5 Hot Toys for 2013

I had the great fortune to spend some time at the Hot Toy Event Holi-Day of Play  a few days ago which was hosted by The Big Toy Book,and The Toy Insider .

It gave me (and a bunch of other great bloggers) the opportunity to check out the latest and greatest toys from a number of different manufacturers.  The event was held at the top of the Hearst Tower, which, by the way, is AMAZING!  Really unbelievable views.

I saw a bunch of toys that I thought were great, and a few that I thought were must haves or "why didn't I know about this before?"


Here's a few that I absolutely loved. (Please note that any links to Amazon are affiliate links, and if you purchase through them, I'll get a small commission.  Nothing fancy, I assure you.)

1) SPEED STACKING  Apparently, in the south and the west, competition speed stacking is a sport in which competitors use unbelievable hand-eye coordination to try to get the best times in stacking cups in various patterns.  This girl who I videotaped here is doing it at half the speed of the Guinness record holder.  Unbelievable!  Find out more at http://www.speedstacks.com, or get some speedstacking stuff on Amazon.



2) ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS 2 TELEPODS

Check out some Telepods on Amazon

Hasbro introduced a new cool thing for Angry Birds-- telepodding.  Little character/figures with QR codes on the bottom can be placed on the camera, and teleported into the game.  The idea is similar to Disney Infinity or Skylanders.  The characters have different abilities, different looks etc.  I thought this was really cool, but I'm even more jazzed about the application of this-- I foresee in the not-so-distant future a telepodding standard, whereby you build one figure that can play in any game. I just think this is super cool!

3) THE KURIO TOUCH

See the Kurio on Amazon

It's $99, has 2 cameras, a large screen, and lots of kid-friendly controls.  It's basically an Android version of the IPOD touch at a very friendly price point.

 I'm an Iphone/Ipad/Mac guy from wayback, but at $99 it's very tempting.

I think this has 4G, but at least one of the models can use a mini memory card to add additional memory.






4) LASER PEGS

see Laser Pegs on Amazon

They are built on the lego system, and compatible with legos, but they've got little l.e.d. lights in them and they can turn on and off. I brought a sample home and my son was fascinated by them (as was I)  They've got a huge bunch of models, and some innovative ways of using them.  If you have a lego builder in your family, this is a great way to add on.   Find out more at http://www.laserpegs.com





5)  HEXBUGS V.2.0

 I'd seen them in the stores, but hadn't gotten to check them out in person.  The new hexbugs defy gravity-- they can climb up through and around the track, making the possibilities much more exciting.  We are big hexbugs fans in our house, and I definitely see these in our future.

See Gravity defying Hexbugs on Amazon.







I saw a bunch of other cool toys as well, far too many to mention here.  Disney Infinity, and Skylanders Swap sets, and a watch that has a gps in it so that your parents (or teachers, if you are on a group trip) can find out exactly where you are.

If you'd like to see the Toy Insider's Hot 20 list for 2013, see this newsday article for the complete list.

http://long-island.newsday.com/kids/the-toy-insider-hot-20-list-of-2013-1.5980559