Inside Out

Kapla has been busy! The Savannah, Ga.-based construction toy manufacturer has been invited to participate in a building exhibition with author and architectural illustrator David Macaulay at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, N.Y., this month. Benjamin Takemori, Kapla's sales and building specialist, will show attendees “how to build.” The company has also been showing some elementary-aged children throughout the country a thing or two about building, including a recent two-day building event (pictured) at two flagship KIPP elementary schools in Houston. The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) develops free-of-charge charter schools with open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools for underserved students to develop the knowledge, skills, and traits needed to get into top high schools and colleges. Founded in Houston, the KIPP program currently has 62 charter schools across the U.S., and has just been granted $65 million by the Gates Foundation to create 62 additional charter schools in the country. …In other building news, Plano, Texas-based Erector has launched a new Web site. At www.erectorusa.com, retailers will have access to product descriptions, launch dates, inventory, images and pricing. ...Comic book study is real—and it's legit too! An organization has been founded to study and promote comic books as a legitimate art form. The Sequart Research & Literacy Organization of Edwardsville, Ill., a successor to the popular Sequart.org, a Web site devoted to the study of comics, will maintain the online presence and launch an entire line of books on comics this summer.

In the movie biz these days, everything depends on opening weekend box office sales. But toy sales can open wallets all year, something online retailer Amazon.com is making sure consumers realize at its Toy Store, particularly those for upcoming summer blockbusters. Following the May 18 release of Shrek the Third, which earned $122 in box office sales during its opening weekend, the property is expected to earn a hefty penny with its toy offerings. Amazon.com is making sure it showcases the best Shrek product, from plush and playsets to games, dolls and more. Amazon spokesperson Stephanie Mantello tells Playthings that offering consumers a one-stop shop for Shrek merchandise, which currently includes more than 217 toys and upwards of 1,000 other items across 41 additional categories on the site, has been consistently popular throughout the years. "Amazon strives to offer customers the broadest selection of toys online," says Mantello. "Toys that coincide with blockbuster movies like Shrek the Third are a category of products that our customers love and expect to find at Amazon.com's Toy Store." The retailer has similar shopping areas devoted to Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Simpsons and upcoming summer movies, which highlight bestselling toys and movie trailers and are updated hourly.

The 2007 holiday season is next on Amazon's radar, and the e-tailer does not want to shut down third party merchants, the way it did last year, over shipping concerns. Target, Kaplan Early Learning and eToys are some merchants on board for '07. "With a strict shipping deadline during the holidays, we took measures to make sure we could fulfill customers' expectations on time," says Mantello. "We are now able to work with merchants to build up our third-party offering even further."