Thursday — March 23, 2017

Here's a quick note before we dive into this week's installment of the Toy Fair Report.

Our new Boy Pattern Bundle, which features our popular Unisex T-Shirt, Boy Style Pants and Cargo Shorts and Classic Ball Cap and Trucker Hat patterns, will be in our Etsy shop at ONE THIRD OFF the prices of the individual patterns through the end of March only. On April 1, the price of the bundle will go up, so don't wait much longer to get this awesome deal!

The Lee & Pearl Toy Fair 2017 Report — Part Two: Favorites from the Floor

Welcome back! This week, we're taking you on a tour of all our favorite booths and items at Toy Fair. We'll be looking at toys of all kinds — EXCEPT dolls, that is.

The doll section at this year's Toy Fair was so densely packed with stuff we know you'll want to see, that we're going to need another week — or even two — to cover it. So stay tuned for further installments!

We're starting our tour outside the main hall, in an area of overflow booths in the lower lobby. We were surprised to see century-old luxury stuffed animal company Steiff set up in this area, which usually features new companies and new concepts.

Remember that "tiering" we mentioned in Part One of our Toy Fair Report as a future direction for Mattel and American Girl™?

Well, that's what Steiff is doing here. This lobby booth debuted a new line of "value priced" soft plush versions of some of Steiff's expensive mohair-and-velvet originals. This is an interesting — if risky — direction for the company, and we'll be watching to see how it works out.

Meanwhile, at the downstairs lobby booth of My First Lab, former chemist "Lee" was impressed by the microscope kits on display.

My First Lab is a relatively new venture with a hard-science pedigree courtesy of parent company C & A Scientific, which has sold professional lab equipment for over twenty-five years.

Just when you're thinking, "Dang, I wish those came in doll size!" — look, squishy foam booth favors! This was our first piece of swag at this year's fair, and it's perfect for our scientist Kit.

Moving on to the Main Floor, we were happy to see two of our favorite large booths in their familiar spots: Hotaling Imports and KidKraft.

Here's "Lee" at Hotaling, which features stylish European manufacturers like Djeco (paper crafts and modern dollhouses) and Liontouch (awesome foam weapons).

We always want everything in the Hotaling booth, and this year was no exception.

Pearl says, "If I'm ever on a Twilight Zone episode where I'm stuck in a doll house, could it please be this modern beauty from Djeco?"

And here's the wall of amazing toy kitchens at KidKraft. Pearl would like whoever designed these beauties to come and do her new house.

Hey, KidKraft is in Dallas. Maybe they would?

This KidKraft spaceship doll house isn't new, but it's been one of our favorites for the last few years. As sci-fi loving children, we would have KILLED for this one back in the day.

Along with their usual assortment of traditional and contemporary dollhouses, KidKraft debuted a line of Disney Princess-themed dollhouses this year, with a unique house — or castle — for each girl. Ariel's palace even has a flooded basement, so King Triton can stop by for a visit!

Taking a quick detour to the downstairs hall at the fair, a different kid furniture company — Teamson — debuted a line of 18" doll-sized play sets, including this somewhat familiar-looking jungle hut and delightful tropical beach shack, with detachable dock.

Nice work, Teamson. We look forward to seeing more from you in the future!

Former costume designer "Pearl" always loves seeing what's new in the world of kid's costumes at the fair. Here are a few items that caught her eye this year.

These are from the "Book Report Heroes" line from Underwraps. Cool, huh?

And these pretty fabric masks are from Douglas.

This dragon-rider costume is from Princess Paradise. It's another one we would have killed for as kids.

Here's Blankie Tails, on the floor with mermaid tails for kids — and dolls.

And this chain mail set is quite the departure from plastic-jewelry-kit company Connect's otherwise mostly pink collection.

Medieval purist "Lee" isn't sure how she feels about this one as real chain mail links should connect on all sides, but "Pearl" digs it.

Everyone at the fair agreed that the tabletop-and-family-game and outdoor-and-active categories remain huge, innovative draws. Among those booths, we loved the Steampunk style at Professor Puzzle. And we'll always have a soft-spot for Kettler.

Though we weren't lucky enough to have a "Kettcar" pedal car as kids, one of our best friends did — and she let us ride it!

We started this tour at Steiff, so let's end it at animal figure-and-puppet companies Hansa and Folkmanis, two of our yearly favorites at the fair.

Aren't these Folkmanis chicken puppets wonderful? If only they were doll size...

These baby deer from Hansa are perfectly doll-sized — and so, so cute. Pictures don't do them justice.

And don't forget the Folkmanis finger puppets, which are often doll-scaled. We have quite a few of them in the workroom, including this marvelous, piratical parrot which we featured in our Halloween Pictorial.

That's all for this week. Stay tuned for our next installment of the 2017 Toy Fair Report, which will be... ALL ABOUT DOLLS!

See you next Thursday!