Aside from these, “Electronics and the Internet. That’s what kids are obsessed about today,” said Jim Silver, editor and co-publisher of Toy Wishes magazine. “They have an iPod, they are on Facebook and some are e-mailing by age five.”

1. Web Connected Toys

IToysWe all know and love Webkinz, the pioneer of the “virtual toy” revolution. Webkinz is still doing very well and now has been joined by several other toy manufacturers. Russ’s Shining Stars, TY Girlz, Barbie and now even TY’s Beanie Babies. Aside from dolls and plush toys, there’s a brand new preschool game which nicely incorporates play and technology. It’s called Me2 from IToys. Also worth noting is Clickables, a wonderful line of toys from Technosource. Clickables integrates the virtual world of Disney Fairies with toys for girls. There are a lot of other web connected toys and dolls. My collegue, the Doll Collecting guide, has a great article up on the virtual doll trend.

2. Dinosaur Toys
Dinosaurs have been around for a while now, (remember the very recent Pleo?), but they certainly made their presence felt at the Toy Fair! Here is one dinosaur which was hard to miss – Kota the Triceratops from Playskool. This friendly creature is pretty tall at approximately 40 feet and is equipped with sensors, which when activated, make him move his head, tail and horns. Kids will enjoy sitting on this playful (and very pricey) creature. Another dino in the spotlight comes to use from Mattel. D-Rex, a remote controlled dinosaur with a lot of different sounds and realistic motions aims to fascinate kids this year.

3. Indiana Jones Toys

HasbroIndiana Jones is really something to look forward to this year. The movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is slated to be one of the hot movies of 2008. It’s no wonder then, that Lego, Hasbro and the rest have jumped onto Indy’s bandwagon! The plot of the movie isn’t yet revealed fully. Still, Lego had some wonderful sets based on Indiana Jones. The Indiana Jones LEGO sets include Indiana Jones Temple Escape, Indiana Jones Race for the Stolen Treasure, Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb and Indiana Jones Motorcycle Chase. Some of Hasbro’s Indiana Jones offerings include Mr Potato Head: Taters of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones Sound FX Whip and of course Indiana Jones action figures.

4. Science and Nature Related Toys

Jakks PacificI noticed a large variety of Science Kits and nature themed toys at this year’s Toy Fair. Elmers (the glue company) had some really cool science kits represented by Bill Nye, the science guy. Scientific Explorer had a lot of fun kits to offer where kids can experiment with fascinating stuff like bubbles, perfumes, volcanoes and more. The biggie in the science category is none other than EyeClops from Jakks Pacific, which has updated versions(read night vision and higher magnification) available. Also, Uncle Milton of the Ant Farm fame had some cool Indiana Jones based products to show.

5. Batman – The Dark Knight Toys

MattelThe new Batman movie, The Dark Knight is slated to be released later this year. Mattel has a host of Batman related toys and action figures up their sleeve. The Stealth Batmobile and the Wayne Tech Tri Fire Blaster are must haves. Apart from those two, there are a lot of pretend play options and Batman action figures from Mattel. Lego also has some great Batman themed construction sets for release this year.

6. Speed Racer Toys

MattelSpeed Racer is another big movie franchise on which Mattel has a great lineup of toys. I know that Hot Wheels has a Morph Mach 6 vehicle and an interactive helmet to offer as well as the Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set among other toy vehicles. The movie should spark off a craze for racing and toy cars which is going to be huge. Lego also had some great Speed Racer kits on display at Toy Fair. Personally, I think this is THE franchise to watch out for.

7. Animated Toys/Robots

Fisher-PriceOk, so by now everyone must have heard of Elmo Live, right? Well, the animated toy trend seems to be very prevalent this year with Elmo Live, Hasbro’s Biscuit, Playskool’s Kota the Triceratops, Tomy’s ISobot and more. While I’m on the topic, let me mention that I just previewed an adorable duckling from Hasbro’s Furreal Friends line – it’s too cute for words. Just like me, it seems like everyone enjoys seeing animated animals nowadays!

8. Iron Man Toys

HasbroHasbro has a fantastic line of action figures based on the Iron Man. This is another movie franchise for this year which is going to be popular with Marvel fans.

9. Green Toys

It’s no wonder that everyone is focusing on healthy and safe play this year. The “green” theme is predominant with many toy firms promoting their eco-friendly products. One toy manufacturer which I really liked was Plan toys from Indonesia which had a wonderful lineup of natural wooden toys. There were some toys made out of recycled milk bottles from a company called Green Toys. They had tea sets, gardening sets and beach sand sets on display which looked very appealing. I also noticed the Kapla line of wooden construction planks which falls into the “green” category as well. 12. Classic Toys – Lots of Anniversaries!

10. The Incredible Hulk Toys

HasbroThe Hulk was at a lot of places at Toy Fair 2008. I specially loved the Kid Designs line of Hulk laptops and learning toys. Hasbro has a fantastic lineup of Hulk toys including the much awaited Hulk Smash Hands, a plush animated Hulk toy, conventional Hulk action figures, a Hulk power glow electronic mask, a Hulk dart blaster and much more. Looks like “green” is popular in more ways than one!

