Holiday Schedule

Everyone at theToyGuy.com and TimetoPlayMag.com will be heading home over the next few days to visit family, friends and celebrate the holidays. Posting here on the blog and our websites will be a little light but we will check in with the occasional update.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at theToyGuy.com and TimetoPlayMag.com and thank you for joining us in 2009. We look forward to a great 2010!

The Toy Guy on Tour

This Week's New Video Games

It's just a few days until Christmas so you won't see too many new games in the stores this week. Of the handful arriving, one worth mentioning is Guitar Hero: Van Halen (PS2, PS3, Xbox360, Wii. Rated Teen), In Guitar Hero: Van Halen, you can live out the experience of performing as one of the biggest rock bands of all time. See if you have what it takes to keep up with Eddie Van Halen's revolutionary guitar playing or David Lee Roth's unique performance style as you savor all the hot licks and scissor kicks that have helped this band achieve legendary status.

The Toy Guy on Live With Regis & Kelly

Chris Byrne, The Toy Guy, was on Live With Regis & Kelly this morning, sharing some great toys that all cost $20 or less. You can check out the list below (in order of appearance) and all the toys should still be available in stores and online.

HOST CHAT- The item Kelly and Anderson were playing with:

Cadaco Boom Ball Sling Shot
12.99
6 and up
Cadaco


FIRST SEGMENT:


Fisher Price Chatter Phone
12.99
12 months and up
Basic Fun


Classic Mr. Potato Head
9.99
2 and up
Playskool


The Princess and the Frog Kissing Frog Dolls
19.99
3 and up
Disney Store


FurReal Friends Newborns
14.99
4 and up
Hasbro


Giant Pipe Cleaner Party
16.99
4 and up
Alex Toys


GloDoodle
19.99
4 and up
Spin Master


Etch-A-Sketch Freestyle
14.99
3 and up
Ohio Art


Connect 4X4
19.99
8 and up
Hasbro


Splashy The Whale
19.99
5 and up
Pressman Toys


SECOND SEGMENT


GX Racers Super Jump
19.99
6 and up
Jakks Pacific


Tracksters
14.99
6 and up
10 Vox Entertainment


Battle Strikers
14.99
6 and up
Mega Brands

Dolls
11.99- 19.99


EA Sports Sweet Spot Baseball
14.99
5 and up
Toy Island

Maui Holiday Balls
7.99-9.99
6 and up
Maui Toys


Nerf N-Force Marauder Long Swords
17.99
8 and up
Hasbro

Want To Win A Zhu-Zhu Pet?

Chris Byrne, aka The Toy Guy, is giving away his very own Zhu-Zhu Pet today on MomTV. Tune into Time To Play With Jim & Chris on MomTV at 1pm (EST) and join the chat for your chance to win Chris' Zhu-Zhu Pet and more!

To watch MomTV, just click here or visit Momtv.com/TimetoPlay.html

The Toy Guy on MamaCheaps.com!

Chris Byrne, the Toy Guy, wrote a guest blog post on MamaCheaps.com, "a little something for everyone".

Here's an excerpt from Chris's post, titled "Only Got A Sawbuck? Go Shopping! Great Gift Ideas For $10 and Under":

"Okay, the $10 bill probably hasn’t been called a “sawbuck” for a long time, but that’s what my grandfather always used to call them when he’d slip me one. Seemed like a fortune at the time.

When it comes to buying toys, $10 still goes a long way. In fact, the average toy in the U.S. is only about $10 still. When you factor in all the $0.99 Hot Wheels Cars, boxes of crayons and more, you’ll see that ten bucks can go a long way."

You can read the entire post with a list of some great toys for $10 and less by visiting MamaCheaps.com or by clicking here!

The People's Play Awards

If American families were given the chance to create their own ’Wish List’ of toys and games for the holiday season, which playthings would make the cut? TimetoPlayMag.com answers that question by revealing the winners of the 2009 People’s Play Awards! Following is the list of toys and games that made ’America's Wish List’ for the 2009 holiday season.

The People's Play Awards gave the public a forum to select the toys and games they are hoping to receive this holiday season. Nominees in the fourteen categories were carefully reviewed and selected by the Time to Play editorial team headed by Jim Silver, editor in chief, and Chris Byrne, content director aka The Toy Guy®. Visitors to the website were encouraged to vote throughout October and November of this year.

