Playing for Pennies: The Top Five Recession-Proof Picks from the Toy of the Year Winners

Last night, throngs of toy industry insiders gathered for the tenth annual TOTY (Toy of the Year) Awards—the Oscars of the toy world. The gala, which is hosted by the Toy Industry Association (TIA), recognizes the best in toys—but some of these award-nabbing playthings aren’t exactly wallet-friendly in these lean economic times. That’s exactly why I’m making this separate list for all of us budget-conscience toy lovers who are practically gripping onto our last few bucks. As such, these are my top five choices in TOTY-winning toys that’ll nonetheless spare your checking account from overdraft charges:

#1: Zhu Zhu Pets by Cepia—I’m not just choosing this product because it swept the TOTY Awards as overall Toy of the Year, Girl Toy of the Year, and Innovative Toy of the Year. Aside from these accolades, the faux hamster also happens to be pretty cool: Once you pet the hamster’s back and set it down, it the scurries around from room to room, uttering one of more than 40 sound effects. And here’s the best part: Zhu Zhu pets never poop, stink, or die. And with a retail price of $10, even us tightwads have to admit that Zhu Zhu won’t gnaw holes through our wallets.

#2: Sort It Out! By University Games—The miser’s dream has come true with this bargain basement-priced Game of the Year selection. Sort It Out! began in Australia, then swept across the globe as party planners discovered what a fantastic ice-breaker they had on their hands. Two to four plays sort out (hence the name) challenges such as whether a cat’s brain weighs more than an elephant’s or kangaroo’s brain. Family and friends guffaw along the way—all for the low retail price of $18.99.

#3: Crayola Beginnings Color Me a Song—The notoriously affordable Crayola is back with another fab product for cheapskate parents: This product grabbed top honors in the Infant Toy of the Year category. Not only does the product develop children’s fine motor skills, but it allows toddlers to create original music with their scribbles. The faster the child scribbles, the faster the corresponding tune becomes. Yet as downright marvelous as that sounds, the real music to our ears is this: Even the Scroogiest spendthrift may be able to part with the mere $19.99 that this product costs. PS: Another Crayola product, Crayon Town by Wild Planet Entertainment, claimed TOTY’s Activity Toy of the Year. With a clearance-level price of $15.99, it’s affordable enough to garner high honors on our list.

#4: Bakugan by Cartoon Network—As TOTY’s Property of the Year winner, Bakugan Battle Brawlers have boys (and tomboys) everywhere taking part in the action-figure craze. Bakugan is a two-player strategy game (based on the Cartoon Network’s television series) involves warriors (aka Battle Brawlers)that are tucked into spheres but then pop open they’re rolled onto a Gate card. Moms and pops come out as the real battle victors when they reach the cash register: the figurines are sold for as little as $2.

#5: Bilibo by Active People shares its top spot for Preschool Toy of the Year with the slightly more pricey Tonka Chuck & Friends’ Talking Truck (34.99). While both are fairly pocketbook-friendly, I’ve gotta hand the top prize to Bilibo, which jump-starts children’s imagination. Kids are encouraged to use pieces to create their own playthings: spinning tops, boats, tiddlywinks, and sand shovels, to name a few. It also features a rock-bottom price: $19.99.

For the full list of 2010 TOTY winners, swing by this web address:

http://www.toyassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&SECTION=Home&CONTENTID=12185)

What a Difference a Decade Makes: Dora the Explorer Turns 10

Oh, to be 10 again—with one big toe resting squarely in childhood and all of its ignorant bliss, and the other big toe inching toward adolescent and adult realities. At Toy Fair 2010, Dora the Explorer—Nickelodeon’s courageous cartoon character who first marched her way into children’s hearts in 2000—celebrates that middle passage. That’s right: Dora Marquez, the young Latina girl who sets out on a spankin’ new adventure in each episode, all while teaching her followers a little Spanish along the way, has officially hit the tween years. And Fisher Price is marking their gutsy girl’s birthday with the release of her namesake doll—We Did It! Dora. Kids can boogie along with Dora as she jams to the beat of her signature song, “We did it!” The doll includes four modes of play: Teach-Me (where Dora guides kids the “We Did It!” Dance); the “We Did It!” Dance; Freeze Dance; and the Say It Two Ways bilingual dance game.

