High-tech gadgets like tablet computers are hot picks for this holiday season's top toys. But so are low-tech favorites, including dolls. (Sept. 28)
STORY: US TOY SHOW
TRT: 2:50
SOURCE: AP TELEVISION
RESTRICTIONS: AP TELEVISION CLIENTS ONLY
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NAT
DATELINE: SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 - NEW YORK
SHOTLIST:
1. Pan left, exhibition floor
2. Medium, Fuze Wheel Rider
3. Close-up,Fuze Wheel Rider
4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ardell, VP, Sales and Marketing, Sky Rocket Toys
"This is the Fuze Wheel Rider. So pictures magically appear on your bike wheel as you ride. So you pop this item into your bike wheel, it works on any bike wheel 20 inches or larger and as you ride 12 different pictures will scroll through including a real working speedometer."
5. Medium, LiteBrix Superlight building system.
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim SIlver, Editor-in-Chief, Time To Play magazine
"It's been tighter inventory at the retail level and there are very aggressive layaway programs by most of the retailers. Because of these aggressive layaway programs, which are great to take advantage of a lot of these hot items are going to disappear early, go on layaway and you're not going to find them after Thanksgiving."
7. Medium, LeadFrog executive
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Jody-Sherman Levoss, head of LeapFrog learning team (Overlaid with video of device)
"This property is fantastic, it really takes on that dream, that fantasy life of Olivia and what we've done is we've designed curriculum that's specific even for our youngest players. So here players just have to touch on the paint pot, they're going to hear the number and then they match it on the screen and the painting begins to fill in as they learn the number names."
9. Wide, Monster High Dolls
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dimitri Czupylo, Director of public relations, Edelman (Partially Overlaid with video of dolls)
"These are our newest dolls from Monster High. These are Frankie Stein and Draculaura who are dressed to go to the Halloween bash at the end of our new DVD which comes out next week called 'Ghouls Rule.' It's hard to compare them to real life since they are the teenage children of famous monsters. But what makes them special is that they all have a freaky flaw and as we like to say they're all perfectly imperfect. So the deeper message of the brand is really about accepting yourself and accepting others."
11.Medium, Air Hog helicopter taking off
12. Close-up, Air Hog helicopter
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephanie Kerr, Spinmaster Spokesperson
So this is the throttle that you use for which gives you control of up-and-down. Very simple, this is going to control your flight pattern whether you're going left, right, center."
13. Medium, Furby doll dancing
14. Soundbite (English) Meghan Gamboa, Sen. Marketing Manager, Hasbro
" So Furby was famous for having a brain and we used to say that because Furby came out of his box in '98 speaking his own language which is Furbish, and over time he would learn English as you played with him. Now we like to say that Furby also has a heart because he comes out of the box with a preset personality and the way you play with him is going to affect who your Furby becomes."
15. Close-up Furby iPad application
16. Close-up, Furby doll."
STORYLINE
High-tech gadgets like tablet computers are hot picks for this holiday season's top toys. But so are low-tech favorites, including dolls.
Monster High, Mattel's monster-themed dolls ($26.99 ) have become one of the biggest names in the doll aisle, and toy retailers have begun offering exclusive sets to draw in shoppers.
Time to Play magazine has ranked its most anticipated toys for this holiday season, and the popularity of dolls, old and new are high on its list.
Jim Silver, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine says the popularity of layaway plans will mean getting this year's hottest toys will be a challenge for many shoppers.
Hasbro has updated it's popular Furby robot ($59.99) to take advantage of modern technology. A new iPad app allows users to alter and gauge the doll's mood.
This update on the hit 1998 furry interactive toy robot is more responsive and has better voice recognition than before.
LeapPad2 Explorer by LeapFrog, ($99.99) is the latest iteration of LeapFrog's kids tablet with a faster processor and more memory.
The LeapPad was a best seller last year and it could be hard to find on store shelves again this year. Kmart, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Time to Play all included it on their top toys lists.
Dolls weren't the only items getting attention.
Air Hog has released a remote-controlled helicopter that can be controlled by various smart phones and tablets.
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