 |
Tools:
This Issue's HighlightsWhat to Read in January
This month, TDmonthly Magazine is all about communication: books, DVDs, online, offline. But if you don’t have time for us to communicate it all, here are our top stories in short form, with links to the full articles:
New Books for Specialty Stores
 Looking for books to match your toys? Or that have toys of their own? Or mingle high-tech with low? Representatives from Barefoot Books, Five Star Publications (ToyDirectory), Marianne Richmond, Faux Paw Productions (ToyShow), Northland Printing, Block Publishing, Kidzpoetz Publishing and Gingerbread House discuss why their new releases will do well in specialty toy stores. To read the full article, please click here.
Stay Spooky
 Eleven specialty toy retailers agreed that parents aren’t looking for junky Halloween fare anymore. “For us, Halloween dress-up has turned into something children can use the other 364 days of the year,” explained Greg Bonner, owner of Heights Toy Center in Little Rock, Ark. Retailers’ favorite costumers include Fairy Finery (Gift Guide), Small Miracles (ToyShow), Creative Education of Canada, Puppet Workshop, Brand New World (ToyDirectory) and Aeromax (ToyDirectory). To read the full article, please click here.
Mass Market Spy: Will DVDs Steal Family Game Time?
 Board games are a mainstay of specialty toy stores, but the growing popularity of communal DVD games may knock them aside. In TDmonthly’s new feature, Mass Market Spy, we highlight some of the new DVD family games for 2007 so you can know what’s in store, before they hit the stores. SnapTV capitalizes on the pirate craze with I Spy Treasure Hunt, and Imagination Entertainment does the same with Pirates of the Caribbean DVD Treasure Hunt. Screenlife taps into pop culture with games featuring Marvel characters, James Bond and Nickelodeon. Brighter Minds has new educational DVD games for kids to play with each other or their folks. To read the full article, please click here.
Babies Are Avid Readers
 In TDmonthly’s new Infant/Toddler Roundtable, five babies get their first reading experiences with Taggies’ “My First Taggies Book ‘Hey, Diddle, Diddle’” and Wee Gallery’s “What Should We Call the Twins?” Infants who needed a break from vocabulary grabbed some stimulation from the Wee Gallery (ToyDirectory) Baby Flash Cards. To read what the babies had to “say,” please click here.
Make Cyberspace Pay
 If you have a new toy, you’ve got to blast it into cyberspace. But where? How? And what’s the most effective way? Manufacturers such as Mic-o-Mic Americas, Schoenhut Piano Company, Tonner Doll Company, Top Shelf Holdings LLC and U.S. Game Systems Inc. discuss everything from optimizing your website to search-engine marketing. Click here to read the full article.
Watch Our Videos!
 Why just read about specialty toys? See them in and out of the box by clicking here.
Find New Toys
 To search for toys that have come into ToyDirectory/TDmonthly during the past three months, click here. Or, to see everything, do an ADVANCED SEARCH (top of the page) and select "All" for your Category.
 Writer's Bio: ALISON MAREK is an award-winning writer, director and cartoonist whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks, and viewed worldwide in film festivals. See her short films and print work on www.alisonmarek.com. Watch her nefarious villains in the web series www.MuggsMovers.com. Get inspired by her cartoons "Daily ARFFirmations to Unleash Your Inner Fido" at www.ARFFirmations.com. Phew! And then ... Read more articles by this author
THIS BANNER IS AN AD:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • |
Back to TDmonthly's front page
| |
Advertise on TDmonthly
|
