toys – News Stories About toys - Page 1

Jun 23, 2023 12:20 PM CDT

Hasbro Is Reviving the Furby

Original launched 25 years ago

(Newser) - First launched in 1998, Hasbro's Furby was something new: A big-eyed, fuzzy electronic companion for kids that cooed and burbled and even learned words. Furbys could also communicate among themselves, appearing to have nonsensical conversations when situated in sight of each other. A massive hit at first, with 40...

Baby Shark Toys Recalled After 12 Kids Injured

Baby Shark Toys
Injure 12 Kids

Jun 23, 2023 10:31 AM CDT

Baby Shark Toys Injure 12 Kids

Toymaker is recalling versions of toy with hard plastic fins

(Newser) - About 7.5 million singing and swimming "Baby Shark" bath toys are being recalled after multiple lacerations and puncture wounds were reported in children playing with them. Zuru, a California-based toymaker, said it's recalling both full-size and mini versions of its robotic baby shark toys that have hard...

Animal Rescue Called to Save ... a Harry Potter Toy

'Bird' Heard in Home's Walls
Was Something Else Entirely

Mar 14, 2023 1:57 PM CDT

'Bird' Heard in Home's Walls Was Something Else Entirely

Animal rescue called off after UK resident discovered creature was a stuffed 'Harry Potter' toy

(Newser) - It can be quite distressing to discover there's a wild animal trapped in the walls of your house, as one UK resident thought had happened in their case. Per UPI , a call was recently made to Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue about a bird in such a predicament in a North...

Funko Is Dumping
$30M in Unsold Dolls

Mar 6, 2023 12:50 PM CST

Funko Is Dumping $30M in Unsold Dolls

Warehouses are overflowing with Pop figures

(Newser) - Toy company Funko apparently overestimated demand for its bobbleheaded pop culture collectibles so badly that hundreds of thousands of them are doomed to end up as landfill. In a trading update Friday, the company said it plans to "eliminate" excess inventory for a writedown of at least $30 million,...

Kids Aren't the
Only Ones Spending
Their Cash on Toys

Dec 21, 2022 10:15 AM CST

Kids Aren't the Only Ones Spending Their Cash on Toys

Those 12 and older, aka 'kidults,' make up a quarter of toy sales these days

(Newser) - Inflation has dampened retail sales across the board. But as moms and dads finish up their curtailed shopping for the holiday season, there's a chance they're not just buying toys for their kids—they might also be putting some in the cart for themselves. The latest data from...

Fundraiser for Ukraine Gives Zelensky the Lego Treatment

Latest Lego
Action Figure
Is Familiar
Face

Mar 18, 2022 11:34 AM CDT

Latest Lego Action Figure Is Familiar Face

Thanks to Chicago novelty shop, Ukrainian leader Zelensky is Lego-fied, complete with Molotov cocktails

(Newser) - A shop in Chicago that specializes in custom Lego pieces is making headlines with some new inventory that's raising cash to help a war-torn nation. Vice reports that the Windy City's Citizen Brick—a storefront that "started with a very dumb dream" to create unique Lego minifigures...

You 'Owe Part of Your Childhood Happiness' to This Man

He Didn't Invent Toys,
but He's the Genius
We Can Thank for Them

longform

Nov 20, 2021 7:59 AM CST

He Didn't Invent Toys, but He's the Genius We Can Thank for Them

Inc. profiles Al Kahn

(Newser) - Al Kahn. "You surely do not know his name, but you likely owe part of your childhood happiness to him," writes Scott Eden, without hyperbole, in a profile of the 74-year-old for Inc. Kahn is not a toy inventor, but he's the man responsible for seeking the...

Grown-Ups Can Now Use
This Fisher-Price Classic

Nov 2, 2021 8:11 AM CDT

Grown-Ups Can Now Use This Fisher-Price Classic

Company's working adult version of toddler toy uses Bluetooth to connect to your own smartphone

(Newser) - Bridget Carey says she's "broken inside from working at home way too long" (we hear that), but a recent addition to her home office has her newly perked up: an adult version of Fisher-Price's Chatter Telephone , the pull toy for toddlers you may remember from your childhood...

California Has New Rule
for Toy Departments

Oct 11, 2021 8:21 AM CDT

California Has New Rule for Toy Departments

Big stores must have gender-neutral sections

(Newser) - California has become the first state to require large department stores to display toys in gender-neutral ways. The new law, signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend, does not outlaw traditional boys and girls sections at department stores, per the AP . Instead, it says large stores must also...

He Created the 'Game of Life'

obituary

Sep 21, 2021 4:34 PM CDT

He Created the 'Game of Life'

Toy-maker Reuben Klamer is dead at age 99

(Newser) - Reuben Klamer is in the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, with all kinds of creations under his belt. But his death at age 99 this month shows that one in particular is his true claim to fame—the Game of Life. The Milton Bradley game came out in 1960 and...

