TDmonthly is a division of ToyDirectory.com Inc.
TDMONTHLY HOT TOPIC
The Hollywood Toyboy: Put It Where the Movie Does Shine
This month we´re gonna talk about PRODUCT PLACEMENT and how it affects the retailer. Face it, when kids see something in a movie, they want it. Remember the run on Reese´s Pieces after "E.T."? More recent is the push on Uglydolls after kids started seeing the "Zathura" movie trailer where the lead, Danny (Jonah Bobo), is wearing an Uglydoll T-shirt. Want to get a jump on a toy trend? Watch the movie trailers....READ MORE
Around half of all toys are made of plastic. What if a large percentage of that plastic, PVC plastic, were causing serious health problems in our children … or worse?...
Tom Conley, president of the Toy Industry Association (TIA), recently took the time to talk with TDmonthly Magazine about China’s increasing foray into toy design and development....
Use this catalogue to discover new and unique toys. ...
COMICS
Witches and Love Triangles Snag Tween Girls
Tween girls may not buy toys, but they do buy comics — especially shojo manga-influenced floppies and graphic novels....READ MORE
TDmonthly Magazine talked with publishers, distributors and store owners to find out how retailers can find those up-and-comers that will bring the fanboys — and family-conscious shoppers — back to their stores week in and week out....
Enter a major bookstore such as Borders or Barnes & Noble, and its "Graphic Novel" section may be as large as its "Mystery" or "Science Fiction" counterparts....
Comics have blossomed into a dual-gender art form, thanks mostly to the Japanese artists and writers who created the shojo manga books so popular with girls and young women....
DOLLS
Sugar, Snails and Silicone: Today´s Doll Materials
What are little girls and boys made of? These days, if they’re collectible replicas, a soft vinyl and silicone mix. From sculpting to manufacture, new materials are revolutionizing the look and feel of baby dolls....READ MORE
Little girls are picking up lifelike baby dolls meant for adult collectors, and they’re not putting them down....
How do you sell a specialty item that some fear isn´t so special anymore? When the Groovy Girls hit Target last January, a number of toy shop owners and managers who’d helped build the popular Manhattan Toy Company line felt betrayed....
INTERACTIVE AND ELECTRONIC LEARNING DEVICES
Where Is Samoa? These Geography Toys Will Help
The word "geography" often conjures up images of pull-down world maps, rubber-tipped pointers and blank map quizzes. It doesn’t bring to mind innovative, educational play things. Some manufacturers are trying to change that....READ MORE
Retailers and educators have been telling TDmonthly Magazine that the trend is toward a traditional “hands-on” learning approach, featuring manipulative aids, such as marbles, beads, blocks and non-electronic counting apparatuses....
Reading and writing never required an on/off switch. But the new electronic aids turn learning phonics, spelling and other language skills into fun....
SCIENCE & NATURE
Underwater War! The Battle Between Sea-Monkeys and Triops
Sea-Monkeys have been an industry standard for 45 years. Enter Triops: bigger, meaner and newer to the market. It’s a battle for retailer shelf-space. Who do you choose?...READ MORE
Sea-Monkeys, butterflies and ants — oh, my! Kids and creepy crawly things; every budding scientist starts somewhere, and live-animal kits have been perennial sellers for almost 50 years, starting when Uncle Milton introduced the Ant Farm....
Compared with most other toy categories, the science and nature toy market has been booming. Do companies in this lucrative field know something other toy companies don’t? TDmonthly Magazine recently interviewed several successful science kit manufacturers to find out. ...
Whether building robots, collecting critters or mixing chemicals, today’s kids are eager to explore the world around them. According to a recent survey conducted by Funosophy Inc., kids are showing untapped interest in a variety of science and nature activity kits. ...
TDMONTHLY TOY VIDEOS
September Toys on the Move
If you really want to get to know a toy, you´ve got to see it move. Or quack. Or do whatever it is that toy was meant to do. Mr. TOYDIRECTORY examines these new products in the following brand new videos produced just for specialty retailers like you. Tickets, please! It´s time for the show...READ MORE
These toys are too active to stay still....
What better way to experience a toy than firsthand?...
Mr. TOYDIRECTORY has got his hands on a few more products this month, and he´s improving his style....
These toys just can´t sit still....
