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It's not Thanksgiving yet, and already it's nearly impossible to find a Zhu Zhu Pet. The fuzzy, life-size mechanical hamsters are emerging as the early runaway success of the season. They coo and purr as they scurry around the house. Unlike the real thing, they don't smell, die, or make noise at 3 a.m. And the toy comes appropriately priced for this economy: $8 at Wal-Mart and Target - except they often don't have any. "It's a frenzy," said Paul Jones, chief executive officer at Green Bay-based Shopko. "It's the Tickle Me Elmo of past years."The Zhu Zhu isn't the...

Kids have got stuffed toy bug   By STAFF REPORTER Published: Today     NOT many of us would want to cuddle up to E.coli and Streptococcus this winter, but that's exactly what these cuddle toys are. The bizarre creatures, designed to look like the bugs that cause common colds, sore throats and coughs have become the latest craze. The fluffy GiantMicrobes are the same shape and colour as the real thing — but one million times bigger. They have been given human features such as eyes, a mouth and nose to make them more appealing to young children....

Memories of children crying over confiscated Christmas toys still upset the Rev. Tom Hill. Hill, a former Giving Tree volunteer, also remains baffled by the diapers. There were boxes and boxes in storage, he said, and yet Giving Tree Director Libby Wright resisted handing them out to mothers in her program. Wright often said food was in short supply when she sought donations, Hill said, even after he discovered Wright was storing large amounts in one of her organization's homes. Wright declined an interview request for this story. Hill, who now runs his own food program for the homeless, said...

For 35 years, William John Woods has made wooden toys for children. Each one of the 2,000 or so he makes each year passes through his hands at his shop in Ogunquit, Maine, and no child, he said, has ever been hurt by one of his small boats, cars, helicopters or rattles. But now he and others like him — makers of small toys and owners of toy resale shops and boutique stores — say their livelihood is being threatened by federal legislation enacted in the last year to protect children from toxic toys through more extensive testing. Big toymakers,...

Barbie she's not. Meet Gwen Thompson, the newest addition to the American Girl canon of dolls -- the wildly suc cessful, extremely expensive brand of faux children that are sold out of a four-story town house in the heart of Fifth Avenue. Little children as young as 4 are addicted to these pricey little monsters. It's like middle-American crack. You have an African-American doll, an American Indian doll. A Jewish one. A doll who "lived" during the Great Depression, and one from the Roaring '20s. And while you were snoozing, the creators of American Girl, which is sold by Mattel,...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A Southern California couple who went on national television to brag about making $100,000 shoplifting toys and selling their loot on eBay has pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy charges in San Diego. A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Monday says authorities seized more than 500 boxes of stolen toys when they raided Laura and Matthew Eaton's home in San Marcos with a search warrant in March. The couple was arrested Friday and faces at least 27 months in prison if convicted of conspiracy to transport stolen property. The Eatons appeared on the "Dr. Phil" show...

After a government regulation had thousands of retailers, thrift stores and small businesses worried they would be forced to permanently close their doors and destroy their merchandise due to strict lead and phthalate testing requirements, toymakers and children's product manufacturers are urging Congress to consider the legislation's "unintended consequences" on small businesses. As WND reported in January, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, or HR 4040, a retroactive rule mandating that all items sold for use by children under 12 must be tested by an independent party for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to...

A Fuji TV morning news show reenacts a crime that took place in Niigata Prefecture: Japanese News

The Force can be with anyone now. Later this summer, anybody anywhere will have the ability to physically move stuff with their minds like characters do in "Star Wars." No joke. A new toy that harnesses the same technology doctors use to monitor brain waves will arrive in stores in August. The toy moves when it senses a change in the user's brain-wave patterns.

Getting a toy to maintain flight used to be difficult, with the possible exception of some well-folded pieces of paper. Now, would-be miniature aviators have it a lot easier. A number of consumer robotics and toy companies offer products that take little more than a full charge and a clear line of sight to reach flight. Little assembly, but maybe some batteries, required. Here are six of our favorite new flying toys.