After dancing the night away, Dora even has a casa to return to: the Dora All Seasons Dollhouse comes complete with magic windows that show fall, winter, spring, and summer. On a summer day, for instance, sun streams through the windows and birds chirp. And here’s the cool part that makes the dollhouse quintessentially Dora: Girls can press the speech button to hear phrases (in both English and Spanish) that correspond to the different seasons and times of day. And as it turns out, Dora is sharing her big birthday with a bevy of do-gooding girlfriends: Dora’s Explorer Girls Rock for Change Fashion Dolls have linked arms to organize Puerto Verde’s Music Arts Festival to benefit the coral reefs—or so the storyline goes. Each Explorer Girl—Dora, Kata, Alana, Emma, and Naiya—comes with a charm and a code that girls can share with their friends. When the code is entered online, girls can personalize their profile page, chat with their gal pals, and exchange virtual gifts.

When it comes to anniversary parties, Dora has plenty of company this year: Disney Princesses Aladdin and Jasmine have also sashayed across the decade marker; the 1980s icon Rainbow Brite has been delighting girls for 25 years; and Strawberry Shortcake—the doll I snuggled up to every night when I was just a girl—has been serving up her sweetness for 30 years. And if you’re feeling even half as elderly as I’m feeling right now (especially when you realize that Empire Strikes Back turns 30 this year), let's not even get started on board-game birthdays: Clue is 60 years old; Monopoly is 75; and Bingo—much like the grandmotherly zealots who wouldn't dare miss a round of the game in their senior citizen centers—is 105 years old. Suddenly, at a mere 10 years old, Dora seems like such a babe.

Virtually Anywhere: Using Toys to Stay Connected

Though I once shot an Evilina glare at anyone who dared to substitute a Tweet or a Blackberry message for some old-fashioned face time, I confess: I’ve reluctantly joined the ranks of addicts who crave 24-7 connectivity. Our children, however, will never have to make such a transition: They were born into a world that prefers to beep in touch. Rather than loathing the drawbacks of their Facebook existence or yearning for the cyber-free days of yore, we might as well use their social media fixation to turn them into better human beings—or, if that’s a tad grandiose, at least to entertain them.

That’s exactly what Mattel’s forthcoming Puppy Tweets will do for your kid—and, in this case, for the zillions of dog-loving adults. In Fall 2010, the high-tech toy will allow your favorite canine companion to publicize its everyday activities on Twitter. Just attach a sound and motion sensor to Rover’s collar and connect its USB receiver to your computer, and woila, your pet can keep you updated on his latest roamings with pre-recorded Tweets such as “I’ve finally caught that tail I’ve been chasing and…OOUUUCH!” If you and your kid are poochless—or simply perturbed at the idea that some people adore their pets just a hair too much—instead check out the iCarly Chat ’n’ Play Set from Playmates Toys. With this electronic set, fans of the iCarly TV series can stay connected to the cast of iCarly via 4.5” collectible figures that activate the sounds of the play set via sensor recognition. The figures actually speak out 150 sound bytes from the show, bringing the small screen to life—and keeping your girl endlessly fascinated. If your kids’ eyes glaze over at the mention of chattering figurines, sign ’em up for Nanovor Online Battle Game (http://www.nanovor.com/), from Smith & Tinker. In this digital monster battle game, children can create teams, battle and trade with their cyber-friends, and collect over 100 Nanovor—all while using the (free!) downloadable application (PS: There’s green goo involved). Then finally, the mighty Crayola takes its place in the cyber craze with Lights, Camera, Color. Inside specially marked boxes of Crayola Crayons, your kid will snoop out a code that gives him or her instant access to Crayola’s site. From there, choose any photo on your computer, and in a snap, the site will strip that photo of its color. Throw in some decoration and a few captions, and just like that, you’ve got a customized page in your own coloring book. You’ve also got yourself one web-savvy kid—like it, love it, loathe it or not.

