Now -- Fewer Planets!

We just received a re-stock shipment of our 3-Dimensional Glow-in-the-Dark Solar System Mobile Making Kit, and it's official in toyland: Pluto has been given the boot. The kit now contains only the Sun and eight planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, for those of you who dozed through science class.)

Poor Pluto. I feel kind of sorry for it, being dropped like that. Still, who knows -- maybe it will stage a comeback one of these days.

I'm rooting for you, Pluto.

CAD$26.99, in stock now.

A Toy You Can Bank On!

The Moonjar® is a three-part moneybox designed to help children build their dreams by learning how to save, to spend, and to share. It is divided into three separate retro-tin sections: one for Spending, one for Saving, and one for Sharing (there's also a Moonjar Band to help keep the three sections together!).

This simple bank is a wonderful way to introduce the idea and the mechanics of savings. By using the bank in conjunction with an allowance, you as a parent can help your child learn to budget and to control money. As the company says, "Moonjar Moneyboxes help kids build their dreams by managing their allowances." Learning to manage money is one of the best gifts that a parent or grandparent can give a child.

And Moonjars make the learning fun. By dividing the bank into three discrete parts, Moonjar® helps the child to take control of how much he or she wants to allocate to any one area. A passbook is included to help the child keep track of deposits and withdrawals to the bank -- a great way to keep an eye on the bigger picture when saving for a goal. A step-by-step Family Guide with advice and ideas is also included.

It's not surprising that this simple and attractive little bank has won many awards, including a Best Product from Dr. Toy, and Oppenheim Award, and the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

$29.99, in stock now.

Toy Buy or Not Toy Buy?

Worlds Apart, an English manufacturer of children's lifestyle products, has created an online toy value calculator aimed at helping parents figure out the relative worth of various playthings.

You simply enter in a value of 1 through 5 for attributes such as whether the toy promotes individual play, play with others, creativity, utility, and the likelihood of the item's being passed down to younger siblings. You then estimate the number of hours per week that the child may play with the toy, and a guess as to how many months the toy will last in the household. Finally, enter the price (the calculator asks for a price in UK pounds sterling, so just take an estimated Canadian or US price and cut it in half, which is close enough.) Voila! A numerical score for the toy or game in question, relative to other playthings.

This is, of course, a subjective exercise: what I consider to be a toy high on the "social" scale may not strike you thus, and vice versa, so that our scores for the same toy might be quite different. Still, it is the item's rating relative to other items you are considering that counts. Here's an example:

Let's say that you would like to buy a doll for your child. You are hesitating between two dolls: one, an electronic marvel that speaks phrases in four languages and has a price of CAD$75.00 (or roughly £37.00). You estimate that your child, who is four, will play with this doll for two years, or 24 months, for about four hours per week. Entering these values into the calculator gave me an estimated play value of 43 for this doll.

The other doll is a fashion doll with no electronic components. She has hair that can be combed and brushed. You figure that the child will play with her for the same number of hours weekly, but possibly over a shorter period, since your previous experience has been that these dolls break or are discarded in just a few months. The price of this doll is CAD$20, or roughly £10. Entering these guess-timates into the calculator brings up a play value of only 34, based (I suppose) largely on the shorter lifespan of the toy.


It's an interesting exercise, this attempt to pin down a quantitative idea of value in playthings. Something that is more expensive may not really be so, in the long run -- for it may be a toy that is cherished for years, and passed down to younger siblings or even to children. A great toy's value may be a question not of dollars per hour of play, but rather of hours of play per dollar.

Of course, this is not to say that more expensive toys are always the better buy -- far from it. Still, you may be surprised to discover which toys your own estimated ratings rank most highly on the value scale!

Three Melissa & Doug Items Recalled by Health Canada

Even the best, most conscientious manufacturers occasionally have a problem.

On 20 November 2009, Health Canada issued a recall notice for three of Melissa & Doug's wooden toys due to barium levels exceeding allowable limits. The Canadian standard for permissible limits of barium in painted children's items has recently been upgraded to one of the most stringent in the world. These toys do not exceed limits set by the U.S. or the U.K., or by any other country that I know of. Mind you, I am not saying that it's a bad thing that we have demanding standards -- but rather that we as consumers should not panic over a recall like this. I don't believe that this is a case of sloppy manufacturing, but rather of increased testing standards particular to Canada that are weeding out some toys (particularly painted wooden toys) whose content was perfectly okay until the standard was recently changed by Health Canada.

