Earth Day (Earth Week, even) At My Favorite Toys!

April 22 is Earth Day, and we at My Favorite Toys and www.MyFavToys.com do celebrate our earth! We use recyclable paper and plastic bags for our brick and mortar store customers, and we re-use the cardboard boxes shipped to us by manufacturers for our on-line customers. Of course, we recycle all other paper and cardboard through our local community recycling program.

Now we are offering our customers two re-usable bags. Our spring green 21-inch My Favorite Toys logo bag has multiple uses --- a bag for groceries or office materials, a diaper bag, or even a toys tote! It also sports three side pockets for cell phones or granola bars. During April, buy it for $2.50 (below our cost), and receive a 15% one-time discount on whatever you can fit into it from our store!

Our other "green" bag is a bit more tongue-in-cheek. It's from those zany folks at Accoutrements, and reflects their off-the-wall humor. This forest green bag reads "My Reusable Bag Makes Me Better Than You."

We have a number of other products and books to help you celebrate Earth Day.....so "Come celebrate the Earth, come blow your horn...."(from Tom Chapin's CD, "This Pretty Planet," available at www.MyFavToys.com and My Favorite Toys at University Mall in Carbondale, IL.

Kite Day At Giant City School!

The winds of April were certainly blowing in Carbondale last week! Perfect for kite flying!

Pam Lindsey's second grade class at Giant City School took advantage of the brisk winds for its annual Kite Day. Mrs. Lindsey's class has been studying kite dynamics, and the Kite Day was the culmination of their study. As you can see above, it was a great success!

So what are some hints for successful kite flying? Design is the key to easy flying. A Delta design kite with added tails is the best kite for beginners. It has a stable design and needs no more than five mile an hour wind for success. According to Premier Kites, a primary supplier for kites for My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale,

The secret to easy kite launching is to make sure you have plenty of kite line unwound before you pull the kite up into the air. This will require a friend to hold the kite while you unroll your line. Let out about 50-100 feet of line and make sure your friend is pointing the kite's nose upward. More importantly, make sure the wind is at your back and the kite is directly downwind. When you are ready and can feel a good breeze, start pulling the line in quickly in a hand-over-hand fashion. The kite should immediately begin to rise. As the kite catches the wind and begins to stabilize, let out more line.

My Favorite Toys carries kites from $1.50 upwards to elaborate designs. And, yes, we still have some Delta kites left, although the Giant City students have made a dent in our inventory this past month!

Fea Bea Is Here!

Fea Bea, the newest Uglydoll, has arrived at http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale, IL!

Actually Fea Bea is an Ugly Stick, the perfect sidekick to have with you at all times in the Uglyverse. Fea Bea is the ultimate good luck charm and comes in either yellow or blue. If you are one of our zealous Uglydoll fans, Fea Bea is a "must get." If by some chance you have not yet entered the Uglyverse, check out our full line of Uglydolls today!

My Name Piggy Banks Are At My Favorite Toys!

At the very top of our best seller list at My Favorite Toys at University Mall in Carbondale IL have been the "My Name" products from the John Hinde Company. First the personalized mugs and then the sippy cups......

....and today we welcome the My Name Piggy Banks! You can choose from 104 popular names and eight other images or phrases. Here's a great way to give your young saver a motivation for socking away those coins for a rainy day. Maybe if that big bank or AIG executive had been given such a gift as a child, we'd have less need for taxpayer bailouts!

At this point these products are available at My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store, and not our online store, http://www.myfavtoys.com/. Web customers are quite welcome to email us at info@MyFavToys.com or call us at 618.529.TOYS to check available names or place an order.

Uglydoll Trunko - Freaking Out For Spring!

At our online store, www.MyFavToys.com/ and at My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale, IL, the Uglydolls plush characters are a big deal. One of the newest in the Uglydoll line is Trunko, who boasts a fairly calm-looking, spring-like hue.

