Toys in the News: 9-29-2014

By TDmonthly Staff
September 2014

_{SUBMIT your news to TDmonthly.}_{See previous toy industry news.}
_{Toys in the News is updated Mon-Fri at 9:15 am PST}
Amazon's Grand Plan to Avoid Holiday Delivery Snafus Again. September 29, 2014 — Amazon cleared $25.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013..

Big Shift In China Economy To 'disrupt' Western Retailers: Li & Fung Head. September 29, 2014 — China's role in supplying cheap consumer goods to the West could end...
Deloitte forecasts boost in this year’s retail holiday sales. September 26, 2014 — According to Deloitte’s annual retail holiday sales forecast, steadily improving economic...

Robotic Toy Carmaker Anki Raises $55 Million. September 26, 2014 — The consumer robotics startup Anki, which makes artificially intelligent toy race cars...

GameStop gears up for the holidays. September 26, 2014 — GameStop plans to hire approximately 25,000 employees nationwide...

Exclusive: P&G, Hasbro in crosshairs of Mexico's taxman - sources. September 26, 2014 — The world's largest household product maker Procter & Gamble and No. 2 toymaker Hasbro...
Shift in Kids’ TV Watching Habits Drives Big Changes to Discovery-Hasbro Partnership. September 25, 2014 — The seismic shifts in the way kids watch TV has led to major changes in the partnership between Discovery Communications and Hasbro in the Hub Network...

As China eats into its market, India’s toy industry pins hope on e-commerce. September 25, 2014 — Last year, only 20% of India’s Rs 8,000 crore ($1.3 billion) toy market was served by Indian toy makers...

Ten Retail Winners, Losers And Disruptors. September 25, 2014 — It’s more than a horse race. A look at some of the winners, losers and disruptors...

Elsa set to deliver for Jakks Pacific and Disney. September 25, 2014 — Jakks Pacific (JAKK -0.3%) could rake in $125M this year from sales of Disney...
Hasbro to partner with Disney to make Princess, 'Frozen' dolls. September 24, 2014 — Hasbro Inc. said Wednesday that it will partner with Disney Consumer Products to make Disney Princess and “Frozen” dolls...

Toys 'R' Us High Yield Bonds Jump, CDS Tightens After Co. Discloses Refinancing. September 24, 2014 — Bonds backing Toys 'R' Us jumped and the retailer’s credit protection costs tightened...
Disney's 'Frozen' Rules Holiday Toy List. September 23, 2014 — Two toys based off Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s hit animated film made...

Toys 'R' Us to hire 45,000 seasonal employees, including 400 across Alabama. September 23, 2014 — Retailer Toys "R" Us plans to hire 45,000 seasonal workers at its stores and...
Finalists for National Toy Hall to be announced. September 22, 2014 — The National Toy Hall of Fame is set to announce the 12 finalists for its class of 2014...

Activision seeks dismissal of 'absurd' Noriega lawsuit. September 22, 2014 — Activision says it will file a motion to dismiss a "frivolous" lawsuit by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega...

Shoptimist: Toys R Us launches new loyalty program, online layaway. September 22, 2014 — These days, retailers are constantly brainstorming ways to outdo the competition and lure shoppers...Do Toy Companies Need More Women at the Top? September 19, 2014 — As a little girl, I loved Barbies. But now as an adult, I'm slightly embarrassed by this...

Mattel’s BoomCo is Nerf with a sticky twist. September 19, 2014 — Nerf isn’t the only game in the cube warfare town. There are...

Hasbro Is Letting Kids Make Themselves Into Superhero Action Figures Through 3D Printing. September 19, 2014 — Have you ever dreamed of being a superhero? What it would be like to swoop in and save the day...
Amazon has finally cracked the kid tablet code. September 18, 2014 — Amazon's cavalcade of tablet announcements this evening includes a surprisingly good offer to parents...

Discovery, Hasbro Modify Hub Partnership. September 18, 2014 — Sources confirmed reports that Discovery Communications and toy maker Hasbro are modifying their four-year partnership...

'Dungeons & Dragons' Movie Rights Trial Starts With Roll Of The Sequel Dice. September 18, 2014 — The battle over who will make the next Dungeons & Dragons movie finally had its day in court...

