The Big Toy Book’s holiday toy showcase, the Biggest Day of Holiday Play, took place December 8 at the ultra-chic Yotel, hosting more than 100 bloggers and their children. Participants had the opportunity to visit eight cabin spaces sponsored by various toy companies, including Hasbro, The Bridge Direct, Innovation First, Delta Children’s Products, Poof-Slinky, Play Hut, among many others. Stations exhibiting the hottest holiday toys were set up throughout the Yotel lounge space. [Read more...]
The Big Toy Book Hosts Biggest Day of Holiday Play
December 14, 2012 By
Innovation First Launches Elite New Toy Force
August 8, 2012 By
The creator of the Hexbug brand of high-tech micro robotic creatures has unleashed the newest members of the Hexbug family: the rough and tough Hexbug Warriors Battling Robots. These futuristic fighters are tiny, collectible, micro robots that use the physics of vibration, similar to the famed patented Hexbug Nano, to propel forward and challenge competitors in the new customizable Hexbug Warriors Battle Arena and Hexbug Warriors Battle Stadiums.
Hexbug Warriors Battling Robots come in four colors – red, yellow, blue, and green – representing four dueling science academies from the year 2087: Viridia Prep, Tronikon Tech, Bionika Cyborg and Caldera Prep. Kids can outfit each warrior with strategic combinations of mechanical weapons and armor to outmaneuver their rivals and control the fate of their academy’s warrior fleet. Ultimately, only one Hexbug Warrior Battling Robot is left standing victorious on the Battle Arena or Stadium.
Hexbug Warriors Battling Robots are now available at retail stores nationwide, including Walmart, Target, Toys“R”Us, and RadioShack. In September, they will also be available in Canada and the United Kingdom, exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores. For more information on their fierce futuristic rivalry, visit www.hexbug.com/warriors.
This post was originally written by Sierra McCleary-Harris and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.
Meet Hexapillar: Target’s Robotic Gift Card
July 9, 2012 By
Innovation First and Target teamed up to create the Hexapillar gift card. The newest addition to Target’s 2,000-plus gift card archive, the Hexapillar gift card is a robotic caterpillar that flies. The gift card/bug is a collaboration between the design teams at Target and Hexbug, which specializes in micro robotic creatures.
Derived from the Hexbug Nano—the autonomous robotic critter that behaves like a real bug—the Hexapillar features a caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly. The gift card launched in stores last week and can be found in the stationery, toys, and electronics departments until the end of the year.
This post was originally written by Ali Mierzejewski and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.
Hexbug Nanos Glow in the Dark
February 11, 2011 By
Innovation First’s new Hexbug offerings glow in the dark. Hexbug Nano is a 1.75-inch micro robotic bug that uses the physics of vibration to skitter along and explore its environment on smooth surfaces. Now it can come to life during the day or night.
The Hexbug Nano Glow-in-the-Dark Starter Set contains one extremely rare glow-in-the-dark mutation, two easy-to-connect curved pieces, and one easy-to-connect hexagon piece.
The Hexbug Nano Glow-in-the-Dark Spiral Starter Set features one [Read more...]
Update 2: Innovation First Responds to MGA Press Release
October 8, 2010 By
Innovation First CEO and President Tony Norman has responded to a press release by MGA Entertainment that was released earlier today. (To read the story, click here).
In his response, Norman countered MGA’s claims, stating “The intellectual property laws protect many different kinds of rights. The California lawsuit that MGA brought dealt with one set of rights, those that protect the outward appearance of a product. Our lawsuit deals with another set of rights, those that protect the engineering and design work that goes into making the product. Put simply, we haven’t accused them of copying our work in Art class; we’ve accused them of copying our work in Science.”
Update to Innovation First Lawsuit Against MGA
October 8, 2010 By
MGA Entertainment has responded to claims by Innovation First that allege MGA copied its Hexbug Nano line. In a press release, MGA stated that Innovation First has not served the company with a lawsuit. MGA is also stating that Innovation First admitted, as part of a sworn testimony last month to a federal judge in Los Angeles, that “the outward appearance of the current ‘Legend of Nara Battling Bugs’ toys from MGA . . . is substantially different from the outward appearance of the Hexbug Nano that the trade dress and copyright laws do not appear to be implicated.” MGA says that at the testimony Innovation First did not have any infringement claims against MGA’s Nara Bug. MGA is seeking a dismissal of the lawsuit.
MGA Sued for Allegedly Copying Innovation First’s Hexbug Nano
October 5, 2010 By
A lawsuit asserting claims for common law misappropriation and unjust enrichment was filed last week by Innovation First against MGA Entertainment, Inc. in the 354th Judicial District Court for Hunt County, Tex. The lawsuit accuses MGA of manufacturing, advertising, promoting, distributing, and/or selling products that were derived from innovative components of the Hexbug Nano micro robotic toy, created by Innovation First.
According to the lawsuit, MGA copied the Hexbug Nano’s motor assembly, components, housing, and legs, and is using them in the company’s Legend of Nara Battling Bug, in competition with Innovation First. The lawsuit seeks to recover any profits MGA has made or will make from the similar toy.
Innovation First Files Intellectual Property Infringement Lawsuit
May 11, 2010 By
Innovation First, Inc. has filed an intellectual property infringement lawsuit against Urban Trend, LLC and two of its principals, Robert G. Kushner and Michael Stoll, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants committed trade dress infringement, violations of the Lanham Act, and other wrongful conduct in offering knock-offs of the Hexbug Nano micro robotic toys designed and sold by Innovation First.
The knock-offs, says Innovation First, copy the look and feel of the products, mirroring, among other aspects, their design, color scheme, and naming conventions. The company also alleges that the defendants lifted both form and content from Innovation First’s sales materials for use in their advertising. Innovation First premiered the Hexbug Nano Micro Robotic Creature toy line in 2009.
