It can be a constant struggle to stay on top of what’s hot, and what’s not’ in the toy box, especially if you are not glued to kids television every day. We are therefore pleased to offer the following list of toys that are likely to gladden the heart of your little ones over the [...]

Continue reading " What’s Hot for Christmas? "

One of the greatest compliments that can be paid to any product is when it becomes so well known that it starts to attract urban legends. In the case of the Rubik Cube there were dark mutterings during the early eighties that it was part of a Communist plot to limit the productivity of Western [...]

Continue reading " The best ‘intellectual’ toy ever: Rubik’s Cube "

Anyone who has been out shopping for toys will know that toy packaging can be very effective in convincing us of the merits of a certain product. What they do not mention are some the hazards that goes with allowing certain products into your house. True the ‘Big’ things (’Choking Hazards’, ‘Danger of Suffocation’ etc.) [...]

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And now for something completely different!

I suppose that we are all vaguely aware of the fact that kids throughout every generation engaged in creative play (’Kids will be kids’ of course!). Most of us, however, tend to think of modern times as unique in that children are using a wide variety of toys with which [...]

Continue reading " What Toys Did The Ancient Egyptians Play With? "

There are probably very few economic sectors that are so completely marketing driven as the toy industry.
This is because specific toys do not fulfill a basic human need in the same way that a piece of bread or a glass of milk does. People will still buy bread and milk even if it is [...]

Continue reading " Navigating your way through ‘desire based’ toy marketing "

One of my earliest memories is of staring up at the night sky and marveling at the stars. I suspect that I am not alone in this, since a fascination with the stars seems to part of our basic make-up as humans. It is therefore a delight that there are currently a host of excellent [...]

Continue reading " 6 Toys That Will Help You Study The Stars "

Baseball players have one. So does country musicians and film stars. So why not toys? Why indeed! This is exactly the reason why the National Toy Hall of Fame was established in 1998. Its mission is to showcase the very best toys that brightened children’s lives over the past few decades. The basic criteria for [...]

Continue reading " 16 Truly Inspiring Toys "

I was slightly disturbed the other day to hear a small red creature declare his eternal love for me!
Great was my relief when I realized that I was not the only object of his affection. Indeed he seemed to be rather fond of just about anybody who took the trouble to gently press his [...]

Continue reading " “Elmo thinks he is going to be a hit…” "

What does a silver-tongued soft toy, a clone mask, a device with which to reel in monsters and a flushing potty have in common? Well, they have all been selected as ‘top toys’ for Christmas 2008 by the British Toy Retailers Association.
This is the 42nd year since the TRA started to publish their annual [...]

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What is it about train sets that give them their enduring popularity?
It can’t be the fact that kids are merely projecting their daily reality into the playroom since, in the US at least, very few of them travel on trains on a regular basis.

Perhaps it has to do with a kind of collective memory [...]

Continue reading " In Praise of Model Toy Trains "