Hasbro's Play-Doh Gets Its Own Preschool YouTube Show, "Play-Doh with Margo," Premiering Oct. 30
Hasbro announced on Oct. 27 "Play-Doh with Margo," an original YouTube series that brings the Play-Doh brand into digital entertainment for preschoolers. It premieres Friday, Oct. 30, on the official Play-Doh YouTube channel. Host Margo uses songs, games and "What if...?" questions, such as "What if pumpkins liked dressing up?" or "What if dragons didn't breathe fire?", then shows kids how to make the idea in Play-Doh compound. Each episode runs through the same segments, including "The Unsquish," "Imaginoodle," "Switch-Up" and the "Can-Can Shuffle," and ends with the finished creation coming to life in an animated short.
Hasbro says 42 episodes are planned, rolling out weekly in English, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Latin American Spanish. "Play-Doh with Margo brings that creative spirit to entertainment, giving preschoolers a playful place to start," said Kim Boyd, Hasbro's president of licensing and entertainment. Families who want dough on hand for the premiere can look at the Play-Doh 42-pack of 1-ounce cans, No. 4 in Amazon's Toys & Games Best Sellers on Oct. 28 at $16.99.
Pros: 42 small cans, enough to share with a group; Amazon listed it at $16.99 (about 40 cents a can) on Oct. 28
Cons: Each can holds only 1 ounce, so it's not much for one big build; the colors aren't picked to match any particular episode
Source: Hasbro via GlobeNewswire
Build-A-Bear Brings Back Its 1999 Mascot Bearemy to Open Its 30th-Anniversary Year
Build-A-Bear Workshop released a new Bearemy plush on Oct. 27, inspired by the company's original 1999 mascot. It's sold in Build-A-Bear stores and online while supplies last. The vault drop kicks off "30 Years of the Stuff You Love," a year-long celebration. For every Bearemy sold from Oct. 27, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2027, Build-A-Bear will give $3 to the Build-A-Bear Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit. Starting in January 2027, more exclusive vault and special-edition anniversary drops will come out through the year.
Maxine Clark founded Build-A-Bear in 1997 and opened the first Workshop at the St. Louis Galleria that October. The company now runs more than 650 stores worldwide.
Pros: A nostalgia piece for parents who had a Build-A-Bear in the late 1990s; $3 of each sale goes to the company's foundation
Cons: Sold only through Build-A-Bear while supplies last; the release gives no price
Source: Build-A-Bear Workshop via PR Newswire
UK's Largest Official Harry Potter Shop Opens Nov. 4 on London's Oxford Street, With a Hogwarts Bear Ceremony
Warner Bros. will open Harry Potter Shop Oxford Street, which it calls the UK's largest official Harry Potter shop, on Nov. 4, 2026, at The Ribbon, 134-140 Oxford Street, London. The two-floor flagship draws on Diagon Alley and adds a food and drink offer made just for this location, plus exclusive products and in-store personalization of house robes, trunks, notebooks and Acceptance Letters.
A new interactive Hogwarts Bear Ceremony, found only at the Oxford Street shop, lets fans take part in a version of the Sorting Ceremony. Warner Bros. says more surprises will be announced before opening day.
Source: Harry Potter Shop (Warner Bros. UK)
MGA's Miniverse Serves Up Taco Bell Series 2: "Decades," Eight Retro Menu Sets in Blind Capsules
MGA Entertainment has added MGA's Miniverse Make It Mini Taco Bell Series 2: Decades to its MGA Shop at $12.99. Each mystery capsule holds realistic mini ingredients and accessories to build one of eight collectible menu sets from Taco Bell's '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and Y2K years, from the Bean Tostada and Bellburger to a Caramel Apple Empanada and Baja Blast set.
MGA notes that the capsules contain small parts and resin, that none of the pieces are edible, and that the line is not for kids under 8, with adult supervision required. The single capsule is also on Amazon at $12.99, the same price as MGA's shop on Oct. 28.
