The Few, The Proud…The Award-Winning Toys
Who Made the Cut This Year?
By Alison Marek and Julie L. Jones
Thousands
of products are introduced to the toy industry every year, but only a
limited number are good enough, playable enough and innovative enough
to garner an award.
In addition to issuing
TDmonthly
Awards, TDmonthly
Magazine regularly asks manufacturers
to present their award winners to our readers so that retailers can quickly
identify products with great potential and manufacturers can learn and
be inspired by others' successes. Here are the most recent responses:
Journey on the Amazon Playzzle by TALICOR / ARISTOPLAY
 Players can join characters Bromley and Cotica on a bilingual journey through the Amazon, learning the names of exotic animals along the way. The game is designed to encourage the development of multi-language, critical thinking and memory skills. The first to reach the ocean wins. "The game board is actually a floor puzzle that you put together before playing the game. This joins the activity of a puzzle and beginner game; both are great for kids just starting to play board games," Todd Jacobs, vice president of Talicor Inc., told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2010 Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award 7/26/2010 (Price: $24.99; Age: 3 to 10) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Solar Airship by WILD CREATIONS
 Made from heat-attracting "Absorba" plastic, this giant solar airship needs only a small amount of sunlight to cause the air inside to expand and thus lift the airship into the sky. It measures 26' long. Awards: Tillywig Toy Awards Sterling Fun Winner 7/21/2010 (Price: $15.99) ENTER WILD CREATIONS TOYSHOW [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Mega Bubble by WILD CREATIONS
 An inflatable base holds the bubble liquid around the perimeter, allowing people to stand inside while the bubble wand is moved up over their heads. This product aims to teach the physics behind bubbles. Full instructions for use, plus instructions on how to make bubble solution, are included. Awards: Tillywig Toy Awards Sterling Fun Winner 7/21/2010 (Price: $24.99) ENTER WILD CREATIONS TOYSHOW [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Buzz Wire Bomb by WILD CREATIONS
 Kids can touch the wire to hear a buzz, and if unlucky, a very loud bang. Patented gearing means the balloon could burst on the first or 21st contact with the wire. Awards: Tillywig Toy Awards Sterling Fun Winner 7/21/2010 (Price: $34.99) ENTER WILD CREATIONS TOYSHOW [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
MY Train Dining Car by MAPLE LANDMARK WOODCRAFT CO.
 This car has a removable top and holds four colorful people and a picnic table inside. The passengers can also picnic outside with their table. The car is 6.5" long and connects with the other MY Train Collection with a loop and peg. It is crafted from responsibly harvested maple and pine and features durable non-toxic finishes. "It is a continuation of a 20+-year-old product line," Barbara Rainville, marketing manager at Maple Landmark, told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2003 Dr. Toy Best Classic Toy (for the entire MY Train Collection) 7/16/2010 (Price: $26.00; Age: 3 to 6) ENTER MAPLE LANDMARK WOODCRAFT CO. TOYSHOW [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Steps4Kids to Write Modern Manuscript by Steps4Kids®, LLC
 This 90-minute, award-winning instructional handwriting DVD uses video modeling to teach modern manuscript letters. It supports D'Nealian penmanship programs and has breaks that show how to draw using select letters and Look2Write breaks to develop reading and writing skills.
Awards: 2010 Creative Child Magazine Media of the Year; Dr. Toy Best Vacation Products 2010 7/16/2010 (Price: $24.99; Age: 4 to 8) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
PhotoStory by Creations by You, Inc.
 PhotoStory includes the complete cost of a professionally produced, full-color hardback photo book. A unique kit number is provided to help kids make a book online with user-friendly website. The bonus photography guidebook will teach kids how to use their camera. "Kids are getting digital cameras at very young ages and have no outlet for thier photos besides social networking sites. While there are many photobook options, we are the only one with a focus on this young market. We have hundreds of preloaded stickers and backgrounds which can be added to layered pages and are designed around what kids are photographing," Chapelle Brunk, Marketing Specialist, Creations by You, told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2010 Creative Child Magazine Kids Product of the Year 7/16/2010 (Price: $21.95; Age: 9 and up) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Hologram Chamber by WILD CREATIONS
 This chamber creates an optical illusion. Users can place any object in the chamber and see it appear to hover.
Awards: Creative Child Magazine Toy Award 2010 7/16/2010 (Price: $8.00; Age: 5 and up) ENTER WILD CREATIONS TOYSHOW [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Pocket Microscope by WILD CREATIONS
 This microscope lets users view objects in intricate detail with brightness and clarity. It features a 20x - 40x zoom magnification with LED illuminator and comes complete with slides, cover slips and a lens cleaning cloth.
Awards: Creative Child Magazine Toy Award 2010 7/16/2010 (Price: $13.99; Age: 5 and up) ENTER WILD CREATIONS TOYSHOW [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
As Nora Jo Fades Away: Confessions of a Caregiver by FIVE STAR PUBLICATIONS INC.
 Life goes from Hollywood to Michigan to Mars when Lisa and her family take in her grandmother who has dementia. The Weavers quickly discover the “comicals” of Nora Jo bring a whole new realm of “crazy” to their copasetic abode. And the question becomes, how high a price can they pay for this traumatic change? "As Nora Jo Fades Away is a great read with an even grander cause: to create action and awareness," Lisa Goldman, Five Star Publications office coordinator, told TDmonthly.
Awards: 2010 Paris Book Festival Romance Award First Place 7/9/2010 (Price: $15.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Following are some of the programs represented in TDmonthly.com's section of award winners: Dr.
Toy, iParenting
Media Awards, TIA
T.O.T.Y., Oppenheim
Toy Portfolio, The
National Parenting Center, and Parents'
Choice Awards.
You may also access TDmonthly's review
section to see which products earned 5 TD stars.
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