Chicago – Mighty dinosaur roars are resounding from the VTech booth (www.vtechkids.com) at this year’s American International Toy Fair in New York City, with the debut of the new Switch & Go Dinos. These transforming toys combine two of boys’ favorite play patterns, uniquely morphing back and forth from dinosaur to vehicle to provide an interactive 2-in-1 play experience for children ages 3-8.
“This year’s Toy Fair is particularly exciting for VTech as we are branching out to bring the innovation we are known for beyond the learning toy aisle,” said Tom McClure, Director of Marketing for VTech Electronics North America. “VTech strives to serve as a trusted brand for moms, and Switch & Go Dinos, just like our other toys, is consistent with our mission to let kids have fun while enriching their development in new ways.”
In as few as four simple steps, Switch & Go Dinos morph between dinosaur and vehicle, transforming before kids’ eyes with little to no frustration. Each toy comes equipped with an LCD screen for customized animation, dinosaur and vehicle sound effects and educational dinosaur facts. These features combine to bring each Switch & Go Dino to life, offering kids a personalized, immersive and enriching play experience. Kids can further personalize the toy by selecting animated dinosaur eyes when in dinosaur form and driver faces when in vehicle form.
The Switch & Go Dinos line features seven unique and collectable dinosaur/vehicle toys beginning at US$15.99, including Brok the Brachiosaurus, Span the Spinosaurus, Attila the Ankylosaurus, Sliver the T-Rex, T-Don the Pteranodon, Tonn the Stegosaurus and Horns the Triceratops.
VTech is also unveiling two completely new innovations for toddlers and infants, with Cogsley, an educational robot toy, and the Alphabet Activity Cube.
Cogsley
A perfect learning companion, Cogsley, the kid-friendly educational robot toy comes with a set of 30 chips – round plastic tokens, printed with letters, words and pictures, that are recognized by him on his LCD display, triggering a variety of responses including, movements, sounds, images and animations. The chips help Cogsley teach children learning fundamentals including letters, counting, words, manners and even basic Spanish, French, Chinese and German language skills. Cogsley also comes with chips that make him dance and exercise, stimulating children’s senses with music and songs.
Cogsley is full of personality and movement too, making this the ultimate educational and interactive friend for kids. He is equipped with five interactive body movements including twistable ears and a spinning nose and eyes, all enhancing children’s motor skills. The robot even features a sound detector; clap, sing or shout and the robot will hear you and respond with a variety of expressions and movements, providing endless entertainment. Cogsley is designed for children ages 3-6. (SRP: US$39.99)
Alphabet Activity Cube
The learning starts early with the Alphabet Activity Cube, as it is an educational cube equipped with many features that focus on building developmental skills. Teaching the ABCs is easy and fun while playing with the cube’s 13 building blocks with all 26 letters of the alphabet on them. Each letter can be stacked on the top of the cube for building activities and the added benefit of developing fine and gross motor skills. Additionally, the building blocks can be snapped into the block reader to learn more about each letter.
The learning continues with the cubes’ other interactive activities, including five piano keys, a number keypad and a telephone. Little ones can practice visual and verbal number recognition with the number keypad. The telephone provides opportunities for role playing and more practice with numbers. Children have fun and make music with the five piano keys, all while exercising motor skills and learning musical tones.
The other sides of the cube include exciting mechanical elements that stimulate the senses and teach cause and effect, such as a pin maze, shape sorter that leads to a storage area, sliders, turning gears, a mirror and more. The Alphabet Activity Cube is designed for children 9-36 months. (SRP: US$49.99)
VTech called upon their esteemed panel of advisors to provide counsel and advice on the creation of these new toys, to ensure they satisfy both the development and attention required of kids in these age groups.
“Young children will find VTech’s new toys fun and engaging, while parents will appreciate the physical stimulation and exposure to new languages and pre-reading skills,” says neuroscientist Dr. Lise Eliot, a child development expert and author of, “What’s Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.”
Starting in Fall 2012, the toys will be available at Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and other major retailers and online at www.vtechkids.com and www.amazon.com. For more information and images of Switch & Go Dinos and the other toys mentioned above, please visit http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/kit/i3uc.
About VTech
VTech, the creator of the Electronic Learning Products (ELP) category and the award-winning V.Smile TV Learning System, is a world leader of age-appropriate learning toys. Since 1980, VTech has been developing high-quality, innovative educational products that enrich children’s development, from birth to preteen, through fun and smart play.
VTech Electronics North America, LLC is based in Arlington Heights, Ill. VTech Electronics Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with distribution throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
For more information on VTech’s additional product lines, visit www.vtechkids.com/switchandgodinos, www.facebook.com/VTechtoys on Facebook or follow @VTechToys on Twitter. Also, be sure to follow our ultimate Switch & Go Dino Brok the Brachiosaurus on his first journey to Toy Fair on Twitter @Broksays.
