No! I didn’t say they got rid of The Game of Life! I said they zAPPed it, so kids can now enjoy a traditional game in a whole new way! Whether they’re played around the kitchen table, on the computer, or on a smart phone – there are many ways to enjoy the same classic games we enjoyed when we were growing up! Hasbro is announcing a whole new twits on traditional board games, zAPPed Gaming, which combines the fun of traditional face-to-face game play with the increased functionality of digital gaming for a brand new, innovative experience.

The newly released Game of Life zAPPed, brings the family-favorite game to life with the integration of an iPad. Simply cue up The Game Of Life zAPPed app on the iPad, place the iPad on the zAPPed game board, and watch as the technology of the app and the game pieces bring the game to life.

Players can create and upgrade their own Peg Person and spin The Game of Life virtual spinner. When landing on a zAPPed space on the game board in their brightly colored car, players may unlock special features such as mini games, comical animations or a hilarious clip from “America’s Funniest Videos.”

The Game of Life zAPPed Edition is currently available on Amazon here: The Game of Life: zAPPed Edition for iPad
and ToysRUs.com for $24.99 the game is also available at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide. The accompanying app is available as a free download in the App Store.

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Just in time for those windy days of March, Manhatten Toy released a new line of bug theme flyers. The new Soar & Spin kites feature 2 ways to fly. Kids can throw it or spin it around.

Each kite set comes with 1 flyer and 1 holding stick. These ultra light kite flyers are made up of a nylon body on a hard plastic frame with a 3D plastic head.

There are several different bug flyers available, including a bumblebee, a butterfly, and a lady bug. I think these would also be super cute for an Easter Basket. You can find them at many major retailers this spring and online at Amazon here: Bug Flyers

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There’s a whole new line of toys hitting store shelves in 2012 based on Disney’s preschool hit Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Preschoolrs from 2 to 5 love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I’m sure they’ll love this new toy line inspired inspired by the show, including space-themed play sets and figures. There will also be a new line featuring fun and interactive play sets from Fisher Price, figures and vehicles inspired by the upcoming Mickey Mouse Clubhouse special, Mickey and Donald Have a Farm, premiering this fall. Mickey Mouse will also move like never before with a new feature plush.

Here are just a couple highlights from the new toy line.

Mickey’s Farm Play Set -Kids can create their own fun farm stories with Mickey Mouse and his friends with this new play set that features realistic animal sounds and fun farm music. Character figures and animals can go for a spin on the dance floor, and a silly hand moves between the silo and windmill. The Farm Play Set will be available in August of 2012, with a retail price of around 44.99.

Master Moves Mickey —Decked out in his freshest dance gear and ready to get down, Master Moves Mickey dances and interacts, showing off some never-before-seen break-dance moves, ending in a signature handstand. His moves are hotter and hipper than ever! Master Moves Mickey features original music tracks, funky beats and plenty of awesome humor to get the whole family up and dancing. Mickey will be dancing into stores in August of 2012, just in time for the holiday shopping season, with a retail price of around $69.99.

I’ll be back with more information on these toys and where you can find them when they start hitting retailer’s shelves this summer!

Images via Disney Consumer Products

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A popular episode on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse spun off into a series of shorts last fall where Minnie and her good friend Daisy Duck find themselves running Minnie’s Bow-Tique, a specialty shop which stocks only bows and bowties.

Now there’s a fun new Minnie Mouse Bow-Toons Toy line for girls based on the popular series. The tosy will highlight the themes of friendship, fashion and travel, including an adorable pink and polka-dotted line of Minnie Mouse toys with kitchen and fashion-themed role play from Just Play and dolls and accessories from Fisher Price.

Minnie’s Kitchen will be available just in time for the holiday season in August of 2012. The colorful, multi-level play set has everything girls need to cook up their own kitchen adventures. Featuring multiple ‘flipping’ functions to maximize the play experience and creativity in the kitchen, the set includes a sink that flips to a hidden cutting board and dish rack that flips to a hidden blender.

Girls can cook up their own treats with a frying pan to flip a Minnie-shaped pancake and flipping recipe book for inspiring new ideas. The kitchen includes Minnie’s voice and realistic kitchen sounds.

I’ll have more information and images when the toys hit the shelves later this year!

Images: Disney Consumer Products

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Jake and the Never Land Pirate toys are coming!  There will be a brand new Jake and the Never Land toy line releasing in June featuring plush, and role play toys and accessories from Just Play. There will also be new action-oriented play sets and figures from Fisher Price, including Jake’s Pirate ship!

