| Hot toys '07 | Retailers stocking shelves
The first trick-or-treater is barely out the door, and Christmas is already on retailers' minds. Aisles down from the costumes and candy corn are fake fir trees and candy canes. And Columbia-area merchants are quickly stocking shelves for wide-eyed children — and adults. Traditional dolls and character plushes, such as Fisher-Price's Tickle Me Elmo and Ganz's Webkinzs, are expected to sell big in Columbia, along with the new video console wonders of PlayStation 3, Xbox and Wii. The Consumer Electronics Association found that households with Internet access will spend an average of $172 on electronic toys for their children. In fact, the Guitar Hero III video game and controller set that retails for about $100 has been named an overall top seller this Christmas by Toys "R" Us.
Hot toys '07 | Retailers stocking shelves
The first trick-or-treater is barely out the door, and Christmas is already on retailers' minds. Aisles down from the costumes and candy corn are fake fir trees and candy canes. And Columbia-area merchants are quickly stocking shelves for wide-eyed children — and adults. Traditional dolls and character plushes, such as Fisher-Price's Tickle Me Elmo and Ganz's Webkinzs, are expected to sell big in Columbia, along with the new video console wonders of PlayStation 3, Xbox and Wii. The Consumer Electronics Association found that households with Internet access will spend an average of $172 on electronic toys for their children. In fact, the Guitar Hero III video game and controller set that retails for about $100 has been named an overall top seller this Christmas by Toys "R" Us.
9 out of 10
Disregarding the fact that Halo 3 was released on Wednesday - netting Microsoft a cool $170 million in the US alone in just one day - this week's line up of new releases "belongs" to THQ, with no less than five games out across different formats. Juiced: Hot Import Nights, Conan, Moto GP 07, Bratz The Movie and Ratatouille to be specific. We can't vouch for their quality, but it's not often that a publisher pushes out so many titles all in one go. Unless it's a budget publisher, but they only do that to save on distribution costs. The skanks. This week's biggie though, again ignoring Halo 3, is FIFA 08. Don't actually ignore Halo 3 though - it's ruddy good! The Wii version of FIFA 08 would appear to be the one to go for - EA has added loads of extras, including a Footii Party mode presented by a Mii take on Ronaldinho.
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Disregarding the fact that Halo 3 was released on Wednesday - netting Microsoft a cool $170 million in the US alone in just one day - this week's line up of new releases "belongs" to THQ, with no less than five games out across different formats. Juiced: Hot Import Nights, Conan, Moto GP 07, Bratz The Movie and Ratatouille to be specific. We can't vouch for their quality, but it's not often that a publisher pushes out so many titles all in one go. Unless it's a budget publisher, but they only do that to save on distribution costs. The skanks. This week's biggie though, again ignoring Halo 3, is FIFA 08. Don't actually ignore Halo 3 though - it's ruddy good! The Wii version of FIFA 08 would appear to be the one to go for - EA has added loads of extras, including a Footii Party mode presented by a Mii take on Ronaldinho.
Badminton: Hidayat, Super Dan on course for HK clash
HONG KONG - OLYMPIC champion Taufik Hidayat and world number one Lin Dan remained on course for a Hong Kong Open quarter-final showdown after crushing wins here on Tuesday. Lin 'Super' Dan dispatched Englishman Andrew Smith 21-17, 21-5 while Hidayat routed China's Chen Hong 21-11, 21-13 in just 23 minutes in the first round. Hidayat, still in search of his first Super Series title, will play South Korea's Park Sung Hwan in round two on Thursday while Lin is strong favourite against Shoji Sato of Japan. Hidayat and Lin share badminton's hottest rivalry, although the famously hot-tempered Indonesian has not beaten his Chinese rival since the 2005 world championship final. 'I'm not thinking about Lin Dan yet,' Hidayat shrugged. 'We'll see the day after tomorrow.
Christmas season is full of hot toys … and recalls
Years ago, I remember tromping from store to store during the Christmas season looking for a large Buzz Lightyear toy for my son. I was desperate to find the item, knowing it was at the top of my son's list. Luckily, someone returned a Buzz to a local toy store just as I called. The store held the toy for me and the story had a happy ending. Or so I thought. As many parents will attest, the toy of the moment can quickly lose its luster. Buzz was buried at the bottom of a toy box in no time. A few years later, he was garage sale fodder. I'm not sure if my son ever even played with the darned thing. Buzz wasn't the only toy I chased through the years. I have vague memories of Pokemon card quests, Power Ranger missions and WWF matches. And all of the items have wound up sold, boxed in the garage or headed to the Salvation Army.
Dear Santa: Here's what Humboldt kids want for Christmas
Every year, it seems, there's that one toy -- the one all the Saturday-morning commercials are pushing, all the kids are clamoring for and all the parents are elbowing each other to score. But, according to Sydney Knight, an employee at The Toy Box in Henderson Center, there's no runaway favorite this holiday season, no frenzy-inducing, mob-attracting hot item. Or, as she put it, "There's no Tickle Me Elmo." Instead, say local toy store workers, kids are falling back on time-honored favorites -- the kind of classic toys that their parents, or even grandparents, may well have enjoyed. "Pirates are big," said Dawn Craghead, manager of Moon's Play & Learn. "They've always been big, but since the movies, they're even bigger. And science kits. Those are always popular." Toy Box owner Michelle Knight pointed to animal figurines called Safari Adventure Outpost, colorful trucks and tractors made by Wow and a line of fantasy-themed toys, including unicorns, dragons and princesses, from the German company Schleich as their most sought-after items.
Simple fun with simple toys
Guitar Hero blasts a Lynyrd Skynyrd riff on the Xbox. Infant gyms in psychedelic plastic flash and beep and play "Yankee Doodle." Diego has a talking rescue centre. Santa's elves must be getting more than their share of headaches at the workshop these days, judging from the sensory overload induced by this season's hot toys. But amid the din of Bratz handbag-boomboxes, crashing Transformers and the chirping of the High School Musical crowd, there's a peaceful oasis forming in toyland. A small but growing group of toymakers and parents is harkening back to a time when toys were more about the wonder of kids than the wonders of technology. At The Toy Space in Toronto, owner Randal Lee stocks toys made with all-natural and sustainable materials like reclaimable rubberwood, organic textiles and vegetable dye.
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