Cecilia Leibovitz is the kind of person who writes sentences like: “Children are individuals, each with their own unique personality, so I just couldn’t feel good about buying mass-produced toys and clothing from cookie-cutter chain stores.” Leibovitz is the 36-year-old founder of Craftsbury Kids, a Vermont-based online vendor of handmade toys. She sells the type of gear that arty, upscale, NPR-listening parents can’t get enough of: sock monkeys, baby onesies featuring a “hand-stamped and appliquéd” crow with “crocheted flowers and recycled fabric grass,” even a carved wooden “707 Air Force One plane” with “a beautiful silk screened portrait of President...

Col. Margaret W. Burcham, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hands donated toys to kindergarten students during a recent visit to the House of Angels School in Dahuk, Iraq. USACE photo. DAHUK — Children at the House of Angels School here were showered with toys during a recent visit from members of the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Col. Margaret W. Burcham, commander of the USACE’s Gulf Region North district, and members of her team delighted more than 70 kindergarten students at this northern Iraqi school.The toy drive is the brainchild of Michael Fellenz, a project...

Robert Gannon, a Vietnam veteran who served on a medical evacuation helicopter, landed his Cessna 182 at Basrah International Airport with a $10,000 check and nine boxes of toys for the Basrah Children’s Hospital, March 18. USACE photo. BASRAH — A private pilot in his Cessna 182 landed at Basrah International Airport with a $10,000 check and nine boxes of toys for the Basrah Children’s Hospital, March 18. Robert Gannon, a Vietnam veteran who served on a medical evacuation helicopter, has visited 110 countries on humanitarian missions over the past eight years. He says that flying into Iraq and seeing...

BELADIYAT, Iraq, March 17, 2009 – A month after a Colorado boy collected his toys and sent them to Iraq, a group of U.S. Army paratroopers distributed the items to children in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood yesterday. Army Spc. Greg Moreland hands a stuffed animal to an Iraqi girl at the Abuthare and Rufayda Elementary School in eastern Baghdad, March 16, 2009. Moreland gave the toys to the children on behalf of his pen pal, Jacob Poehls, 8, of Summit Cove, Colo. Jacob donated his toys to the children of Iraq. His hometown also donated Girl Scout cookies and...

From SFgate.com: 03-04) 10:57 PST Charleston, W.Va. (AP) -- Just in time for Barbie's 50th birthday, a West Virginia lawmaker wants to outlaw the doll. Democratic Delegate Jeff Eldridge is proposing to ban the sale of the Mattel doll and others like her in West Virginia. He says the dolls influence girls to place too much importance on physical beauty, at the expense of their intellectual and emotional development. He joins others who have criticized the doll over the years for promoting materialism and an unnatural body image. Barbie turns 50 on March 9, and the toy maker has made...

Amber LaPointe's introduction to one of the country's greatest tourist attractions came from small square pictures on a white wheel. "It was like you could look into a world away," said the 28-year-old from Toledo, Ohio. "My only image of the Grand Canyon was from the View-Master." The iconic reels of tourist attractions, often packaged with a clunky plastic viewer and first sold to promote 3-D photography, are ending their 70-year run after years of diminishing sales. Collectors like Mary Ann Sell of Maineville, Ohio, are dismayed. "The whole summer I was 5 years old, before I went to school,...

Makers of children's products and charities that run second-hand shops are stuck with more than $1 billion of inventory they can't sell because of a new federal product-safety law, according to surveys by trade groups and the charities. The goods, which have -- or are suspected of having -- illegal levels of lead or plastic-softening chemicals called phthalates, include everything from beach balls to second-hand clothes to brand-new all-terrain vehicles for children. The goods -- piled up in warehouses and storerooms -- will have to be incinerated or dumped, resulting in write-offs and disposal costs that the suppliers say they...

"I just hate the image that we give to our kids that if you're beautiful, you're beautiful and you don't have to be smart," said Del. Jeff Eldridge, (D) Lincoln County. Delegate Jeff Eldridge introduced a bill to the house on Tuesday asking lawmakers to stop the sales of Barbie in the mountain state.

TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq – Friends and co-workers of a deployed Illinois soldier sent donated toys to southern Iraq, generating loads of smiles from Iraqi youngsters, who visited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South (GRS) district’s headquarters at Tallil Air Base on Feb. 17. Approximately 30 Iraqi students from Nasiriyah’s Mama Suna Primary School arrived at GRS headquarters beaming with huge smiles. The children held flowers, which they presented to the Americans who greeted them. The children sang a song in English that started, “Father, mother, I am sick – get the doctor quick, quick quick,” recited...

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The FBI has issued an alert to 350 law enforcement agencies in the southwest and Salt Lake City for potential Valentine teddy bear bombs after a suspicious transaction at a Wal-Mart last month. Law enforcement sources said authorities also were on the alert at airports in case the suspected bear-bombs might be carried onto airplanes on Valentine's Day. The FBI said a clean-shaven male, possibly of Middle Eastern descent, purchased nine Valentine teddy bears, 20 inches tall, and 14 canisters of propane, 9 inches tall, small enough to fit inside the teddy bears. The man...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2009 – Sixteen million new toys were distributed to 7.6 million children over the Christmas holiday through the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Charles Reynolds, an assistant with the Marine Forces Reserve Toys for Tots Program, speaks to Cub Scouts in Mandeville, La., about the program during a Dec. 7, 2008, visit. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Erin Wiener   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The program’s aim is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to...

The runaway train that is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is heading toward a collision next Tuesday. That's when new federal rules will make it illegal to sell some children's products, if Congress doesn't amend its awful handiwork. This week hundreds of people from the children's garment and publishing industries rallied in New York to protest the law and call for a "new Miracle on 34th Street" to save them from what some are calling National Bankruptcy Day. The uproar is over a law requiring that all products primarily intended for children under 12 must certify they have not...

India has banned all imports of toys from China for six months, in the first major example of protectionism following the financial crisis. The ban came amid growing global tensions about protectionism, with Europe and Canada warning the US about its determination to get consumers to buy American goods and wildcats strikes in the UK over the use of foreign workers. State media reported that the Chinese government is likely to appeal to the World Trade Organisation to reverse the ban, which is the latest blow to China's beleaguered toy industry. China makes three-quarters of the world's toys, but a...

Communist First Lady Michelle Obama is joining her husband in a tag-team attack on capitalism and capitalists. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., president of the U.S., this week trashed Wall Street for paying bonuses to employees, even though employee compensation there comes, roughly, 80 percent, from bonuses. Michelle, never shy about her anti-American views, joined in the Marxist-Leninst frolic, and attacked the maker of toys for putting out Sasha and Malia dolls, which were, according to the manufacturer, not even named after the Obamas’ children. Of course, Michelle presumed they were. Not even having the courage to attack Ty Dolls herself,...

KNIGHTSVILLE, Ind. (WTHI) - Months ago, Rachel Jones was shocked to discover her 4-year-old's baby doll seemed to have a hidden message: Islam is the light. Imagine her surprise when a game for her 8-year-old daughter's Nintendo DS had the same message. Rachel said she bought the Nintendo game, Baby Pals, as a gift for her 8-year-old daughter after a good report card. She had no idea the game also contained the hidden message "Islam is the light."

KNIGHTSVILLE, Ind. (WTHI) - Months ago, Rachel Jones was shocked to discover her 4-year-old's baby doll seemed to have a hidden message: Islam is the light. Imagine her surprise when a game for her 8-year-old daughter's Nintendo DS had the same message. Rachel said she bought the Nintendo game, Baby Pals, as a gift for her 8-year-old daughter after a good report card. She had no idea the game also contained the hidden message "Islam is the light." "We were sitting in the kitchen, and she was playing it," said Jones. "All of a sudden she looked at me, and...

Can anything be made adorable? Can anything be made into a toy? Is there anything off-limits? For instance, prior to 1902, when Teddy Roosevelt refused to kill a cornered American Black Bear on a hunting trip, which spawned the creation of the adorable and cuddly “teddy-bear,” what would the reaction have been if someone suggested that a loveable bedtime comfort toy for children be made in the likeness of an often ferocious wild animal? Or what about the animated movie Rataouille? That one particularly stands out in my mind because I live in New York City, and as one who...

