Fairfield, NJ, February 18, 2017 - Alex Brands®, a family of brands comprised of some of the most iconic, recognizable and award winning products in the toy industry, today revealed its new introductions at the 2017 North American International Toy Fair®. Alex Brands continues its commitment to helping children become more active and develop their imagination and creativity, with an exciting line-up of more than 200 new products in numerous categories of play, including: crafts, DIY and spa, STEM, outdoor, games, classic and preschool.
“Each year we strive to introduce innovative, on-trend products and this year is no exception,” said Neil Friedman, CEO of Alex Brands. “In addition to the more than 200 products we’re introducing at Toy Fair, we are delighted to unveil ALEX Toys Sweetlings™, a new mini segment that turns the current trend of food decorating into an entertaining and imaginative craft for children.”
Alex Brands’ 2017 range of new introductions includes:
CRAFTS, DIY and SPA
ALEX Toys reveals Sweetlings™, a new segment that captures current decorating food trends into an amazingly fun and addicting craft. Kids can make their Sweetlings characters come alive as they customize them with whipped clay, fun accessories and a touch of the secret ingredient: Love! Get creative with cupcakes, cake pops, donuts and more!
The new DIY craft kits from ALEX Toys will keep tweens on trend as they transform into the ultimate creators. The ALEX DIY Happy Little Loom™ is a portable and easy hand held loom which allows them to weave in multiple widths for making projects such as a belt, bracelet, scarf, headband, purse, phone case and much more.
Splash into a comfy mermaid tail! ALEX DIY Knot-A Mermaid adds to the popular Knot-A Collection. Includes precut glittery fleece and felt shapes that are ready to assemble. Just knot and stitch to make a fabulous glittering climb-in blanket.
Shrinky Dinks™ combines classic play patterns with current trends in jewelry with the new Shrinky Dinks™ 3D Heart Link Jewelry Kit. Kids can custom color the precut Shrinky Dinks sheets, bake them in the heart mold, then link together to make necklaces and bracelets.
Also new is the Shrinky Dinks™ Mini Artist Activity Set, where anyone can color fun art designs on pre-printed Shrinky Dinks sheets. Bake, shrink and frame your mini work of art! Use the easels to display on a counter top or hang on a wall to create a mini art gallery!
ALEX Toys continues to set trends and innovate by introducing new items in the spa category. ALEX Spa Glitzy Locks™ is the must have sparkle station! With lots of sequins and the perfect applicator kids can add glitz to their hair with the press of a button. Add sequin shapes like hearts, flowers, stars & 3D butterflies to your hair. The reusable sequins easily comb out and work with all hair types!
Tweens can create their own colorful hypo-allergenic bath bombs in heart or globe shapes with the ALEX Spa DIY Bath Bombs. They’re able to create colorful rainbow-like bath bombs adding a beautiful scent for a luxurious bath experience!
STEM
ALEX Toys is helping set the foundation for higher learning and expanding preschoolers’ horizons with four fun and unique STEM-based products from the all new Future Coders™ line, including Robot Racers™, Cube Stackers™, Bunny Trails™, and Poppin’ Pictures™. Each of the toys fosters coding skills like sequencing, problem-solving and logical thinking.
Kids will be grossed-out as they conduct slimy experiments with the Scientific Explorer® Disgusting Zombie Parasites Kit to learn about disgusting lifecycle of nature’s real life zombies – parasites! Mix and make lifelike fungus parasites that grow inside, then burst out of their insect victims or watch the movement of a cockroach change as it becomes a zombie under the control of a jade wasp!
Kids will learn the mechanics and craftsmanship of Automata engineering, with the Scientific Explorer Auto-Motion Gear Horse. Using precut wood pieces, gears, connectors and axles, kids are able to assemble a mechanical wooden horse that mimics lifelike movement, all at the turn of a crank.
OUTDOOR
Blaster fanatics will be impressed with the fresh Buzz Bee Toys® Air Warriors line-up for 2017, with three new categories of darts: distance, performance and suction. The Air Warriors Blizzard features a double drum and 40 new long distance darts, designed for improved velocity to travel up to 100 feet. Building upon the success of its The Walking Dead line from 2016, Buzz Bee adds three new items for fans to recreate world domination, including Dwight’s Crossbow, Alpha’s Machete and Rick’s Revolver.
GAMES
Ideal® games have been popular for decades, and the fun continues in 2017 with several new family games for any age. What Did I Step In?™ is a memory game where two to four players use the mini-shoe with a suction-cup bottom to step on squares and match pairs. Players keep stepping until they have the most matches.
Pop it! Flip it! Spell it! with 4-Way Spelldown™. This spelling challenge for two to four players uses a wooden game board with flipping letter tiles and center dice popper. As the popper rolls the dice, the players flip their letters to make words with the dice letters, trying to be the first player to flip all the letter tiles.
CLASSIC
Emerging new in Slinky® this year is the Shimmer Slinky in three glistening colors including, aqua, purple and gold. This beloved award-winning toy has been a favorite since 1945 and comes in a mesmerizing, holographic package.
PRESCHOOL & BABY
Janod® welcomes a whole new role-play collection full of French charm, quality and originality for preschoolers. The Spicy Cooker Kitchen, Mademoiselle’s Dollhouse and Green Market Grocery are made of sturdy wood construction with modern illustrations and contain numerous working parts and coordinating accessories, all of which promote imaginative play and social development.
Kaloo® mixes innovative fabrics and textures, creating timeless as well as forward-thinking plush collections that are amazingly huggable. Kaloo’s classic and timeless collection, Plume, has been updated with new colors and comes wrapped in the customary beautiful gift box. The Rouge Kaloo Prestige Bear adds a nod to vintage design and style, reflected in sophisticated details and silky-smooth, silvery fur. The exceptionally large size (27” in height) guarantees real big hugs!
For more information, visit www.alexbrands.com
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ABOUT ALEX BRANDS
The ALEX BRANDS® family of brands is comprised of some of the most iconic, recognizable and award winning toys in the industry today. With a commitment to helping children become more active and develop their imagination and creativity, ALEX BRANDS offers toys for children of all ages. Brands include ALEX Toys®, POOF®, Slinky®, Ideal®, Backyard Safari®, Buzz Bee Toys®, Kaloo®, Janod®, ZOOB®, Scientific Explorer® and Shrinky Dinks®. Through their corporate contribution program, Alex Brands Cares™, they have created meaningful partnerships that brighten children’s days through play, and to give back to communities locally and nationwide. For more information, visit www.alexbrands.com, www.facebook.com/alextoys or www.twitter.com/alextoys.