Jake’s Pirate Ship toy will have a suggested retail price of $44.99 and will be hitting retailers everywhere in June 2012. The ship is designed after Bucky, Jake’s ship featured in the series, this swashbuckling pirate ship rocks and rolls when kids push it along, with Skully smartly perched on the lookout. Kids can join Jake and his crew to live a pirate’s life through multiple pirate-themed phrases and songs. To really bring the adventure home, kids can fire water out of the cannon or stage a surprise croc attack.

The Jake and the Never Land Pirate Ship and the rest of the toy line will be hitting stores in June of this year. I’ll be back with more information on where you can find these toys both online and offline as soon as they start to hit toy store shelves.

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Boys love dinosaurs! They also love anything with wheels! Add in the morph factor and I think these new Switch and Go Dinos from VTech are going to be a major hit this year with little boys everywhere!

In as few as four simple steps, Switch & Go Dinos morph between dinosaur and vehicle, transforming before kids’ eyes with little to no frustration. Each toy comes equipped with an LCD screen for customized animation, dinosaur and vehicle sound effects and they also include educational dinosaur facts. These features combine to bring each Switch & Go Dino to life. Kids can personalize the toy even more by selecting animated dinosaur eyes when in dinosaur form and driver faces when in vehicle form.

There are 7 different Switch & Go Dinos in the VTech dinosaur/vehicle toys collection with prices starting at $15.99.

Here are the new Switch and Go Dino’s premiering this fall:

• Brok the Brachiosaurus
• Span the Spinosaurus
• Attila the Ankylosaurus
• Sliver the T-Rex
• T-Don the Pteranodon
• Tonn the Stegosaurus
• Horns the Triceratops

They all sound like characters my son would love! The full Switch and Go Dino line will be hitting retailers late this fall including Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and online at Amazon.com. I’ll be back with more details when these toys start hitting the shelves!

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This spring and summer Cepia has some new toys from their popular toy lines Zhu Zhu, Xia Xia, and DaGeBar toy lines hitting stores. Check out the details!

ZhuZhu Pets® Kittens and Puppies

A truce has been made in the well-known battle of dogs vs. cats! All the Zhu-natics out there can now enjoy the best of both worlds with ZhuZhu Pets® Kittens and Puppies. Brand new ZhuZhu Pets® Kittens are sweet, loveable, cuddly and just as collectable as the original ZhuZhu Pets®. Each character has its own name, biography, birthday and special collector’s code. Both ZhuZhu Pets® Kittens and Puppies come in a variety of wacky colors, make silly sounds and move about. Just press their backs and watch them go. Unpredictable, kids never know what they’re going to do or where they’re going to go next, creating hours of interactive and imaginative play.

New Zhu’s in the Puppies and Kittens Crew:

• Jazz the Cat: Jazz’s personality is just like her favorite musical genre – she’s smooth, mellow and has a lot of spontaneous flare. Icon: Saxophone
• Mr. Cozy the Cat: Mr. Cozy’s favorite season is winter. When the weather drops, you can either find him out sledding or cuddled up to his owner with a warm mug of milk. Icon: Mittens
• Wrinkles the Shar Pei Puppy: A neat and tidy pooch, Wrinkles makes her doggy bed every day, enjoys cleaning her kennel and keeps her chew toys spic and span. Icon: Iron

The new puppies and kittens will be hitting stores in the summer of 2012.

ZhuZhu Pets® Safari

ZhuZhu Pets® Safari is a great way for kids to enjoy the fun and fantasy of the jungle. They come in a variety of exotic characters from Wharton the elephant to Baako the zebra.

Like their ZhuZhu Pets® brothers and sisters, ZhuZhu Pets® Safari animals run about, making silly jungle noises. New ZhuZhu Pets® Safari Babies are also joining the adventure, adding a touch of sweetness to the wild kingdom. Their tiny size makes them a great collectable. Catch the Safari characters and babies having tons of fun on slides and swings on their connectable playsets.

You can find the new Safari Pets at Amazon here: Zhu Zhu Pet Safari

DaGeDar™

Nominated for “Boy Toy of the Year 2012″ by the Toy Industry Association, DaGeDar™ is the ultimate game of speed, skill and friendly competition. With new elite characters, it is now the ultimate game of collecting. These limited edition racers have come from a far-off intergalactic region called Dimension 33 and are marked with a special “33.” Players who obtain the “33″ Dag racers are thought to receive a higher level of enlightenment. To play the game, kids race their DaGeDar™ ball characters through thrilling loops and turns in three different track sets. Whether it’s racing against friends, collecting points or propelling their ball into the cup, the game, and rules, can change every time.

