toys

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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...

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

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

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'
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

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'

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

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

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

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...

The Annual 'Toys Causing Harm' List Is Out
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'

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

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

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

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...

Mystery Shopper Buys Out Toys R Us Store

The buyer reportedly plans to donate the toys

(Newser) - Santa Claus came early to the Toys R Us store in Raleigh, NC, on Friday, even as 800 Toys R Us stores across the country prepared to close their doors for good. According to CBS , an anonymous good Samaritan paid $1 million to purchase all the toys that remained in...

Barbie Has Her New Profession
Barbie Has Her
New Profession
Jun 26, 2018 12:07 PM CDT

Barbie Has Her New Profession

She's a robotics engineer

(Newser) - After stints in medicine and music mixing, Barbie is trying to her hand at robotics. Mattel's " career of the year " Barbie is a robotics engineer, complete with safety glasses, laptop, and robot accessories. Mattel also partnered with Tynker to include free coding lessons and a workbook on...

Yucky Ducky? Kids' Bath Toy Has a Dirty Secret
Rubber Ducky, You're
the (Really Gross) One
NEW STUDY
Mar 28, 2018 9:30 AM CDT

Rubber Ducky, You're the (Really Gross) One

New study finds that yellow hallmark of childhood is a bastion of bacteria

(Newser) - Scientists now have the dirt on the rubber ducky: Those cute yellow bath toys are—as some parents have long suspected—a haven for nasty bugs, reports the AP . Swiss and American researchers counted microbes inside the toys and say the murky liquid released when ducks were squeezed contained "...

They Need $1B to Save Toys R Us, Have $200M Already

Isaac Larian, the CEO behind Bratz Dolls, has an ambitious plan

(Newser) - Toy company executive Isaac Larian says he and other unnamed investors have pledged a total of $200 million in financing and hope to raise four more times that amount in crowdfunding in order to bid for up to 400 of the Toys R Us stores being liquidated in bankruptcy. The...

'No Quick Fix' for Lego Sales Woes, CEO Laments

Excess inventory kept new products from moving in 2017, the first time in 13 years that profits fell

(Newser) - If you're an 8-year-old, you can never have too many Lego bricks. If you're Lego … well, maybe you can have too many Lego bricks. Excess inventory is one reason the Lego Group says it's now reporting, for the first time in 13 years, a drop in...

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