Looking to get a jump start on your holiday toy shopping? Toy Insider Editor-in-Chief Ali Mierzejewski stopped by Good Day Columbus to show off some of the hottest toys of the holiday season. For more on the items featured in this segment, check out the product notes below, and for the complete rundown of the best toys of the holiday season, be sure to check our complete Toy Insider Holiday Gift Guide.
- These hot new surprise dolls combine fun, fashion, and lots and lots of gorgeous colorful hair!
- Noah and her girl squad have “Big Hair Don’t Care” attitudes and love to share their passions with the world via the Hairdorables channel on YouTube.
- Each doll is based on one of the 12 iconic girls from the Hairdorables videos, and these BFFs live up to the “Hairdorables” name with a variety of unique luxe hairstyles in vibrant colors!
- Just pull, peel, and reveal 11 surprise accessories and fashions that unwrap the unique personality, style, and talent of the Hairdorables girl hidden inside!
- There are a total of 36 Hairdorables dolls to collect in Series 1, including two rare and one ULTRA-rare, for mix-and-match outfits and endless styling possibilities.
- Ages: 3+
- MSRP: $12.99
- Available: Amazon, Target, Best Buy, Walmart
RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES TURTLE TANK (PLAYMATES)
- As seen in Nickelodeon’s new animated series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello builds a villain-bustin’ Turtle Tank to transport the Turtles through New York City and the realms below with all the fire power needed to kick some shell!
- The Turtle Tank is two toys in one. It transforms from vehicle mode into a Mobile Ops unit with a towering secret lab!
- In vehicle mode, the front cab opens and two Turtles can sit inside, driving the brothers into action.
- Then, Donatello’s removable lab rises up and serves as the mobile command headquarters as the Turtles spy and plan to defeat the baddies below.
- The Turtle Tank is compatible with the Shell Hog vehicles (can be connected to each side of the tank) and even fires them off when the Turtles need to get to the battle fast.
- It is also compatible with Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles basic action figures (sold separately).
- Ages: 4+
- MSRP: $34.99
- Available: Target, Walmart, Amazon
SMOOSHY MUSHY BABIES (REDWOODVENTURES)
Special Delivery: It’s Smooshy Mushy Babies!
- A magic baby bottle holds the Smooshy babies you’ve been waiting to adopt.
- Pop the top to find out which baby the stork brought.
- Each baby also comes with a cute squishy plushies Bestie.
- There are six to collect in the first wave!
- Ages: 5+
- MSRP: $14.99
- Available: Amazon, Target, Walmart
- Who will reign supreme in the ultimate snack eating competition?
- The hilarious CHOW CROWN game puts a fun twist on viral food eating challenges!
- To play, kids can load the six hanging forks with various food items of your choosing.
- Place the spinning crown on your head, and try to eat as many snacks as possible before the music stops to keep your crown!
- The Chow Crown game can be played solo or in a head-to-head tournament.
- The game includes electronic crown, six plastic forks, and instructions.
- Food not included.
- Adult assembly and supervision required.
- Ages: 8+
- MSRP: $19.99
- Available: Walmart, Target, Amazon, hasbrotoyshop.com
- Kids can create squishy, slimy spheres with OOZ-O’S.
- Combine the included ingredients to form oozing slimy spheres that are ready for popping, squeezing, and squishing to reveal colorful, sparkling goo inside.
- OOZ-O’s themes include mermaid, unicorn, galaxy, and monster.
- Each kit includes an OOZ-O’S slime Maker, three colors of paint, embellishments or toys to hide inside each sphere, mixing tools, and chemical reactions to activate the slime.
- OOZ-O’s is a hands-on way to introduce kids to chemistry and express their own creativity.
- Ages: 6+
- MSRP: $5.00
- Available: Michael’s, Target, Walmart, 5 Below
VEX BATTLING BOXING ROBOTS (HEXBUG)
- These battling robots combine the gameplay of Rock em Sock em Robots with the balancing action of a Segway!
- With this fun, motorized building set, kids can build up their own robots that include a “smart-tech” self-stabilizing feature.
- Kids can drive and control it with the VEX Pilot mobile app, which enables updates to push automatically to the robot from your phone, ensuring you always have the most up to date robot.
- Compatible with the VEX IQ platform used by over 1 million students in classrooms and global competitions.
- Ages: 8+
- MSRP: $89.99 (single robot); $149.99 (two-pack)
- Available: Target, Amazon, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, hexbug.com
SCULPTAPALOOZA (EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS)
- Ready? Set? Sculpt! Arts & crafts meet game night in this fast-paced, hands-on party game!
- Two teams take turns drawing cards and using squishy, squashy Playfoam to sculpt what they see.
- But hold on tight! You might have to sculpt with your eyes closed, use your sculpture as a charades prop, or tag team with another player.
- Guess what your team sculpted before time runs out to score a point. The first team to earn 20 points wins the game!
- Ages: 10+
- MSRP: $19.99
- Available: Amazon
MYSTERY FLYING SNITCH (WOW! STUFF)
- Every Harry Potter fan knows that a game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught. Now fans of the ultimate wizarding sport will be able to connect with their inner Seeker and wow their friends as they attempt to catch the new Mystery Flying Snitch as it appears to magically fly about them.
- The Mystery Flying Snitch is suspended by a high tensile Aramid fibre thread. The thread is approximately twice as strong as steel of the same thickness, but almost totally invisible from 6 feet, allowing you to recreate magical scenes from the Harry Potter films.
- This new incarnation of the famous winged Quidditch ball is ideal for cosplay and each kit comes with a free Quidditch poster for inspiration and display plinth.
- Ages: 6+
- MSRP: $24.99
- Available: Target
