The Best of Toy Fair 2020, From Baby Yoda to ASMR for Kids
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Within a minute of walking through the doors of the American International Toy Fair, I felt like a kid walking through Toys "R" Us. It's the largest toy trade show in the Western hemisphere, held in New York City, and everything on display was fresh and exciting. Strolling down the countless rows of booths, I saw big companies like Lego rub floor space with small ones, with CEOs overflowing with enthusiasm over how they invented whole new categories of toys.
Augmented reality, blending digital and physical worlds, is among the most popular tech powering new toys this year, but I was struck at how much emphasis there still is on physical play, encouraging kids to unplug from the digital world. Virtual or not, the toys are all cutting-edge (electric motors let inventors do so many more interesting things that could never have been done with gas), and everything's also made with far more eco-friendly materials than what we played with as kids. I searched for hours on end to find the toy fair's best—here are 13 of my favorites from the show.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneEco-Friendly
Green ToysEverything in Green Toys' charming product range, including the packaging, is made in the US out of 100 percent recycled materials. They toys themselves are also recyclable. There are no metal parts, no batteries, and no paint. Most of the vehicles, beach toys, and roleplay kits are made entirely out of recycled plastic milk jugs, with a few pieces made out of recycled grocery bags and water bottles. The boats float and the planes fly (with handheld assistance). All of the pieces I test-drove were incredibly tough with impressive build quality (and pretty affordable). You could drop these off the roof of a building and they'd be just fine. Then pop them in the dishwasher because they're dishwasher safe, too.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneA Mini Truck
Hot Wheels Tesla Cybertruck R/C 1:10 ScaleIt goes 25 miles per hour, accelerates like a demon, and it'll be the first Cybertruck you can get your hands on. Electric motors drive all four wheels, there's full suspension, the headlights and taillights work, and it even comes with two stickers that "shatter" the side windows, just as Elon Musk accidentally did when he was demonstrating the unbreakable glass at the vehicle reveal back in November 2019. All the 1:10 scale Cybertrucks (which cost $400 a pop) sold out on the first day within five hours, but a Hot Wheels representative suggested there'd be another run soon to satisfy the waitlist.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneDoodling From Scratch
3Doodler Build & Play3Doodler's 3D printing pen, which launched in 2013 after a successful Kickstarter campaign, is geared toward older kids and adults, so the new Build & Play ($30) is designed for kids as young as four years old. Because kids' motor skills aren't as developed, the pen has been redesigned to be easier to use. Instead of doodling material in the air, as with the original 3Doodler models, the nozzle fits into a tray of shapes and casts pieces. Rods of plastic go into the battery-powered tool, are warmed to 110 degrees Fahrenheit and are extruded into the trays. I squeezed some straight onto my hand and it didn't burn me, and the company assures me it's safe for young ones. (It's also non-toxic.) It ships mid-June.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneKartin' to School
Razor Crazy Cart ShiftAli Kermani invented the Crazy Cart for adults who wanted a lightweight cart that you could drift. Now there's a kid's version called the Shift. Like the original, it's an electric cart with rear inline skate wheels mounted on casters, so you can whip the rear end around for ultra-tight turns. Because it uses an electric wheel hub motor, it accelerates much more quickly than a gas-powered cart, but you can toggle two settings to limit speed. The Low setting limits the cart to 2.5 miles per hour and lasts 80 minutes on a charge, while the High setting lets it go 8 miles per hour, but only for 40 minutes. The weight limit is officially 120 pounds, but I saw plenty of much heavier adults doing donuts on the demo cart. I might have been one of them.
You can buy the cart already on Amazon or Walmart for $189 or $179, respectively.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeynePhysical on Digital
Shifu TactoThe Shifu Tacto turns any tablet, Apple or Android, into a gaming platform. Placing a figurine on the screen controls the game. With Snakes & Ladders, for example, you and your competitors move the pieces along a moving digital representation of the game board, while Laser involves positioning mirrors to reflect your laser beam into destroying incoming asteroids. Elements is a STEM game that teaches kids element structures of various chemicals. Quest, a simplified RPG, was the most interesting: 10 character figurines grant special powers as you navigate an open world. Each of the four announced game sets costs $60, but PlayShifu will be releasing more.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneBaby. Yoda.
