2010 Holiday ALL-DAY Toy Extravaganaza {Twitter Party}

Now that we have all had a chance to check out some of the great Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, we here are The Big Toy Book are ready to ring in the holiday season with our annual Holiday Toy Extravaganza!

Last year we partied online all day long with over 300 of you and gave away over 18 of the hottest holiday toys!

Since it worked out so well last year with our hourly pre-party leading up to our official Twitter Party we decided to do the same this year. After all, we want to make sure you all get a chance to join in the fun!

(Never been to a Twitter Party? … No worries! Get the details on how to participate here)

Here is how our 2010 Extravaganza will work–

JOIN US TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30th on Twitter

Follow us official Twitter handle: @TheBigToyBook

Follow our Big Toy Book Moms and Toy Experts: @Toyinsidermom @ToyTrendExpert @ToyBookShopGirl @ToyBook

RSVP by leaving your twitter handle in the comments below

Between the hours of 12pm and 5pm we will be giving you a chance to win a pre-party prize!

12pm

Monster High Doll (Exact Style TBA)

1pm

Lego Duplo Set (58 pcs)

2pm

Velcro Kids Pirate Ship

3pm

LaLaLoopsie Doll (Exact style TBA)

4pm

Mighty Beanz Star Wars

5pm

Fuzzoodles (Exact set TBA)

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{{ Take a break… grab some dinner… put the little ones to bed…. pour a glass of wine…}}

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JOIN US BACK ON TWITTER at 9pm (ET) for even more chances to win!

Our toy experts will be talking about trends, answering your questions and giving suggestions for little ones of all ages on your list!

During our chat we will be giving away the 8 more hot- holiday-toys:

Mega Bloks Ultimate Action Dragon Destroyer

Olivia 2-in-1 Transforming Playset

LalaLoopsie Doll (exact doll TBA)

Fin Fin Friends Tropical Aquarium

Bop It Bounce

Toy Story- Buzz Blast Off

Twinkle Twinkle Little Violet

Paper Jamz Guitar

** Just ADDED TO PRIZES–

MONSTER HIGH CLAWDEEN

MELISSA AND DOUG CUPCAKE SET

POCOYO PLAY SET

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GRAND PRIZE

$50 Big Toy Book Cash for you to do some holiday shopping in our Private Sale Store!

Grand Prize $50 Big Toy Book Cash

To win our GRAND PRIZE: Help us spread the word by retweeting this message

” Join This Holiday’s Biggest Toy Extravaganza w/ #thebigtoybook Tues. Nov 30 ALL DAY LONG http://bit.ly/eZJaOR”

See you there!

Contesting details:

Winners will be chosen by random draw and Q & A participation.

Winners at pre-party are eligible to win at 9pm Party.

1 prize per person at 9pm party.

All winners must be present to win. If winner does not respond within 24 hours we reserve the right to choose another winner.

GRAND PRIZE IS OPEN TO CANADA RESIDENTS…. ALL OTHERS ARE US only.

Grateful Giveaways!

Tis’ the season of giving!

We are super excited about the event we are sponsoring this week because we get to donate to one of our favorite charities- Toys For Tots!

Starting  today, November 15th thru November 19th, 12 big hearted bloggers will be hosting The Grateful Giveaway Event where they will be  adding a new giveaway every hour for 12 hours!

In addition to sponsoring one of their giveaways, we here at  The Big Toy Book will be adding toys to our Toys For Tots Toy Pile.

You can check back and watch that pile grow through out the week to see the toys that will be putting a smile on the face of some deserving children this holiday season.

While you are watching the toy pile grow, we also encourage you to join in the fun by following Grateful Giveaways on Facebook and by visiting the bloggers sites to enter to win some fabulous prizes!

Links for the hosts can be found on our Toy Pile Page.

Best of luck!

The Holiday Giveaway Bash

We have a bunch of really exciting stuff on the horizon this holiday, and we are excited to tell you that we are kicking things off this week by sponsoring a great prize for  The Holiday Giveaway Bash.

The Holiday Giveaway Bash is being hosted by 12 fantastic blogger who work hard year round seeking out some of the best deals on the internet.

Together with these bloggers we are giving you a chance  to win a $50 credit to our private sale store as well as this really cool Inceptor RC Remote Control Helicopter  by Interactive Toy Concepts.

