Portal:Toys
The Toys Portal

A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones.
Playing with toys can be an enjoyable way of training young children for life experiences. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys. Newer forms of toys include interactive digital entertainment and smart toys. Some toys are produced primarily as collectors' items and are intended for display only. (Full article...)
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Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage Patch Kids' by Roger L. Schlaifer when he acquired the exclusive worldwide licensing rights in 1982.
The doll brand set every toy industry sales record for three years running, was one of the most popular lines of children's licensed products in the 1980s, and has become one of the longest-running doll franchises in the United States. Additional Cabbage Patch products include children's apparel, bedding, infants' wear, record albums and board games. (Full article...)
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A rubber duck is a toy shaped like a stylised yellow-billed duck, and it is generally yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic. The yellow rubber duck has achieved an iconic status in Western pop culture and is often symbolically linked to bathing. Various novelty variations of the toy are produced.
Did you know...
- ... that Elizabeth II's childhood toys at 145 Piccadilly included 30 toy horses and a farm set collected from Woolworths?
- ... that Taylor Swift released a demo containing lyrics that were trimmed from the final version of her song "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"?
- ... that before becoming a voice actor, Kikunosuke Toya was the keyboardist of an all-male Princess Princess cover band in high school?
- ... that "Toy Town" was said to have "almost destroyed" the happy hardcore scene?
- ... that the case Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc. was considered essential to the future of video game modding in the United States in 1992?
- ... that the design for the water playground at Chelsea Waterside Park was criticized because local residents thought that the sprinklers resembled sex toys?
- ...that The Brady Bunch actress Maureen McCormick was one of the many people who voiced the 1960s toy Chatty Cathy?
- ...that the Love Tester, created in 1969, was the first product by Nintendo to use real electronic components?
- ...that Silly Bandz, popular silicone bracelets that spring into a shape when taken off, have been banned in classrooms for being too distracting?
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Types: • Doll • Vehicle • Puzzle • Teddy bear
Industry: • American Specialty Toy Retailing Association • Birmingham toy industry • International Union of Allied Novelty and Production Workers • Kiddicraft • Play value • Toy safety • Toy store • Toyetic • Wooden toymaking in the Ore Mountains
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- Arts • Entertainment • Visual arts • Games
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- Toys
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- Board and table games • G.I. Joe • Lego • My Little Pony • Transformers
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- Animation • Anime and manga • Biography • Comics • Film • Fictional characters • Media franchises • Music • Television • Video games
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