But all Uglydolls have their own unique persoanlity, and Trunko is anything but calm! Plainly speaking, Trunko is over the top. He freaks out over everything and overreacting is his hobby.When the chips are down, he orders a million more chips at wholesale prices. Where there's smoke there's fire..and there's Trunko using a fire hose to put out his birthday candles. Full throttle, go go go...You know how you look before you leap? Yeah, that's not Trunko.

But, like all Uglydolls, Trunko is loveable, and a real friend, and he comes in several sizes. Visit http://www.myfavtoys.com/ or My Favorite Toys to check out Trunko and his many Uglydoll friends!

Some Comments About Toy Safety

Much, much, much has been written and discussed about toy safety during the past year. On February 10, new federal legislation went into effect regarding lead and phthalates in toy products intended for children under the age of twelve. In August, even tougher standards kick in.

As independent businesses, http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys at University Mall in Carbondale, IL strongly supported this legislation. We are members of the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association (ASTRA), which worked for passage of the new law.

Providing toys, games, and puzzles that are wholesome, safe, educational and creative is at the heart of http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys' mission. A family-operated business such as ours is vested in our local and online community of customers. We believe we are an excellent source for your family's toys:

1. As co-owners of MyFavToy.com, we make all purchasing decisions. Our products do not come from a giant, corporate distribution center. We work directly with manufacturers to assure that the products we offer are as safe, productive and fun as advertised. We have a combined 60+ years as educators and advocates for the development of children and adults with special needs. Plus, we have been parents and grandparents for more than three decades, so we share our customers’ personal concerns!

2. We listen to our customers! Because MyFavToys.com is a part of the My Favorite Toys family which operates a large brick and mortar store, we can incorporate personal customer experiences and requests into our inventory decisions. The minute any quality or safety issues come to light, that item is removed from our stock --- we don’t wait for a recall or “corporation decision from above.”

For instance, even though we never carried those magentic building sets with the small round magnets that could separate from the plastic rods, when such incidents occurred, we pulled all brands of such items from our shelves. Even though we are assured that safe versions of this toy are now on the shelves of the big box stores, we have not returned such items to our inventory.

3. We invest in trips to shows such as the International Toy Fair, where new and creative products are introduced. In such venues, we can personally examine products and question the manufacturers.

We are convinced that, because of the good-faith work of our manufacturing partners and new safeguards through the legislation, toys in general are even more safe today than a couple of years ago. And at http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys, we pledge to you our best efforts to reinforce these efforts.

As always, we welcome your questions, suggestions, and comments regarding the products we carry, or for that matter, toys you see elsewhere.

OK, we're stepping off our soapbox now..........

Samuel and Suzanne Cox,

Co-Owners

MyFavToys.com - Your Best Benders Site!

Those charming wire, magnetic goofy characters known as the Benders seem to be taking over http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale, IL!

We've blogged about these guys before and many of our customers know them well, including the newer introductions such as the Bender Cheerleaders --- Hailey, Ashley, Debbi and Will --- and the Flying Ace Bender Monkeys.

The latest 2009 offerings are the Egyptian Benders, Tut and Cleo, coming to http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys within the new few weeks.

But, alas and alak, hard-working Benders do eventually retire, and when they do, it's very, very difficult to find them. They go to South Bend or Bendianapolis or somewhere such to take it easy.

Two Benders items with limited remaining working lives are Recycling Joe and the Swimming Pool Benders, pictured above. Luckily, http://www.myfavtoys.com/ and My Favorite Toys still have supplies. So Bender fans, now's the time to grab these Benders if you have not already done so.

Recycling Joe is committed to keeping the earth green. We include Joe, the posable magnetic character, and a recycling bin to store precious metals like coins and paper clips! This is an ideal product for an evironmetally clean desktop.

And with temperatures rising to the 70s in southern Illinois this week, it's almost time to think SWIMMING POOL! Our Swimming Pool Benders include two characters: Ginger in a two-piece and Mojo with fins and a snorkel.

But both of these items are soon extinct, so visit http://www.myfavtoys.com/ today!