| Hot toys '07 | Retailers stocking shelves
The first trick-or-treater is barely out the door, and Christmas is already on retailers' minds. Aisles down from the costumes and candy corn are fake fir trees and candy canes. And Columbia-area merchants are quickly stocking shelves for wide-eyed children — and adults. Traditional dolls and character plushes, such as Fisher-Price's Tickle Me Elmo and Ganz's Webkinzs, are expected to sell big in Columbia, along with the new video console wonders of PlayStation 3, Xbox and Wii. The Consumer Electronics Association found that households with Internet access will spend an average of $172 on electronic toys for their children. In fact, the Guitar Hero III video game and controller set that retails for about $100 has been named an overall top seller this Christmas by Toys "R" Us.
Simple fun with simple toys
Guitar Hero blasts a Lynyrd Skynyrd riff on the Xbox. Infant gyms in psychedelic plastic flash and beep and play "Yankee Doodle." Diego has a talking rescue centre. Santa's elves must be getting more than their share of headaches at the workshop these days, judging from the sensory overload induced by this season's hot toys. But amid the din of Bratz handbag-boomboxes, crashing Transformers and the chirping of the High School Musical crowd, there's a peaceful oasis forming in toyland. A small but growing group of toymakers and parents is harkening back to a time when toys were more about the wonder of kids than the wonders of technology. At The Toy Space in Toronto, owner Randal Lee stocks toys made with all-natural and sustainable materials like reclaimable rubberwood, organic textiles and vegetable dye.
Moms want alternatives to "bad" dolls
Moms are hunting through toy aisles for more wholesome-looking dolls, concerned that the scantily clad Bratz dolls with their Party Palaces and Magic Make-up Studios are sending their daughters the wrong message about how they should dress and act. .
9 out of 10
Disregarding the fact that Halo 3 was released on Wednesday - netting Microsoft a cool $170 million in the US alone in just one day - this week's line up of new releases "belongs" to THQ, with no less than five games out across different formats. Juiced: Hot Import Nights, Conan, Moto GP 07, Bratz The Movie and Ratatouille to be specific. We can't vouch for their quality, but it's not often that a publisher pushes out so many titles all in one go. Unless it's a budget publisher, but they only do that to save on distribution costs. The skanks. This week's biggie though, again ignoring Halo 3, is FIFA 08. Don't actually ignore Halo 3 though - it's ruddy good! The Wii version of FIFA 08 would appear to be the one to go for - EA has added loads of extras, including a Footii Party mode presented by a Mii take on Ronaldinho.
Area retailers prepare for Black Friday
Businesses across the area are preparing for what they hope will be a big shopping season starting bright and early Friday morning.That means smiling faces, warm greetings and help at every turn for prospective customers no matter if it is at 6 a.m. ... or if there are hundreds of people lined up waiting to get in ... or if they'll do anything to get the item they want."It's a quasi-holiday for us," said Wayne Ruchalski, the general manager at Staples in Mechanicsburg. "We'll have some in-store specials and early bird specials. This year I think what's going to be big are the GPS units, digital cameras, digital picture frames, photo printers, MP3 players and the Dell computers we have in our stores for the first time � we kicked off the sale last Sunday, Nov. 11."Ruchalski is no novice when it comes to Black Friday sales, working at Staples for nine years and in retail for 20.To make it easier for customers, Ruchalski is planning a new, slightly more organized system of tickets for items they're expecting to be gone within a few minutes.
Zimbabwe Select beat SA Composite XI
Zimbabwe Select turned on a spirited show at the weekend when they beat South Africa Composite XI by 10 wickets at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom, The Herald reported yesterday. The match was in the first of the three four-day cricket matches in the Supersport Challenge against the SA Composite XI that was chosen by that country's National Selection Panel. Zimbabwe Select only needed 57 runs in their second innings to claim the victory and this came courtesy of the opening partnership of Brandon Taylor (35) and Visimuzi Sibanda (19) and three extras. South Africa Composite XI were the first to bat having won the toss and in the first innings they scored 288 before Zimbabwe Select replied with 493 as captain Prospers Utseya led from the front to score an unbeaten 115.
Back In The New York Groove; Vikings Thrash Giants
"New York Groove" is a song performed by legendary Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley on his self-titled 1978 album. It also happens to be the ditty that the New York Giants used to play after they scored a touchdown at Giants Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings defense may just claim the song as their own. Two years ago in North Jersey, Vikings safety Darren Sharper picked off Eli Manning three times, returning one for a touchdown in a 24-21 Minnesota win. And, while it didn't count, the Vikings trashed the New York Jets, 37-20, during a preseason game at the stadium in August, when both Sharper and linebacker Chad Greenway returned interceptions for touchdowns. Fast forward to this past Sunday when Sharper, safety Dwight Smith and Greenway all returned Manning interceptions for touchdowns as Minnesota stunned the New York Giants again, 41-17.
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