Working with TrailBreaker, Dr. Toy will help provide parents (grandparents, teachers and others) with the Web's best resource for researching and purchasing toys online. As part of this agreement, Dr. Toy's advice will also be available to all of TrailBreaker's partner sites, which include some of today's most popular business-to-consumer Web sites.

``Business-to-consumer sites are under tremendous pressure to generate real financial results,'' said Noah Eckhouse, president and CEO of TrailBreaker. ``Our partners value TrailBreaker's shopping advisory content because it provides all of the information consumers need to make confident purchasing decisions, without requiring them to go to other sites to conduct research. This gives our partners a powerful tool for keeping consumers 'glued' to their sites and converting browsers into buyers.''

A noted expert who has been featured in a broad range of national print and broadcast media, including The Today Show, The New York Times, and U.S. News & World Report, Dr. Toy joins more than 45 TrailBreaker experts covering diverse areas such as wireless phones, mortgages, travel, rare books, etc. Dr. Toy will kick off her relationship with TrailBreaker on May 18 at 9:00 p.m. EDT with a live chat on www.trailbreaker.com.

``Purchasing toys online has always been a challenging process for parents, because there are so many different types of toys available, and so many sites from which to purchase them,'' said Dr. Toy. ``I look forward to working with TrailBreaker to provide parents with all of the information they need to decide which toys are most appropriate for their children, and which sites provide the most reliable service. We want to ease their difficulties and encourage more effective experiences.''

TrailBreaker is the only shopping advisory service that employs a staff of industry experts who average 10 years of working experience in their areas of expertise. These experts provide professional insight and scour the Web to find the best online shopping sites and industry resources to help consumers make better purchasing decisions. Web sites can license content from TrailBreaker to enhance customer retention, revenue and satisfaction by eliminating the need for consumers to leave their sites to conduct shopping research. The company offers further shopping advice through its Trail Bargains newsletter, which profiles the Web's hottest deals.

About Dr. Toy
``Dr. Toy,'' Stevanne Auerbach, PhD, has more than 25 years of expertise in children's products, toys, play, education, parent education, child development, child advocacy, child psychology, child care and special education. She is the Founder/Director of The Institute for Childhood Resources, a nationally syndicated columnist, and the author of 15 books on children and play. Most recently Dr. Toy's Smart Play (St. Martin's Press) and Toys for a Lifetime (Rizzoli). Dr. Toy also selects and evaluates the newest and best toys and other products for the annual features `` Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products'' and ``Best Vacation'' and ``Best Classic Products.'' Dr. Toy is also a mother and grandmother.

About TrailBreaker.com
Founded in 1999 and based in Waltham, Mass., TrailBreaker provides Web shopping advisory content to business-to-consumer sites that wish to improve customer retention, revenue and satisfaction. By eliminating the need for consumers to go to other sites to conduct shopping research, TrailBreaker's shopping advisory content helps its partners grow revenue by converting browsers into buyers. TrailBreaker provides comprehensive shopping advisory services for more than 18 shopping categories, from apparel to wireless phones. TrailBreaker is the only shopping advisory service that employs a staff of experts--averaging 10 years of working experience in their area of expertise--to provide practical shopping advice to consumers. In addition to providing content and services to partner sites, TrailBreaker maintains its own Web site, www.trailbreaker.com.

[Updated 5/02/2000]