And the winners are!

Activity Toys: Girl Gourmet Sweets Candy Jewelry Factory - Jakks Pacific

Boy's Action: Bakugan 7-in-1 Maxus Dragonoid - Spinmaster

Cars, Trucks, Trains: Hot Wheels Super Jump Raceway - Mattel

Construction Toys: LEGO Star Wars - LEGO

Dolls: Barbie Fashionistas - Mattel

Educational Toys: Tag Junior - LeapFrog

Electronics: Disney Netpal - Disney and ASUS

Games: Mindflex - Mattel

Girl's Toys: Zhu Zhu Pets - Cepia

Preschool/Infant Toys: Manny's Repair Shop - Fisher-Price

Radio Control: Air Hogs Laser Zero Gravity - Spin Master

Sports/Active Toys: Nerf N-Strike Raider Rapid Fire CS-35 - Hasbro

Tech Toys: EyeClops Night Vision Goggles - Jakks Pacific

Video Games: Wii Sports Resort - Nintendo

To see the list with pictures as well as all the nominees, please visit the official People's Play Awards page at TimetoPlayMag.com/PeoplesPlayAwards.

The Toy Guy on Seattle Mom On The Go

Chris Byrne, the Toy Guy, wrote a guest blog post on Seattle Mom On The Go, a blog about being a "green" mom in Seattle.

Here's an excerpt from Chris's post, titled "Green Toys For Eco-Conscious Families"

"Green is one of the traditional Christmas colors, but“green” in the eco-sense is not something always instantly associated with the holiday. Parents and gift givers who have committed themselves to living green often approach the holiday with frustration. From plastic to packaging, they look at the amount of stuff that comes along with the holidays, and shudder."

You can read the entire post with some great "green" toy suggestions at Seattle Mom On The Go by clicking here.

Review: Tracksters

Manufacturer: 10 Vox Entertainment

Brand: Tracksters

Age Recommendation: 6 and up

MSRP: $14.99

Intro Year: 2009

No question, web-enhanced toys are major players in the toy box. And while they're not, strictly speaking, new, these toys are becoming more sophisticated - and delivering better play - with each passing year.

That's one of the reasons we're so excited about Tracksters. In the package you get a very high quality 1:46 scale die-cast metal car. They have a substantial weight and well-deigned fast axles that make them superior for play and collecting.

But that's just the beginning. Each car also comes with a unique code that allows players to unlock the world of Tracksters.com. There, players can customize the online versions of their cars and race them.

The web site is truly remarkable. Excellent graphics, fast loading, exciting tracks and hours of interactive play, in a completely safe environment for kids. (COPA compliant) At the same time, they can race other cars through the online connection in a variety of environments.

There are also Track Packs that can be purchased separately. Each includes 7 cards that can add special features to the cars to improve performance or open up other parts of the world.

There are many things that are truly positive about this. First, kids are engaging in two complementary but distinct modes of play. There's the collection and play with die-cast cars that kids will really enjoy. That's classic play that no amount of technology is ever going to displace.

The online component is rich and engaging with many features that are designed for the kids (and older guys) who love cars and racing. The graphics are superior for this kind of play, and it truly reflects the investment of the developers.

More importantly, the universe of Tracksters is growing all the time, and nobody had done a better site for vehicle play that encompasses such diverse activities.

There are a couple of things to be aware of. You can buy a die-cast car for about a buck, and nearly every boy has a bucket of them. However, these cars (made for the Tracksters folks by Jada) are really high quality. Also, you're unlocking the entire world of the web, and when you compare the richness of the gameplay to any basic video game (PS 1 and handhelds, for example), you'll be impressed by the quality.

Secondly, though this site does work with Macs, you have to boot your Mac in Windows mode. It's a little clumsy the first time, but not terribly difficult. We got the best performance using it in a PC. The better your graphics card, the better you'll see all the action, too.

This company has been flying a little bit under the radar, but we're predicting that you're going to be hearing a lot about them in very short order, especially if you've got kids who love this kind of thing... or you do.

For more great toy and game reviews, please visit us at TimeToPlaymag.com.