They’ve been in the White House less than a week, but the first daughters have already been co-opted by marketers — and Michelle Obama isn’t happy about it. Ty, the toy company responsible for the popular Beanie Babies dolls, is now marketing “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia” dolls. The first lady’s office said Friday Ty was out of line. “We feel it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes,” said a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama in a statement.

(Crain’s) — First lady Michelle Obama is not pleased about the marketing of a pair of dolls that bear the same names as her daughters. “We believe it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes,” Ms. Obama’s spokeswoman said. Ty Inc. released its “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia” dolls this month. Both dolls have bronze skin and dark hair. The dolls are part of the Westmont-based toymaker’s TyGirlz line. The company is also the creator of Beanie Babies, which have reportedly generated more than $6 billion in sales since their debut in 1994. You May Also Like...

Some home builders already struggling in Florida's dismal housing market are facing another headache: The Chinese-made drywall they used is causing unpleasant odors and possibly leading to electric problems in dozens of homes constructed during the housing boom.

China's toy exports hit by global crisis: state media 1 hr 38 mins ago BEIJING (AFP) – China's toy exports have taken a beating from the global financial crisis, with demand shrinking in the key US and European markets, state media reported Sunday. In the period from January to November of last year, China's shipments of toys abroad totalled eight billion dollars, an increase of just 2.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, the People's Daily said on its website. This compares with the first 11 months of 2007, when toy exports had increased by a blistering 20.3...

Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - Families who depend on thrift stores and consignment shops for kid's clothing could lose that option in a few weeks. That’s because a new federal safety law is written so broadly, it could force these stores to stop selling kids clothes entirely. The new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act takes effect February 10. It requires any store to certify that clothing sold for children 12 and under is free of dye laced with lead or other chemicals. Beth green smith owns the golden hangers consignment store in western lights: “When you're talking about consignment, it's...

Think the answer to saving money on your kid's clothes lies in the thrift shops? You might want to stock up fast. Because the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that will go into affect on February 10 will affect not only sellers of new products but those selling used goods too. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last week, Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of Resale and Thrift Shops, said the places most people go to save a few extra bucks on outfitting their families won't be able to cough up the thousands of...

Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing. The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead. "They'll all have to go to the landfill," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of...

New law seems to ban resale of toys Items sold for kids must be certified lead-free on Feb. 10 Thursday, January 1, 2009 3:29 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The toys Allison George likes to buy at Trader Tots may not be available under a law that goes into effect Feb. 10. Trader Tots has been buying and selling used toys in Grandview Heights for almost two decades, but it, like resale shops nationwide, fears that a new law will force costly lead tests and hurt business. Congress enacted the law last year in response to recalls of...

Selecta, a German toymaker, carves whimsical cars and characters from native woods, colors them with vegetable dyes and coats them in silky beeswax. No lead, no toxic varnishes. Not even waste -- the company heats its factory with leftover woodchips. Just the kind of toymaker in demand after scares about tainted playthings from China. But this holiday season, Selecta is preparing to pull out of the U.S. market. Its problem, executives say, is consumer legislation that is adding crushing costs to selling toys in America. The law, which takes effect Feb. 10, was passed by Congress in response to recalls...

Now they are attacking our children's minds. This $20.00 baby doll says ISLAM IS THE LIGHT on the 3rd time it talks. This is absolutely pathetic. Shame on Fisher Price and Mattel. What the h*ll were they thinking. 3 different videos at this link http://www.floridab ruce.com/ islam_is_ the_light. htm

Maybe you had one as a kid, or knew someone who did. It's the iconic little red wagon with the Radio Flyer logo. If so, you might not recognize the newest product dreamed up by the brain trust at Radio Flyer's Chicago, Illinois, headquarters.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2008 – Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Azemar King saw how the nation swept in to help him and his fellow New Orleanians when Hurricane Katrina devastated their city in 2005. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Charles Reynolds, an assistant with the Marine Forces Reserve Toys for Tots program, speaks to Cub Scouts in Mandeville, La., about the program as well as the benefits of staying in school, staying fit and volunteering during a Dec. 7, 2008, visit. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Erin Wiener   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. So this year, he’s convinced...