We chose this item as part of the giveaway because …well, its cool!

Who doesn’t love remote control toys? This one not only flies but it also is rechargeable via USB!  How great is that? (You can cross off batteries on your list for Christmas)

The Inceptor RC Remote Control Helicopter is now 20% off in our Private Sale Store.

To enter to win in the Holiday Giveaway Bash, visit these participating blogs:

• Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Bargain Briana
• Common Sense with Money
• Coupon Cravings
• Frugal Coupon Living
• Mommin It Up
• Moms Need to Know
• Passion for Savings
• Saving Cents with Sense
• Southern Savers
• Stretching a Buck
• The Savings Lifestyle
• Moms Need To Know

Good Luck!

- Corine

SnackTime Survival Kit – A must have for Mom

How many times a day does your child ask for a snack? We’re betting its more than 2 or 3 times.  We are even betting its likely in 10+ range.

The “Can I have a snack?” stage is a crucial (and trying) time in parenting. It can form our children’s snacking habits for life- and children love snacks. Preschoolers especially will eat them every hour on the hour if they could, but as parents we know better- and when we have to say no – the tears flow. —Oh, The insanity.

So how do we manage snack time?

This week we are featuring The SnackTime Survival Kit to answer all those snack time woes.

The Snacktime Survival Kit includes:

- 1 colorful wooden clockboard containing 1 working clock and 3 interactive clocks

- A deck of 33 snack cards, which contains photos of fun & healthy snacks on one side, and nutrition information to learn about on the back.

(*gluten-free and other special dietary needs snack packs are being worked on.)

You and your child chose 3 healthy snacks for the day (I recommend picking out 5 before going grocery shopping & rotating those for a week)

Set the 3 smaller clocks to your child’s snack time

Enjoy playing the matching game What child doesn’t love the Matching Game? To smaller children, that is essentially what the clocks will be– AT FIRST. They will match their snack clock to the working clock on the top to know when it is snacktime has arrived.

Teach them how to tell time. The SnackTime Survival Kit has a secret hidden added bonus (at least I think it does)- and that it teaches time on a real clock. After a few weeks, my son was coming in saying things like “Its not snacktime yet- its only 10 and 15 o’clock”. It’s a definite start- right?

This week we have The SnackTime Survival Kit on Private sale for over 30% off- so hop on over and check it out. I’m sure you will love this product as much as we do!

-Corine

Fancy Nancy Inspires Self Expression

Fancy Nancy joined The Big Toy Book’s Private Sale Store this morning, and to say that this little girl has become some what contagious is an understatement.

I bring you exhibit A-

Our E-commerce Mom, Dell

From here on in, this picture will be known as- The Fancy Nancy Effect (she’s going to kill me for posting that pic).

But, I think to pinpoint exactly what is so lovable and contagious about Nancy is best shown in my next set of pictures.

Exhibit B-

This is my daughter.

My very own, living Fancy Nancy.  She is two and  currently going through a shoe & accessory obsession.   Every morning she makes it very clear what she wants to wear- typically not outfits I’d put together, but as she beams proudly “Mama, look- HOT SHOE”, the outfit suddenly transforms in my eyes from messy to fancy- because that is how she feels.

When I was a child, I went through a similar stage when I would only wear ruby red-glitter shoes (a la The Wizard of Oz). In my eyes, those shoes fancied up any out fit – even sweat suites!

And what’s more is that it’s not just a girl thing. My son is 5 and loves piecing together his own outfits. His construction boot/plaid shorts combos aren’t frilly or glitzy but much like my daughter’s they usually do not match and he beams with pride that he’s done it all on his own.

Of all the stages children go through, the “Fancy” stage is special because it is so empowering to them. They feel independent. They are proud, and though we sometimes don’t want them leaving the house in their picks, we  are proud.

It’s these moments that come to mind when we look at Fancy Nancy or read her books. We see our children, we see ourselves as children (revisit exhibit A) and that is what makes her so incredibly  lovable.

What is the craziest outfit your little one has ever put together?

Introducing our "Choice & Voice" polls

We are always listening to your suggestions and would love to hear more.  When we ran our 1st Melissa and Doug sale, there was a lot of feedback asking for puppets, costumes & more wooden toys… and we brought it!

Now we are looking to give you, our community a bigger voice in just which products you save the most on!

