Raving Toy Maniac

February 10, 2012 - Listed below are the toy (and child-related) recalls from this week; these links go to the official announcements on the Consumer Product Safety Commission web site.

Bumbleride Recalls Indie & Indie Twin Strollers Due to Fall Hazard

Weeplay Kids Recalls Infant Bodysuits Due to Choking Hazard

Industry Gaming Leaders Hasbro and Zynga Announce Global Partnership

Hasbro signs exclusive worldwide strategic alliance to develop wide range of products based on Zynga's highly popular and iconic brands

SAN FRANCISCO & PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- February 9, 2012 -- Hasbro, Inc. and Zynga announced today a comprehensive partnership that grants Hasbro the rights to develop a wide range of toy and gaming experiences based across Zynga's popular social games and brands. As the world's largest social game developer with more than 227 million monthly active users, Zynga has created some of the world's most popular social game brands including FarmVille, CityVille and Words With Friends.

Through this agreement, Hasbro has obtained the license to develop and distribute wide ranging product lines based on Zynga's game brands in a number of toy and game categories. This deal also creates an array of opportunities for co-branded merchandise featuring a combination of both Hasbro and Zynga brands.

Nickelodeon Debuts Its Strongest Entertainment Toy Portfolio Ever With New Products For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Winx Club, Team Umizoomi, Dora, SpongeBob, and Victorious at Toy Fair 2012

Playmates Toys, JAKKS Pacific, Fisher-Price, The LEGO Group, and Spin Master Will Partner with Nickelodeon to Unveil New Toys for 2012

NEW YORK, Feb. 9, 2012 -- Nickelodeon is headed to Toy Fair 2012 with its most comprehensive and diversified toy portfolio ever, based on popular entertainment brands for preschoolers, kids, and tweens. Nickelodeon will unveil products for both new and established properties, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Winx Club, Team Umizoomi, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Victorious.

Hasbro to Debut Innovative New Play Experiences from Its Expansive Portfolio of Iconic Brands at the American International Toy Fair

Product Highlights Include 'Off the Board' Gaming Experiences, Brand Reinventions and Exciting New Property Introductions

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- February 2012 -- Hasbro, Inc. will unveil a wide variety of new toys and gaming experiences at the 109th American International Toy Fair beginning Sunday, February 12 in New York City. The Company, currently in the midst of an exciting transformation into a global branded play company, will not only be celebrating the reveal of new toys and games for 2012, but also a host of immersive brand experiences including new major motion pictures, video games, theme-park rides, television programming and more entertainment and lifestyle products based on many of its popular brands.

February 9, 2012 - (Sponsor Announcement) - Online retailer BigBadToyStore.com has several items of interest to collectors:

We have just received a large shipment of Transformers Prime - Robots in Disguise - Deluxe / Revealers figures - Sets, Singles, and Cases are available:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=2819&company=3&categor...

The Voyager / Powerizer Class figures are also in stock here:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=2819&company=3&categor...

We've also received a shipment of 3.75" Marvel Wave 06 figures found here:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/search.aspx?search=3.75+marvel+06

K'NEX BRANDS And HASBRO Announce TINKERTOY® Licensing Partnership And 2012 Product

Familiar Nostalgic Play Pattern Enhanced by Stability & Durability

Hatfield, PA - February 09, 2012 - K'NEX Brands, the only US construction toy company focused on Building Worlds Kids Love™, is pleased to announce their partnership with Hasbro to create a modern, revitalized line of the classic toy brand: Tinkertoy.

Specially designed for children ages 3 and up, Tinkertoy is a name that stands for wholesome, enduring fun. Created in 1913 after children were seen playing with pencils and empty spools of thread, it developed into a national phenomenon that inspired children to use their imaginations, and was nominated into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998.

I turned on the new site map overnight, and it has RSS feeds as far as the eye can see. Not just for the front page and each separate blog section, but for each part of the Forum, each category of Classified Ad, and each 'tag' that we put on posts and articles. (For example: Do you like Toy2R? There's a feed just for items tagged with their name!)

If you click just the link, you'll go to that part of the site, so remember that you'll need to click on the orange symbol next to the link to get to the corresponding RSS feed.

Mattel's Monster High™ and Universal Home Entertainment Form New Worldwide Marketing and Distribution DVD Partnership

Monster High™: Ghouls Rule! Available Fall 2012 on DVD and Digital Download

LOS ANGELES -- February 8, 2012 -- Mattel and Universal Pictures today announce a worldwide marketing and distribution alliance for the first ever feature-length DVDs from the hugely successful Monster High™ franchise. Monster High™: Ghouls Rule! will be the first direct-to-DVD, CG-animated film to be released under this new partnership. Centered around the perfectly imperfect teenage children of the world's most famous monsters, Monster High™ resonates with girls across the globe for its clever and humorous storytelling that captures the awkward, yet relatable, moments of being a teen in high school.

February 2012 - Toy2R brings vinyl back to music with the announcement of a licensed collaboration with Grammy nominated phenom - DEADMAU5.

Roaming the floor during next week's Toy Fair trade show, Toy2R will be hyping this project as well as other hot 2012 releases. Wholesale interest should email [email protected] for more information.

Stay Tuned...

Extensive Cast of Voice Actors Unveiled for Super Hero Squad Online

SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 8, 2012 -- Let's talk! Providing voiceover for every hero and villain in an online game is an immense undertaking; most developers don't attempt to give their games that much personality. However, for a universe as rich as the world of Marvel and a roster of super heroes as star-studded as the Super Hero Squad's, making the effort is worth it for the millions of Marvel fans around the world. That's why Gazillion Entertainment and Marvel Entertainment announce today that the entire cast of characters, current and upcoming, in the popular free online kids game Marvel Super Hero Squad Online will have voice.