Dipika's Toys Blog

The new Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 has been signed into law. It is very heartening to see the stricter rules and regulations for the safety of kids' toys and baby products that will now be in place due to the new law. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been given more power and more funding in order to effectively put into action the stricter toy safety standards. Following the huge hue and cry that was raised over last years' toy safety fiasco, the new law will now aim to tackle unsafe toys right at the source as well as make it easier to track down unsafe and defective toys that are already in the pipeline.

The levels of lead are to be kept to a bare minimum, both in the surface coatings as well as in the material of toys. Six types of phthalates are to be completely banned, especially in chewable toys. I was particularly happy about the mandatory toy testing which must be done by an accredited independent assessment body. This testing has to be done before the toy is actually imported or distributed, thus preventing the very entry of hazardous toys into the market. Hopefully this will prevent cases like what we've seen in the past, with dangerous recalled toys being sold on eBay and other places.

All children's products have to carry a trackable label which will be able to identify information concerning where and when the product was produced, batch and lot number, etc. Also, any toy advertisements have to display mandatory warnings like the small parts warning and other applicable warnings in a prominent fashion. In addition, a database is going to be made which will help parents and consumers keep track of any dangerous products on the market.

With all these new toy safety measures coming up rapidly, I think that parents can finally breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to safe and healthy toy play in the years to come.

After a long and arduous legal battle with MGA Entertainment, Mattel finally emerged as the winner. For those of you who don't know what the big hoo-hah is all about, Mattel was suing MGA over their Bratz dolls, claiming that MGA stole the idea for Bratz dolls from them. The dolls were created by a former employee of Mattel, Carter Bryant, while he was still under Mattel's payroll. After much deliberation, the jury concluded that most of the early Bratz designs as well as the name "Bratz" was created while Mr Bryant was still working for Mattel.

It's kind of ironic, isn't it, that Bratz turned around to steal the #1 Doll spot from right under Mattel's nose! But, hey, let bygones be bygones. As for now, the decision of the jury raises all sorts of questions in one's mind. MGA is primarily known for the Bratz brand and now this very important brand is in jeopardy. As for Mattel, any potential association with the "bad girl" Bratz brand could tarnish Barbie's "squeaky clean" image. Let's wait and watch as to what happens!

I’ve always loved superheroes. As a kid I loved to read (and re-read) the adventures of my favorite superheroes who were bent upon saving the world from destruction. I guess it came naturally then, that I took to Marvel Puzzle Peril at first sight. It's a classic combination of stories and puzzles based on the Marvel superheros. The legendary awe inspiring heroes of Marvel face epic adventures and every tale has a double sided puzzle at the end.

What sets Marvel Puzzle Peril apart from your average puzzle/comic book is its outstanding design and colorful imagery which will stimulate a child’s imagination. The familiar characters make the storyline interesting and encourage children to re=assemble the puzzles when they're done reading the stories. Kids will love to witness Wolverine defeat the Sentinel, Hulk taking down the Abomination, Fantasic Four overcome the Super Skrull and Spiderman Capturing Electro.

Marvel Puzzle Peril should be a great buy if your kids (even adults with imaginations) like superheroes. It makes a perfect gift for your young superhero fans. It is published by Brighter Minds Media for approximately $10.

At long last, here's some good news in relation to toy safety. I'm sure that parents all over the US will be pleased to learn that concrete steps are being taken to ensure toy safety. The House voted by an overwhelming majority that it will ban lead, six types of phthalates and other dangerous chemicals from children's toys. The House has plans to keep the level of lead to an absolute minimum in toys and children's products. Phthalates, which have been in the news of late, are chemicals used in order to make plastic more pliable. It has been feared that phthalates can be ingested, thus causing problems in the reproductive systems of males and females. The new bill aims to ban six types of phthalates from children's toys and products.

Toy testing is also going to become more stringent, with third party testing becoming more of a requirement than an option before the toy reaches the market. The CPSC is being given more authority to enforce these new rules.

For further information, here's the complete toy safety article on the news site at Yahoo.com.

Arcades are always a fun place to be at. Hanging out with friends and bonding over good natured competition is what kids of all ages love. If you can do this in the comfort of your own home, there's nothing like it.

The Face-Off Frenzy PowerBand Hockey by FunSlides comes pretty close to the arcade style hockey game. The space saving design of the Face-Off Frenzy PowerBand Hockey quickly breaks down for easy storage. It's pretty lightweight and portable, so you can move it around. The PowerBand technology used in creates high speed ricochet action without the "click clack" of air hockey. The game frame easily converts to 3 sizes which is great when you have kids (and adults) of different age groups playing.

