Let the Games Begin: Four Decent Reasons to Haul Out That Board

As high-tech gadgets have claimed so much of the media spotlight in recent times, one decidedly low-tech option suddenly sounds like a great escape from our stimuli-a-minute e-world: The board game. I know, I know: for some of you, board gaming sounds like a snore—the kind of activity that blue-haired senior citizens sit playing after they’ve pulled on their nightcaps. But this year’s crop of board games isn’t just for Granny. In fact, there are oodles of products that will bring the entire family together for giggles and good times. Here are four family games that I recommend:

1. Nab It: Family Game of Stolen Words. Manufacturing giant Hasbro (www.hasbro.com) returns to Toy Fair with a game created by the makers of Scrabble. With this game, up to four people can turn any surface into their board for creating words with colored tiles. Tiles can be fashioned into a crossword and even staked to make new words.

2. Quelf. Imagination Games brings us a product that does double duty: it’s great for pulling together families as well as making your next party a laugh-out-loud hit. As players move around the game board as one of eight characters, things suddenly get a bit wacky—thanks to the fact that you’ve gotta answer trivia questions, perform stunts, and obey silly rules (like wrapping your face in toilet paper). It might sound ludicrous at first, but 30 minutes into it, you realize you haven’t cracked up so much since...well, never. Learn more about this game at www.imaginationgames.com

3. Sort It Out! Which is faster: a cheetah or a helicopter? That’s exactly the kind of puzzle you’ll have to piece together in a speed-round of this game (University Games). To win this game, you’ll need to keep your wits about you—and pull out the little knowledge you likely have on a vast array of topics. PS: Sort It Out was hailed as Game of the Year at the 2010 Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards.

4. The Office Monopoly Collectors’ Edition. This game is a twist on the classic Monopoly game, from USAopoloy (www.usaopoloy.com). Based on the NBC sitcom “The Office,” the game includes characters from the popular series, as well as most of the same components that first made the basic Monopoly set to popular when it was released (drumroll, please…) 75 years ago. Talk about staying power.

Here is what’s so amazing about games: Once you buy one of them, it can provide you with a new experience every time you play, making it one of the most cost-effective ways to use your funds during a cash shortage. And besides: It glues together moms, dads, tots, teens—and yes, even grannies—for more face time…and less Facebook time.

Wheel Power: Bright Lights Save Lives

Richard Barnes would like us all to lighten up—especially if we’re in the habit of bike riding after dusk. When MIT braniac Dave Hock first approached Barnes about marketing Hokey Spokes—a bike lighting system designed to make post-dark pedaling less potentially treacherous—Barnes immediately spotted the brilliance in the inventor’s product. So Barnes eventually bought Hokey Spokes from Barnes, and after some impressive sales both here and abroad (each light sells for $29.99), Barnes is unveiling Hokey Spokes right here at Toy Fair 2010. That makes Barnes a bona fide TF newbie—which gave me enough of a reason to swing by his booth to chitchat about how his award-winning product is saving lives.

Michelle Burford: So tell me, Richard—what’s so great about Hokey Spokes?

Richard Barnes: Hokey Spokes was conceived and built as a bicycle safety light---to provide protection to the rider from the right and the left. It has 16 LED lights, and it is pre-programmed to display changing graphic patterns every 10 seconds. We manufactured the first bunch of Hokey Spokes in 2001. The product relies on the persistence of vision: It has a strobe-light effect.

MB: What prompted the idea for the product?

RB: Dave Hock, an MIT graduate and a very bright may, originally came up with the idea. He’s an avid cyclist, and he was aware of the safety issues that come up when you ride at night.

MB: What size wheel does Hokey Spokes fit on?

RB: The wheels must be at least 24-inch wheels or larger.

MB: What is your bestselling light color?

RB: They come in seven colors, and 35 percent of our sales are for the rainbow lights. We think that’s because people can’t make up their minds about which color to choose! You can use school colors. We sell a lot of red, white, and blues to military bases.

MB: Can Hokey Spokes be mounted on other products, aside from bikes?

RB: Yes—we also put them on wheelchairs. Again, it provides safety when someone is crossing the street. One woman put Hokey Spokes on the wheelchair of her 7-year-old son, and she told us that kids were coming up and talking to him! Hokey Spokes became a conversation starter: “Those are neat lights. Where’d you get them?” A lot of times, people in wheelchairs are invisible. Other don’t talk to them, they’re not at eye level. So Hokey Spokes brings them some attention.

MB: Have any lives actually been saved as a result of Hokey Spokes?

RB: One woman reported that she had a close encounter while she was biking: She was almost nailed by an SUV. She says that Hokey Spokes saved her from an accident.

MB: Has your product sold well?

RB: Yes—and 40 percent of our sales are overseas, with a heavy concentration in Europe. We have dealers on every continent now. We even recently got a call from the Togo Islands!

MB: Anything else interesting you can tell me about Hokey Spokes?

RB: It came in second place at the World Exhibit of Innovation Research and New Technologies in Brussels. The first place spot was claimed by a robot that disarmed bombs, so we thought second place was a pretty good finish!

MB: Hokey Spokes isn’t really a toy. So why are you exhibiting at the Toy Fair?