Aerobics for the Brain: Toys That Exercise Your Child’s Imagination

All the recent chatter about America’s childhood obesity pandemic has shifted our gaze away from another potential sloth: Our children’s brainpower may be seeping away as they passively take in oodles of media. Without consistent, vigorous exercise, the brain indeed atrophies as quickly as your waist measurement seems to climb once you hit 30.

If you want to kick-start you kids’ imagination, you’ve come to the right place. This August, keep one eyeball peeled for My Take Along Theater from Playmobil. Using figures and variable scenes, children can dream up an endless number of storylines that ignite their creativity for hours. The set even comes with a touch of theatrical authenticity—a sound box of pre-recorded music, sounds, and children’s laughter. Bonus: Moms will love that the self-enclosed carry box stashes away all of the figurines and makes portability a snap. If stagecraft isn’t quite your cup of tea, then swing by for a visit with the crown prince of creativity—Crayola. From the Spira-Chalk Blaster (which lets kids create eye-popping spiral designs using sidewalk chalk) to the 3-D Disney Fairies (which lets kids draw and color characters like Tinkerbell), Crayola has mastered the art of all things imaginative. They even offer a Sidewalk Chalk Maker where children can whip up their own customized hues using six jars of colored chalk powder. When it comes to bolstering your child’s fine motor skills—as it turns out, our children’s dexterity development is just as exercise-starved as their brains are—few products trump Perplexus (PlaSmart), a maze game in which players must maneuver a marble around challenging barriers inside a transparent sphere. To add some fitness training to your children’s mystery-solving and navigational skills, introduce them to Treasure of the Lost Pyramid (Basic Concepts), a 3-D pop-up game during which teammates compete to discover what’s hidden in each of the four Pharaoh’s Tombs. Then at Toy Fair 2010, Hasbro unveils its brain-titillating Scrabble Flash Cubes—for a twist on the classic game, players can slide, move, and shuffle electronic cubed letter tiles in a race to create new words in 60 seconds flat. And not list of brain-teasing toys would be complete with a mention of Creationary—a LEGO game in which each player can builds an object while playmates guess what he or she is creating. Not only does this game stretch your memory to the max, but it brings together family and friends for at least 30 minutes of bonding.

Fit or fat? When it comes to keeping those neurotransmitters popping in your child’s brain, what goes for the gluteus maximus also holds true for the cerebellum: You either move it or you lose it.

Toys for a Fantastic Cause

Every year, 300,000 American children must be rescued from perilous home environments—abuse, neglect, violence, trauma. When those children enter foster care, they often show up with little more than the clothes on their backs. Can you imagine how it feels to suddenly leave behind everything familiar without even your favorite blankie or even your toothbrush?

That’s exactly why the Toy Industry Foundation (TIF) and My Stuff Bags Foundation have teamed up to give distressed children a little comfort in the form of a blue duffel: a bag filled with toiletries, handmade blankets, clothing, and of course, a cuddly toy to ease the shock of the transition.

At this year’s fair, dozens of toy exhibitors are getting behind this cause by donating their toy floor samples—everything from Elmo and Barbie dolls to children’s books. “The children are extremely excited when they receive the bags,” says TIA Foundation Manger Amanda McDorman, who took part in last year’s distribution of toys to elementary school children. “Some of them just scream in shock, joy, and disbelief. The bag is a message that someone cares about them—and that’s exactly what a child needs to feel when he or she is in crisis.”

Look out for some fluorescent on the floor today: K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc) volunteers, dressed in a blinding-orange T-shirt, will wander around the Jacob Javits Center booths, collecting the toys to be donated. Throughout 2009, the toys will be handed out to children of all ages, from infants to 18-year-olds; the duffel bags are gender- and age-appropriate. This May during National Foster Care month, My Stuff Bags Foundation and TIF will organize a special toy distribution.

