Holiday grabs

This segment of our Toys R Us hot holiday toy list looks at toys for kids aged 2-4 years.

They are filled with classics, go hitech, and look to give kids a lot of fun on Christmas morning.

It wouldn’t be a holiday season without girls getting Barbies from Jolly Ole St. Nick. And Toys R Us is betting that the “Barbie & The Diamond Castle Princess Liana and Princess Alexa Dolls” from Mattel will be the hot ticket.

Barbie becomes Princess Liana (sold separately) and with her best friend Princess Alexa, go on a journey to discover music, magic and the power of friendship. The Princess Alexa Doll sings two songs from the Barbie & The Diamond Castle movie and wears a glittery gown which magically transforms with the pull of her pretty purple ribbon.

Cost is about $25. (free shipping on orders of $50 or more)

Bratz deadline extended

MGA Entertainment Inc. may have been convicted of violating Mattel’s copyright over their Bratz toy dolls, and they may have to pay a whopping $100 million in restitution for it, but it appears that the judge in the case has decided it’s more important for MGA to stay in business than it is to uphold Mattel’s copyright, at least until the end of the year, that is.


Under the original terms of the court’s decision, MGA Entertainment Inc. would be prevented by injunction from manufacturing and selling the Bratz toy dolls as of February 11th.

But MGA argued that doing so would cause toy retailers from ordering the toys and would cause irreparable financial damage to the MGAs bottom line. As such, the judge in the case granted them a reprieve which would allow MGA to continue making Bratz toys for most of 2009. Again. Huh?

I rather thought that was the whole point of the fine and the injunction – to prevent the violators of the copyright from continuing to violate said copyright. And it would seem logical to assume that a hefty fine and injunction would cause financial harm, but that is the punishment for causing financial harm on the original copyright holders, isn’t it?

No word on Mattel’s next move in this chess game, but if this decision is allowed to stand, it will only serve as precedent for other pirates seeking to leach of someone else’s intellectual property.

Barbie - The old gray hair is still a buxom blonde at 50

She’s the object of every girl’s dreams, the obsession of many collectors’ desire, and the bane of some activist’s existence.

But as Barbie approaches her 50th birthday on March 9th, there’s no denying that this iconic toy has changed the way little girls play and how a toy company markets her.


Somewhere in the world, a Barbie doll is sold every three seconds somewhere in the world. Mostly for little girls, but Mattel has noticed over the years a growing demographic of adult collectors who are buying her up from the toys stores as well.

This growing market place has caused Mattel to begin to market Barbie to a whole new demographic – adults who not only grew up with the iconic toy, but who are obsessed by her as well.

Mattel is marketing special Star Trek themed Barbie’s, life-sized Barbie fashions and a line of Barbie clothing, cosmetics, and even a printer which prints custom nail designs onto girls fingernails.

So, at 50, Barbie has never been bigger.

And even though it may be that the economic downturn may damper earnings figures, to survive nearly a half century of pop culture proves only that the future has never looked brighter for Barbie.

Terminator Toys take over Toy Fair

With the upcoming sequel to the Terminator movie epic, Terminator: Salvation coming this summer, Playmates is gearing up with a whole spate of Terminator toys which will allow kids to pretend they’re the treaded T-600 assassin.

And although the T600’s mission is to take out John Connor before he can mount a resistance, the heavy price tag on some of these toys make do Connor’s work for him. Still, they’re pretty cool toys that deserve a look.


The first toy of the Terminator line is a flying fist toy which shoots a out from the forearm to attack anyone in it’s path. Pretty cool, but with a cost of $75, one has to wonder who’s going to take it on, much less play with it.

Next is T-600 Voice and Vision helmet with light up eyes that makes the wearer look very ominous.

Lastly, there’s the Terminator Endoskeleton Tatoos’ which will let kids pretend they’ve got some T-200 titanium under that fleshy covering of theirs.

The toys are due to be out in time for the premiere of the movie May 21st.

Disney Princess the Magic Kingdom

Arriving at the New York Toy Faire with pomp and pageantry is Princess Tiana, Disney’s latest royal princess from the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog.”

Voiced by Tony Award-winning actress/singer Anika Noni Rose, Princess Tiana is the first Disney princess in over a decade and is a timely addition to the ever popular Disney Princess line that has girls dressing in costume as they walk the Magic Kingdom and get in touch with their inner royal.


These Mattel toys, ranging from cute baby dolls to hour glass collectibles in Barbie-esque glory, also include play sets and role-play dresses which will help young girls pretend to be Princess Tiana, who is also the first African American Disney princess to enter the pantheon.

A distinction that’s long overdue.

The first wave of “The Princess and the Frog” merchandise, which will include apparel, home décor, consumer electronics, school supplies and personal care products will flood the Kingdom starting in late October / early November, while the Disney movie – the first hand drawn animated feature since Home on the Range – will arrive in theaters Christmas Day – perfect for little girls who get their Princesss Tiana toys from Santa!

Disney Star Wars Training Academy

Lately my interest in the Lucas attitude of “if you build it, they will come” towards Star Wars/Disney merchandising has been rather waneing.

I mean, when Disney slaps Minnie Mouse in a slave Leia costume, how can not every red blooded American male not lose any interest in the a woman in a bikini.

The image is seared into my mind! Well, thankfully, Disney has redeemed itself by releasing through Hasbro a fun set commemorating the Disney Parks Jedi Training Academy.


But what is a little sad is that Disney doesn’t appreciate that the average Star Wars/Disney fan would know the name of the generic “Jedi Master” who chooses the youngling padawans from the crowd. Then again, I can’t seem to, so maybe it’s a non starter.

But I digress. The cool thing is that any of the 25 youngsters who are chosen to learn the way of the Force and battle Darth Vader and Darth Maul can take home this 5 figure set and actually believe that one of them is him! And then relive the memory over and over again. Impressive, most impressive.

And what’s really cool is that the Jedi Training Academy is now a permanent fixture at both Disneyland and Disney Hollywood Studios (where it’s in the shadow of a 35 foot tall ATAT).

The toys will be sold exclusively during Star Wars Weekends for an obscene $40.

Power Rangers Toy

There’s a trend going on in toy making right now … using the Internet to poll toy fans on what new toy to make.

And that’s not only very democratic, but cool to boot.

Hasbro has been doing it for about a year by letting Star Wars toy fans vote on what toy to release next and now Power Rangers toy maker Bandai is doing the same thing through Wizard Universe.

The idea is for Power Rangers fans to choose the next classic Ranger toy and it’s bringing the Power Rangers franchise around full circle.


Going back to even the beginning, users can vote on a sampling of Rangers from several series incarnations over the lats 15 years.

They include the Pink Power Ranger from the first season of Mighty Morphin PR, the Red Zeo Ranger from the second season, the Quantum Ranger from Time Force, the Red Ninja Ranger from Ninja Storm, the Blue Dino Ranger from Dino Thunder, the Omega Ranger from S.P.D., and the Solaris Knight from Mystic Force.

Fans can log onto wizarduniverse.com to make you’re their heard and decide which of these classic Power Rangers figures will get a makeover.