As they do every year, the personnel at NORAD — now aided by the elves at Google – help children round the world see where Santa is, as Christmas Day dawns round the world. This website has a world map with locations visited and videos of Santa!
You can also track Santa on Google Earth, if that works better for you.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
We’ve just received most of the new 2012 figures from toymaker Schleich. In keeping with Schleich’s tradition of quality toy-making, these new toys — from African Elephants to Storks — are beautiful and playable.
The equine group receives 12 new models, as follows:
The horses range in price from $5.99 for the foals to $9.29 for the adults.
#13682, Shropshire lamb
On the farm animal front, Schleich has introduced the Shropshire sheep (#13681, $7.49) and Shropshire lamb (#13682, $3.99). Also new, and perhaps reflecting the increasing popularity of dairy goat-keeping in North America and Europe, are the Dwarf Goat family (#13715, Dwarf Goat, $5.99; #13716, Dwarf Goat kid, $3.99; and #13717, Dwarf Goat bleating, $3.99). The farm animal section also welcomes a series of Alpacas (#13703, Alpaca stallion, $7.49; #13704, Alpaca mare, $7.49; and #13705, Alpaca foal, $5.99).
As they have done in past years, Schleich divides its animal models into five distinct price groupings, identifying each group by a coloured dot on the UPC tag. This makes it easy to figure out the price on any given model, simply by looking for the coloured dot and comparing it to the price sheet on the store display.
#14660, Polar bear cub
There are several new animals that fall into the “wild” or “exotic” categories. Some are new sculptures of old favourites, such as the polar bears (#14659, Polar bear, $9.29; #14660, Polar bear cub, $3.99) and the gorillas (#14661, Gorilla male, $9.29; #14662, Gorilla female with baby, $9.29; #14663, Gorilla baby, $3.99).
Some, like the Four-Toed Hedgehog (#14676, $3.99) and the skunk (#14672, $3.99) are, I’m pretty sure, entirely new creatures to the Schleich universe of animals. It will be great to have these little critters to add to the collection!
There are also new human figures available, including a new Farmer (#13467, $7.49) and Farmer’s wife (#13468, $7.49). The new figures also include some children, modelled so that they can “play” with the dogs and other animals.
Schleich’s growing collection of plastic animals, medieval figures, and fairy characters offers a world of imaginative possibility to the children in your life, a world that they can shape and enjoy on their own terms.
“The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.”
– Carl Jung
Have a happy and peaceful holiday.
Karin & Richard Belanger
“I never do any television without chocolate. That’s my motto and I live by it. Quite often I write the scripts and I make sure there are chocolate scenes. Actually I’m a bit of a chocolate tart and will eat anything. It’s amazing I’m so slim.”
– Dawn French, actress
Chocolate has been enjoyed for at least 3,000 years, first by the native peoples of Mesoamerica, who concocted a thin and bitter drink from the processed cacao beans. Later, of course, the Spanish conquistadors would introduce chocolate to Europe, where it quickly gained a reputation as a status drink thanks to its scarcity and high cost.
The use of chocolate in candy-making did not become widespread until the 18th century, when cocoa butter could be produced using machinery and crafted into chocolate bars and other forms of confectionery. It is now, along with sugar, the world’s most popular candy component.
My Chocolate Boutique from toymaker Fashion Angels allows young chocolatiers to craft their own fanciful confections from pure chocolate, carob, and candy-melt products, all easily available at groceries and bulk food stores (and so, parents, you control the ingredients). The kit contains a battery-powered chocolate melting machine with easy-to-clean metal melting bowl, 55 candy molds, foil candy wrappers, candy cups, clear candy wrappers, gift boxes, labels, and more!
And — if you can bear to give them away — these candies make great gifts for uncles and aunts, grandmas and grandpas, teachers and babysitters. (I’m just saying. Remember to brush.)
My Chocolate Boutique. CAD$32.99. In stock now.
Now that even the tail end of the Baby Boom generation is approaching retirement age, we are developing our own forms of nostalgia for the experiences of youth. In the store, we are seeing a fresh interest in retro toys, the toys that we grew up with — classic games, action figures, fashion dolls, and activities. Two of the most popular retro toys on our store shelves this Christmas are the Chatter Telephone and the Two Tune Music Box TV from Fisher-Price by way of Basic Fun toys.
The Chatter Telephone was introduced in 1961, billed as “the ultimate pretend play toy” with its friendly interactive design. Technology may have changed — how many children have ever seen a dial telephone? — but this iconic pull toy remains as engaging as ever. The eyes still roll up and down when the telephone is pulled along by a toddler, and the dial makes a chiming sound. Bri-i-ing! Bri-i-ing!
The Two Tune Music Box TV has been charming children since 1966. Wind up the yellow plastic knob (remember when televisions had knobs?) and watch the pictures scroll across the screen. The TV plays “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and “London Bridge is Falling Down”. It does not come in an 80-inch version, or in 3D, and you can’t use your Xbox with it — but it doesn’t need any batteries, either. Ever.