Production of Lincoln Logs Toy Returning to US. September 18, 2014 — Lincoln Logs, the popular toy created nearly a century ago by a son of Frank Lloyd Wright, is coming home to the U.S.A...

Foul-Mouthed Barbie? Mattel Deems Claim 'Off the Hook'. September 18, 2014 — Barbie's many things, but a potty mouth isn't one of them. Until now...
Claire’s to set up shop in more Toys ‘R’ Us stores. September 17, 2014 — More Toys “R” Us stores will feature in-location Claire’s shops, broadening its offerings for tween girls beyond toys and videogames...

Toys "R" Us releases 2014 holiday hot toy list. September 17, 2014 — The holiday shopping season is steadily approaching, and on Tuesday, Toys "R" Us unveiled its 2014 Holiday Hot Toy List...

Hasbro Celebrates National PLAY-DOH Day. September 17, 2014 — Hasbro, Inc. celebrates National PLAY-DOH Day with a collection of six back-to-school themed sculptures...

LeapFrog: A 6-Point Inspection. September 17, 2014 — It's important for long-term investors to develop a guide for doing their investment research...It's still summer, but retailers already wooing Christmas shoppers. September 16, 2014 — Even though it's still summer and Christmas is more than three months away, retailers...

Disney Infinity Game Studio Hires a Top Player to Create Toy Box Levels. September 15, 2014 — To stoke interest in the second edition of its Infinity video game, the Walt Disney Company turned...

How GoldieBlox Went From A Scrappy Kickstarter To Making Important Toys For Girls. September 15, 2014 — It's not too often that a toy--not a video game, but a physical toy that small children play with...

Kohl's Gears Up for Holiday Season; Launches Toy Brands. September 15, 2014 — Kohl’s Corporation seems to be getting ready for the holiday season...
U.S. retail sales rise broadly; consumer sentiment perks up. September 12, 2014 — U.S. retail sales rose broadly in August and consumer sentiment hit a 14-month high in September...

Walmart Swears Your Kids Want This New Smartwatch for Christmas. September 12, 2014 — Parents: Don't have a heart attack. It's not the Apple Watch kids are supposedly demanding...

Hasbro designers on creating Star Wars toys. September 12, 2014 — Developers at Hasbro are shedding light on all that goes into creating toys for the collector and adult markets...
Toys 'R' Us ready to do battle in the holiday toy wars. September 11, 2014 — Retailer will change the look of its stores, revamp a loyalty program with more generous offers...

Toymaker Hasbro Growing Its Media Business. September 11, 2014 — Historically, Hasbro has been a toys and games maker, but it is increasingly becoming a media company...

Retail Experts See Hurdles to Apple Pay Adoption. September 11, 2014 — September 9th was Apple's AAPL -0.97% big day. The tech giant introduced...

Disney: Maker Studios is the Marvel of the future. September 11, 2014 — Disney bought YouTube network Maker Studios for what could amount to almost $1 billion...
Activision’s Destiny Has First Day Sales of $500 Million. September 10, 2014 — Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), the largest U.S. video-game maker, said its highly-anticipated shooter title...

Effort underway to make Slinky Pennsylvania's official state toy. September 10, 2014 — Those in the Pennsylvania Legislature, like Congress, probably aren't going to solve...

Kids help Wal-Mart to again predict top holiday toys. September 10, 2014 — A year after its release, Disney's "Frozen" remains poised to drive holiday toy wish lists in the coming shopping bonanza....

Barnes & Noble Fights Book Decline by Selling More Toys. September 10, 2014 — Barnes & Noble Inc., suffering from years of sluggish book sales, is increasingly taking on a new role: toy store...

Disney Finds More Ways to Turn 'Frozen' into Cool Cash. September 10, 2014 — "Frozen" is the gift that keeps on giving at Disney (DIS). The family entertainment giant continues...
Toys 'R' Us hires three senior vice presidents. September 9, 2014 — Wayne-based retailer Toys "R" Us has hired three senior vice presidents...

DreamWorks Animation, Disney sued over alleged no-poaching scheme. September 9, 2014 — DreamWorks Animation SKG, the Walt Disney Co. and other Hollywood companies are targets...
3D Printing Companies Need More Deals Like Hasbro/Shapeways. September 8, 2014 — Revenue sharing agreement makes quality 3D models available with copyright owners compensated...