RB: Because the product is fun! Customers constantly report to us that when others spot them with Hokey Spokes, they stop them and ask, “What are those called and where do you get ‘em?” Cars will even stop and pull them over! So when we send out an order for Hokey Spokes, we also include our business cards for our customers to pass out. We’ve had several customers contact us and say, “I’ve run out! Send me more!” When my wife and I rode our bikes through a resort area in Missouri, some kids left a basketball court to chase us down the street. They were yelling, “Come back here! What are those! We want them!” All you have to do is put Hokey Spokes on your bike and ride down the road—you’ll start hearing comments from those passing on the sidewalk. It’s just a good, sound product.

For more information on Hokey Spokes, go to Booth 5154 or visit www.hokeyspokes.com

How Does a Hamster Get to Be So Hot?

Long before Zhu Zhu pet hamsters swept the 2010 Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards last Saturday night, these interactive, battery-operated critters were scurrying off shelves at a dizzying pace. During the most recent holiday season, the Zhu Zhu craze hit such a zenith that some retailers had to actually limit the number of pets to one per family—and this happened during our nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Now, here’s the latest from the rapidly expanding Zhu-niverse: On Tuesday morning at Toy Fair 2010, Cepia President Russ Hornsby announced that his company will soon cause quite a stir among its followers with the new “Kung-Zhu” battle hamster series. And yet here’s what I’m curious about: How could it be that a hamster is apparently more desirable than, say, the throngs of chronically unhitched singles who’d do just about anything to ensnare the attention of a would-be sweetheart?

First of all, let me remind everyone that the hamster we’re all crooning about is fake—and, granted, though that means it doesn’t poop or stink, it should also mean that it ranks lower than a human being on the babe-o-meter. Second (and this is the part that really confounds me) we’ve somehow made a cultural cutie-pie out of a rodent that’s a first cousin to the rat—a disgustingly filthy creature that breeds on unfinished candy bars in the subway gutter. In a word, ick. Lastly, the nocturnal hamster can hold half its weight in food inside of its cheek pouches. That’s not exactly what I’d call attractive.

And yet even with all the hamster trash-talking I’ve indulged in lately, I can’t deny that I was fascinated the first time I actually held my very first Zhu Zhu pet. How can anyone resist a toy that's cool enough to drive around in its own little car, swoosh up ramps, and gallop on its hamster wheel? And then there are the grin-inducing sounds it delivers—from the toilet-flushing to the tooth-brushing. For a paltry eight bucks, that ain’t bad entertainment on a lonely Friday night. Maybe our world’s not-quite-hot singles can actually learn something from their little Zhu Zhu counterparts: To garner any real sustained attention, you’ve gotta shake your backside and boogie.

Toys for Tots: Top Picks for the Pint-Sized Set

I call them ‘the mobile years’—that passageway when that utterly dependent bundle of poop you schlepped home with from the hospital suddenly sprouts into a roaming, grunting, recalcitrant toddler who has an insatiable curiosity, plus the legs and willpower to go with it. During this stage, developmental psychologist believe that tots—and by that, I mean 1- to 3-year-olds—develop insolent behavior (as in belting out “No!” at your every command, and then conveniently sprawling their bodies into a grocery store aisle) and the ability to imitate others’ behavior and speech (which any mom who has whispered an obscenity has uncomfortably discovered when her 2-year-old later puts that very word on loudspeaker).

Buck up, parents: This is no time to back away from one of the biggest tests of child rearing. In fact, I’m sending you into battle with a few toy reinforcements that will tame and entertain—or, at the very least, distract—that preschooler’s brain. Like the vibrantly multi-colored Build ‘n’ Discover Stacker from MegaBloks (www.megabloks.com). With this playset, toddlers can experiment with balance and gravity as they build (and probably later topple) 11 blocks on a special rocking container. It’s a great choice for keeping your little one’s hands busy just long enough for you to squeeze in a tea break.

Might your little one prefer baby dolls to blocks? Then introduce her to Fancy Nancy (Jakks Pacific, www.jakkspacific.com), the doll first conceived as a children’s book character: Fancy Nancy by Jakks Pacific. Her cute-ola accessories—necklace, ballet slippers, and hair ribbons—are enough to capture (and, much to a mother’s delight, keep) the attention of a 3-year old. Not bad for a cuddly, 18-inch doll that your girl will enjoy dressing and undressing for hours on end.

I’ve never quite understood children’s obsession with treehouses—but when it comes to keeping kids engaged why question what clearly works? Long before your toddler is enough of a big boy to build his real-life treehouse, he can get his fix by building a Calafant Cardboard Treehouse (www.calafantusa.com). Not only is it a snap to put together (even for a 3-year-old), but your child can dream up the best color scheme and decorate the treehouse with watercolor. While the latter will likely require some supervision from you, the final result is a product that can sit proudly on your child’s dresser top for passersby to gawk at and admire.

In addition to this hodgepodge of toys designed to restore caretakers’ emotional equilibrium, I leave you with a wise word from the late American comedian and television host Sam Levinson: “Insanity is hereditary: You can get it from your children.” If you’ve recently joined the ranks of unsuspecting inheritors, may this list of playthings be your first step back toward lucidity.