Thomas Wooden Railway released an exciting new line of Talking Railway trains and destinations for the 2008 holiday season.

Talking Railway trains include Thomas, Toby, Percy, and Rosie ($15 each), and James and Edward ($25 each).  Kids can distinguish these trains from the rest by the gold magnet and a Talking Railway Series icon on the bottom of the train.  Sir Topham Hatt will recognize these trains by name and say special greetings as they roll through a destination. Any non-Talking Railway train will not be recognized by name, but will still receive a greeting.

Talking Railway destinations include the Stop & Greet Signal $60, Cranky the Crane $80, and The Great Discovery Set $160.  Each destination issues unique greetings.  All are compatible with the standard wooden railway tracks, and will make a great addition to any Thomas gear you may already have.

Come try out the new train demos, and while you’re here you can still get some good deals on the Great Train Sale.  We still have several of the Buy One Get One trains left (lights and sounds trains, dairy cars, chicken cars), and if you buy $25 worth of any tracks or destinations, you get a free Thomas AND Toby (usually $12 each).  [While supplies last.]

Dear Readers,

What do you think of the blog?  Is it helpful?  I sure do enjoy sharing my favorite toys with you, and they’ll let me keep doing it if we know it’s helping you out.  So mention the blog next time you drop by the store!

Love,

Samantha

It’s always kite season when it’s windy!  We have a wide selection of fabulous fliers, from simple animal-themed delta and diamond kits all the way to extra-fancy designer and stunt kites.  Have a look at two of our favorite kites for kids:

The pocket parafoil ($16 to $18) is our all-time favorite and best-seller.  It has no sticks, so you can just shake it out of the bag and toss it in the air.  If there’s ANY wind, it should fly, and if the day is windless, you can run really fast down a big hill and get some flight.  When you’re done you just wad it back up and stuff it in the bag.  So easy!  Comes with plenty of string on a winder, and a super-long tail.  I took two of them to the beach in October and let the string allll the way out and planted them in the sand.  It was quite a fulfilling experience.

The 7 foot shark kite has also been fairly popular.  It’s only $22, made with durable nylon, and includes a nylon carry bag and 200 feet of line on a winder.  Look cool while your predator stalks the skies in search of other kites.

Set Chocolate Fix out in your living room - the scrumptious realistic (plastic) chocolate game-pieces make it hard to keep hands off.  This sudoku-like single-player game of deductive reasoning is good for ages 8 and up, but especially recommended for your honey bunch on a special occasion.  Wouldn’t a birthday or anniversary be lovely with flowers and a box of challenging chocolates?

Solve puzzles by looking at clues as to where to place each shape and color of chocolate.  Difficulty ranges from easy to expert.  If you solve all the puzzles (which you will, because you’re amazing!), you can also try Grid Works, a book full of puzzles based on similar clues, but with flat, non-chocolate playing pieces. 

Thinkfun makes tons of puzzle games and word games, and we like them so much that we have an entire display island devoted to this brand.  Come see!  We’d love to open them up and show you how to play them.

Have you seen our selection of teeny tiny animals and other items?  Never?  Well, you should have a look!

These animals are shown actual size, none more than an inch tall.

We have so many penguins, you can establish your own adorable rookery.  This huddle’s about to get cuddled!

Select from all kinds of critters, 10 cents to a dollar each.

Trying to get your kids interested in the political process? 

Try HAIL TO THE CHIEF, a presidential election game for two to four players, ages 10 & up. $30.  Updatable so that you can stay current as new presidents come into office.

Check out these exciting McCain and Obama paper dolls!  See the presidential candidates in their underpants! $7.99

We still have a few Bush and Clinton poseable figures, as well as other famous Americans.  Find them in the American Legacy section of our bookroom with the American flags and books about politics including presidents, the election process, and the Declaration of Independence.

Celebrate 15 years of Thomas with great savings!  Thomas Wooden Railway is running a special promotion on select trains and tables.  In-store sale dates: October 15th - November 30th, 2008, or while supplies last (sorry, no rainchecks).