The Long John Silver's in the Mall of America, had a toy in its Kids Meal that included a Bible Phrase and the not "Build with Jesus" written at the top. Last month a Muslim Family went to the restaurant and became outraged when they did not have any toys without the quote, so they complained to the Terrorist Support Group CAIR who called for a Probe of the company's toy distribution policy (Long John Silvers is owned by Yum! Brand who also owns KFC Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and A&W All-American Food). The full story is below:

Dressed in yellow pajamas and a soft felt cap, the Fisher Price “Little Mommy Cuddle ‘n Coo” doll is not unlike many other toys on sale this holiday season. That is, until it talks. Centralia resident Linda Stewart was shopping for Christmas presents for her 7-year-old granddaughter when she spotted the dolls, on sale at Kmart in Chehalis for $5 apiece, she said. The baby elicits soft cooing and gibberish common in such toys, but one phrase “freaked out” Linda and her husband. The doll, which responds to movement, says “Islam is the light,” the couple claim. “It’s pretty clear,...

"But wrapped up with those cheap toys are ominous economic omens for both sides of the Pacific. The rock-bottom prices show how desperate U.S. retailers are to plump up weak consumer demand — a symptom of the ailing U.S. economy and a serious problem for China, which makes nine of every 10 toys sold in American stores. Declining U.S. orders already have contributed to the closure of at least 3,600 toy factories since the beginning of 2008, according to the Chinese government, leaving hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers suddenly out of work in this sector alone. Some of the...

<p>“Old-fashioned inexpensive retro toys, such as red rubber balls, simple building blocks, clay and crayons, that don’t cost so much and are usually hidden in the back shelves are generally healthier for children than the electronic educational toys that have fancier boxes and cost $89.99,” says Temple University developmental psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.</p>

With Christmas just around the corner, many of us are hitting the stores for gifts for those we love. Even though these are tough economic times, remember that there's someone who should be on your shopping list! NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and e-mail a copy of this cartoon to everyone you know! Thank you!

Don't know if this has been posted recently, but since its almost Christmas, here's the most recent list of toy recalls: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html

Now, why is Ramadhan Foundation assuming that the terrorist figurine is a Muslim??? ;)

A range of Lego-style fighting figurines - including an Islamic terrorist militant - has sparked outrage among Muslims. The toy mini-figures, made by American Will Chapman, includes a masked terrorist bandit with an assault rifle, grenade launcher and belt of explosives...

Lego-style terrorist fighting figures launched in United Kingdom The Mercury December 05, 2008 12:22am Terrorist toys Dangerous play ... a range of Lego-style figures that include a gun-toting terrorist have been launched in the UK. The tiny figures - decked out as a follower of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden - have a removeable mask and are fully kitted out with a rocket launcher, assault rifle and grenades. The range has been slammed by religious leaders. Mohammed Shaffiq, of Muslim organisation The Ramadhan Foundation, branded the toy “absolutely disgusting”.

A Lego-style Islamic terrorist figurine has sparked outrage among Muslims and others. The Islamic terrorist figurine called 'Mr. White' that has sparked controversy The controversial toy mini-figure, made by American Will Chapman as part of his BrickArms line, is a masked militant with an assault rifle, grenade launcher and belt of explosives. The character is called "Bandit — Mr. White" and sells for $14. Shocked by the plaything, British Muslim organization the Ramadhan Foundation has branded the figurine "absolutely disgusting." Chief executive Mohammed Shafiq said the toy is "glorifying terrorism." "I don't think there's any difference between someone that shouts...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- A magic wand, a fishing rod or a royal scepter? Chris Bensch, curator of collections, shows off the newest inductees into the Toy Hall of Fame, a stick. The lowly stick, a universal plaything powered by a child's imagination, landed in the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday along with the Baby Doll and the skateboard. The three were chosen to join the Strong National Museum of Play's lineup of 38 classics ranging from the bicycle, the kite and Mr. Potato Head to Crayola crayons, marbles and the Atari 2600 video game system. Curators said...