March 2010

New Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s TCG Available March 30

Konami Di gital Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it will release its newest trading card came, Absolute Powerforce Special Edition, with super rare copies of Dandylion and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, to retail and hobby outlets on March 30.

The Absolute Powerforce Special Edition includes three Absolute Powerforce booster packs and one super rare variant card. Absolute Powerforce Special Edition makes it easy for Duelists to get their own super rare copies of Dandylion and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. These monsters have only been available as magazine subscription promotional cards, and have never been available in stores until now.

CandyRific Introduces New M&M’S Products for Christmas

CandyRific is introducing M&M’S products featuring Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue for the 2010 holiday season.

The 3-in-1 M&M’S Christmas Candy Gift Set comes with a working M&M’S watch, Etch-A-Sketch, and Sticker Stamper, as well as three fun size packs of M&M’s candies. ($10.99)

Red sits atop of a nicely wrapped present in the M&M’S Ornament Dispenser Christmas Gift Set. When you pull his arm, candies dispense out of the bottom of the gift. The gift set includes an M&M’S ornament, available in red or green, and a fun size pack of M&M’S. ($8.99)

Bakugan Season 3: Gundalian Invaders Storms on Shelves This Month

The call to brawl can be heard far and wide this month as Bakugan fans share their excitement about the launch of the new Bakugan Season 3: Gundalian Invaders toy line.

Featuring a new collection of weapons and characters, the Bakugan Season 3: Gundalian Invaders toy line gives true warriors the opportunity to act out the adventures of Dan, Marucho, and Shun, as they attempt to save Earth from the evil Twelve Orders, as seen on Bakugan’s TV series, Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Gundalian Invaders, airing this Spring.

The Season 3 Bakugan line marks a new era in Bakugan battling with the launch of an all new, and free, Bakugan online game – Bakugan Dimensions. Every Season 3: Gundalian Invaders Bakugan and Bakugan Battle Gear will come equipped with a new heat-activated online access code that appears by rubbing it with your finger. Once the code has been unveiled, players may enter it online, where that specific Bakugan character will appear in Bakugan Dimensions so kids can battle online against people from around the world. Players can also create and personalize their own Bakugan brawler, chat with friends, show off their Bakugan collection, and more.

New Ice Cream-Scented Snifty Pens

Snifty has unveiled a new line of scented pens based on sweet ice cream flavors. The eco-friendly scented pens and pencil toppers from the company are made with Auracell, a natural plastic that allows the items to feature a long-lasting scent. The scents can be found on the tip and grip of the pen, as well as the pencil topper. Each limited-edition scent will be available for a six-month period.

I Made a Maqet!

I Made a Maqet!

My associates at The Toy Book recently passed along a pretty cool website, and asked me to test it out.

At Maqet’s website, you get to pick from their selection of different cartoony characters, ranging from a perplexed-looking squid (there’s a phrase I never thought I’d use) to a fashion forward kitty-human. Then you get to choose your character’s color, pose, outfit, and more. Then the even cooler part happens.

Once you’ve designed your Maqet, you can order it and they will ship it to you in the form of an awesome little plush, in small or large.

Read More…

Alice in Wonderland Halloween Costumes

Look out for new Alice costumes this Halloween! Disguise will debut new Halloween wear based on Alice, The Mad Hatter, and the Red Queen from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Strawberry Shortcake TM CGI Adventure Comes To Kidtoons Theaters

Kidtoons and AG Properties, a division of American Greetings, have premiered the new Strawberry Shortcake movie, Berryfest Princess, in nearly 150 theaters nationwide. Showing exclusively at Kidtoons theaters throughout the month of March, The Berryfest Princess Movie features Strawberry Shortcake and her berry best friends in another CGI adventure.

Berry Bitty City is preparing for the annual Spring Festival and Strawberry Shortcake has just been appointed Berryfest Princess. Strawberry Shortcake and her friends must work together to ensure the festival and parade are the sweetest events Berry Bitty City has ever seen. The movie aims to teach that teamwork, friendship, and hard work pay off.

New Sesame Street Titles at Moving Picture Books

Six new Sesame Street titles are available for download to computers and mobile devices at Moving Picture Books. Each $1.99 story includes bonus educational material featuring Bob from the children’s show.

The new titles (Elmo Loves You, Rise and Shine, The ABCs of Cookies, Grover’s 10 Terrific Ways to Help Our Wonderful World, What Makes You Giggle?, and Elmo Visits The Dentist) can be viewed with or without the read-along text displayed on the screen. Each book is eight to 10 minutes long and includes interactive questions and activities for viewers.

Moving Picture Books’ Sesame Street titles will also be available for download through iTunes starting April 5.

LIMA Announces Conference Program for Licensing Expo

The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) has announced a lineup of more than 30 seminars for Licensing International Expo 2010, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, June 8 – 10. For more information, click here.

TOY BOOK EXCLUSIVE: MGA Launches Specialty Toy Division

MGA Entertainment has announced plans to enter the world of specialty toy products with the launch of its own specialty division, MGA Entertainment Specialty. The company is currently hiring sales representation groups across the U.S. that will service specialty retailers at store level. MGA Entertainment Specialty will offer a vast assortment of unique toys and gifts derived from its portfolio of brands, including Little Tikes, Moxie Girlz, Zapf, Rescue Pets, and more.