Here's a link to the relevant page on Health Canada's website. The full text is as follows:

Slice and Bake Cookie set, Shape Sorting Cube, and Pound a Peg by Melissa & Doug

Full Product Description

This recall involves all batches of the following three products by Melissa & Doug.

• Slice and Bake Cookie Set: The set includes a tube of 12 sliceable wooden cookies with 12 decorative toppings, a kitchen mitt, a wooden cookie sheet, knife and spatula. The recalled sets can be identified by UPC 000772040747. Health Canada tested batch number ZP1208.



• Shape Sorting Cube: This toy is a wooden cube with a lid and 12 colourful cut-out shapes that fit into 12 holes, based on the shape. The cut-out shapes are red, yellow, green, and blue. The recalled toys can be identified by UPC 000772005753. Health Canada tested batch number XY0309.



• Pound-a-Peg: This toy includes 8 colourful wooden pegs, a wooden hammer, and a wooden bench. The pegs are red, green, yellow, and blue, and can be pounded into the wooden bench using the hammer. The recalled toys can be identified by UPC 000772004961. Health Canada tested batch number ZP0609.

The UPC and lot number can be found on the product packaging.

Hazard Identified

Testing by Health Canada has revealed that the surface paint on the toys contains barium in excess of the allowable limit.

Some forms of barium are safely used in medical and commercial applications, while other forms of barium can be toxic, causing adverse health effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps as well as more severe symptoms. Children's toys coated with paint containing barium in excess of the allowable limit are strictly prohibited in Canada.

Health Canada has not received any reports of incidents or illnesses related to the use of this product.

For some tips to help consumers choose safe toys and to help them keep children safe when they play with toys, see Health Canada's Toy Safety Tips.

Corrective Action

Consumers should immediately take the recalled toys away from children.

Melissa & Doug has said that consumers should contact them directly at 1-203-762-4500 in order to obtain a free-of-charge replacement.

Number Sold

Approximately 26,290 units of the recalled products were sold across Canada.

Time Period Sold

The recalled products were sold from November 2008 to November 2009.

Manufactured in China.

Companies

Manufacturer
Melissa & Doug Inc. of Westport, Connecticut

Toy Hall of Fame 2009 Inductees

We received a press release yesterday (dated 5 November 2009, but never mind that) announcing the 2009 inductees into the Strong National Museum of Play's Toy Hall of Fame. The winners this year were: the Big Wheel® (Louis Marx & Co.), the Game Boy® (Nintendo Co.), and the ball (everyone and anyone).

According to the Marx company Toy Museum, "the BIG WHEEL was designed in Erie, Pa. by Ray Lohr. Mr Lohr was the number one man in the design department and was Louis Marx's right hand when it came to development of new items. In Mr. Lohr's basement one evening he took parts from a tricycle and turned them around and VIOLA!!!! the BIG WHEEL was born. Look at a picture of the toy and you will see a tricycle UPSIDE-DOWN!!!"

I think the writer meant 'Voila!", but you get the idea. In any event, the design of the Big Wheel was a stroke of genius. The low centre of gravity gave it tremendous stability -- a wonderful attribute in a ride-on meant for little kids -- and its large front wheel gave it superior handling, allowing riders to feel in control. A most amazing design.

A few decades later, Nintendo's original Game Boy came along and revolutionized electronic gaming by making it portable. One could argue that every one of today's multi-tasking electronic gizmos (yes, I'm looking at you, iPhone) owes its success to the sea-change brought about by Game Boy, which allowed users to play untethered from the computer or television. Its design and portability, its amazing games like Super Mario, plus the ability of later versions to allow multi-player gaming mean that Game Boy has become synonymous with electronic gaming. I am proud to say that we still have an original, functioning Game Boy at our house.

Somewhere.

Last, ladies, and gentlemen, please consider the ball, a toy whose history stretches back thousands of years. Like the wheel, another invention whose importance cannot be overstated, the sphere-as-toy has planted itself so firmly inside the human experience that it is difficult to imagine life without it: think of golf, basketball, baseball, soccer, billiards, cricket, pinball, tennis!

It's worth a visit to the Hall of Fame's website. I'm willing to bet that many childhood memories will be kindled by the sight of these old favourites -- most of which are still just as popular today as they ever were.

Carcassonne: Wheel of Fortune

The concept of the Wheel of Fortune, representing the unpredictable turns of fate in people's lives, arose in antiquity and has proven a durable metaphor. Hans im Gluck's new Carcassonne: Wheel of Fortune, the newest iteration of their best-selling game, pays homage to this sturdy philosophical idea by introducing a literal wheel-shaped piece, which is divided into six wedges marked "Fortune", "Tax", "Famine", "Storm", "Inquisition", and "Plague".

