Blog - Page 1484 of 1553

Travel Back to the Future With Looney Labs’ New Card Game

Looney Labs, creator of card game Fluxx, announced a partnership with Universal Partnerships & Licensing that will yield a new card game based on the Back to the Future franchise. The card game features scenarios from all three Back to the Future movies and has players working to un-invent the time travel.

Players use a quarter of the cards to construct a timeline of movie-related events. From there, players assume the role of the movie’s future descendants as they make sure key events occur. The game is set to release September 3, several weeks before the movie trilogy appears for the first time on Blu-ray in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first film. The anniversary edition of the films comes out October 26.

Report: Video Game Industry Aids Economy

According to a new study conduced by Economics Incorporated for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the entertainment software industry grew more than 10 percent from 2005 to 2009, which is more than seven times the growth rate of the U.S. economy. The study, Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report, also found that the computer and video game industry added nearly $5 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009.

Additionally, the report found that the computer and video game industry directly employs more than 32,000 people, an increase of nearly 9 percent annually since 2005. California remains the largest employer of computer and video game personnel in the nation, followed by Texas, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

Free Shipping Day to be Held on December 17

The third annual Free Shipping Day, created by Freeshipping.org, has been scheduled for December 17. Free Shipping Day is a one-day shopping event that allows consumers to browse merchants who will offer free shipping and guaranteed Christmas Eve delivery. So far, said Freeshipping.org CEO Luke Knowles to InternetRetailer.com, 125 online merchants have signed up to participate this year. Knowles expects that more than 1,000 retailers will sign up for this year’s event. Last year, more than 750 merchants listed their free shipping offers on the website, and Knowles estimates that 35,000 purchases were made.

According to Knowles, any merchant can list its free shipping offer for free on Freeshippingday.com and all retailer logos will appear on the home page. For more information, visit www.freeshippingday.com.

Would you postpone your holiday shopping until December 17 to save on shipping?

July Retail Sales Increase Year-Over-Year for Back-to-School Season

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), as back-to-school sales start, retail industry sales for July (excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 3.1 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Retail industry sales also declined 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month.

July retail sales released by the U.S. Commerce Department show that total retail sales (including non-general merchandise categories such as automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from June and increased 5.4 percent unadjusted year-over-year.

Back-to-school related categories also saw year-over-year gains, according to the NRF. Clothing and accessories stores were up 4.7 percent over last July, but declined 0.7 percent from June. Electronics and appliance stores increased 8.1 percent year-over-year and declined 0.1 percent from last month. Furniture and home furnishing stores increased 0.4 percent from the same period a year ago and declined 0.3 percent from June.

A survey conducted by NRF, released in July, found that the average family of students in grades K-12 would spend $594.24 on back-to-school this year, an increase of 8.3 percent compared to $548.72 last year.

Ceaco Introduces Tricky Puzzle Series Called The Baffler

Ceaco is introducing a new puzzle series created by artist Chris Yates that is being described as “the most unique puzzle ever,” The Baffler. Each puzzle image in the series is randomly designed and cut into unique shapes so it is tricky to put it back together. The Baffler puzzles have no straight edges and no overlapping images.

Each of the three puzzles in the series has a unique piece count: 67 pieces, 69 pieces and 78 pieces. The puzzles featuring Yates’ creations include the “Spiral of Archimedes,” “The Nonagon,” and “Bindu Truss.” The puzzles will be available this October.

Toy Fair Nürnberg to Feature Green Area

The 2011 Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair Nürnberg will feature a “green oasis” area in the newly built central entrance (Eingang Mitte) that will focus on the toy industry’s environmentally aware movement. Under the motto of “Toys go green,” the area will focus on sustainability and various aspects of toys going green including material selection, packaging, transport, and logistics. Additionally, the fair team will present ideas and approaches to encourage toy professionals to run their business operations in a more sustainable way.

The Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair Nürnberg will be held February 3-8, 2011 in Nuremberg, Germany.

Games & Puzzles: Tailten’s Purrfect

Tailten Games & Puzzles, Ltd. premieres a new brand, Purrfect Games & Puzzles. The puzzles in the brand feature international artwork, religious architecture photography, and Irish Celtic images. Initial Purrfect Puzzles include images from Celtic artist Rachel Arbuckle, as well as Jim Fitzgerald, known for his mythological Irish art.

Purrfect Puzzles will also feature the work of architectural photographer Achim Bednorz, and a series of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, in cooperation with the British Tate Gallery. The company will launch its Purrfect Games selection with the abstract strategy board game, Tara.

Check out The Toy Book‘s July/August issue for more games and puzzles!

Games & Puzzles: Find 5 Fast

Find 5 Fast is a game featuring “magical discs of common things.” In the game by International Playthings, players shuffle the discs and try to find the common object on all five discs. Whoever finds it first marks the object with a colored coin and then flips over a disc of his or her choosing. The magic is that there will always be one common object on all five discs no matter which disc is turned over during the game.

For more challenging game play, there’s a version that uses six magical discs and has more objects on each one. Included in Find 5 Fast is five magical double-sided discs, six magical double-sided discs for advanced play, 16 scoring chips, a built-in scoring board, and rules in English and French.

Check out The Toy Book‘s July/August issue for more games and puzzles!

Games & Puzzles: New Mentirosa Sets

As a part of a deal with Yuca Productions, the company that owns the rights to the Mentirosa game brand, MBR Industries has signed a North American deal to manufacture the Mentirosa Professional Set and the Mentirosa Travel Set.

Mentirosa is a version of liar’s dice that is played with Spanish poker dice and Mentirosa player tubes instead of traditional dice cups. The advantage is that with Mentirosa tubes players can see their hand without lifting a closed dice cup, reducing the possibility of opponents seeing their hand. Each six-player game includes Mentirosa player tubes, casino-grade Spanish poker dice, “loser chips,” and instructions in English and Spanish.

Check out The Toy Book‘s July/August issue for more games and puzzles!

Chicago Toy and Game Fair Announced

The eighth annual Chicago Toy and Game Fair (ChiTAG) is coming to Chicago’s Navy Pier this November. ChiTAG is the largest public toy and game fair in the country and features new toy and game announcements as well as talks by up-and-coming toy makers.

This year’s event features guest appearances by Jenga inventor Leslie Scott, TMX Elmo inventor Bruce Lund, and inventor and author Peggy Brown, among others. ChiTAG also features a Star Wars breakfast, Monopoly tournaments, chess tournaments, the Mascot Madness toy drive, the Mommy Blogger Brunch, an Illinois Accredited Educator Conference for teachers, and more to be announced. The third annual Toy and Game Inventor Awards Dinner will also take place November 19. Those wishing to attend should contact Mary Couzin at 847-677-8277.

The event runs from November 20 – 21 starting at 10 a.m. Admission is $10 per adult and $5 per child. Children under 3, Scouts in uniform, military in uniform, librarians, and teachers are admitted free of charge. Parking discounts are available.