It's never too early to start preparing for Toy Fair! That's why TDmonthly Magazine has started our 2013 Toy Fair coverage — we want to help retailers like you get ready for one of the biggest buying events of the year.
We asked manufacturers to share with us the products they are most excited about presenting to retailers at the show. You can see the products submitted to us by first time exhibitors below. Make note of which products would be a good fit for your store, and be sure to stop by their booths at the 2013 Toy Fair in New York.
The Urban Canvas Cityscape Building Set is constructed of heavy duty recyclable cardboard and contains 40 connector pieces and 6 specially shaped roof top pieces. Each interlocking piece is pre-printed on both sides with city scenes, skyscrapers and buildings. Children can delve into the wonder of the city by building a tall skyscraper or a wide city skyline. The pieces fit together to build endless configurations, even animals, planes, or anything the imagination can create. "While 'skyscrapers' can be constructed with other building sets, the Cityscape set is the only one with a city structure and skyline motif and specially shaped pieces to achieve the architectural elements of an actual skyscraper," Maria Chee, founder of Urban Canvas told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2012.
Kids have millions of questions. In these books real doctors, geologists, biologists, and other scientists provide answers. The series includes books on the human body, planet Earth, wildlife, and dinosaurs.
Large, bright, and colorful jungle, safari and zoo animals wall murals are made in USA by a proprietary process that provides thickness and creates a three-dimensional silhouette image that pops off the wall and creates a 3D effect. Each large animal character measures approximately 2 feet wide, 3 feet tall and nearly 1/4 inch thick, but is still very lightweight and can be installed even by a child. Unique 100% removable adhesive strips make the murals very easy to install and remove without any tools or causing any damage to the walls. Launch date: August 2012.
Children express their individuality by designing charm bracelets that best fit their personalities and interests. By finding a cool design or picture in a magazine or on the Internet, Tweens can punch out using our studio tool. Then attaching to the Bubble Cap they can put it into the Crafty Snap Setting and place the charm onto the Crafty Band. Starter Kit is priced at $29.95, and includes the Shape Studio Tool, four Crafty Bands, 20 Crafty Snaps, 20 Bubble Caps and adhesive. Refill Kits, including four Crafty Bands and 20 Crafty Snaps, are priced at $6.99. Launch date: November 2012.
Flip2BFit is the first and only fitness board game in the market today! Flip2BFit helps to fight childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle through an interactive board game – no gym or video game needed! Kids learn about nutrition, develop self-esteem, confidence and leadership skills by performing the activities in the game. The object of Flip2BFit is to travel through the park to meet “Springer” the dinosaur at the playground. To do this, each player is required to perform a yoga pose, stretch, cardio move or strength training exercise. Learning is achieved through the discovery of movement. Awards: 2012 PTPA - Parent Tested Parent Approved; 2012 Kidlution - Solutions for Kids
Team Ten, the colorful and friendly plush number characters 0-9, encourage children to think of numbers as something fun and relevant. Each 10" number has a unique personality with a whimsical human face. Children form a bond with the numbers while storytelling, increasing mathematical language concepts and number recognition. Children love hugging their number friends and telling stories about how they find the numbers in everyday life! Great for birthdays and anniversaries, too. Launch date: November 2012. Awards: 2012 Creative Child Magazine Top Toy of the Year
Radz cute and collectible novelty toy candy dispensers each come with a pack of tasty Radz candy and a unique access code to unlock exclusive games, videos, and other fun content on RadzWorld.com. The Everyday Series 1 Collection features five cool characters with interchangeable parts for mix and match fun. Radz candy refill packs and Radz accessory plus candy packs are also available. Launch date: June 2012.
Loved by players of every age and skill level, the goal of Sudoku - a fun, addictive logic game - is to fill all 81 spaces on the 9x9 playing area with numbers, such that all digits 1-9 are used once per row, per column and per 3x3 region. Designed with balance in mind, our innovative approach to Sudoku equally engages both halves of the brain - the right side works on numerical challenges and reasoning while the left side focuses on color patterns and creativity. Although the large game board and colorful numbered pieces are designed to be enjoyed collaboratively with a partner, it's just as fun to play individually. Each Set includes: 1) Game Board (11.4" x 11.4") with Colored areas easy to distinguish each 3x3 region and indented round spaces to keep everything in place. 2) Round Game Pieces (216) includes, 81 primary game pieces which are identifiable by both colors and numbers and has a black or white star on its reverse side for use in other games, and 135 secondary game pieces with 15 of each number which are smooth and can move and slide easily. 3) Covered Storage Tray for easy to organize and store game pieces with ergonomic, rounded design which makes accessing the smooth game pieces easy. 4) Sukugo® Booklet with game instructions and 100 Sudoku games (10 levels of difficulty) and solutions. And 5) Carrying Case with Padded, zipper-closing case fits easily on a bookshelf and external pocket holds game piece tray and booklet.
