toys

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China's Hottest New Toy Shoots Needles

Parents are no fans of the mini-crossbows

(Newser) - Powerful mini-crossbows that shoot toothpicks and needles are the new must-have toy for schoolkids across China—and a nightmare for concerned parents and school officials, reports the AP . Several cities including Shenzhen and Qingdao have reportedly banned sales of the palm-sized contraptions, which sell for about $1 and are powerful...

'Odd Retching' Noise, Then a Mom's Panic

Her 10-year-old daughter had swallowed a piece of her fidget spinner toy

(Newser) - Fidget spinners, the hottest toy on the market, may also pose a serious choking risk. So says a mother in a Facebook post that's gone viral with more than 710,000 shares after her 10-year-old daughter swallowed one of the toy's weighted bearings. Kelly Rose Joniec, a Houston-area...

Amid Craze, Fidget Spinner Inventor Makes Nothing

A cash-strapped Catherine Hettinger let the patent expire

(Newser) - It's hard to make money if you don't have any. That's the lesson from Catherine Hettinger, who is credited with inventing the original fidget spinner about three decades ago. In 2004, she says she could not afford the $400 patent renewal fee and thereby had to surrender...

Target Recalls Easter Toys That Could Expand in Kids' Stomachs

CPSC issues pullback of 560K 'Hatch & Grow Easter Eggs'

(Newser) - No injuries have been reported yet, but some parents will have to alter their gift-giving plans after Target pulled back more than half a million Easter toys it says could be hazardous and even life-threatening for kids, NBC News reports. A Consumer Product Safety Commission "Fast Track" recall was...

Parents: Popular Teething Toy Is Rife With Mold

Owner of Sophie the Giraffe says moisture has turned her toy into 'science experiment'

(Newser) - Sophie the Giraffe, a squeaky rubber teething toy, has become all the rage the past few years, despite a relatively steep price tag— Quartz noted in June its $24.99 cost compared with simpler teething toys that retail for less than $5. But Sophie's popularity may take a hit...

The Year&#39;s Hottest Toy Is a Dud for Many
The Year's
Hottest Toy
Is a Dud
for Many
in case you missed it
Jan 1, 2017 6:58 AM CST

The Year's Hottest Toy Is a Dud for Many

Spin Master says it's reviewing all complaints

(Newser) - Kristen Capeci's goal was "to bring a little extra happiness to my nephew and my nieces" by getting them the hottest toy of the season . Instead, she's one of scores of Hatchimals customers frustrated by dud toys that have failed to hatch from their eggs as promised...

He Bet His Life and Brought Joy to Millions
He Bet His Life and
Brought Joy to Millions
LONGFORM
Dec 30, 2016 12:03 AM CST

He Bet His Life and Brought Joy to Millions

'Newsweek' tells of the remarkable life of Henry Orenstein

(Newser) - His name is Henry Orenstein, and as a Newsweek profile makes clear, the 93-year-old New Jersey resident really ought to be a household name. For starters, he survived the Holocaust thanks to a risky gamble. For another, he's a prolific toy inventor and the brainchild behind the Transformers franchise....

Tickle Me Elmo Has Nothing on This Year&#39;s Hot Toy
The Year's Hot Toy: Hatchimals
Dec 7, 2016 6:34 PM CST

The Year's Hot Toy: Hatchimals

People are going to insane lengths to get their hands on them

(Newser) - The holiday's hottest toy is so hot it sold 400,000 units in just seven weeks, outpacing the infamous Tickle Me Elmo, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. It's so hot moms in Utah braved 20-degree weather to line up outside a Target at 4:45am just in hopes...

In Pizzeria's 25-Cent Toy Machine, Kid Finds ... Pills?

Police are investigating how prescription meds ended up in the machine

(Newser) - A mother's alarming Facebook post about a 25-cent vending machine dispensing medication instead of toys to her 7-year-old daughter has gone viral in the days before Halloween. Courtney Jones allowed her mother to give her youngest daughter, Allyson, three quarters at the Rochester House of Pizza in New Hampshire...

Teddy Ruxpin Is Back to Delight/Terrify New Generation

The new-and-improved bear features LCD eyes and a 40-story hard-drive

(Newser) - The bear is back: CNN reports a new-and-improved Teddy Ruxpin will be released next year. The original talking bear, released in 1985, was one of the first animatronic toys ever and one of the best-selling toys of all time, according to Gizmodo . Teddy Ruxpin 1985 had a moving mouth and...

