WAKEFIELD, Mass. – There are few toys more American than a balsa wood plane. And the great manufacturer of those model planes is the Paul K. Guillow Company. Guillow’s started as Nu Craft Toys in 1926, and with the ownership of Paul Guillow, grew into an indispensable American toy brand,MORE HERE
The Invicta board game Master Mind swept the 1970s; part of the charm of the British-made game was the box. The Invicta game had an Asian woman and a “distinguished” man sitting below her. Many a college thesis could be written on the implications of this came. Questions include: WasMORE HERE
Editor’s Note: The site is now sold out of inventory BROOKLYN – It’s the perfect moment for the craft-selling site Etsy.com, though calling it a “craft” site is kind of an understatement, as it has very little to do with the junk you might find at a typical non-juried craftMORE HERE
PAWTUCKET, R.I., and SILVER SPRING, Md. – Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) will join to turn Discovery Kids into a new cable network. The most interesting point? They mention that Romper Room, a brand Hasbro dropped years ago, will be revived on the TVMORE HERE
What makes us believe in brands, true brands, is that they are expressions of a dream made real. When a good one is lost, or screwed up, it’s sad, not because we care about the brand itself, but instead we care about the human component that made it happen. It’sMORE HERE
Rich Ross, President of Disney Channels Worldwide, reflects on 2009 and his goals. One of the goals is to program and create franchises for boys. That’s a good move for Disney ; with American Girl movies and the like there is plenty for girls but not enough for boys. HereMORE HERE
ABC Family has brought back the Rankin Bass character Heat Miser in “A Miser Brothers’ Christmas.” The show, the first animated feature for the channel, premieres Saturday, December 13 at 8 p.m. ET and is based upon the characters Heat Miser and Snow Miser originally appearing in the Rankin-Bass classicMORE HERE
Mrs. Beasley was my favorite doll. Just like Buffy on Family Affair. (Above, Mrs. Beasley sits on a chair as Uncle Bill explains the birds and bees.) I don’t know if Mrs. Beasley was created for the show or if she was a popular doll made more popular by theMORE HERE
NEW YORK – The FAO catalog is out. Christmas is coming. Sure as the turn of leaves along the Taconic Parkway, the iconic New York toy retailer FAO Schwarz has released its fall offerings, this year with the Muppets on the cover. No matter the misery on Wall Street, atMORE HERE
We just thought this was fun. It’s at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. A brilliant opportunity for brand promotion. Play-Doh began in 1956, developed by Rainbow Crafts in Cincinnati and is first sold in the toy department of Woodward & Lothrop Department Store in Washington, D.C. It later became part ofMORE HERE