Each BrickWarriors Warrior Pack includes between 7 and 9 premium minifigure accessories, ranging from swords and medieval armor all the way to sci-fi guns and space armor. The accessories all fit perfectly onto LEGO® and other building-toy minifigures. The packs are sold in cases of 20 and the cases double as a retail POP display. Launch date: October 2012.
Light Up dice work great with dice games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, Backgammon, and Dungeons and Dragons. These 30mm Light Up dice are transparent red plastic which glows brilliantly when rolled. The bright red LED lights dance in a rolling pattern when it is activated and remains lit for 60 seconds before going to sleep. The display also flashes ten times giving a countdown warning to the players. This gives games an extra kick of speed and excitement. What's the secret? The secret is one of the worlds’ smallest and most inexpensive computer chips. Barely the size of the head of a pin, the computer has incredibly low power draw when the dice are asleep. Light Up Dice have an estimated shelf life of 4+ years. The sensor activated LED display is mounted to a patented double pivot, or “gimbal”, which always faces upwards due to the weight of the long lasting battery. Key chain Light up dice are also available - nothing says "hot rod" like dice hanging in your car, and ladies - never lose your keys in your purse again, just shake your purse and the dice will light up. Launch date: February 2013.
Kwizniac is a trivia countdown game designed to test your knowledge under pressure. The object of the game is for players to accumulate as many points as possible by correctly answering as many trivia questions as possible. Because Kwizniac consists of only cards and the players’ brain power, it can be played everywhere and at any time. Kwizniac can be played with just two people or a whole group. Watch Kwizniac: Top-5 Video, Toy Fair 2010
Freddy Flungpu originally comes from the dense jungles of India. When he was a little monkey, he used to always carry a banana around and suck on it like a bottle. His friends thought it was a little weird but then again, Freddy has always been weird. When a traveling circus came through town, he thought it would be fun to hitch a ride with them. Eventually, Freddy just became too crazy to handle anymore, and his owner sent him to the Insanimals farm.
Marie's Words is a work of 550 original, full-color, hand-drawn vocabulary flash cards. It allows kids to learn word definitions in a visual and meaningful way. The illustrations are unique, and many use historical, geographical, scientific, cultural and generational references as a mnemonic tool for easy learning. Marie's Words harnesses the "Power of Pictures."
Figure comes in his own storage case with a special package design made to fit in your pocket. Each figure comes with a Boston cap, bat, glove, ball, stand, and unique OYO DNA number. OYO minifigures are athletic figures that are compatible with popular building-block systems. These figures include MLB and NFL licensed minifigures. OYOs are designed with eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and other facial characteristics that best represent their real life counterparts. Figures are articulated to better mimic real athletic positions and movements.
A game of discovery...a game of concentration...crazy fun...fast...full of surprises and excitement...it is The Game Of Zoo®. Players find and match five picture cards. Every game is different. Children will delight in searching the ZOO® to match the pictures. With no dice, no spinner and 48 ZOO ® Picture Cards, children are given three fun ways to play the game.
Get on board the Sock Monkey School Bus as they go on a field trip to Banana Farm. Children will love playing with this set of eight plush sock monkeys, including one teacher, a principal and six lively students. Innovatively packaged in a box designed to look like a school bus, there are eight cut outs for the monkey's heads to pop through. Launch date: July 2012.
Writer's Bio: Justina Huddleston graduated Magna Cum Laude from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2009. After graduating she was the on-site director of the Boston Children's Museum gift store for a year, selling educational, developmental, and creative activity toys that tied in with the museum's exhibits. Justina also interned at children's book publisher Candlewick Press before moving from Boston to Los Angeles, where she is now Editorial Director of TDmonthly Magazine. Read more articles by this author
Writer's Bio: Justina Huddleston graduated Magna Cum Laude from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing in 2009. After graduating she was the on-site director of the Boston Children's Museum gift store for a year, selling educational, developmental, and creative activity toys that tied in with the museum's exhibits. Justina also interned at children's book publisher Candlewick Press before moving from Boston to Los Angeles, where she is now Editorial Director of TDmonthly Magazine. 
