His both was colorful and welcoming. He took the time to answer questions and proudly allow me to take additional photos.
During the remainder of our second day at Toy Fair I was able to meet many venders and appreciate their product lines for year 2000.
I met Mr. Jonathan O'Connor from Limited Treasures. He eagerly showed me his bears and shared a couple of secrets. He allowed me to photograph a prototype of a design change in one of their bears. Notice the foot on this bear.
To be quite honest, I had never viewed Limited Treasure products up close; I liked what I saw. The bears were nicely made with soft fabric, the colors were vibrant and they seemed to be very popular.
After
we left the Limited Treasures booth we ran into Errol Hines from
Planet
Plush.
What a delightful character, he has a smile as big as all out
doors!
Although
I owned Windy and a couple other designs I had not seen a few
items Planet Plush had to offer. After viewing their product line
I found them to be whimsical and well made.
Mr. Hines could sell the backside of a barn, his personality is
uplifting and he has a knack for making you feel as if he has
known you for a long time.
With his personality and the popularity of Planet Plush, they
can't lose!
The show offered many new exciting product lines for this year's holiday season. Here is a few which caught my attention.
Biodegradable
Building Blocks. A sure fire way to entertain anyone from age
3 to 103
These safe toys offer hours of entertainment and educational fun.
Build what ever your heart desires and have the time of your life.
These noodle shaped building blocks have a solid color throughout
and are made with a special cornstarch base that can be moistened
with a sponge to make them stick.
It you build a project and after a while decide you no longer
want it, no problem, simply place it in the sink, run water over
it and magically they melt like ice.
For more information on this corn-based toy, visit their website
at the following link.
http://www.wetnset.com
Another
product that should appeal to teen girls is (Boy Crazy) This product
was recently launched in Teen Magazine and offers and exciting
website that is interactive and fun!
Boy Crazy is a new trading card series designed just for girls.
The set includes 363 assorted cards featuring photos and profiles
of real boys from around the world.
I was personally told that there is NO way that the girls or the
boys will ever be able to contact one another, this was music
to my ears as a mother of a teen daughter.
The website offers games, scrapbook pages, bulletin boards, chats
and more. Check it out at the following link. http://www.boycrazy.com
Pokemon
will offer Scratchees, these cards are specially designed for
children aged 7 and up.
The card offers three new scratch-off games, each featuring their
favorite Pokemon characters as they scratch to reveal the randomized
character they will battle, gameplay icons and scoring. Great
for car trips, lunch boxes and party favors.
Watch
out for two new bears to be released by Collecticritters.
There will be an Official licensed Dean Martin Signature Series
Bear, which will be limited to 5,000 pieces worldwide.
There will also be an Official Licensed Jerry Lewis Signature
Bear, which will be limited to 10,000 pieces worldwide. As a special
added bonus, there will be 1,000 hand-signed Red Tire Jerry Lewis
Bears.
Keep an eye on the Collecticritters website at the following link.
While you are there, check out their Groucho Marx bear and Easter
designs.
http://www.collecticritters.com
Toy
Fair had been an experience of a lifetime and New York was more
incredible than I had ever imagined.
It was time to grow up, pack up my toys and go home.
Helen,
Sara and I made our way to the train station for our ride home.
As we approached the station an Amtrak porter asked if we needed
assistance. We thanked him and said we thought we could manage.
He was very persuasive and we finally decided to take him up on
his offer.
He escorted us to a holding area and told us he would return for
us in a short while. We were puzzled but at the same time were
tired and just wanted to get home.
In a short time the porter returned, gathered our belongings and
told us to follow him.
We walked a short distance, which took us to a set of escalators
that were moving in an upward motion. The porter looked around,
took out his key and rerouted the stairs to go down. As we stood
in total amazement not knowing where we were going and with whom
we were going with, we quickly got on the stairs, which ultimately
took us directly to our train.
As we boarded the train, which was totally empty we sat and laughed
about what had just happened. We handsomely paid the porter $15.00
for taking care of three women from Virginia and ensuring our
safe arrival on their train.
As passengers started to load onto the train one gentleman noticed
that we had already been seated and asked how we were able to
board early? Helen responded by saying, we took the escalators
that were going up, at this point Sara and I were laughing so
hard we could not respond to anything.
Helen maintained her composure and continued her conversation
with this man who at this point was totally confused.
Finally it dawned on us that the porter may had made a mistake,
we had to ask the gentleman in front of us what train we were
on to make sure the porter wasn't sending us somewhere we didn't
want to be.
When we arrived back to Virginia my husband was waiting at the station to take us home. I kissed him and told him I would never complain about his driving ever again.
I hope you have enjoyed our adventure as much as we did.
Janie
Daniels commonly known as Ms. Janie wrote this article
Copyright protected 2000
