| Kid toys: Thomas the Tank Engine selling for almost $4000? | | Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2006 1:15:09 PM by Rose Martins | Kids toys have developed dramatically in the past 50 years, but some old favourites are still popular. Kids still love to dress up in costumes, as pirates, fairies, policemen and princesses.
Kids still love the colonial type toys such as the wooden rocking horse or dolls house. But with modern technology and television, movies, the internet and video the cool kids toys of today, have a very limited life span. What is the best toy of today is really not cool tomorrow.
This past Christmas saw the sales of electronic toys and scientific toys, hit new highs. But this type of toy does not come cheap. The amount of money spent on kids toys for Christmas, is of unbelievable proportions.
Even long time loved toys such as Barbie and Lego have changed direction. Barbie is now the trendiest, coolest Barbie Babe in town, taking her style ideas from the young and famous super stars.
And Lego have developed a much more sophisticated version that just the regular bricks used to build cities. Thomas the Tank Engine toys now sell for up to $3999 per set. That's not just a toy. That's an investment. Who would have ever thought that people would pay that amount of money for a kid's toy.
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| | | Toy Sales Creep Higher in 2006 | | Posted Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:00:40 PM by Blog57 Team | | The nation's toy industry -- which has struggled for several years as children grow out of toys faster and prefer gadgets like iPods -- is showing some signs of revival, according to NPD Group Inc., a market research company based in Port Washington, N.Y. Traditional toy sales, which exclude video game consoles and other related items, eked out a 0.34 percent rise to $22.3 billion compared to a revised $22.2 billion in 2005, and $22.7 billion in 2004, according to NPD, whose figures are based on surveys from consumers. The improved results are due to the concerted effort by toy companies which are trying to woo children back to the toy aisles with compelling products that incorporate technology. Among some of the holiday 2006 season's hot items were Mattel Inc.'s Kid Tough Digital camera and its T.M.X.... | |
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| | | Toys for Lots | | Posted Thursday, January 25, 2007 1:11:27 PM by Blog57 Team | | Eddie "E.F." Angel and Luis Diaz are 23 and 29 years old, respectively, but they still play with toys. Both are avid collectors: Superman, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, "and a lot of Freddy Krueger stuff," Diaz adds, indicating a snarling, foot-and-a-half-tall Freddy atop his refrigerator. You can distinguish Diaz's small fourth-floor apartment from the rest in his gated complex by the twenty or so action figures staring motionless out the window, as if from a satanic Santa's workshop. These days the veteran plastic warriors are just for show. But one toy, at least, will get some action tonight. At opposite ends of Diaz's apartment, the two friends each sit hunched over a small, white plastic doll. Beside Angel on the kitchen counter is a palette dotted with blobs of earth-tone acrylic paint.... | |
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| | | Worried about big, bad germs | | Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 3:01:51 PM by Blog57 Team | | Courtney Bash is "obsessed" with antibacterial gel, which she carries in her purse, her computer bag, "every bag I have." At pizza places, she'll touch the Parmesan and pepper shakers only with a napkin, because "All those kids touch that, and they probably lick the top of it." Shaking hands? "I think it should be outlawed." Friends and family consider her a little extreme when it comes to germ-fighting, "but that's just because they're filthy," said Bash, 32, of Kansas City, Mo. "Just kidding." For Kati Vanderhagen, it was a stay in a grimy hotel 20 years ago that made her realize "just how filthy places are." These days she refuses to drink from a water fountain, even if she's extremely thirsty. She tries to avoid public restrooms. At the gym, "If I don't like the way somebody sprayed (a piece of equipment) down, I can do it again." And then there are restaurants.... | |
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| | | Pugster Green Tops Sports Kids Classic Toy Ebay Italian Charm Bracelet | | Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:48:27 PM by Blog57 Team | | Show off your personality, hobbies, or significant affiliations with this Pugster Green Tops Italian charm. This X2 Italian charm features two of the classic toys spinning, bringing entertainment to many. Crafted of the finest stainless steel with soldered faces (as opposed to less durable glue), our charms are sure to be a hit as you build your Italian charm bracelet or anklet. This charm is part of our innovative line of X2 Italian charms, whose double thick enamel brings out the most intricate details and gives each charm more clarity and vibrancy. Also a great gift for friends and family who love all sorts of toys. Crafted and authenticated by Pugster (TM) Inc., these Green Tops Italian charms are available for both retail and wholesale purchase in our store.... | |