And here’s the best part: You don’t have to be a Toy Fair participant to make a mega-difference in the life of a distraught kid. First of all, you can send some moula via the website mystuffbags.org (and yes, it’s tax-deductible). But even if you’re running a bit short on cash—and who isn’t these days?—you can donate new, non-edible, non-violent, and non-denominational items to My Stuff Bags. What kinds of things do people send? You name it—from crayons, books, and school supplies, to hand-held games, crafts and small photo albums.

Bonus if you happen to live or are planning to visit sunny Southern California, the volunteer center at My Stuff Bags could certainly use your help in stuffing the bags. Call 866-3MY-STUFF or visit www.mystuffbags.org for more information.

The Family That Plays Together: Games and Toys That Reconnect Us

There was a time when mom, pop, and the kiddos could spend eons gathered ’round a Monopoly board on a weekend night. That was then. In an age where most of us have more face time with our Blackberries than we do with our children, squeezing in even 4.2 minutes of eyeball-to-eyeball fun has become a Herculean feat.

Enter this year’s crop of toys—from the everyone-plays variety to the newest generation of board games—that are designed to bring families closer. When dad and former exec David Schoenberger wanted to re-connect with his kids, he invented a game entitled Family Matters ($24.99, for 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up). “Families work harder than ever before and enjoy less quality time together,” Schoenberger says. “The familiarity past generations took for granted is now a distant dream with everyone so busy, distracted, and exhausted.”

Schoenberger’s 45-minute game uses a set of 120 cards to explore real-life situation and so-called “fake family crises”—for instance, each player pretends to be another person in the family while discussing, say, how the family has changed since a sick grandparent moved in to live. Another aspect of the game invo lves a “weekend wish,” in which players describe the activity they’d most like to do with the family. The included playbook allows parents to record their children’s weekend wishes and later use the ideas as fodder for planning a real-life outing.

This July, look out for a family-friendly update to the classic Lego collection: With the Builders of Tomorrow Set ($29.99, ages 4 and up), parents and kids receive a versatile collection of bricks—then, courtesy of a linked Website offering free step-by-step building instructions each month—they can continuously switch up their creations as a team. The site also features family stories, building challenges and contests, and a photo gallery for sharing creations.

If you want to shore up your children’s critical reasoning skills (sneakily, by all means ...), pick up the visual perception game that has toy critics and schoolteachers buzzing: Set ($12). Using 81 cards, players race to find three cards (out of 12) that form a set, based on color, shape, and shading. Once family game night is over, tweens and teens can continue the fun: The techie version of Set ($29.95) is a travel-worthy handheld that contains four levels of difficulty on a full-color LCD display screen.

Feeling a tad over the hill with all this high-tech business? Get back to the basics with a few recently-updated USAopoly (usaopoloy.com) ga mes that give a head nod to us old-school gamers. Check out Trivial Pursuit: The Beatles Collectors’ Edition ($39.95, available August 2009); for the first time, Beatles aficionados can test their knowledge of the band with 2,500 questions on topic such as history, music, and travels. Seinfeld junkies can get a fix with Monopoly Seinfeld Collectors’ Edition ($35.95, available in August 2009). The game features the characters of Jerry, Kramer, George and Elaine, and the game board includes locations that the sitcom’s fans will recognize: Jerry’s Apartment, Monk’s Restaurant, and the Soup Kitchen.

Finally, there’s my personal fave for LOL group fun: Telestrations, which does double duty as either a family or party game. Telestrations ($29.95, available in September 2009) keeps players guessing as they sketch a word they’re given and pass it along. Expect spontaneous giggling as players do their best to guess at others’ sketches. Look out, Pictionary: Telestrations has a real shot at becoming 2009’s party pick. Brownie points for the game’s creators: Since you can play as few or as many rounds of this game as you’d like, you can squeeze in a family laugh-fest in as little 15 minutes.

