealed to our school age testers (and their parents). Most balancing toys like this ask players to add pieces – here you take away chicks, bales of hay and wagon wheels…they all have different weights and will affect the balance of the perch. Points are assigned for each of the play pieces–the players with the greatest point value (when the rail finally falls over) wins.  Easy to learn –and fun to play. The company says that each round takes about 1o minutes.  Our parent testers gave this one a thumbs up.  We’re giving this one an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award. A solid gender free choice for kids 4 & up.

Pick of the Day: Connectagons

725215h A wonderfully pleasing construction set you’ll want to put them on your coffee table (and play with the set yourself). The set comes in a wooden box and includes 240 wooden discs (1-3/4″ in diameter) that each have eight notches on them–making them a really fun open-ended construction set to use. The circles come in a variety of colors–they’re just fun to hold and build with. They came late, but we’re adding Connectagons to our Platinum Award winners for 2009. At $24.98, it’s also a good value. Offered exclusively by HearthSong.