The “33″ DaGeDar:

• Fresh-Mon01001: Born with the mark of “33,” Fresh-Mon has spent his short life, searching for answers and reasons as to why he was given such an honor at birth.
• S.O.L02033: A mechanical lawgiver who bestows rulings on all judicial matters.
• Diode-X9906116: After a severe sand corrosion, Diode X99 can’t remember his function. If he falls into the wrong hands, it could spell disastrous results.
• Sprat Horner06118: A futuristic time explorer, Sprat Horner found himself stranded in Dimension 33 and now must rely upon his wits and weaponry.

You can find the new DeGeDar at Amazon here: DaGeDar Toys

Xia-Xia™

The “must-have” toy from this past Christmas, Xia-Xia™ are robotic hermit crabs that give kids the pet they have always wanted without the mess. From a distant island where every day is Carnivale, Xia-Xia™ are crazy crustaceans, who love to dance and play all day long. What’s Carnival without a costume?

Xia-Xia™ hermit crabs love to show off their shells for island festivities. Kids can choose between a variety of interchangeable shells with different patterns, styles and colors. With eight new shells to choose from, there are a lot fashions to be had. For an additional surprise, tiny kooky companions are hidden inside each shell, each with its own special name. Kids love to collect and trade Xia-Xia™ shells and their kooky friends!

You can find XiaXia here: Xia-Xia Toys

Most of the new Cepia toys are in stores now, or will be hitting stores this summer and are recommended for children 4 and up.

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Skylanders Spyro Adventures was a break out hit in video games for 2011. They’re back and bigger than ever for 2012 with Giants!

Skylanders Giants builds upon the breakthrough fundamentals of the first Skylanders game—merging the physical and virtual realms with an innovative line of cross-platform toy figures that have “brains,” which players everywhere can magically bring to life in the world of Skylands. The latest game a features variety of new characters, new challenges, a thrilling new story-driven adventure, and advanced integration across console, handheld, mobile and online:

• Going Big: Skylanders Giants introduces eight new highly collectible figures that are more than twice the size of the main skylanders cast in both physical and virtual form. Their in-game powers and abilities reflect their colossal scale.
• Bright Lights: Helping to further the real world magic of bringing toys to life, Skylanders Giants includes a set of characters that feature spectacular new light technology integrated into the toys, allowing the figure to light up when near or on the Portal of Power™. These characters have additional in-game benefits as well. Batteries are not required.
• Brand New Skylanders: Eight new regular sized skylanders, each with their own unique powers, abilities, and personality, join the adventure alongside the Giants.
• Forward Compatibility: Every beloved character from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure is 100% compatible with Skylanders Giants, leveled-up stats and customizations intact.
• Wider Worlds: Portal Masters will see all new arenas and more gameplay options in Battle Mode for exciting head-to-head play, as well as enhanced Elemental Zones, new Hero Challenges, and other features that encourage players to collect and level up every character.

Skylanders Giants also features closer integration with Skylanders Spyro’s UniverseTM, the large online world that allows Portal Masters around the world to greatly expand their Skylanders experience.

Image via Activision

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Just in time for the release of the new Muppets Movie, Disney has come out with some new Muppet Plush toys! I’m sure these will top many kids Christmas wish lists this year! They’ve included Muppet favorites like Miss Piggy and Kermit, and some new muppet characters appearing in the movie.

you can click on any of the images below to get to the Disney Store and check out more about your favorite Muppet plush toy.

I love Miss Piggy! She’s always been a favorite of mine, check her out!

I think they all look huggable! Here’s PePe, he has extra arms to love you back when you hug on him.

My favorite green Muppet, Kermit is of course adorable, and ready to be hugged!

I think I’m in love with all of them, and I can’t wait to check out the Muppet Movie when it hits the big screen!

You can find all the Disney Muppet plush toys at the Disney store by clicking on the images below.

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LEGO recently released a new line of Ninjago LEGO sets, that are sure to become kid’s favorites this year.One toy that’s going to top many boy’s wish list this year is the LEGO Ninjago Skull Motorbike

The Skull Motorbike is over 11 inches long, and every bit as deadly as its namesake. It features flames blazing from the motorbike’s tailpipes. You can make your escape or activate the bike’s ninja swat attack and launch your opponent back to the Underworld. Whether you fight on the side of good or evil, the Skull Motorbike is an asset to any ninja.

The LEGO Ninjago Skull Motorbike set comes with 157 pieces, including 2 minifigures (Zane and Chopov), 3 weapons, and the Skull Motorbike, and is recommended for children age 7 and up.

You can find the LEGO Ninjago Skull Motorbike at many major retailers, and online at Amazon here: LEGO Ninjago Skull Motorbike

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