toys – News Stories About toys - Page 3

He's 6 Years Old
and Makes Millions
on YouTube

He's 6 Years Old and Makes Millions on YouTube

Ryan reviews, plays with toys for his family's channel and helps pull in $11M a year

(Newser) - Meet Ryan. He's 6 years old, likes to play with toys, and has just been listed as one of Forbes' highest-earning YouTube celebrities. Per Business Insider , the young entrepreneur, who hosts his family's Ryan ToysReview channel on the video-sharing site, helped his household bring in about $11 million...

The Fingerling Is
This Year's
Must-Have Toy

Dec 10, 2017 1:25 PM CST

The Fingerling Is This Year's Must-Have Toy

The robotic monkey is hard to find on shelves or online

(Newser) - The hottest toy this holiday season might just be a five-inch robotic monkey that grabs onto your fingers, passes gas, and sings a tune. The Fingerling is this year's Beanie Baby or Cabbage Patch Doll. The $15 creature that blinks and snores is coveted by millions of kids, and...

'Secret Santa' Pays Off $10K
in Toy Store Layaway Orders

Nov 26, 2017 10:45 AM CST

'Secret Santa' Pays Off $10K in Toy Store Layaway Orders

The generous stranger footed the bill for 62 orders at a New Jersey Toys 'R' Us

(Newser) - On Friday a man walked into a Toys "R" Us in Cherry Hill, NJ, with the intention of doing a little holiday shopping for his son, and walked out having paid for the layaway orders of more than 60 strangers. NJ.com reports that this "secret Santa,"...

Consumer Group Unveils
Year's 10 Worst Toys

Nov 15, 2017 2:10 AM CST

Consumer Group Unveils Year's 10 Worst Toys

Fidget spinners, Wonder Woman sword made the list

(Newser) - Fidget spinners, a plastic Wonder Woman battle sword, and a remote-controlled Spider-Man drone are among the toys topping a consumer safety group's annual list of the worst toys for the holidays. World Against Toys Causing Harm, or WATCH, unveiled the top 10 list Tuesday at a Boston children's...

Behold 3 New Entrants
Into Toy Hall of Fame

Nov 9, 2017 12:29 PM CST

Behold 3 New Entrants Into Toy Hall of Fame

Wiffle Ball and game of Clue among them

(Newser) - The National Toy Hall of Fame is getting three new entrants, and they're familiar ones: the board game Clue, the Wiffle Ball, and the paper airplane, reports the AP . This year's other finalists were the game Risk, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox cars, My Little Pony, Pez candy dispenser,...

Target's Fidget Spinners Could Be Poisoning Kids

Target Won't Take
'Not Safe' Fidget
Spinners Off Shelves

NEW REPORT

Nov 9, 2017 9:25 AM CST

Target Won't Take 'Not Safe' Fidget Spinners Off Shelves

US PIRG report says the toys have high lead levels; Target says they're not kids' products

(Newser) - A maker of one of the hottest products of the year has just found itself in a bucket of hot water. According to a consumer advocacy group, two fidget spinners supplied to Target by Iowa-based Bulls-i-Toy contain lead at up to 330 times the federal legal limit for toys. Inspired...

He 'Lost' a Toy
When He Was 7.
40 Years Later,
It's Found

Sep 27, 2017 9:31 AM CDT

He 'Lost' a Toy When He Was 7. 40 Years Later, It's Found

Playmobil cone sat in man's lung for decades, until docs extracted it

(Newser) - For more than a year, he had a nagging cough. Finally, the 47-year-old from the UK went to a clinic—and got the surprise of his life. The BBC reports that X-rays showed a spot on the man's lung, but it wasn't a tumor. It was a "...

Are Fidget Spinners a Plot
Against Russian Government?

Are Fidget Spinners a Plot Against Russian Government?

Probably not, but don't tell state-run media that

(Newser) - Fidget spinners are the hot new children's toy this year—but maybe they're also an American plot to topple the Russian government? "Those who understand political technologies, they understand very clearly that this simple thing is controlling the masses," the New York Times quotes the editor...

China's Hottest New
Toy Shoots Needles

Jun 23, 2017 10:56 AM CDT

China's Hottest New Toy Shoots Needles

Parents are no fans of the mini-crossbows

(Newser) - Powerful mini-crossbows that shoot toothpicks and needles are the new must-have toy for schoolkids across China—and a nightmare for concerned parents and school officials, reports the AP . Several cities including Shenzhen and Qingdao have reportedly banned sales of the palm-sized contraptions, which sell for about $1 and are powerful...

'Odd Retching'
Noise, Then a
Mom's Panic

May 18, 2017 10:29 AM CDT

'Odd Retching' Noise, Then a Mom's Panic

Her 10-year-old daughter had swallowed a piece of her fidget spinner toy

(Newser) - Fidget spinners, the hottest toy on the market, may also pose a serious choking risk. So says a mother in a Facebook post that's gone viral with more than 710,000 shares after her 10-year-old daughter swallowed one of the toy's weighted bearings. Kelly Rose Joniec, a Houston-area...

