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Playthings EXTRA
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Playthings EXTRA for July 1, 2009
 

Editorial Opportunities

Playthings' August 2009 issue will feature stories spotlighting Toys For Tweens and Action Figures. To be considered for editorial coverage in these features, email new product information and high resolution images to our editors at toyfairitems@reedbusiness.com by July 1.
 
 
Hasbro ties with Yankee Candle
Hasbro is prepping a line of scent-enhanced puzzles under license from The Yankee Candle Co. Click to continue
 
Upper Deck snares Marvel rights
Upper Deck has signed a long-term licensing agreement with Marvel Entertainment to produce trading card games, miniature games and trading cards based on the Marvel Universe. Click to continue
 
 
Toys "R" Us makes money moves
Toys "R" Us has lengthened by nearly two years the maturity date of its senior secured credit facility, among other financial moves. Click to continue
 

TOY OF THE WEEK
Kids just add sheets, and Toobeez's EZ-Fort system ($129.99), for ages 3 to 7, instantly becomes an affordable playhouse. The framework fort building system is designed especially for younger hands with developing coordination, so kids can easily create their own play spaces using existing furniture and sheets to complement their structures. Click to continue
 
Worth Noting blog: Bicycles slip through the CPSIA noose
Playthings.com blogger Cliff Annicelli writes: Interesting development in the Consumer Product Safety Commission's efforts to bring "common sense" to enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act's lead standards: Bicycle manufacturers are getting a two-year reprieve from enforcement. What's most interesting is the rationale the commissioners used to justify their decision. Click to continue
 
 
Product
Product Showcase: 3-D Puzzles
This week’s Product Showcase features 3-D puzzles from Boikido, Family Games, FoxMind Games, Imagiplay and Ravensburger. Click to continue
 
OKK Trading fined for lead, safety recalls
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission slapped OKK Trading, Commerce, Calif., with a civil penalty of $665,000 civil for a string of lead-related toy recalls and for violating other federal child safety standards. Click to continue
 
 
Ceaco
Ceaco re-ups for 'Ivory Cats'
RJM Licensing has renewed Ceaco’s license for puzzles based on the Ivory Cats property through the end of 2011. Click to continue
 

Out of the Toy Box Blog: Prediction: End is near for big box retailers
Richard Gottlieb writes: am not a prophet but I am going to step out and make a prediction: We are seeing the beginning of the end for the traditional big box retailer with its huge suburban footprint. All of this talk about the recession is hiding the fact that the Internet is inexorably eating away at customer counts. All that has to happen is for a retailer to lose just enough customers for it to be no longer feasible to sustain the cost of supporting a store’s physical infrastructure.

Click to continue
 
PLAYTHINGS.com POLL

How concerned are you that space changes at Wal-Mart will hurt your business?

  • Very concerned
  • Slightly concerned
  • Terrified
  • Not concerned
  • Too early to tell

To vote on this week’s poll, or to see the results of previous poll questions, visit www.Playthings.com.

For daily news updates visit the "Breaking News" section of www.Playthings.com

Have a profitable week,

Cliff Annicelli, Editor
Karyn Peterson, Managing Editor
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