11. Musical Toys

KID Designs For the last couple of years, toys based on musical instruments have really grown in popularity. Remember Piano Wizard, Piano Made Easy, I Can Play Guitar, Guitar Hero and the other toys on similar lines? This, along with musical toys based on celebrities like Hannah Montana and hit TV shows like American Idol practically dominated the musical toy scene. This year, the trend continues with some more Hannah Montana toys, new DVD games based on American Idol (KIDDesigns has an awesome American Idol DVD game) and much more. Stay tuned. (pun not intended)

12. Keyboard for toddlers, Wallcrawler Spiderman

The portable DVD player is made to withstand a kid’s abuse. It features a 3.2-inch color TFT screen, rechargeable batteries with a two-hour lifespan, an anti-skip buffer, grip handles and a stand for hands-free viewing. The player, which plays DVDs and CDs, comes with a battery charger and wall power unit, a video output jack, and a headphone jack.

13. Wall Crawler Spider-Man

“Wall Crawler Spider-Man” is a standout innovation from Hasbro. The remote-controlled Spider-Man toy, which incorporates vacuum-pump technology, actually crawls ups and down walls.

Last, but not the least, classic toys are very much in the forefront. This year, many classics were celebrating their anniversaries. Hasbro’s My Little Pony celebrated their 25th anniversary with a lovely birthday party at the Hasbro showroom, complete with a cake cutting! Cabbage Patch Kids celebrates it’s 25th anniversary as well. The LEGO brick celebrates its 50th anniversary with a commemorative gold brick. Other brands celebrating this year include Scholastic’s Clifford, the big red dog, the Toy Company’s Wham-O and Mary Meyer (who is turning 75 this year). We’ll wind up with congratulating Hasbro’s Mr Potato Head who is turning 80 this year. Way to go!

The Nintendo WII Console System

The Nintendo WII Console System is the voted number one game system for 2009 and the best gift you can make to your kids! They know this for a fact so your presents will be an absolute success. They’ll be absorbed by playing it all day long!

It plays two disc formats in a single, self-loading media bay.

Features a processing chip from IBM and a graphics chip from ATI.

Backwards compatible with all Nintendo GameCube games and most peripherals.

Built-in Wi-Fi access for easy connection to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection gaming service.

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Original Ty Beanie Babies – Plush PUSS IN BOOTS Bean Bag Doll

Original Ty Beanie Babies Plush PUSS IN BOOTS from Shrek the Third is a 2007 Original Ty Beanie production. This is from The Beanie Babies Collection.

Puss In Boots measures approx. 9″ tall from the top of his hat to the bottom of his boots. Puss In Boots wears a black hat with wide brim that has red trim around the outer brim and a yellow color faux fur “feather”, black boots with red trim and a brown belt with silver tone buckle in the front. Puss In Boots has a soft plush tail like his body, embroidered eyes and white whiskers.

Ty Beanie Babies Plush Puss In Boots is great for any collection or just for fun play and he’s easy to take along anywhere! All descriptions & measurements are to the best of my ability and may not be exact.

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LEGO Star Wars Death Star 

Battle inside the Death StarTM! Recreate the action and adventure of the Star WarsTM movies with the ultimate Death Star playset!

This amazingly detailed battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes, moving parts, characters and accessories from Episodes IV and VI on its multiple decks, including the Death Star control room, rotating turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperors throne room, detention block, firing laser cannon, Imperial conference chamber, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser…plus much more!

Swing across the chasm with Luke and Leia, face danger in the crushing trash compactor, and duel with Darth Vader for the fate of the galaxy! Reenact the final duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Emperor’s Throne Room!

Death Star measures 16 (41cm) tall and 16½ (42cm) wide! TIE Advanced measures 3½” (9cm) wide! Rescue Princess Leia from the detention block cell, then escape through the secret hatch to the trash compactor below!

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Now, the “original nine” as they are officially referred to are the first nine baby beanies Ty Warner made. These are the Spot the dog, Squealer the pig, Patti the platypus, Cubbie the bear, Chocolate the moose, Pinchers the lobster, Splash the killer whale, Legs the frog and Flash the dolphin. Collectors have dubbed them as such since these where the first baby beanies available that were selling at less than $5.00 each. Each baby beanie comes with a short poem to introduce it to the toddler. This was written on a red heart-shaped tag that is attached by the animal’s ear.

Not much is known how many baby beanies are totally in existence since there are lines developed that create a family of baby beanies. The most famous is the teddy-bear baby beanie that was created. The basic pattern was just re-used and different colors were utilized to create a family. Different names were given to each teddy bear in keeping with the tradition of having a name. Some teddy bear baby beanies are usually used for commemmorative uses such as in the Fourth of July or there is a Diana, the Princess of Wales have been made as a commemmorative collector’s item.  However, the official baby beanies were mostly animal shapes such as cats and pigs, dogs and hippopotamuses. These are usually brightly colored and stylized to make them pleasing in the eye. The official baby beanie comes with his or her own name. It has its own date of birth. And most important of all, a short poem that describes its personality.

The baby beanie crazed happened in the late 1996 when a frenzied collection of baby beanies started. This prompted Ty Warner to retire some of the baby beanies to hype up even more the sales and marketing side of his products. There were people who bought wholesale in anticipation of the possible future value of a single baby beanie. However, as with other fads that easily rise and can be easily forgotten, the baby beanie craze was just another fad that quickly fizzled. Or what the expectation of those “investors” did not materialize at all.

Inspite of what happened, baby beanies are here to stay since babies usually prefer soft toys that they can easily hug and bite and hold easily in their hand. Baby beanies need not be in the same family of baby beanies to be appreciated. A colllection of baby beanies show the kind of personality the baby has or it speaks the kind of personality the giver has.