The best deal is the Island of Sodor Playtable, regularly $230 with the tabletop sold separately for $60 to $80.  This month, buy the table for $230 and get a single-sided tabletop FREE (hurry in for the table deal, we’re expecting a quick sell-out).

Sodor Collector’s Pack is $10.50 (65% off)

Mountain Overpass Set is $59.99 (save $40)

Knapford Bridge Figure 8 Set is $34.99 (save $15)

Sodor Quarry Mine Tunnel Set is $59.99 (save $40)

And the following trains can be purchased as Buy One Get One HALF OFF: Lights and Sounds Thomas, Lights and Sounds James, Lights and Sounds Percy, Sodor Chicken Cars, Sodor Dairy Cars.

Peruse our gobs of creepy candies and loot bags. Gummy fangs, brains, and boogers!  Flavored Crickettes and Larvets!  Halloween PEZ!

Check out our new shipment of Aeromax brand kids’ Halloween costumes, available in sizes 2-3, 4-6, or 6-8.  Pictured is the Jr. Airline Pilot $48 - the size 6-8 jacket fits some Terra Toys employees!  Also available: Jr. Flight Suit, Explorer, Astronaut, Physician, Dr. Scrubs, Nurse, Executive Chef, Mail Courier, all $32-$55.

Also, we’ve mega-beefed-up our usual stock of knight and princess costumes and accessories, and we have lots of interesting facial features and body crayons.  And thanks go to our young friend Casey for modeling our some of our most excellent Halloween delights:

LEFT: Felt pirate skull hat $10, Frankenstein mask $1, Flashing gliding eyeballs $3, Creepy vinyl gloves $30, Warm-fuzzy puff scarf $12

RIGHT: Wonka-esque top hat $20, Eerie eye glasses $5.50, Poe, Suntan Target, and Icebat Uglydolls $20, Little Cinko Uglydoll $10

Last, but not least, Groovy Girls are still totally in fashion and up-to-date with the Halloween 2008 doll:

Come get some Halloween gear, and have a happy haunting

Avast, scurvy dogs!  Although International Talk Like a Pirate Day has ARRRReady passed, all ye scalawags can still celebrate the adventure of the high seas.

LOOT is a quick game, playable in about 20 minutes.  The instructions may seem a bit wordy at a glance, but the rules are easy to remember after playing one round.  Players begin with 6 cards.  On your turn, you may lay down a merchant ship (if you have one), play a pirate ship on someone else’s merchant ship, or draw another card to beef up your hand.  (This is one of the only games we’ve seen where you either draw or play on your turn, but not both).  Players may play pirate ships to defend their own merchant ships, and any card that makes one round without contest goes to the last player who made a move on that ship.  Admirals and Pirate Captains nearly guarantee victory on a vessel and are thus available in very limited supply.

Merchant ships have different values, so players have incentives to save up their pirate ships and wait to compete for more coveted merchant ships.  On the other hand, a thoughtful player might snatch up all the low-valued merchants while everyone else is too focused on a single high-value ship.  Yet another player may use most of his turns to stockpile useful attack ships.  There are several useful strategies to consider in this game, and it is best suited for players ages 10 years and older.

2 to 8 players makes this a fun party game, especially if you all use maritime slang and wear pirate hats.

Official Site

In a Pickle is a game that will expand your imagination.  Players hold cards marked with nouns both tangible (pickle, portrait, zoo) and intangible (universe, chaos, space).  Some are also ambiguous (pickle - food or conundrum, head - cranium or bathroom, etc).  Each turn requires a person to play one of their cards onto another card which could fit into the played card.  As you can see in the picture, there is juice in a pickle, a pickle is in the supermarket, and the supermarket is in a parking lot.  The player to place the fourth card on a stack claims the whole stack, unless the next player can continue the stack by playing an even "bigger" card. 

This makes for some very interesting imagery:  There is artificial flavoring in the turkey which has been placed in a hole that I found in the fog which is only found in my memory. 

You might think you’ve stumped everyone by playing the universe card, but the next player can play the portrait card - hey, haven’t several people painted the universe?  (All plays can be challenged, so be prepared to explain yourself!)

2 to 6 players

Ages 10 and up (for reading and concepts).  Adults will enjoy this one, too.