Mattel Baby Yoda PlushDisney has been adamant about calling The Mandalorian's ultimate marketing cornerstone The Child, but we all know him as Baby Yoda. Yeah, it's not Yoda because the show is set after Yoda died, but Baby Yoda sounds cuter, OK? A Mattel representative told me the company first found out about Baby Yoda when they watched the episode like the rest of us. By the end of the season last December, they already had a product developed. It comes in two versions: the eight-inch plush for $13 and the 11-inch plush for $25. The big one will be available in the spring and comes in packaging shaped like the hovering stroller that scooted him around all season. The little one will arrive in the fall. The eyes are made of glass and the lower part his body is full of beans, for stability. Just like the real Baby Yoda, probably.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneBuild and Drive
LEGO Technic Top Gear Rally CarIf you've watched the BBC's hit show, Top Gear, you'll recognize the driver on the box as The Stig (who has, unfortunately, been cropped off above), the program's mysterious test driver. Now you can take over his job, at least on a mini scale. Lego has sold motorized vehicles you can build for a while now, but this rally car is the first one you can remotely control through a smartphone. Two electric motors give it all-wheel-drive, like a real rally car. Once you've built it, it's a little over 10 inches long, five inches wide, and three inches tall. It costs $130, is available now, and takes a fair chunk of your time (it has 463 pieces), but that's half the fun.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneRace … in the Water
LEGO Technic CatamaranAnother one in Lego's Technic line, the catamaran is Lego's first watercraft to actually float on water. Adjust the sails and daggerboards, aim for a balance of speed and stability, and then use the rudder to steer as you race other boats, ducks, or whatever. It's made of 404 pieces and measures more than 12 inches long, 17 inches high, and eight inches wide. It costs $50 for the unpowered kit, but the real fun happens when you add a Power Functions ($30) electric motor. You have to buy it separately, though.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneDIY Sensory Experience
Canal Toys ASMR KitThis is pure 2020. ASMR sounds for autonomous sensory meridian response, and it's been a trend on YouTube. People listen to amplified sounds of various things for the pure pleasure of it. On the ASMR kit, there's a tiny microphone connected to a speaker as well as a tray you fill with included bits of foam and plastic balls; mix these into slimes of various viscosity. Then you hold the microphone to it while you press the bits with your finger—or press the microphone right into it—and listen to all the weird noises that result. Canal Toys' ASMR kit doesn't yet have a price or launch date, but it will likely release this year.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneCloud Racing
Hot Wheels iD Smart TrackEmbedded in the bottom of every iD car is an NFC chip that contains its own identification number. It tracks data such as how fast the car has gone, how far it's driven, and how many races it has won—all stored in the cloud. Unlike the battery-powered tracks from your youth where you just drop the car in, the Smart Track takes some skill. You have to press the pump to power the cars around the track. Too slow and your lap times will suck, but pump too fast and your car can fly off the track. It turns it into an actual race, even if you'll have to take turns setting lap times since the track is just one lane. You can buy it now on Amazon for $176. It comes with two iD cars, but you can buy extras for $5 a piece. Non-iD cars can use the track too, but you don't get the lap tracking.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneBy the Power of Ra
Thames Kosmos SolarBotsYou can build any one of these solar-powered robots with just one $25 kit, but it comes with a single solar panel, so you can only have one built and working at a time. There's no on-off switch; they just run anytime they're exposed to sunlight, but they're small enough that you can just pick them up when you don't want them to run off. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to build each robot, and there's a 48-page booklet that guides kids through building them while offering scientific facts. The kit will be available in July.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneRecreate Epic Battles
Mega Construx Halo & Game of Thrones KitsFeel like the Battle for Winterfell totally sucked? Now you can reenact a new ending without bothering HBO with a petition. The Winterfell castle has a fully-detailed interior, and the undead Viserion has a 28-inch wingspan, making for some epic battles.
Microsoft is also releasing its first AAA Halo title since 2012 this year, called Halo Infinite. The Pelican aerial dropship and Warthog buggy are two of the coolest vehicles in video game history, and now you can reenact missions with this set. Mattel's Mega Construx has much more detailed characters because they're not limited by Lego peoples' barrel-shaped heads. Both the new Halo and Game of Thrones sets will be available sometime this year.
Photograph: Rebecca SmeyneHungry Dino
Jurassic Park Feeding Frenzy Indominus RexIf this dino looks cuter than the ones that terrorized Isla Nublar in the original Jurrasic Park, that's because she's a tie-in with the animated Netflix children's series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. Push on her tail and she'll open up her mouth, taking big chomps out of the air. Mattel had a little Jeff Goldblum figurine that I wanted to toss in there, but I wasted too much time trying to find him. She'll play catch if you toss the included plastic ribs into her open mouth. You can pet her and she'll give you an appreciative, playful growl, but if you bug her while she's eating she'll let out a pissed-off growl, just like the rest of us. Available this year, the Feeding Frenzy Indominus Rex will set you back $25.
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