IRS to Provide Hiring Incentive Information to Small Businesses

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is providing small businesses with information about hiring incentives to restore employment, including details about the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE), enacted March 18, through a webinar that will be held on July 8. The webinar will explain tax-related benefits for small businesses.

Two new tax benefits are available to employers who hire certain previously unemployed workers, referred to as quality employees. The payroll tax exemption provides employers with an exemption from the employer’s 6.2 percent share of social security tax on wages paid to qualifying employees (effective for wages paid from March 19, 2010 through December 31, 2010).

Additionally, businesses will also be eligible for a general business tax credit (new hire retention credit) of 6.2 percent of wages paid to the qualified employee over the 52-week period, up to a maximum credit of $1,000.

For more information on the July 8 webinar, click here.

NJ Assembly to Review Children’s Product Safety Awareness Month Proposal

Credit Francis Westfield. On March 4, New Jersey students testified before the General Assembly of Consumer Affairs in Trenton, NJ in support of Children's Product Safety Awareness Month.

A resolution sponsored by the Consumer Affairs Committee of the State of New Jersey Assembly to designate November as Children’s Product Safety Awareness Month will most likely undergo ballot by the State Assembly in the next week. If approved, New Jersey will become the first state to designate a month for children and product safety. The Toy Industry Association (TIA) says the resolution will increase awareness of the importance of play to children and the importance of safety in play.

The resolution is co-sponsored by New Jersey Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (District 37 – Bergen County) and Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. (District 18 – Middlesex County).

The proposed bill requests that the governor of New Jersey issue an annual proclamation calling on parents to learn more about safe play as well as review their children’s products. Additionally, the bill requests that the New Jersey Division on Consumer Affairs create a campaign to make parents aware of federal consumer product recall resources such as www.recalls.gov.

Representatives of the Toy Industry Association (TIA) have advocated the resolution.

DreamWorks to Bring Troll Dolls to the Big Screen

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. has signed an agreement with Denmark’s Dam Things to debut a movie based on the Good Luck Troll dolls. Siblings writers Adam Wilson and Melanie Wilson LaBracio (Evergone, The Impossible Adventures of Phineas Roone) will write the screenplay, and Dannie Festa of Festa Entertainment will serve as the executive producer.

The Good Luck Troll dolls were created in 1959 when Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam carved a doll based on a legendary Scandinavian troll as a Christmas present for his daughter. The dolls reached popularity in the 1960s and saw a resurgence of sales in the 1990s.

Dam Things is represented by Festa and Jay Handlin at Carlsmith Ball, LLP. Wilson and Wilson LaBracio are represented by Festa; Brad Rosenfeld at Preferred Artists; and Eric Suddleson of Felker Toczek Gellman Suddleson, LLP.

Wild Planet Donates 12,000 Toys to Summer Toy Drive

Wild Planet Entertainment, Inc. has donated nearly 12,000 toys valued at $173,000 in support of the Toy Industry Foundation’s (TIF) annual Summer Toy Drive.

TIF––a nonprofit organization that works to bring toys to children recovering from abuse or crisis, as well as kids in poverty, suffering from chronic illness, or living with parents in the military––collects newly manufactured toys from members of the toy industry via its Toy Bank and distributes them through local charities. Wild Planet has contributed over $1.1 million in toys since the tracking of donations began in 2003.

Nearly 1,500 products from the recent donation will be distributed by the SOS American Foundation, Inc. to children in the Ukraine and Tajikistan. TIF hopes to collect 300,000 toys during its summer toy drive.

YooHoo & Friends Expands into Tween Market

Aurora World, Inc. is expanding its YooHoo & Friends brand into the tween category. New YooHoo & Friends products will include plush, stationery, fashion accessories, decorations, and “snaps.”

Aurora’s “snaps” are approximately one inch in diameter, and can be mixed and matched and fastened to items such as lanyards, totes, accessories, and more.

The six new YooHoo & Friends plush animals include Shooga the Sugar Glider, Lemmee the Lemur, Hapee the Lesser Panda, YooHoo the Bush Baby, Chewoo the Red Squirrel, and Pammee the Fennec Fox. The plush are available in five or eight inches and make a sound when squeezed. Each sports a headband or flower and is embroidered with hearts, peace signs, or words such as “love” and “peace.”