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| | | 5 Sites You Should Know | | Posted Friday, January 05, 2007 1:04:40 PM by Blog57 Team | | Considering I am on the web far too much I decided to share some of my obsession with you today. Here are five websites that I believe you find useful as you battle the jungle that is the World Wide Web. Some of the sites you may know some you may not. Hope you find these useful! 1) meevee.com: What is meevee.com? It is an online TV guide. Its ease of use will have you hooked from the moment you log on. This is a great replacement for tv.yahoo.com which, for some baffling reason, makes you log in when you when want to check what is on the tube. Great for us couch potatoes out there. 2) urbandictionary.com: Urban Dictionary is the best slang dictionary ever assembled. It will have you laughing for hours. Here is an example of some of the type of stuff you find on the site: George W.... | |
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| | | A kid for kids | | Posted Sunday, December 24, 2006 3:04:28 PM by Blog57 Team | | Visiting the land of Mary Poppins and Paddington Bear during the Christmas season would be a dream come true for many 7-year-olds. For Cassidy Donaldson, the opportunity to spend a week in London is due to her dedication to helping other children in another far-away land. Earlier this year, Cassidy, a student at Corvallis Montessori School, began making cat toys out of leather scraps and selling them to raise money for the "Kids for Kids" project, which provides goats to children and their families in Sudan.She began selling to her friends and family, and then expanded her charity work to the online world. She has now sold around 140 of the toys for $21 each, the price of a goat for the project. Each month, she and her friends Malia, Meaghan, Morgan and Angelica hold Playful Pancake parties (the name of her product) and create a stack of the toys to sell."She does them in spurts," her mother, Kathy, explained.The money raised is sent to Patricia Parker, the founder of Kids for Kids, who lives in England.... | |
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| | | Trendy toys abound | | Posted Saturday, December 09, 2006 1:03:22 PM by Blog57 Team | | At times, Christmas shopping for kids has to feel like that scene in "Toy Story 2" when Buzz Lightyear ventures into a stacked Al's Toy Barn aisle and sees his likeness staring back through the cellophane for the first time. With more than 5,000 new products introduced every year, parents can't possibly keep up with every flashy toy commercial that causes their kids to break into hysterics. So if it's a lot of work for toy experts to compile gift guides during the holiday season, imagine how overwhelming the process can be for shoppers up to their eyeballs in choices. "We're in this business 365 days a year," said Bob Friedland, public relations manager for Toys 'R' Us. "We pretty much spend the whole year seeing what people are interested in, and then put out a guide that reflects what parents are buying and going for." While the early buzz was all about Fisher Price's T.M.X.... | |
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| | | Big Advertisers Change Course on Kid-Targeted Commercials | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 1:03:08 PM by Blog57 Team | | Under pressure from Congress and consumer advocates to change its ways, the ad industry on Tuesday unveiled the biggest rewrite of its kids advertising guidelines in 32 years and an initiative by 10 of the country's biggest food marketers to devote most of their kids ads to promoting healthier foods and lifestyles. .... | |
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| | | Tinkering with toys | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 6:59:48 PM by Blog57 Team | | Well, the toys, they are a-changin'. And for some nostalgia-holics, it's a bit disconcerting to see an Easy-Bake Oven that plugs into a socket, or a Monopoly game played with a tiny Starbucks token instead of a wheelbarrow. For those people, the editor of Toy Wishes magazine offers this reality check: "Here's the thing for a kid," Jim Silver says. "With the old Monopoly board, they've never heard of most of the spaces on the board. With the new board, they can relate to the product better. Illinois Avenue doesn't mean anything to them." Alrighty, then. But we still like the wheelbarrow. Here's a look at some classic-toy updates. Which ones deserve to pass Go? Easy-Bake Oven First introduced: 1963 Slogan: "Bake tiny cakes in twice the time it would take in a real oven!" (Just kidding.... | |
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| | | This Veteran's Day, Don't Believe ALL Emails You Read: For it May Be A Diluted Urban Legend | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 11:03:51 PM by Blog57 Team | | Wasn't it just last Christmas that Target refused to let the Salvation Army ring their bells in front of their stores? Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote: "Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event. We received the following reply from the local TARGET management: " Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education." So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general, do not meet their donation criteria, then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just a small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance.... | |
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