The Best Toys of the Year!

This year, 35 lucky kids and their parents got to join us at The CN Tower for an evening of food, fun and best of all, PLAY. With their help, we’ve narrowed down some of the season’s best TOYS. Wind your way through our list and see which ones stood out as favourites for all ages.

 

 

Big Building Bag

What beats a big bag of building blocks that you can take with you anywhere? Not much, especially when you’re only two. While toddlers love the size and colour of these simple, snap-together blocks, parents appreciate that they encourage learning and discovery, fine motor development and open-ended creative play.

Perfect for… Boys and girls, ages one to three, who love to be busy with their hands. $19.99  megabloks.ca

Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Interactive Star

For the Lalaloopsy lover, prepare to be wowed! The Silly Hair Interactive Star is more than just a cute rag doll—she can sing, dance, and put on shows, performing to a variety of songs with a sweet Lalaloopsy twist. Just change her hair style and watch her perform a new favourite. She also plays games and tells jokes!

Perfect for… Primarily girls, ages four to seven, who love singing, dancing and sweet, whimsical things. $79.99 lalaloopsy.com

iTikes Piano

iTikes is a new educational line from Little Tikes that combines stand-alone fun and appbased play. The iTikes piano offers real musical instruction via learning games and activities that give budding musicians an introduction to basic musical concepts. The accompanying app is free and features six simple games that kids can follow by themselves. No iPod, iPad or iTouch? Don’t fret—it’s still fun to tickle these ivories and record and playback your songs.

Perfect for… Boys and girls, ages three to five, who are showing an interest in music. $49.99 littletikes.ca

The Chuggington Wooden Railway Over & Under Starter Set

Young fans of the hit preschool show, Chuggington, will love playing make-believe with this 22-piece wooden train set, featuring a clock tower and two separate tunnels. The simple wood construction feels nice and durable, and the pieces fit together with other similar sets making it a practical addition to your growing collection at home. Parents will also love that it’s not made of plastic.

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages two to four, who love trains and vehicles. $59.99 tomy.com

Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle

Send your kids on a medieval adventure with a castle that recognizes and responds to different accessories. This elaborate toy offers great play value for several children at once, or for solo play,  because of its expanding size. Kids can set the castle to battle mode and fend off an attack, or simply explore all the many passageways and buttons that lead to new discoveries. And best of all, it easily packs away.

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages three to six, who love knights and imaginary play. $79.99 fisherprice.com

LeapPad 2

LeapFrog’s new kid-tough tablet, the LeapPad2, features higher resolution front-and-back cameras and video recorders, a faster LF 2000 processor and double the memory (4 GB) of last year’s top-selling model. With a huge variety of games, apps, videos, music, and ebooks to play and listen to, kids will love exploring this action-packed device that’s sure to keep them busy while learning.

Perfect for… Boys and girls, ages three to seven, who keep sneaking off with their parent’s tablet. $109.99 leapfrog.com

Mobigo 2

The new MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System is a handheld toy that engages kids while they learn. It offers four fun ways to play: the touch screen, the keyboard, the motion sensor, and the microphone. Plus, there are many built-in and downloadable apps available to enhance your child’s fun, including e-books, colouring books, an art studio, and more.

Perfect for… Boys and girls, ages three to seven, who are discovering hand-held technology. $69.99 vtechcanada.com

Hot Wheels Mega Loop Mayhem

This action-packed race set features two huge loops, two motorized boosters and multiple crash zones that won’t disappoint. The boosters add speed, and up to six cars can race at once. Children can play alone or with a friend to see how many cars they can race through the loops and around the track before a big crash! Fast, reliable car racing action for Hot Wheels fans of all ages.

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages four to seven, who love fast racing action. $59.99 hotwheels.ca

Furby

Furby is the plush talking toy that develops a distinct personality through its interaction with kids. Feed it, hug it, tickle it, dance with it—the personality of each FURBY is shaped by these experiences. And, the more your child engages with Furby, the more English it will learn to speak!  More than one Furby in the house? Place two side-by-side and they will dance together or even have a conversation.

Perfect for… Primarily girls, ages five to eight, and their Furby-nostalgic parents. $69.99 furby.ca

Switch & Go Dinos

Brok the Brachiosaurus is the most popular dinosaur in the Switch & Go Dinos crew. This electronic toy fuses two of boys’ favourite things—dinosaurs and vehicles—into one awesome play experience. An LCD screen adds eye animations, which can be customized to suit your child, and another button triggers realistic sound effects and phrases that teach interesting dinosaur facts.