The company is also releasing the YooHoo & Friends Fun Center collection, which includes stationery such as a spiral notebook and doodle pad, decorative accessories such as sticker rolls, and fashion accessories such as an accessory case, laser cut bracelet, and lanyard.

King Tut and Discovery’s Holiday Product Preview

Discovery invited media and other personnel to its 2010 Holiday Product Preview today at the Discovery Times Square Exposition in New York. Being only a figment of the prescribed guest, I was lucky enough to be bestowed an invitation by The Toy Book, a perk of being an editorial intern. The event featured new products set to release just in time for the holidays and a complimentary refreshment bar.

One of the products I liked was the “Wild Eyes” collection based off Discovery’s Animal Planet channel. The collection includes dinosaurs, snakes, and animal plush toys that roar, hiss, and growl, respectively. The snakes, for example, came in four different colors, stood around 1-foot tall, and could be activated by sound, sending them into a frenzy of hissing and glowing eyes. These products will retail for $19.99 at Toys “R” Us, with smaller versions that make noise sans-lit eyeballs selling for approximately $6.

Another product that showed promise was a video game based on Bear Grylls’ Discovery Channel show Man vs. Wild. Players take control of Bear as he treks through the wilderness, with the ability to level up skills similar to a role-playing game. The build I saw was the early-alpha release shown at E3 last week, so the graphics and animation weren’t as polished as the final product hopefully will be, although the frame rate was constant. Dynamic weather effects and the ability to fashion crude weapons and tools out of animal products and the environment should make this game stand apart when it’s released later this year. Developed by Crave Games and F84 Games, Man vs. Wild hits the Wii for around $40 and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $50. Read More…

World Cup Spurs UK Toy Sales

According to The NPD Group, following tepid UK toy sales in April, May sales increased 12 percent while units rose 26 percent compared to May 2009. This is the first time since January that unit growth outpaced sales. Toys sold under £5 accounted for 73 percent of all units purchased in May, up 32 percent from the same month in 2009.

NPD reported that the No. 1 toy for May was Panini’s Official FIFA stickers. The stickers accounted for 29 percent of all units sold within the “all other” toys category for the month, and averaged around 49 pence. Citing the “all other” category as a major source of growth, The NPD Group stated that value in this category was up 44 percent, while unit growth for the category rocketed, increasing 149 percent compared to last May. FIFA, Pro Sports, and Match Attax were the top three properties for the category.

Cancer Patients “Set Sail” With TIF, Ronald McDonald House

As mentioned in a previous post, the Toy Industry Foundation in association with the Ronald McDonald House New York hosted its “Set Sail for Summer” event last night.

Approximately 110 cancer patients and their relatives attended the event, which featured nautical activities as well as a toy distribution. This is the third year for the event, according to the foundation’s website.

Two more pictures from the event, after the jump. Read More…

Sesame Workshop and Mercy Corp Partner for Haiti Relief Videos

In a partnership announced yesterday, Sesame Workshop and Mercy Corp will distribute three original films based on the Haiti earthquake, as well as two films recently dubbed into Creole, all to be distributed to Haiti’s youth.

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit group behind Sesame Street, stated the two dubbed films, Cinderelmo and Healthy Monsters, feature celebrity appearances by such figure heads as Keri Russell, Oliver Platt, and India Arie. The films promote healthy eating, physical activity, teamwork, and play.

Along with these films, Sesame Workshop plans to release three live-action films by filmmaker Linda Costigan, which were shot on location in Haiti following the earthquake. The first film, Helping Hands, teaches lessons about teamwork and working towards common goals. The others, I Am Haiti and Recycled Car, teach how Haiti’s children will be the leaders in the country’s recovery and how Haitians will rebuild their country, respectively. Read More…

Disney Unveils TRON-Inspired Toys & Electronics

Disney Consumer Products (DCP) has unveiled its fall lineup of TRON: Legacy-inspired electronics and toys, including action figures featuring impulse light projection technology. Walt Disney Pictures’ TRON: Legacy will hit theaters December 17 in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D.

Featuring dark finishes, neon lighting, and a cyber aesthetic, DCP’s new TRON: Legacy line was developed in collaboration with Spin Master, Monster, Performance Designed Products (PDP), Razer, and more. TRON products will be available at retail beginning this October. In addition to the action figures, the line also features core and deluxe vehicles, the TRON Zero Gravity Light Cycle, and more.

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