Mattel's Naomi Osaka Barbie
Sells Out in Hours

Jul 13, 2021 9:55 AM CDT

Mattel's Naomi Osaka Barbie Sells Out in Hours

Tennis star has a doll in her likeness

(Newser) - Tennis star Naomi Osaka was one of 20 or so "Sheros"—read: female heroes—gifted a Barbie doll in their own likeness in 2019 . The public was apparently eager for a Barbie of the world's highest-paid female athlete, too, as a new doll of Osaka sold out...

Lego's Biggest Set
Ever Is 'Awe-Inspiring'

Nov 17, 2020 7:54 AM CST

Lego's Biggest Set Ever Is 'Awe-Inspiring'

Toy company debuts Rome's Colosseum, a 9,036-piece set due out on Black Friday

(Newser) - If you've already finished building the Millennium Falcon and the Death Star, Lego Group has an "awe-inspiring" new challenge for you. In what it's touting as its "largest Lego brick set created to date," the Danish company last week unveiled its 9,036-piece replication of...

She Made Her Own Scientist
Barbies. Now It's Official

Dec 30, 2019 12:50 PM CST

She Made Her Own Scientist Barbies. Now It's Official

Mattel teams with forest ecologist, honors her with doll that looks like her

(Newser) - When Nalini Nadkarni was a kid, she'd run home from school, climb into one of the eight maple trees in her parents' backyard, and spend an afternoon there with an apple and a book, per the AP . That time in the treetops set the tone for the rest of...

A 'Child' Is Born, and
Immediately Ascends Amazon

Dec 20, 2019 11:05 AM CST

A 'Child' Is Born, and Immediately Ascends Amazon

Baby Yoda from 'The Mandalorian' tops plush toy list, but it won't be available for a few more months

(Newser) - The hot item of the holiday season is none other Baby Yoda , the character also known as "The Child" in Disney Plus' The Mandalorian—but no one's going to be unwrapping him (and it is a him ) for several more months. Variety reports an 11-inch Mattel "...

She Was Getting
Mauled by a
Dog. He Grabbed
a Toy Soldier

Nov 26, 2019 11:26 AM CST

She Was Getting Mauled by a Dog. He Grabbed a Toy Soldier

88-year-old Leonard Miller saves young neighbor in Ohio with plastic Christmas decoration

(Newser) - A young girl in Ohio is alive thanks to a quick-thinking man next door and a plastic Christmas decoration. Leonard Miller says he was in his Perry Township home Sunday when his 13-year-old neighbor started banging on his door, yelling that her 10-year-old sister was being attacked by a pit...

Nerf Gun Makes
Dreaded Annual List

Nov 19, 2019 12:24 PM CST

Nerf Gun Makes Dreaded Annual List

World Against Toys Causing Harm unveils its pre-Christmas warning

(Newser) - A Nerf dart gun, ice cream-scented Nickelodeon slime, and a plastic Power Rangers claw are among the toys topping a consumer safety group's list of worst toys for the holidays, the AP reports. World Against Toys Causing Harm unveiled its annual list Tuesday at a Boston children's hospital....

How Toys R Us Has
'Risen From the Grave'

Nov 23, 2018 9:45 AM CST

How Toys R Us Has 'Risen From the Grave'

You'll find Geoffrey's Toy Box in hundreds of Kroger-owned stores nationwide

(Newser) - In March Toys R Us announced it was closing for good and leaving 33,000 people out of work. But the Washington Post reports on the toy retailer's "complicated comeback," saying it has come "crawling back" from what looked to be a certain demise. Geoffrey (the...

Unhappy Dad Sues
McDonald's Over Happy Meals

Nov 20, 2018 9:05 AM CST

Unhappy Dad Sues McDonald's Over Happy Meals

Father's complaint on toys cites Quebec law against marketing to kids under 13

(Newser) - Antonio Bramante doesn't see the "happy" in one of McDonald's most famous offerings. The Canadian dad of three says he's cajoled every couple of weeks to take his little ones to McDonald's, and he figures he's forked over hundreds of dollars on Happy Meals....

New Doctor Who
Barbie Doll Is
Groundbreaking
—and Confusing

Oct 9, 2018 8:05 AM CDT

New Doctor Who Barbie Doll Is Groundbreaking —and Confusing

Doll based on Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the Doctor in sci-fi series

(Newser) - Jodie Whittaker is the 13th person to play the Doctor in Doctor Who, and the first woman, and that first has prompted yet another. Boing Boing reports on a limited-edition Barbie based on the iconic character, an offering coinciding with Sunday's premiere of the 11th season of the BBC...

Toys 'R' Us: We're
Not Dying After All

Oct 3, 2018 4:59 AM CDT

Toys 'R' Us: We're Not Dying After All

Hedge funds plan to revive brand

(Newser) - They may not be ready to declare "We 'R' Solvent," but Toys 'R' US appears to be back from the brink of oblivion. The company's top creditors have decided to cancel the bankruptcy auction of its famous name and other intellectual property and will attempt...