Toy Fair 2015 – BSCKids Bestie Awards

Toy Fair 2015 was a great experience where many different products were seen for the upcoming year. 2015 at the show saw a lot of DIY items and toys continuing the trend that was started last year. Imaginative play is back! We also have a lot of new toys that are trying to replicate real adult products and intelligence, with dolls and robotics leading the way.

This year we decided to do something different by coming up with three lists. The first list is of toys that we both agreed were awesome and deserving of the Bestie Award from BSCKids. The second list is products that I (Damon Cap) just loved and could not keep off the list and the last one is of toys that Jocelin Cap felt deserved the award.

Together

Vtech Flipsies – These were probably our favorite toys at Toy Fair this year… They are small little dolls that interact with not only each other but with each of the playsets.  The coolest thing about the dolls was that they know where they are in relation to the world. If you put one of them that runs, let’s say an ice-cream shop, they will say different things than if you put a doll that is just visiting.  The amount of phrases and interaction is just great and these are going to be HUGE this year.

With the introduction of Flipsies, VTech combines interactive role play with traditional collectible dolls and playsets for a truly innovative play experience for girls. Flipsies encourages girls to dream big and offers endless ways to play with unique features such as 2-in-1 play, lights, sounds, music and interactive components that not only strengthen the play experience, but capture a child’s imagination.

Floating Kinetic Sand –  We are a kinetic sand family at heart so if there was anything to make a great product better it was the ability for the sand to float.  Now, those turtles, fish or other creatures you build and create can float on top of the water while playing. All sorts of new fun experiences are going to be had with this product.

Sand FLOATS on water! Create your own floating raft! Make ocean friends that float! Party on the Paradise Island water slide!

Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio – The kids love animation and do their fair share of drawing, but this Crayola product is going to take things to the next level.  The poseable mannequin allows them to create complex animations.  The software fills in the gaps between each portion of the characters movement so you are not longer stuck by the camera taking 100 pictures to make less than one second of animation of your character moving their hand.  A great experience for the younger animator to get them started with what was before a rather complex process.  They can also color the character so they will be unique to the child… looking forward to this.

With Crayola Color Alive Easy Animation Studio, kids have the ability to bring their color to life-like never before and create custom animations quickly! Kids can customize any one of 10 characters and five backgrounds with the included Twistables Colored Pencils, then create and share animations with the poseable mannequin and Smooth Action Technology.

GoldieBlox Ruby Rails – Another great set from GoldieBlox. This one will teach kids how to code as skill that is going to come in handy in the future. We just love how the company makes such interesting ways for kids to learn.

Compose Yourself – Not really a game or toy from ThinkFun, but call it a very fun learning experience.  What this product allows you do it is use the patterns to create your own unique song.  That alone would be a great product, but the coolest part is after you compose your song you will hear it played by a professional musician.  A great way to learn all about music with instant feedback.

Invented by world-famous composer and cellist Philip Sheppard, Compose Yourself combines musical cards and an exclusive website into a multi-sensory experience that has anyone creating, playing and sharing a world-class composition in minutes. Flip, rotate, arrange and re-order 60 transparent Music Cards to create an interesting pattern. Enter your card codes on the web site and instantly hear it played by virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie and a full symphony orchestra at historic Abbey Road Studios. You also get an mp3 audio file and sheet music to share. More than 200 million possible musical combinations!

NERF RIVAL – Nerf darts are awesome, but sometimes they could do with a bit more accuracy and speed for the older crowd.  Nerf has addressed that with NERF RIVAL a new type of foam which allow for a great gameplay.  They are round, fast and super accurate so your battles are on a whole new level of awesome.

It’s time to choose a side. In 2015, the NERF brand introduces the new RIVAL line, a new segment designed for an older audience and created to offer fans ages 14 and up a competitive, team-based experience. Build your collection with the RIVAL ZEUS MXV-1200 blaster and the RIVAL APOLLO XV-700 blaster, both designed with high-impact power and precision battling in mind. Loaded with all new NERF RIVAL foam rounds, the design of which allows for ultimate accuracy and high velocity, NERF RIVAL blasters bring NERF battles to a whole new level. Show team pride and suit up in the NERF RIVAL Face Mask, available for both Team Red and Team Blue. It’s NERF or NOTHIN’!

FurReal Friends Starlily, My Magical Unicorn – Every year we get to see a new FurReal Friend and every year they continue to impress… Starlily is no exception as this fun unicorn has tons of different sounds and motion activated awesomeness.  The more that she gets played with the more she will do and the movement on Starlily is very realistic.

FURREAL FRIENDS turns an ordinary friendship extraordinary with the introduction of STARLILY, MY MAGICAL UNICORN pet, the first interactive toy unicorn in the FURREAL FRIENDS line. STARLILY features 100-plus sound and motion combinations; the more your child plays with her, the more she can respond – she even moves her head, and opens and closes her eyes!

Disney’s Frozen Sing-A-Long with Elsa – Your child (or you) get to sing a duet with Elsa…that is all you need to know.

Little girls can create the perfect duet with Elsa, with the all-new Sing-A-Long with Elsa doll from JAKKS Pacific! Girls can pass the included microphone back and forth between themselves and the Elsa doll and together they can sing the full length Academy Award winning song, “Let it Go”, and watch as Elsa’s necklace and dress magically light up! Elsa sings and says 15+ original phrases in both English and Spanish

Jocelin Cap

ColorCutter – A scrap booker’s dream product. This product is a marker that cuts paper at the same time but not your skin (in case you have any crazy colorers!)  During the demonstration the person marked up their hand and no cuts.  Very cool product that your kids would play with for hours at a time, just make sure you have a nice fresh stack of paper.