Tailoring Sans the Sewing Machine: A New Way for Girls to Play Dress-Up

For all the muttering in recent years about offering children gender-neutral toys, let’s face it: Most girls still like playing dress-up as much as most boys like playing with toys that go crash, boom, or ka-bang. In 2008 when seamstress Kari Kawa wanted to give her then-5-year-old daughter the same hours of unlimited creativity that a LEGO set provides her 7-year-old son, she got an idea: Why not offer children the opportunity to design personalized get-ups, starting with a pink-and-white polka dot dress form and dozens of vibrantly-colored swaths of fabric?

One year and several spools of thread later, Kari’s lightbulb moment has become one of the hottest new trends in girls’ dress-up. Through her company, Style Paige LLC, Kari created Shailie—an award-winning design kit that comes with mix-and-match sleeves, skirts, tops, sashes, and trims that can be attached to a dress form with Velcro fasteners, then worn around the house during playtime. You could call it a Project Runway for kids: Without needing a sewing machine or patterns (hold the applause, moms), your daughter can experiment with a DIY fashion line.

At the 2009 Toy Fair, Kari and her team turned their booth’s aisleway into a catwalk (by the way, you can swing by anytime and see them at booth 6323). On February 17, Kari invited two students from New York’s FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) to participate in a designer face-off. After gathering passers-by judged the final designs (onlookers voted by clapping most loudly for the designs they loved best), Kari ended the contest by squeezing into the winning designs and strutting down the makeshift runway to show off the creations.

Got a girl who’s a bit, um, chubby? With childhood obesity on the rise in this country, you’ve got gobs of company. Though Shailee is designed for average-sized girls between the ages of 5 and 13 (the dress form is actually based on an 8-year-old’s frame), fear not: The set’s expandable skirt, for instance, can fit a girl with a waist of up to 45 inches—oh, the wonders of Velcro. And even if your girl can’t manage to squeeze her booty into one of her own designs, Kari says that many Shailie lovers—particularly tweens, teens, and yes, even some women—simply enjoy testing out new looks on the dress form; some buy their own fabric to expand their wardrobe options. Oh, and one more thing: You can order in two sizes—Little Miss (ages 5-7) or Miss (ages 8 and up). The dresses in the Miss set are longer.

Nickel pinchers, brace yourselves: The Shailee starter kit retails for $255 (the set includes a dress form, a base outfit, a few skirts and a sash, and a sparkly top); additional clothing kits run betwee n $30 and $120. The owner, Kari, is showing mercy to our pocketbooks with a special offer she concocted right here at Toy Fair 2009: Cash-strapped parents can buy just the dress form for $150; or the base outfits can be purchased for $89. You might consider this a kind of layaway plan: first comes the form, then comes the fabric—and finally comes the chance for your kid to engage in a kazillion hours of creative fun.

Imagination Makes a Comeback: Toys That Encourage Creativity

Once upon a time, you could hand an 8-year-old just about any ordinary object—a bottle, an old shirt, a spool of yarn—and in about six minutes flat, that child could create a makeshift toy amid an entire make-believe world. This year’s fair ushers in a renaissance of creativity-inspiring toys—playthings that awaken children’s sense of originality, innovation, and curiosity.

Take Faber-Castell’s Creativity for Kids line. The company has introduced several new DIY kits—starting with Tiki Girl Jewelry ($18.50), a set that includes wooden and coconut beads for designing bracelets and necklaces. Then to store their new wares, children can design their own Mosaic Jewelry Box ($19.99, also from Faber-Castell) using more than 300 vibrantly-colored acrylic tiles and glitter grout to decorate a plain white jewelry box, and then transform it into a sparkling masterpiece. And if you’re into things that sparkle, Crayola is the can’t-miss, no-mess destination for all things glittery and colorful. In fact, Crayola’s Color Wonder Magic Brush took home a Toy of the Year award as the best activity toy.

