Elizabeth Werner

Friday Toy Fair

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Well now we have some new twists on old classics, like LEGOS. The Builders of Tomorrow Set is a colorful assortment of classic LEGO bricks. The new twist is www.LEGOfamilytime.com.  They have free step-by-step instructions every month and seasonal and holiday models.  The site also includes building tips and tricks from LEGO Master Builders, free games and family activities, a photo sharing gallery and free building instruction added each month in 3 groups: easy, medium and advanced building. It’s a new toy everyday. 

www.LEGOfamilytime.com
Age: 4+
Price $29.99
Available: July 2009

Well now there’s Candy Land Sweet Celebration Game. All of the characters want to bring gifts to King Kandy’s castle. So the players must visit the locations and gather sweet surprises to bring to the party. You can even design your own game, it comes with an adjustable game path and moveable locations.  You can make it different game every time!  The game comes in two new locations:  Chocolate Mountains and Captain Cone’s Ship the Neopolitan. 

www.hasbrotoyshop.com
Ages: 4+
Price: $19.99
Available: Fall 2009

The 3-in-1 Smart Sports is a plug and play learning system that connect directly to the TV. It includes a preschool-style game controller and three attachments: baseball bat, tennis racket and golf club.  When you connect a sports attachment, you are automatically launched into learning games for that sport.  And the base unit creates a play-safe area so kids know where to stand when they are playing.   There are three games for each sport, for a total of nine learning games.  It helps teach numbers, letters, colors, shapes, matching, math and more.  It includes kids to Get Up. Get Smart. Get Going! 
Requires 2 AA batteries for controller and 4 AA for base unit, not included. 

www.fisher-price.com
Age: 3+
Price: $64.99
Available: June 2009

Spin Master’s Air Hogs r/c vehicles is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.  This brand has established a great reputation for consistently offering unique and innovative r/c vehicles, and this year they really push the boundaries to a whole new level of fun.  This is the Laser Zero Gravity, the next evolution in r/c car racing that uses a laser control that guides the car wherever you point it, on any flat surface – on the floor, up walls, even upside down on the ceiling!   Just point and shoot the laser on the surface you want to drive on, and the Laser Zero Gravity will follow it wherever it goes!

www.airhogs.com
Ages: 8+
Price: Starting at $39.99
Available: Fall 2009

Smiley Central Studio, from Techno Source, and Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc., a division of Internet powerhouse IAC, is a new creativity web site and line of affordable Internet-connected toys that will allow kids to express themselves with smileys.  The toys include plush, collectibles and activity kits that unlock special content at Smiley CentralStudio.com.  This site is a free online art studio that allows kids to create, personalize and share their expressions in unique ways.  Kids can mix and match smiley parts to create unique emoticons online with the Smiley Creator and then share them via e-mail, printing and mobile phone.  In a world of modern communication where people are text messaging, instant messaging, and e-mailing, smiley emoticons allow people to express themselves in a creative way they cannot do with words. 

www.smileycentralstudio.com Coming June 2009
Smiley Central Studio Toys Coming Fall 2009
Ages: 6+
Price: $4.99-$9.99

Kids can enter the world of miners and monsters with the new LEGO Power Miners line.  Now builders can pretend to discover treasures buried deep underground as a miner or slow down miner’s progress as a monster.  The Thunder Driller is the most important vehicle in the miner’s convoy and kids can build it themselves.   Featuring 265 pieces, kids can construct their Thunder Driller, along with the Power Miners’ leader Doc and Firox, the monsters that loves to steal the Power Miners tools.
www.toysrus.com
Ages: 7-14
Price: $29.99