Poconos-Area Designer: Wal-Mart Toy Nearly the Same as Mine. September 8, 2014 — A northeastern Pennsylvania woman who develops doll accessories and clothing believes Wal-Mart...

Twitter Rolls Out 'Buy' Button, Transforms Tweets Into Retail Engines. September 8, 2014 — Twitter is now testing a system, long in the works, that lets businesses embed “Buy” buttons in their tweets...

Alibaba who? U.S. retail investors not that interested. September 8, 2014 — When Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding revealed plans earlier this year to go public...
PayPal makes another move to steal Square's offline retailers. September 5, 2014 — PayPal on Thursday rolled out software it hopes will help win more of the customers that have...

LeapFrog And Mia Hamm Declare September 6th Fit Made Fun Day With New LeapBand™ Activity Tracker For Kids. September 5, 2014 — In celebration of the launch of the new LeapBand™, LeapFrog to host event at Santa Monica Beach to become new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® record holder for fun play activities...

Furbies, Puppy Surprise, and 8 More Childhood Toys You Never Realized Were Super Creepy. September 5, 2014 — Childhood is generally thought of as an idyllic time, full of the simple joys of playing with your favorite toys...
Everything Is Awesome: Lego Leaps Barbie For World's Largest Toy Maker. September 4, 2014 — The Lego Movie didn’t just kill it at the box office — it also took over the toy store...

Jada Targets Girls With New R/C Toys. September 4, 2014 — Jada Toys has released a new line of R/C toys that include pink and purple race cars and an R/C Princess Sophia riding a pony...

The Legendary Skylanders Return To Toys'R'Us. September 4, 2014 — Skylanders Trap Team will be rolling out at Toys'R'Us this October, just in time for the holidays...

Mattel Named Founding Champion and Official Partner of Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015. September 4, 2014 — Building on its longstanding support of Special Olympics, Mattel MAT, +1.17% today announced that it has been named an Official Partner of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles...

Sphero Ollie: A Devilishly Speedy Toy Controlled By Your Phone. September 4, 2014 — Ollie is the latest phone-controlled toy from the developers behind the Sphero robotic ball...
Mattel launches its latest Mexican Barbie wearing traditional dress but are the company's international dolls outdated? September 3, 2014 — Last year Mattel came under fire for its outdated representation of Mexican culture with its launch of Mexico Barbie...

All The Ways Your Kids Can Now Customize Their Toys. September 3, 2014 — Kids used to have a fairly limited choice when buying their own My Little Pony. No more...

7 New Video Games Released On Sept. 2, 2014 Including ‘Warframe,’ 'Sims 4' And 'Dance Central Spotlight'. September 3, 2014 — It's an exciting time for the video game industry because a lot of games will be released in September 2014...
Toys 'R' Us takes extreme measures to prepare for holidays. September 2, 2014 — Toys 'R' Us says it’s ready for the holidays — but getting to this point wasn’t much fun...

Robot toy invasion: Tech fuels the latest toys. September 2, 2014 — Forget dollhouses, footballs and jigsaw puzzles. Kids today want tech in their toys...

Mattel Pushes Barbie as Model of Empowerment for Young Girls. September 2, 2014 — Before Pantene was not sorry, Barbie was unapologetic. The shapely doll's turn...

Toys 'R' Us loss widens as discounts increase. August 29, 2014 — Toys 'R' Us posted a wider loss in its fiscal second-quarter as discounts took a toll on the bottom line, even as sales rose...

Will American Kids Want Some Tsum-Tsum? August 29, 2014 — Disney's new plush toy from Japan could be the next big thing stateside...

Star Wars Characters Teased for Disney Infinity in 2015. August 29, 2014 — We may end up seeing Star Wars content introduced to the Disney Infinity series next year...

Back-to-school retail rush likely to last through Labor Day. August 29, 2014 — Carrie Consolvo was on her third round of back-to-school shopping with her children...

JAKKS Pacific Unwrap Their Latest Line of Star Wars Rebels Giant Figures. August 29, 2014 — JAKKS Pacific may be a relative newcomer to the world of Star Wars collecting, but this hasn’t stopped them coming in with a bang...