Play proceeds in the accustomed way, with players choosing random tiles (sight unseen), building the game board, and scoring points by staking claim to features with the little wooden followers known colloquially as "meeples". Only if the a player draws a land tile holding a Wheel of Fortune symbol does he take a chance by moving the pig (Fortune's mover!) around the wheel the number of spaces indicated on the tile, and by taking the action shown on the segment on which the pig lands. Only the segment marked Fortune solely rewards the player whose turn it is: Tax, Famine, Storm, and Inquisition will each reward all players under certain circumstances, while anyone's landing upon Plague demands that each player remove one follower from a land tile back to his supply.

Carcassonne: Wheel of Fortune is designed so that it may be played as a replacement for the original game, or as an expansion for the original game and all previous expansions.

2 to 5 players, 30 to 45 minutes (longer with more players). CAD$34.99

Have Yourself a Munchkin Little Christmas ....

Anyone who has ever played an RPG (role-playing game), video or otherwise, will recognize the basic elements of Munchkin: monsters, treasure, and peril. Oh, and treacherous backstabbing of your friends -- but that part is new.

Munchkin is not merely a game, but the flagship in a series from publisher Steve Jackson Games that includes stand-alone games Star Munchkin; Munchkin Cthulhu; Munchkin Bites; Munchkin Impossible; Munchkin Fu; The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin; Munchkin Booty; and Munchkin Blender. Many of the games can also be expanded with additional cards featuring new treasure, more monsters, and rule tweaks.

The most important thing to realize about Munchkin is that it is a very funny parody, based on an affectionate skewering of the characters and conventions of the classic RPG: the heroes, the weapons, the situations, and the monsters. It has a ridiculous, rather Python-esque, sense of humour -- how could it be otherwise when the monsters include the Potted Plant (not much of a challenge, as "Escape is automatic"), and the Large Angry Chicken ("Fried chicken is delicious. Gain 1 extra level instantly if you defeat it with fire or flame").

Game play is simple: on his turn, a player Opens a Door, by drawing a card from the Door deck and turning it over. If it's a Monster, he fights it. If the card is a Curse, it is applied to the player immediately. Any other card may be held in the player's hand or played immediately. The player can then Loot the Room (assuming that he managed to kill the monster) by taking the number of treasures shown on the Monster's card. The final turn phase for the player is to discard (Charity) so that he holds no more than 5 cards (6 if he's a Dwarf) by giving the excess to the player with the lowest level.

Players also have the opportunity to "help" other players in ways that cost their opponents treasure, or to gang up on other players, or to backstab (if they are playing as a Thief). Rule disputes are dealt with through the simple method of loud arguments among the players, with the owner of the game having the last word.

I have worked in offices like this. Honestly.

And that's part of what makes Munchkin so much fun. Who doesn't relish the opportunity to behave badly (very badly)? To wield a weapon such as the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment? To force a friend to suffer the curse of "Chicken Upon Your Head?"

3 to 6 players, suitable for ages 13+ (or just for "those stuck permanently at a mental age of 13", I guess. Nothing wrong with that, either.) Game duration about one hour. Weakness from laughter will last much longer than that.

Go Ahead and Play With Your Food

Okay.

It's confession time. Who among us -- parents, children -- hasn't at one time nibbled a bit of Play-Doh? I know I have (okay, it was a long time ago. Really.) There is just something so tempting about modelling dough ... so pliable, so moldable, so smooth ... mmmmmm.

Ahem. Sorry.

PlaSmart, the company that brought the PlasmaCar to the world, has just introduced North America to Yummy Dough, the first moldable, edible, and playable dough in the world. Just add water to the dry mix, and knead it to a smooth dough that can be baked and eaten as a cookie! (Or, if you prefer, go ahead and eat it raw. It just tastes better cooked.)

Yummy Dough is a food product, and as such it is held to a very high standard of quality through a rigorous process of inspection and labelling. It does contain milk and egg products, and may contain soy and nut products through cross-contamination at the factory, so this is not for those with serious food allergies.

Each kit includes 4 x 113 of dough mix (red, blue, green, and yellow) that can be mixed in powder form (prior to adding water, that is) or squished together as dough in order to make additional colours (there's a colour reference chart on the side of the box.) Also included are a measuring device and an ideas leaflet. Finished edible creations make delightful, tasty treats for parents or friends.

Yummy Dough sells for $9.99. In stock now.