Everyone Wants This $19 Toy for Fidgeters

Fidget Cube nabs $4.5M so far on Kickstarter

(Newser) - If you can't stop fidgeting, Matthew and Mark McLachlan say they have just the thing for you: Fidget Cube, which an ad helpfully explains is "a cube that you fidget with." The tiny desk toy—which has buttons to push, a ball to roll, a dial to...

How This 'Fastest-Growing Company' Lost Everything

Inc. goes inside the 'cautionary tale' of Fuhu

(Newser) - Nearly a year after the once extremely promising and successful tablet company Fuhu went broke, Inc. sat down with CEO Jim Mitchell and President Robb Fujioka—the "headstrong" mastermind—to sort out what went wrong where. The great unraveling of a company that was No. 1 on the Inc....

Barbie Gets 3 New Body Types
 Barbie Gets 
 3 New Body Types 
Jan 28, 2016 11:00 AM CST

Barbie Gets 3 New Body Types

Tall, curvy, and petite models, plus a slew of skin tones, eye colors, and hairstyles

(Newser) - Project Dawn—mission complete at Mattel. The toy company more fully explained this secret initiative Thursday, and it involves an industry icon getting what the Washington Post calls "the makeover the world has been waiting for." Barbie dolls will now be available in four body shapes: the original...

The Force Awakens Toy Sales: $700M

Franchise's products helped boost toy sales overall by 6.7% in 2015

(Newser) - Is it a trap? Maybe for fanatic consumers, but not for the toy industry, which had a stellar sales year in 2015, partly thanks to the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars toys—including hot sellers such as Kylo Ren lightsabers and BB-8 models—scooped up more than $700 million in...

Instead of Jet Noises, Toy F-16 Plays Muslim Prayer

'We're kind of confused on how this would happen'

(Newser) - Bjorn Thorpe was excited to watch his 3-year-old nephew play with the toy F-16 fighter jet he bought him on Amazon for Christmas. It was advertised as making realistic jet noises, but "we put the batteries in and didn't get what we expected," Thorpe tells KING 5...

New Security Flaws in Wi-Fi Barbie May Be Hackers' Delight

Kids' recordings could be vulnerable, says tech group

(Newser) - One of the hot toys this holiday season is sure to be Orwellian Dystopia Barbie—sorry, we mean Hello Barbie. The $75 Internet-connected doll uses an app to record kids and talk back to them. But Slate reports hackers can turn the Hello Barbie's Wi-Fi connection into "spying...

Toy Figurine Incites Racism Claims

Mom says toy came with 'slave collar' for black figure

(Newser) - A California mother is outraged over what she claims is a racist toy her 5-year-old son received for his birthday, the Washington Post reports. Ida Lockett says she was helping her son put together a Playmobil pirate ship set when she came to instructions to put a shackle around the...

This Year's Finalists for Toy Hall of Fame

You can vote at museum's website

(Newser) - The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY, is out with this year's nominees for induction. They range from the specific (Super Soaker) to the general (puppet). Inductees will be announced in early November, and anyone can vote. The 12 nominees:
  • American Girl dolls
  • Battleship
  • Coloring book
  • Jenga
...

&#39;Force Friday&#39; Has Arrived
 'Force Friday' Has Arrived 
Sep 4, 2015 9:51 AM CDT

'Force Friday' Has Arrived

Retailers hold one-day merch event for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' movie

(Newser) - On the fourth of every month, it's easy to find random "May the Fourth be with you" platitudes on social media from Star Wars superfans—but today's "Force Friday" may even lure Jabba the Hutt onto the Internet or into a store on Tatooine. Just after...

Fox Anchor Sues Hasbro for Naming Rodent After Her

Harris Faulkner says toy hamster was 'demeaning and insulting'

(Newser) - If Harris Faulkner were a 9-year-old girl, she might have been tickled to have a Hasbro toy named after her. But the 49-year-old Fox Report Weekend anchor is suing the toy company for bestowing her moniker on its Harris Faulkner hamster, part of its "Pet Pawsabilities" line for the...

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