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages three to seven, with a fascination for dinosaurs and machines. $49.99 vtechcanada.com

The Amazing Spider-Man R/C Speed Climbing Spider-Man

A plastic toy that scales the walls and does whatever a spider can? Hard to believe but true. This light-weight Spidey climbs up, down, left, right, and even upside down using mini-vacuums that help him stick to any clean, flat, dry surface. Powered by remote-control, little kids will love watching him pursue those imaginary bad guys…big kids will love it too!

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages four to seven, who love superheroes and remote control toys. $39.99 hasbro.ca

Sticky Mosaics 

From beautiful butterflies to sweet fairy treasure boxes, Sticky Mosaics are fun, easy-to-follow craft kits for girls who like to make pretty keepsakes. Just follow along the numbered legends to finish each project. Although the fun is in the making, she’ll love knowing that she’s creating a treasure she can use or display for years to come.

Perfect for… Primarily girls, ages five to nine, who like arts and crafts. $19.99 orbfactory.com

Nano Speed – Nano Super Vert Crash Set

Nano Speed cars are tiny, speedy, collectible pull-back racing cars, with over 60 in total to collect. Each one has a distinct style, from urban street racer to off-road racing truck. The Nano Super Vert Crash Set features a Nano Speed booster, multiple crash zones, triple loops and a vertical hill climb. The track set includes two exclusive Nano Speed cars, but the more your have, the better!

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages six to eight, who love small collectibles and race cars. $39.99 spinmaster.ca

Novi Stars

Novi Stars are five alien teens who have come to Earth to discover new trends and feel what it’s like to be Earth girls. Each character has a special quality—for example, Nita Light has a glow in the dark face and clear body, and likes to re-energize in her Energy Pod. Novi Stars are a brand new line, offering an “out-of-this-world” twist on your typical girl’s fashion doll.

Perfect for… Primarily girls, ages six to ten, who love new trends and imaginative play. $24.99 novistars.com

Skylanders Giants Arkeyan Copter

Based on the hit video game that’s all the rage this holiday season, now kids can build their own Arkeyan Copter, by Mega Bloks Skylanders Giants! The Frigid Chompies are no match for Spyro when he attacks from above using the Arkeyan Copter’s working missile launchers. Once
his foes have been defeated, Spyro can swoop in to collect the treasure. Loads of fun for fans of Spyro, or simply those who love to build.

Perfect for… Primarily little boys, ages six to ten, who are fans of Sklanders and building sets. $34.99 megabloks.ca

LEGO Friends Heartlake Stables

There’s always a lot to do at Heartlake Stables—groom, feed and saddle up the horses; take them out for a practice jump; keep the stables clean and sparkling; and when it’s time for competition, get the horses ready with soap, ribbons, brushes, bows and other cute accessories. Of course, first you have to build the 416-piece set…and that’s half the fun!

Perfect for… Primarily girls, ages six to ten, who love horses, building and imaginative play. $64.99 lego.ca

Marker Airbrush

The Crayola Marker Airbrush makes awesome airbrush designs—and it’s versatile! You can attach almost any Crayola mess-free marker to the sprayer, pump it up and spray out a fine mist of colour. Works great on paper, windows and fabrics, and comes with a variety of stencils and blank sheets.

Perfect for… Creative girls and boys, ages six to eleven. $24.99 crayola.ca

HEXBUG Warriors Battle Stadium

HEXBUG Warriors are collectible, micro robots that use the physics of vibration to propel forward and battle with their competitors. These futuristic fighters come in four colours, so kids can gather around and cheer for their favourites. The Battle Stadium is easy to connect and take apart, so kids can customize their own platform, time and time again.

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages five to nine, who love bugs and small scurrying things. $29.99 hexbug.com

Perplexus Twist

If you’ve used a Perplexus then you know how addictively fun and challenging it can be. Well, now there’s a new ‘twist’ that comes in the form of a fourth dimension—it requires players to twist and realign the tracks to escape traps, decoys, and cliff hangers. Perplexus Twist, the world’s first 4D marble maze, will challenge and excite, while helping with cognitive, problem-solving, motor and dexterity skills.

Perfect for… Boys and girls, ages six and up, who love challenging puzzles and games. $29.99 perplexus.com

Find It Kids

Send your kids on a treasure hunt by spinning, twisting and shaking the tube to find the objects hidden inside. There are 48 kid-friendly items to search for within the colourful plastic pellets, and a check-off pad to help kids keep track of their finds. Great for playing at home or in the car, it’s the family game that inspires early reading… and patience.