While we’re on the topic of girls’ play, skedaddle over to the KidKraft website to have a look at the tri-level, solidly-constructed Georgia Peach Dollhouse which includes 13 pieces of masterfully-designed furniture and can accommodate dolls that are up to 11.5 inches tall (Photo: Bonnie Biess, AOL). At $145, it’s certainly pricey—but before you ban it from your shopping list, consider that it could provide your little one with years of exactly the kind of playtime that engages the brain’s imagination center. One more thing: The wooden exterior makes this dollhouse oh-so retro—which means you just might have to resist the temptation to elbow your daughter out of the way so that you can play, too.

Got an American Idol junkie on your hands? Steer the child toward Acting Out Musical Dress-Up, which has won 14 national toy awards. Every outfit—from the hula skirt to the petticoat ($44)—comes with a musical device hidden in its front pocket. Songs include the Hokey Pokey, You Are MY Sunshine, and even Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. Two intrepid mompreneurs from New Jersey began the company five years ago, after watching their daughters dress up as princesses and dance around the house. That observation was followed by their ah-ha to just add music. PS: Boys can get in on the fun, too, with the Reversible Musical Adventure Cape ($32), which features a pirate design.

Jewelry, dollhouses, even outfits that sing—what more could a kid want? Perhaps more pals, play dates, and ice cream than they could ever dream up.

Envelope, Please: Hottest Pocketbook-Friendly Toy Picks

At February 15th’s Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards—the Oscars of the toy world, held this year at Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers)—the Toy Industry Association (TIA) unveiled its top plaything picks.

Out of courtesy for your wallet—and because so many Americans are either already holding a pink slip or, let’s face it, desperately trying to avoid one—I’ve organized the list of TOTY winners to bring you the toys that rate best on our price index (Translation: You can simultaneously play Santa this year while keep some cash in your checking account).

Did I mention that a relatively steep price doesn’t necessarily mean you should altogether nix a toy from your shopping list? That’s because each toy should be evaluated in terms of its quality-price ratio (the cheapest toy might be poorly constructed, while a seemingly expensive toy could last for a decade and, hence, prove its worth). You should also consider what industry insiders call a toy’s “play value.” A toy with a high play value, for instance, can provide entertainment and educational stimulation during both the initial and subsequent play sessions—and it’ll likely keep your child engaged for years to come.

Here’s the list all of us tightwad toy lovers have been awaiting—from the least expensive TOTY winners, to the most (PS: Scour the net for the best possible price):

$7.95—Outdoor Toy of the Year. Crayola racked up a win for its 3D Sidewalk Chalk, with a price so reasonable that you can afford to be generous with your friends’ children. Kids create their own specialty designs with intense colors that come alive with the provided 3D glasses.

$14.95—Game of the Year. Bananagrams is the high-speed word game that requires no pencil, paper, or board. The price is as right as the amount it takes to play—as little as five minutes. Because the game is uber-portable, you can keep the kiddos busy while you’re waiting in restaurant lines or taking family road trips.

$17.99—Specialty Toy of the Year. Create Your Own Pop-Up Books, by Creativity for Kids/Faber-Castell USA. This DIY book-making kit includes enough stickers, markers, and story starter ideas to guide your child in his or her first self-publishing venture. The set comes with two hardcover pop-up books and simple-enough instructions for children to complete without a lot of hand-holding from mom and pop.

$24.99—Toy of the Year and Boy Toy of the Year—Spinmaster’s Bakugan Battle Brawlers Battle Pack Series 1 Spheres garnered the gold in these two categories for one very good reason:=) Boys around the world have answered the call to brawl with small spheres that magically morph into indomitable Bakugan warriors.

$29.99—Most Innovative Toy of the Year. The big winner at this year’s TOTY, Spinmaster claims a third victory for its Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro. What’s not to love about a remote-control sports car that can move across the ground, up a wall, and even upside down on the ceiling?