Amid Craze, Fidget Spinner
Inventor Makes Nothing

May 6, 2017 12:36 PM CDT

Amid Craze, Fidget Spinner Inventor Makes Nothing

A cash-strapped Catherine Hettinger let the patent expire

(Newser) - It's hard to make money if you don't have any. That's the lesson from Catherine Hettinger, who is credited with inventing the original fidget spinner about three decades ago. In 2004, she says she could not afford the $400 patent renewal fee and thereby had to surrender...

Target Recalls
Easter Toys That
Could Expand in
Kids' Stomachs

Apr 14, 2017 7:13 AM CDT

Target Recalls Easter Toys That Could Expand in Kids' Stomachs

CPSC issues pullback of 560K 'Hatch & Grow Easter Eggs'

(Newser) - No injuries have been reported yet, but some parents will have to alter their gift-giving plans after Target pulled back more than half a million Easter toys it says could be hazardous and even life-threatening for kids, NBC News reports. A Consumer Product Safety Commission "Fast Track" recall was...

Jan 16, 2017 12:33 PM CST

Parents: Popular Teething Toy Is Rife With Mold

Owner of Sophie the Giraffe says moisture has turned her toy into 'science experiment'

(Newser) - Sophie the Giraffe, a squeaky rubber teething toy, has become all the rage the past few years, despite a relatively steep price tag— Quartz noted in June its $24.99 cost compared with simpler teething toys that retail for less than $5. But Sophie's popularity may take a hit...

The Year's
Hottest Toy
Is a Dud
for Many

The Year's Hottest Toy Is a Dud for Many

Spin Master says it's reviewing all complaints

(Newser) - Kristen Capeci's goal was "to bring a little extra happiness to my nephew and my nieces" by getting them the hottest toy of the season . Instead, she's one of scores of Hatchimals customers frustrated by dud toys that have failed to hatch from their eggs as promised...

He Bet His Life and
Brought Joy to Millions

LONGFORM

Dec 30, 2016 12:03 AM CST

He Bet His Life and Brought Joy to Millions

'Newsweek' tells of the remarkable life of Henry Orenstein

(Newser) - His name is Henry Orenstein, and as a Newsweek profile makes clear, the 93-year-old New Jersey resident really ought to be a household name. For starters, he survived the Holocaust thanks to a risky gamble. For another, he's a prolific toy inventor and the brainchild behind the Transformers franchise....

The Year's Hot Toy: Hatchimals

Dec 7, 2016 6:34 PM CST

The Year's Hot Toy: Hatchimals

People are going to insane lengths to get their hands on them

(Newser) - The holiday's hottest toy is so hot it sold 400,000 units in just seven weeks, outpacing the infamous Tickle Me Elmo, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. It's so hot moms in Utah braved 20-degree weather to line up outside a Target at 4:45am just in hopes...

In Pizzeria's 25-Cent
Toy Machine, Kid Finds ... Pills?

Oct 26, 2016 12:40 PM CDT

In Pizzeria's 25-Cent Toy Machine, Kid Finds ... Pills?

Police are investigating how prescription meds ended up in the machine

(Newser) - A mother's alarming Facebook post about a 25-cent vending machine dispensing medication instead of toys to her 7-year-old daughter has gone viral in the days before Halloween. Courtney Jones allowed her mother to give her youngest daughter, Allyson, three quarters at the Rochester House of Pizza in New Hampshire...

Teddy Ruxpin Is Back to
Delight/Terrify New Generation

Oct 1, 2016 1:02 PM CDT

Teddy Ruxpin Is Back to Delight/Terrify New Generation

The new-and-improved bear features LCD eyes and a 40-story hard-drive

(Newser) - The bear is back: CNN reports a new-and-improved Teddy Ruxpin will be released next year. The original talking bear, released in 1985, was one of the first animatronic toys ever and one of the best-selling toys of all time, according to Gizmodo . Teddy Ruxpin 1985 had a moving mouth and...

Everyone Wants
This $19 Toy
for Fidgeters

Sep 18, 2016 9:11 AM CDT

Everyone Wants This $19 Toy for Fidgeters

Fidget Cube nabs $4.5M so far on Kickstarter

(Newser) - If you can't stop fidgeting, Matthew and Mark McLachlan say they have just the thing for you: Fidget Cube, which an ad helpfully explains is "a cube that you fidget with." The tiny desk toy—which has buttons to push, a ball to roll, a dial to...

How This 'Fastest-Growing
Company' Lost Everything

longform

Aug 28, 2016 4:52 PM CDT

How This 'Fastest-Growing Company' Lost Everything

Inc. goes inside the 'cautionary tale' of Fuhu

(Newser) - Nearly a year after the once extremely promising and successful tablet company Fuhu went broke, Inc. sat down with CEO Jim Mitchell and President Robb Fujioka—the "headstrong" mastermind—to sort out what went wrong where. The great unraveling of a company that was No. 1 on the Inc....