Take a moment to watch the following toys do their thing right before your very eyes!...
Just click on the following links to see what antics the toys got up to with their beloved friend, Mr. Hands....
Oh dear; these toys have found their way in front of the camera....
RETAILING TIPS
The List of 10: How to Create a Successful Roster of In-Store Events
To spark sales and build a customer base, many retailers turn to in-store events. But specifically, what works? To find out, TDmonthly asked several retailers across the country. ...READ MORE
Nature and learning toys were the fastest growing toy market in 2004 according to the Toy Industry Association. Should you stock your store with nature items, and if so, how can you maximize sales? ...
TDMONTHLY POPULAR STORIES
And the Toy Winners Are ...
Many innovative toy manufacturers have won awards this year for creating unique designs that both educate and entertain children. ...READ MORE
TDmonthly Magazine surveyed 16 toy shops from coast to coast to find out which toys fell flat and which flew high in Christmas 2004....
Last month, we published an article dealing with the incandescently popular Hello Kitty by Sanrio....
When specialty toy retailers have even a rudimentary knowledge of the conditions that affect special-needs kids, a new market opens up to them. Although reports vary, most studies show that the number of U.S. children with special needs ranks in the millions....
By using dynamic business practices, Corgi has plans to bring a die-cast British Invasion to America....
TDMONTHLY TOY BUZZ
Digital Dimensions Computes With Kids
As parents and teachers emphasize computer skills among preschoolers, the retail market is changing to accommodate the special needs of toddlers. Adult models are difficult, if not impossible, for a small child to use. One company has branched out and formed a special division to meet this growing demand....READ MORE
Even tarot cards couldn’t have predicted the road followed by U.S. Games Systems Inc.’s chairman and CEO, Stuart Kaplan....
TDMONTHLY COOL COMPANY
Become Enchanted With Dervish Toys
After six years in development, the husband and wife founders of Dervish Toys, Charles Erdman and Tatiana Romanov, are finally ready to bring their old world fantasy to life....READ MORE
RETAILER SPOTLIGHT
Buying a Doll Experience? — Priceless
See a doll, hear a doll. Touch it. Buy it. Then come back for more. The sensory approach to doll selling that Jerree Childers has chosen for her store seems to be working; she estimates that 70% of her customers are repeat buyers. ...READ MORE
TDMONTHLY BRASS RING
Copernicus Toys Makes Kits for Kids With Vision
During a tight period of the business cycle in the early ‘80s, natural food store owners Ellen and Harris Tobias diversified their store´s offerings to include made-in-China tin wind-up cars. Thirty years later, the Tobiases are focused on toys, heading Copernicus Toys....READ MORE
TDMONTHLY MOM´S PERSPECTIVE
Surviving Special Occasions With the Right Toy
“Children should be seen and not heard” is a rule that our culture has abandoned. My children have been seen and heard everywhere ...READ MORE
TDMONTHLY TOP-10 MOST-WANTED LISTS
TDmonthly´s Top 10 Most Wanted Realistic Play Babies
When it comes to baby dolls, the “realer” the better. Lifelike baby dolls meant for collectors, such as Ashton-Drake Collectible’s So Truly Real! line and the Lee Middleton Original Doll Co.’s Breath of Life Babies, have even crossed over into the (very careful) play category....READ MORE
Looking to create a new marketing niche for your store? How about selling to the unschooling parents?...
TDmonthly spoke with over a dozen retailers across the country who said the following talking toys sell well at their stores....
September is just past summer and looking towards Christmas. It’s a humble-jumble month, and our recommendations run a wide gamut....
We here at TDmonthly have seen quite a few toys in our time and according to us, the following may be something special....
TDMONTHLY UPCOMING ISSUES
The Coming Fashion in Fashion Dolls
Next month, TDmonthly Magazine talks with the heads of the fashion doll industry — the creators, the CEOs, the movers-and-shakers — to find out where it’s all going and why....READ MORE
TDmonthly examines the new economics of the toy retailer from a Wall Street point of view in next month´s issue....
What happens when violence sells more than peace, and edgy sells more than family? Where are the lines, and where do the toy companies stand in the difficult tight-rope walk between accounting and accountability?...
Is China a threat to the world toy industry? TDmonthly explores this notion in next month´s issue....
