I was uber excited when a few weeks ago, I received an invite to Time for Play Magazine’s The Toy Guy event at a local Toys r Us store here in St. Louis. The purpose of the event was to see what toy picks were hot this year according to Christopher Byrne, The Toy Guy, who’s a well-known toy expert and reviewer. And because I am always down for expert help when it comes to picking out fun yet safe toys for my 6 year old, The Toy Guy had me at hello.
Once I arrived, I mixed it up with a few other local moms who are well-known bloggers in their own right. Danielle, Robyn, Stefany, Hannah, and Lisa, and I got a course in Holiday Toy Shopping 101, as it relates to the hottest toys that are currently on the market.
We dug into the toy selections and when we got to the Scrabble Flash, my heart started racing. I love games and the Scrabble Flash is something I can play by myself or with others. With a touch of a button, you have 5 live tiles, that when connected, work together to create words. The premise of the game is to create as many words as you can with the tiles within a limited time period. At the end, the game will tell you how many words you were able to create versus how many words you could’ve created. I. Am. Addicted. I’ve been playing this thing non-stop since we got it (each of the moms got a selection of toys from the event, yes, I know—-uber cool right?), and my six year old has gotten in on the fun helping me make words. My 16 year old (with his highly popular self) even took time out of his busy schedule to put together some words. I think there may be a Scrabble Flash intervention in my future.
Here are a few of the items on The Toy Guy’s top picks of 2010 holiday toys:
LaLaLoopsy Doll–a contemporary play on the “old fashioned” rag doll.
Tonka Garbage Truck, great for little boys who like trucks and things
Leapster, great for kids who are not yet ready for a Nintendo DS
You can also check out Dance Star Mickey here cutting a rug. I need one of these in my life!
We also got to see and and play with Liv Dolls (who have hair “wigs” that you can change–you know this is right up my alley!), Sing-a-ma-jigs (that sing and create harmonies when played together), Girl Gourmet Dessert Maker, Creepy Crawlers, Disney Princess Doll, and Bigfoot.
I had fun meeting The Toy Guy and playing with toys with the other moms. Now if you will excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my Scrabble Flash game. Laters!
Don’t you just love us? LOL
Thank you to Kaylie from Litzky PR for the invite!
I, The Cubicle Chick, received several toys from this event. Just thought you should know that. The receipt of these items did not change my editorial review of said toys.
I broke out the Scrabble Flash right away too – LOVE IT! I think it’s great that it fits into the little box also.
Absolutely. I am purchasing a few of these as gifts for family members. They will love it as much as I do.