Friday, February 15, 2008

New toys for the winter blahs and the coming spring at PlayFair Toys in Boulder, Colorado

"Eeyore was saying to himself, 'This writing business. Pencils and what-not. Over-rated, if you ask me. Silly stuff. Nothing in it.'"
--A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Unlike poor Eeyore, for some of us writing goes beyond a chore and into the realm of a "must". We write not because we can, we write because we must. That, dear reader, is me. So why all the months of quiet fingers? Although for most of you I am sure that Christmas is a distant memory, for those of us in the toy business it just ended yesterday. I am still catching up on my sleep! I was spurred back to action by listening to an interview about blogging, and about how only certain people truly have the constitution to do this, because it takes a real passion for the subject. And I realized then that I do indeed have a passion for this, and it's time to let you know, once again, what is happening in the world of PlayFair Toys.

Our PlayFair elves are plenty busy these days restocking the warehouse. With Valentine's Day behind us, we look forward to the coming spring, and getting ourselves and our children active again. Just to get started, here are some of the many things that have come in recently:

I'll start with the best - Professor PlayFair T-shirts! You've asked for them in different colors, and we are happy to have them now in deep purple and deep red, ranging in size from a child's 2-4 to adult XL. Get them while they're available! Tell us what colors you'd most like to see.

Art supplies from Alex, just about anything you want, from paper to scissors, to kits. Also the very popular magnetic tabletop easels are back. These are great for travel, so you might think about taking one on your spring break trip. Also the Alex Car Valet is back in, perfect for that long trip or just keeping them occupied while you toodle around town.

Arts and Crafts kits of all kinds - these are some favorites for birthday party giving. Whether it's painting or sculpture or sewing or woodcraft - we've got a kit for every kid on your list.

Have you tried Brain Noodles yet? Think super-jumbo pipe cleaners in wild colors, and get crazy with sculpture!

Lots and lots of books... See What We're Reading for some great suggestions, but we really recommend that you come into the store to browse our selection.

Finally back in are Marble Runs by Quercetti and Galt, also Zoob. We have new themed wooden blocks set from Haba, imported from Germany.

Our doll selection is back to normal with loads of new shipments from Corolle, Calico Critters (we carry the entire line), plus many Ryan's Room doll house furniture sets and doll families (finally!). We are very happy to announce that Small World, the maker of Ryan's Room, is back in the saddle after a rocky 2007. We missed Ryan's Room and are thrilled to be stocking it again. Calico Critters have new introductions for spring. Stephanie Sunny-Bunny's Amazing Train Ride has been very popular, and it would make a great Easter gift for under $20.

Our fantasy and occupational costumes are restocked, including the ever popular firefighter costume - the kids love it that it comes with a "real" fire hose! Also stand-out tutus for that little ballerina, and musical skirts, including the Chicken Dance Skirt! What a hoot!

We are well stocked on wooden furniture from KidKraft, and we also just got in the popular Blue Creative Art Center table from Alex, as well the My Cafe Table, which has a matching tin tea set. It's perfect for a corner of the nursery, kitchen, or family room.

Classic games are in - pickup sticks, jacks, marbles, chinese checkers, and more, plus we have new games in every day. Egg and Spoon Race has been a spring favorite the last few years - you can now play this popular outdoor party game with no mess thanks to plastic eggs!

Our infant and toddler area is now full with old favorites and new introductions from Lamaze, Melissa & Doug, Earlyears, Manhattan, Gund, Haba, and others. We have infant and toddler toys made in the US, Germany, Italy, and Thailand. For those who love music, the Neurosmith toys are now well stocked, in a wide array of prices.

Cook up fun with pretend kitchens and food. My favorites are the Cookin Up Fun Kitchen, a nice-size play kitchen for under $100, hard to find, and the new Retro Bakeware set from Schylling. It will take you back to your own childhood and a simpler time. We have some very fun new surprises coming into this part of the store this spring - keep your eyes peeled for retro kitchen miniatures that are a playtime delight.

Trucks! Lots and lots of trucks from Bruder (made in Germany, indestructible and loaded with detail), WOW (from England, toddler appeal and plenty to do), Mighty World play sets, and the popular Grizzly Ranger Rescue set is now back in stock for a very limited time. We have learned that the manufacturer will not be continuing this wonderful set that is just "Oh so Boulder!"

Playmobil has some great new themes out this spring including fairies, dinosaurs, and a pony ranch. We have the first pieces of these in now and will be getting more over the spring. We are now extremely well stocked in Playmobil and have the popular airport pieces back in. Also we now carry Playmobil 1-2-3 for toddlers, an excellent recommendation for those of you looking for toddler toys that are not made in China.

Easter basket stuffers and plush - wind up chicks, bright music boxes, spring-themed thumb toys and more. Be sure to ask about the musical duck puppet from Schylling - it's a riot!

After a long dry spell we have the Tune In Violin back, but it is literally flying out the door. Although this will be reordered, if you have a virtuouso who's been waiting (it was out of stock for over 6 months, very sad), now's the time.

Also we have a great new keyboard for under $20, perfect for starting with a serious instrument and very little investment.

We have restocked puppets and have plenty of bunny rabbits for spring.

Unicycles are back! We had no unicycles in 2007, a sad state of affairs. We now have both a 16" and 18" wheel unicycle in stock, bright red as before, and great fun. These are easier to learn to ride than you might think (well, for children at least!). My son learned at age 8, on this same model we carrry, and now at age 15 he has just purchased his first adult unicycle.

Also we have plenty of tricycles, wagons, scooters, and so on for spring.

Science! Our science shelves are starting to get refilled. A brand new product that I'm very excited about is the mega-screen microscope, which shows the magnified item on a large screen. With spring arriving children should find lots of interesting small things to investigate.

Tired children will be contented children, so keep them busy with plenty of physical activity. We have balance boards for young ones as well as full wooden boards that can take up to adult weight. Jump ropes, paddle ball, t-ball, zip lines, bop bags, golf...

Our party favor/gag gift/just for fun area always has something new. Recent shipments include Jacob's ladder, wind-up home appliances (who says you can't afford a new toaster?!), racing pens - come in and have fun playing with all of them.

Sand, water, bath - new toys for indoors and out. The new AquaTrax Deluxe Water Play System from International Playthings replaces product we have had before from Galt and Brio - open ended water play systems that let children explore building locks, dams, and more. This is one of my favorites of this year's new products.

In the train section there are lots of new Thomas the Tank Engine characters, as well as plenty of sets, including starter-priced sets.

That's only a sampling of all the shipments that have arrived in the last few weeks.

Other great spring ideas are insect study, we have loads of great stuff including nets, wooden hutches for study, even ways to listen to the noises these fascinating small creatures make.

That's enough for now. Come visit us at 1690 28th Street in Boulder, at the corner of Canyon and 28th. Not in Boulder? Of course we are always here for you at http://www.playfairtoys.com/.

--Professor PlayFair

1 comment:

Edward said...

"Unicycles are back!"

Yes they are Professor Playfair. In fact 36" Coker production has tripled worldwide this past year.

We'd like to think that the 800km 5-day international unicycle race set for 16-20th June in Nova Scotia, Canada, is behind this.

With 100+ long-distance unicyclists coming from Asia, Europe and across North America, the growing media interest will surely raise the profile of unicycling in 2008.

The event is called "Ride The Lobster". See ridethelobster.com