Perfect for… Boys and girls, ages four and up, who enjoy hide and seek and engaging board games. $19.99 finditgames.com

X-Treme Sticker Maker

The X-Treme Sticker Maker is an easy-to-use, versatile sticker making machine. It comes with loads of sticker tape, 80+ sticker designs, including velvet, metallic and glitter, colouring markers and a sticker book. It even allows users to turn their own artwork and photos into stickers!

Perfect for… Primarily girls, ages six to ten, who love crafts and collecting stickers. $29.99 creativityforkids.com

The Dark Knight Rises Infrared Remote Control U-Command BAT-POD

With light-up wheels, voice, and sound effects straight from the new movie, the Bat-Pod moves forward and in reverse with a front wheel that pivots for turning and drifting. The bike’s movements can be controlled with the joystick, or pre-programmed to do over a thousand action combo sequences. This toy won’t bore…

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages five to ten, who love superheroes and remote control vehicles. $44.99 thinkwaytoys.com

Twister Dance Game

The modern version of the once popular Twister game incorporates music and dance to get kids grooving. Kids can practice by themselves or show off their moves with a friend. The game shows you how to do simple dances to five great songs using lights and the TWISTER movable spots. You can also connect to any MP3 player and dance to your own music.

Perfect for… Girls and boys, ages eight and up, who like to dance, sing and perform. $36.99 hasbro.ca

 

Bandai Power Rangers Super Samurai Gigazord   

From the popular Power Rangers brand comes the new Megazord.  There are three ways kids can play with it: transform into Megazord mode, transform into Spaceship mode and transform using items in the ZordBuilder Collection, which includes Power Ranger Cycles and Zord Vehicles (each sold separately).  There are 4 Megazord assortments to collect. Kids can collect and combine the different assortments of Megazords, Cycles, and Zord Vehicles (each sold separately) to combine together to create unique ultimate Megazords.

Perfect for kids ages 4+. $32.99 Bandai.com/powerrangers
Imports Dragon: The Trash Pack Garbage Truck

The Trash Pack is the collectible line of over 100 TrashiesTM, mini figures that look like unappetizing items you might find in your trash bin. These gross-yet-adorable ‘Trashie’s’ proudly carry names like Putrid Pizza, Garbage Gull, Germ-Worm and Mucky Maggot. Each Trashie figure comes in three different colours and various rarities: common, rare, ultra rare, special edition or exclusive. The Trash Pack Garbage Truck is the mobile storage device for TrashiesTM. Comes with two exclusive characters – Sludge Can and Dead Tyre. Can store up to ten garbage cans. Play with the tip ‘n’ flip action or the wheelie bin launcher.

Perfect for kids ages:  5+.  Trash Pack Garbage Truck: $19.99 Characters sold in packages of 12 for $12 and up.  Importsdragon.com

LEGO City Forest Police Station

This popular set is based on a classic theme that focuses on everyday, real-life heroes. Packed with endless building and role playing value, the podular building process eases children into following step-by-step instructions. Themed vehicles and minifigures provide action play and easy story starters for builders. The Forest Police Station features a rugged 4×4 truck with a prison trailer, robber and wild bear.

Perfect for… Primarily boys, ages six to ten, who love to build and role-play. $99.99 lego.com

Barbie Photo Fashion Doll

Has an embedded camera to take pictures. The image projects onto the Barbie doll’s shirt, creating a trendy graphic tee. Add in fun frames/graphics/backgrounds and change the pics to fit any occasion — all with the press of a button! Hours of creative playtime and allows plenty of customization.  Capacity to hold 200+ original photos. For more design options, download the free software online (barbie.com/photo-fashion-doll), plug the doll into a computer (with the included USB cable) and further customize photos.

Perfect for girls aged age: 6+.  $59.99  Barbie.com/photo-fashion-doll.com

Razor Flashrider 360 three-wheeler

Fun enhancement on the classic three-wheeler of the 1970s. Does 360-degree turns, drifts and sparks shoot out the back. Engage the Spark Bar while riding for real sparking action and a flashy riding style. Product features include: revolutionary design and the ultimate spinning, drifting and sparking thrills,  Spark Bar with replaceable Spark cartridge for real sparking action,  rear, dual-inclined caster wheels for resistance-free drifting and spinning action – 360 degrees, rugged, all-steel frame and double crown fork and MX-style handlebars with rubber grips.