You can play the game right on the floor or on a tabletop if you choose. Set up your game frame, drop in the carpet puck and grab your Quick Flip Goalie Mallet. Then whack the puck with your mallet and try to score a goal on your opponent.

The game includes a 34" x 64" game frame with PowerBand System, 2 carpet pucks, 2 surface protector pads and 2 quick flip goalie mallets. (One side for carpets and reverse side for hard floors). It's a pretty fast paced game for those who like it like that.

You know, I really like the Learning Resources line of toys - they're so simple and yet encourage your child's imagination. Recently, I tried out the Pretend and Play Explorer Set which I found very interesting indeed.

I think that exploring the fascinating world of nature is a real adventure for kids. The Pretend and Play explorer set contains all necessities that will spark your child’s imagination. Young explorers can do all sorts of things in their own backyards like examine bugs and plants up close, catch butterflies and even dig up a patch of soil to plant seeds. There are 17 pieces which promise to make this set fun like an observation box with magnifier, bug viewer with tweezers, butterfly net, planting pot, shovels, rakes and so on. Priced at $36.95, the Pretend and Play Explorer set from Learning Resources is made out of durable plastic components and comes with a storage case. Ideal for kids between the ages of 3-6, this kit is a good buy if your little ones like to explore the big outdoors.

Lets all say “Ahoy there!” to the friendly water-loving critters that are here to help kids learn and have fun while doing so. The Letter Link Crabs from Learning Resources are soft plastic crabs which double up as bath time buddies and spelling guides too. Letter Link Crabs are squirty water toys which young children are bound to love.

These cute plastic crabs come in bright colors to capture the attention of children. Great for the tub, pool or even water play at school, these floating friends will make learning time more exciting. Letter Link Crabs feature uppercase letters on one side and lower case letters on the other. The crabs can be linked together to form the alphabets or simple words.

Priced at $18.95, the Letter Link Crabs from Learning Resources are ideal for kids between 2 to 5 years of age. Made from soft, non toxic and mold resistant plastic, each set comes with a convenient mesh storage bag.

The folks over at Corolle just alerted me to the fact that Corolle dolls are very much in the limelight of late, being toted around by celebrity babies including Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Suri Cruise and Violet Affleck. The lucky dolls in question are none other than Bébé Chéri and Calin, two popular dolls from Corolle. Bébé Chéri is a charming baby doll, about the size of a 3 month old. The best part about the doll is that she can wear real baby clothes. Corolle's Bébé Chéri has been spotted with Suri and Shiloh. Take a look at the adorable pictures of Shiloh with the doll at at celebrity-babies.com. Corolle's colorful Calin doll, which has a soft bean-bag type body, has been spotted with Violet Affleck in Malibu where she took the doll to a nearby farmer's market.

I love browsing the internet looking for new and interesting toy related stuff. I happened to chance across this very different site which has some great ideas on how to make toys out of - yes, you are reading right - trash! It's called Toys from Trash. There are all sorts of toys you can make ranging from paper toys like flapping butterflies and fan tailed birds to more hi tech toys like a balloon pump or even a portable electric generator. I found quite a few of the ideas very do-able with parental supervision and help, of course. They range in levels of difficulty, so I advise parents and educators to choose the toys to make carefully according to the child's age and skill level. Most of the toys shown on this site illustrate to kids the basic principles of physics. Check it out at Toys from Trash.

Have you ever wondered how the Etch-a-Sketch works? Or maybe the Yo-Yo? Even the seemingly simple Hula Hoop needs lots of physics to explain the way it moves. If you have an inherent curiosity about toys, The Way Toys Work by the father and son team, Ed Sobey and Woody Sobey, is a very enlightening book indeed. I happened to pick up a copy to read during a long flight I had to take and I couldn't stop turning the pages.

In the book, the authors explain the intricate workings of popular toys in a simple and easy to understand way. They use illustrations to make it easy to get the whole picture. I'm sure you must be wondering how the authors know how these toys work, right? Well, they've reverse-engineered the toys themselves - the best way to get the information. What I liked about this book is that there's a little bit of history provided about the toys along with interesting facts too, in addition to the actual explanations about the inner mechanisms in question.

Each of the authors are well known in their own fields. Ed Sobey founded the National Toy Hall of Fame and Woody Sobey is the state co-ordinator for Invent Idaho and the director of education for the Discovery Center of Idaho. If you have an inventive mind and want to find out more about how to get deeper into The Way Toys Work, pick up a copy for approximately $14.95.