Only ColorCutter Cutters Cut as You Draw! Draw Any Shape and Its Cut Out!

MoYou Nails – Every young girl (or old) wants to have beautiful nails and MoYou Nails makes it real easy to do something special with your nails.  You get to paint on a pattern sheet and then use a unique stamping process to make that cool pattern or design move to your nail.  Watching it in person it seemed pretty easy to do and the results were on par with a professional nail painter.

Helping Girls and Women of All Ages Find and Express Their Inner Nail Art Goddess…

Chrono Bomb – What a great concept, a laser field (with string) that you need to navigate to stop the bomb!  The demonstration what great, with an actress going through the course.  The kids will have a great time setting up a super hard (or easy) “mission” to see who can complete it the fastest.  Don’t bump the wires or the bomb will tick faster.

Chrono Bomb is a super secret spy mission where kids use the included clamps and 27.5-ft. string to create a “laser” field to crawl through. At the end of the maze is the bomb, counting down…tick, tick, tick! If you bump the wire as you step and crawl through the course, the time bomb will tick down faster. So, you have to hurry, carefully, and make it to the end to defuse the bomb!

Girl Scout Oven – They tasted like Girl Scout Cookies, even if they didn’t look like the full-sized version.  A great project to do with a bunch of Girl Scouts or just something fun to do with the family.

The Girl Scouts Cookie Oven lets aspiring bakers experience the hands-on fun of making their own Girl Scout Cookies. A real working oven, it comes complete with tools and mixes that allow girls to make cookies that look and taste just like the real thing. There’s also a viewing window that lets bakers see the treats they’re making and a warming station to heat and melt delicious cookie coatings and frosting. The Girl Scouts Cookie Oven comes with mix to create Thin Mints®, a spatula, baking pan and measuring tool.

Candy Craft Chocolate Pen – It is a pen that extrudes out chocolate… I don’t think that there is a better thing invented than a pen that allows you to work in chocolate.   We already have so many neat cooking projects we want to do when we get a pen.  Think of all the very delicious and good-looking topping you could do on cupcakes and cookies.

Matchbox Treasure Truck – Want to keep your child engaged and having fun for a few hours at a time?  Hide some coins in the sandbox, on the beach, or even in the yard and let the Matchbox Treasure Truck go to work.  It has a real working metal detector that is fun for everyone.

Hunt for Treasure – Real Working Metal Detector

Damon Cap

View-Master – Virtual Reality View-Master for kids!

View-Master works with Google Cardboard to deliver an affordable, kid-friendly immersive digital experience

LEGO Elves – LEGO always knows how to put together themes and this is no exception.  Lego Elves are a great looking set that has a wonderful story behind it, so expect a long of different media to go along with this theme.

LEGO Elves introduces builders to Emily, a girl who is unexpectedly transported to a fantasy world called Elvendale, where she encounters four magical elves who possess the power of the elements – fire, wind, air and earth. Only by working together can they find the four keys to unlock the portal so that Emily can return home. Digital content and publications will be released throughout the year to accompany the play theme to help builders become more immersed in the fantastic storyline and inspire hours of building and role play fun.

Zoomer Kitty – This could be the closest they have gotten to a real life animal in toy robot form.  Zoomer Kitty has great realistic reactions.

With lifelike movements and realistic kitten sounds, Zoomer™ Kitty is the closest you can get to having a kitten without actually owning one! She loves to cuddle, make her purr and you can really feel it! With True Vision Technology™ her unique eyes follow you and even change color depending on her mood! Watch as she sings, dances and even say ‘I love you’! Zoomer™ Kitty comes with her own toy, so she’s ready to play right out of the box. Zoomer™ Kitty is your PURRfect friend!

Dragonwood –  I am always looking for cool fantasy games that are easy to play for the kids, and this year Dragonwood fits that bill perfectly.  It has strategy without overwhelming kids that want to play with too much.  We played a quick round and had a great time so I know the kids will love it as well.

An easy-to-learn light card and strategy game with a rich fantasy theme.

Anki OVERDRIVE –  I was so close to buying this last holiday season for the kids but the one thing that kept holding me back was the fact that they only had one track.  That has all changed now with Anki Overdrive, you can build your own track and still have that video game in physical form feel that Anki gives you.

Anki OVERDRIVE takes the groundbreaking battle-race experience in a new direction with state-of-the-art modular tracks, high-end car designs and new innovations in gameplay. Players can build their own battle-race courses within seconds and pit their real-life robotic supercars against their friends or step up against enemy AI commanders and their crews in the game’s campaign mode.

Firetek Zeon Bow – Always loved Firetek Bows.  When you take a cool product and make it a little smaller you have an even better product in my option.  That is what the Zeon Bow is, a smaller bow with mini Zartz that make the fun even more portable for the kids (and adults).

Illuminate the night with the Firetek Zeon Bow, an all-­‐new bow and arrow combo that’s just two-thirds the size of the best-­‐selling Firetek Bow. While the Zeon Bow may be small in stature, it still wields a power-­‐packed punch! The Zeon Bow launches light-­‐up mini Zartz arrows up to 35 feet, and will stick to most flat surface targets with soft-­‐foam suction cup tips. Hook the arrows in the patented fast-­‐load loops and watch as they light up the sky. Kids will have an indoor archery set that is safe and “parent approved” for use around the house or outside! Each set comes with one Zeon Bow and three Zartz light-­‐up arrows.

Make sure to check out our Toy Fair 2015 Youtube Playlist with all of these toys/products and many more