$29.99—Activity Toy of the Year. Add a battery to Crayola’s Color Wonder Magic Light Brush and, ta-dah, the brush lights up as it magically recognizes the paint colors in the pots. The key word with this toy is mess-free: the paints appear to be clear (good news for your walls and sofa), and it’s only after you put the paints on the included Color Wonder paper that they come to life.

$45.99—Educational Toy of the Year. LeapFrog’s TAG Reading System might seem a bit steep—until you recall the lifelong residual returns on building your child’s vocabulary and teaching him or her to love reading. Bonus: The Tag library includes over 20 books and games featuring characters from TV, movies, and classic tales.

$69.99—Infant/Preschool Toy of the Year. Fisher-Price’s Elmo Live actually speaks as his mouth opens and closes, he waves his arms, he sits and stands, and he tells jokes and stories, and he even dances. If you can stand his constant chattering in the background, Elmo just might help you squeeze in a nap while your children play among themselves for at least a half-hour.

$99.99—Girl Toy of the Year. Playmobil’s Horse Farm is the perfect example of a toy with a high play value, which makes its price a tad easier to swallow. The farm’s realistic details—seen in everything from the ponies to the kittens—will encourage endless hours of imaginative play.

$149.00—Electronic Entertainment Toy of the Year. Hasbro’s FurReal Friends Biscuit My Lovin' Pup can actually take orders—the pooch recognizes six commands including “sit,” “speak,” and “lie down.” The dog even wags his tail and barks. The cost just might send die-hard spendthrifts into cardiac arrest. But what’s the value of finally getting to play the big boss? For some of us, that experience is priceless.

Barbie Turns 50—and Shares the Anniversary Spotlight

Whatever secret contention I might have with Barbie—those perfectly-perky breasts, that itsy-bitsy waist, the Stepford-wife grin that makes feminist pioneers quiver—I’ve nonetheless gotta hand the woman her kudos. At 50, The first lady of Mattel is still hot. Really hot.

It’s hard to believe that five decades ago on March 9, 1959, the first Barbie prototype made its debut right here at the Toy Fair. And now, at a time when Barbie must certainly be headlong into perimenopause, the fashion icon’s creators spare no expense in celebrating Barbie’s big anniversary with the liberal use of a certain color—girl-power pink.

This fall when the Pink World Line hits store shelves, our daughters will likely begin hounding us to purchase the affordable $14.99 Barbie FAB Girl (in this iteration of herself, Barbie embodies a PDA-toting intern who transforms into a fashionista by evening, with a quick updo and a reverse-striped pencil skirt). And wouldn’t it be just so cruel to keep the leggy lady homeless? As scores of us are fighting to keep our real-life mortgages out of foreclosure, Barbie is apparently surviving the recession rather comfortably: Her new Dream Town House (you guessed it—it’s pink in every imaginable shade) is a hefty $149.

If you can forgive Barbie’s apparent disregard for real American women's figures—and with some therapy, I’ve let it go—you’ll discover just how well she encourages a gutsy-girl spirit among the children who play with her. Since Barbie sashayed into toy stores around the world, the Renaissance woman has had exactly 108 careers—as a surgeon, a TV chef, a presidential candidate, even a Sea World trainer. In Fall 2009, she’ll add two more jobs to her résumé via the Barbie I Can be series: newborn baby doctor and preschool teacher (both $23.99).

When it comes to anniversary galas, Barbie has plenty of company. USAopoly’s Simpson’s TV is celebrating its 20th; The Pink Panther, Sesame Street, and Nerf all made it over the hill to 40 this year; And the Smurfs, Candyland, and Little People join Barbie for the big 50. Finally, there’s one of my personal faves, Madame Alexander’s Madeline—the cloth doll who comes complete with a series of storybook adventures—is as adorable now as she was when she was introduced in 1939. Since 70 is apparently the new 40 for the unstoppable Boomer set, that means our dear Madeline has at least another seven decades to delight us.