Perfect for ages 6+ $139 Razor.com

Jakks Pacific: Monsuno

Monsuno are battling action figures based on the Monsuno animated action/adventure series that airs in Canada on YTV, on Saturdays at 1:30pm. There are more than 100 Monsuno characters, based on the characters in the series available in 2012. In 2013, there will be over 100 more figures. Players spin their action figures and when they collide one of the characters will ‘pop’ out of the spinning case.  Whichever player does not pop out, wins a point. The toy line features action figures, accessories, combat sets, collectibles, electronics and integrated role play.

Perfect for kids aged: 4+ $8.99  www.monsuno.com

Air Hogs Battle Tracker:

An all new way to play with R/C. 2 toys in 1 – Battling robot and attack helicopter. The Robot tracks down the helicopter as it flies and shoots 12 safe foam missiles to try and knock it out of the sky. The helicopter fires a payload of 7 missiles, which if successful, deactivate the Robot. 2 ways to play: switch to automatic mode and have the Robot track you down and you control the helicopter or grab a friend and have them take control of robot, and track you out of the sky.

Perfect for boys age: 8+ $104.99  www.airhogs.com
Novi Stars Energy Pod

Novi Stars are alien teens who have landed on Earth to discover new trends and have fun. Each character has a special quality: Nita Light – who we have – has a glow in the dark face and clear body. Nita Light is a character exclusive to the Energy Pod (not available any other way). Just like earth teens, Novi Stars dolls need a little “space” to hang out, relax and re-energize – the Energy Pod. Place doll and pet inside Energy Pod to watch them float! Cosmic color-changing LED lights light up the Energy Pod. Molded bedroom details,  includes cosmic sleeping pod  accessories – beverage,  headphones,  magazine and TV.  Fits any Novi Stars doll and pet.

Perfect for girls age 6+ $44.99 www.novistars.com

HEXBUG Hive:

The first transportable HEXBUG environment. Features a center ramp to create a 2nd-level.  The floor is spotted with attachment points which can be filled with a variety of new playground accessories such as pegs, flags, merry-go-rounds and even a seesaw (all included). Can be connected to any pre-existing habitat set or used as a stand-alone product Moms and Dads will especially love the easy clean-up when playtime is over. Comes with one extremely rare HEXBUG Nano HEXBUG Hive is CPSIA approved for kids 3 and up.

Perfect for kids age: 3+ $34.99   www.hexbug.com/warriors

Infrared remote control U-Command BATMOBILE

Equipped with a light-up windshield, voice and sound effects (Christian Bale movie voice).  10”-long BATMOBILE makes stunning moves forward, in reverse, left and right, shifts into high gear and spins 360° forward or backward in either direction. Unique wheel configuration allows for cool side winder, tight and drifting around turns. BATMOBILE’s movements can be controlled instantly with the dual joysticks or pre-programmed for over 1,000 action combo sequences with the 10 command buttons on the wireless remote.

Perfect for kids ages 4+. $44.99  www.thinkwaytoys.com

 

LEGO: The Hobbit- An Unexpected Gathering

Available December 1st – brand new and ties in with the new Hobbit filming coming out this month. First-ever LEGO Hobbit construction toy (NOTE: LEGO The Lord of the Rings launched earlier this year). This set, “An Unexpected Gathering” is a LEGO replica of an iconic scene from the film that fans will instantly recognize. Includes 6 brand new mini figures, including Gandalf the Great, Bilbo Baggins and more. Over 600 pieces that will entertain builders for a long time. DEMO: Turn the set around to show both the outside and inside details and the colorful nature of the set.

Perfect for kids age 9-14 $84.99 www.LEGO.com/TheHobbit

Stand up Ballcano

Keeps baby busy and active while encouraging  them to pull up, stand, cruise & crawl. Lively music, lights, bright colors and action. Helps stimulate senses.

Perfect for kids age: 6-36 months $49.99  www.fisher-price.ca

Imports Dragon: Micro Chargers Loop Track

Get ready for futuristic drag racing! Charge up your STUNT car to maximum velocity then defy gravity and speed through the loop track. Challenge your friends to see whose Stunt Car is the fastest as your Micro Chargers race the stretch, tackle the loop and then slingshot back to take on the loop again. Over 5 feet long! Car goes up to 600 MPH scale speed.

Perfect for kids age: 6+. $19.99  www.importsdragon.com