Pros: Same $12.99 on Amazon and MGA's shop; eight different retro menu sets to collect; works with the earlier Taco Bell Restaurant set
Cons: Blind-packed, so duplicates happen; resin and small parts mean 8+ only, with an adult nearby
Source: The MGA Shop
Mattel Creations Adds a Shaun White Kenbassadors Doll in Snowboard Gear, $80
Mattel has listed a Barbie Signature Shaun White Kenbassadors doll on Mattel Creations at $80, adding three-time gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White to its Kenbassadors series. The Black Label doll has a Shaun White likeness face sculpt on an articulated Original Ken body. His riding outfit includes an undershirt, jacket and riding bibs inspired by his WHITESPACE brand, plus a Snow League jersey, goggles, a helmet, gloves, a snowboard and riding boots that clip into the board.
The doll comes with a certificate of authenticity and a doll stand. Mattel's listing notes the doll can't stand on its own.
Pros: Likeness sculpt and a full set of snowboard gear; certificate of authenticity and stand included
Cons: $80 is collector pricing; needs the stand to stay upright; sold through Mattel Creations, not general toy aisles
Source: Mattel Creations
Wigglitz Launches Dino Volcano Island Playsetz With a Working Lava Chute and 12 Dino Characters
Wigglitz, maker of wiggly collectible fidget figures, has released the Volcano Playsetz (Dino Volcano Island) at $99.99 on wigglitz.com, for ages 4 and up. Kids build an island from a volcano base, volcano top and magma chamber, then slot in forest, beach and lava-field platforms. A working lava chute lets kids drop a boulder, a figure or a meat prop down the middle, the base spins, and the set can split into two volcanoes.
The box includes 12 Wigglitz characters (11 named dinos and cave people, plus one Mystery Shiny hidden in the volcano), along with 40 tree trunks, nine treetops, three spinning bushes and a fire pit that click together with the brand's peg-and-port system. The assembled island measures about 14.5 inches wide by 7.5 inches high, and the maker's page carries a small-parts choking warning for kids under 3.
Pros: Lots of parts to rearrange; 12 figures included; works with existing Dino Wigglitz
Cons: $99.99 is a big-gift price; many small parts; sold on wigglitz.com rather than at big-box stores
Source: Wigglitz
The LEGO Group and Sesame Workshop Release Free Nature Videos and Brick Activities for Ages 4 to 6
The LEGO Group and Sesame Workshop launched three new videos on Oct. 27, funded by the LEGO Foundation, that encourage kids ages 4 to 6 to explore nature through play. In each three-minute video, Elmo, Cookie Monster and other Sesame Street friends focus on one creature, bats, butterflies or worms, then invite kids to build a habitat for it with LEGO bricks and everyday craft materials.
Free LEGO activity guides and printables go with the videos, for use at home and in museums, libraries and community groups. "Children look after what they love, and we want to help them fall in love with nature," said Lauren von Stackelberg, the LEGO Group's head of social responsibility. The LEGO Group says the program doesn't come with a LEGO set to buy.
Source: The LEGO Group
Hasbro Names Dan Ayoub President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games
Hasbro announced on Oct. 27 that Dan Ayoub will become president of Wizards of the Coast & Hasbro Digital Games on Nov. 2. He'll lead Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Duel Masters and Hasbro's digital games, including Exodus and Warlock. Hasbro said he was chosen after a search that looked at dozens of internal and external candidates, and that he's the first internal candidate promoted into the job.
Ayoub was most recently senior vice president of Dungeons & Dragons. He joined Wizards in 2022 to lead its digital studios and spent 11 years at Microsoft before that, including at Halo studio 343 Industries. The appointment comes a week after Hasbro reported that Magic: The Gathering topped $600 million in quarterly revenue for the first time.
Source: Hasbro via GlobeNewswire
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