BF1694 Chatter Telephone $19.99
BF1696 Two Tune Music Box TV $39.99
In stock now.
From our friends at Alex Toys via Facebook:
Fiendish? Sure. Satisfying? Oh, yeah 
The term “Renaissance Man” might as well have been coined specially for Leonardo da Vinci — he was an artist, engineer, inventor, mathematician, sculptor, architect, and more. Part of da Vinci’s genius lay in the way that he could analyze and improve upon existing technology, thus producing stronger bridges, more effective siege engines, and catapults that were deadlier at longer range. (Not to mention more beautiful buildings and paintings!)
Da Vinci redesigned the medieval catapult around 1485, producing a war machine that used the spring-like energy stored in the bent wood in order to give power to the swing arm. Now, thanks to Pathfinders Design and Technology, your little warrior can have his or her very own catapult!
The da Vinci Catapult kit allows kids (and adults) to construct a working model of the 15th century catapult, using natural untreated wood (from sustainable forests, naturally). All pieces are pre-cut, and ready to go. Parts that are stressed are pegged together for extra strength. The catapult takes about an hour to construct, and will fire the included “cannonball” about 4 metres (we haven’t tested it with spitballs, which seemed to me to be the more natural ammunition — I’m betting they’d go further.)
The da Vinci Catapult $18.99. In stock now.
Holiday stress getting you down? Attain a state of relaxed nirvana with the help of the Flying Slingshot Monkey!
Simply slide your fingers into his front “paws” (hint: there are pockets built in), pull back on his hind legs, and let him fly! The sheer delight of flying will cause the monkey to scream, which adds immeasurably to the fun. Best purchased in multiples and given to young nieces and nephews who live quite far away from you (you will be voted the most awesome uncle or aunt ever, guaranteed.)
The Christmas season has rolled around again and — once more — it is time to talk of extended hours here at Scalliwag. Starting this Sunday, 11 December, we’ll be open as follows:
We will be closed on Sunday 25 December and Monday 26 December (Christmas Day and Boxing Day.)
The store will reopen on Tuesday 27 December at 9:30 a.m.
I know that this may be a little confusing (we’re certainly confused most of the time) so here’s a trick we sometimes use to help us remember: during the month of December, if we’re not in bed asleep, then we’re probably at work and the store is open! If you really want to be sure that we’re open, go ahead and call us first (you can reach us at 613-968-6500). We don’t mind.
Ho ho ho!
P.S. The Christmas tree shown in the photograph above belonged to Orville and Wilbur Wright (the Wright Brothers!) in 1900, three Christmases before their record-breaking flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.
* Or not a deal for the consumer, at least.
I was amused to receive an email link this morning to the Groupon Daily Deal for my local city, which breathlessly touted a 51% discount on a science toy that we carry (the 6-in-1 Solar Kit, left). The Groupon allows consumers to buy the item at a mere $19, plus $4 shipping, from a company that apparently sells only this one thing (there are no other items listed on their website). The “regular” price is listed as a staggering $39.
The interesting thing here is that the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the science kit in question is, in fact, $19.99. Twenty bucks. We sell it for that price all year round, every day.
So how much of deal is that for the consumer, when he or she can buy a Groupon that essentially enables him to buy an item at the regular price? (Plus shipping, of course.) More than 40 people bought in to this “deal” — I wonder if they’ll be sore when they find out that their coupon was no deal at all?
I would like to admit, right off the bat, that I didn’t make up that nifty headline. I stole it from Mindware, the publisher of Q-Bitz, who used it as the tagline for the game. It’s a clever little statement, which describes a fun little game.
Q-Bitz is a game for 2 to 4 players. It’s not so much a strategy game as it is a race to see, solve, and replicate patterns on the 120 different Q-Bitz cards. The twist comes in that the game is played in sets of three rounds, and each round calls upon different, if allied, skill sets. In the first round, players race to recreate the pattern on the randomly-chosen card, rotating their sets of cubes as necessary. The first player to complete the task wins the card. So far, so good.
The second round, however, introduces an element of luck. Each player rolls his cubes like dice and uses as many as possible to recreate elements of the pattern card. Those cubes whose faces cannot be used are re-rolled, and so on. Again, it’s a race — the first person who manages to roll all the necessary faces, wins the card.
The third round calls upon players’ memory skills. They study the pattern card (again, randomly chosen) for 10 seconds, after which it is turned over and players compete to see who can complete the pattern from memory. The player who first completes the pattern — or who at least has most segments — wins the card.
The game rewards visual discrimination, memory, and pattern-matching skills. There is no strategy involved, since in any round it’s always ultimately a race to win the card. It’s a fun, quick game to play with children aged 7 or 8 and up. Contains 12 cards, 4 wooden trys, 4 sets of 16 cubes, and rules in English, French, and Spanish.
CAD$29.99 In stock now.