Introducing our Choice & Voice Poll.

This poll will only be opened until 3pm (ET), however in the future we will definitely run it a little longer.

So here is your chance- LOVE Melissa and Doug? Want to save bigger? … Let us know which product you would like to see discounted deeper for the last day of the sale (tomorrow)!

Which Melissa and Doug Toy Should The Big Toy Book add an extra savings on?customer surveys

PRIVATE SALE ALERT- K'NEX SESAME STREET SETS- 40% off!

If you were to visit our house, you would without a doubt hear “EMMO” being chanted by my {almost} 2 yr old, over and over- along with the occasional “cooo-kieee”, in her raspiest voice. I’m not sure when this all started, but it is certain- much like her parents in the 80′s, this child loves her Sesame Street.

So if your little one is as Elmo-obsessed as mine, then this next private sale is for you…. and me too!

Beginning today, The Big Toy Book’s online private sale store will feature deals up to 40% off Sesame Street playsets by K’nex!

The K’nex Sesame Street Neighborhood collection allows your child to build the neighborhood they know and love the most- Sesame Street. They can build their favorite characters as well as buildings and cars. The building blocks in these sets are chunky and made especially for little hands.

Soaking Up Summer Time Fun On The Streets Of NYC

Today our Toy Insider Mom, Laurie Schacht did a segment on Good Day New York highlighting some of the great new toys out this summer.

My son and daughter got to demonstrate the toys- they had a blast!

My son road the Whiplash Scooter & simultaneously fell in love with LOTSO BEAR (from Toy Story). My daughter, whos new obsession with Elmo was all about the Elmo Rid On Toy and The Adorable Dora Bubble blower… and well ALL of the kids could not get enough of the Sand and Water Table!

Yes, all was fun in toy land. So fun, that the “big kids” couldn’t resist getting in on the action.

Their toys of choice though? The Air Hog Plane, The Monster Truck… and The Super Soakers! … Oh, the Super Soakers… and well- you take a look for your self-

Can you guess who did not win that water fight?  ha ha

Laurie got caught in the line of fire, but she didn’t mind because it was so hysterically funny.  The whole segment was just fun- plain and simple… and does that really come as s surprise when we are talking about some of the coolest toys this summer?

Not. at. all.

- Corine

You can watch the entire clip here:

Featured Toys:

Whiplash Scooter

Play Up Adjustable Sand and Water Table

Sesame Street Fly With Elmo Activity Ride On

Toy Story 3 Lots-O’ Huggin’ Bear

Nickelodeon Bubble Vehicles

Rock Crawler

Nurf Super Soaker Wars Shot Blast

Air Hogs Titan

Crayola Spira Chalk Blaster

*In addition to these amazing toys, be sure to check out our Private Sale Site to see this week’s sales up to 60% off!

And the celebration continues…

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We had a great time at our Twitter Party last night, thank you to all who came and congratulations to all of our winners!!

The support from our community is amazing and we are so excited to have you all with us spreading the word and sharing in these great deals!

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We wanted to keep the excitement going so we added even more limited-time-sales last night and this morning. Below is a preview. The 3-in-1 activity center/walker by Delta is the hottest new baby item by the brand… so hot, it can’t even be found on shelves… but we have it here for the mom-to-be in your life– at a discount!

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Enjoy & Happy Shopping!

24 Hour Sale Up to 60% off Special one-day exclusive savings on toys, games and educational kids’ products. With limited quantities and only 24 hours to save, you better hurry as these products are going fast!

Pawparazzi Pets Up to 60% off 24 hours to save on Pawparazzi Pets. Purse-sized pets with celebrity personalities that are adored by all.

CitiBlocs Up to 50% off 24 hours to save on high-quality building blocks that are unlike any other. Begin building amazing structures with this innovative new product.
Melissa & Doug Up to 50% off 24 hours to save on great kids’ products. From educational games and toys to outdoor products, discover the brand that parents love and so will you!
	Delta Children’s Products Up to 20% off | Sale ends 7/18 Giggle. Giggle. Clap. Clap. Brand new to market. You can save on this 3-in-1 activity center and walker. You had better hurry as quantities are limited on this exclusive sale with The Big Toy Book.
	Cloud B Up to 55% off | Sale ends 7/17 Helping children of all ages sleep better because every child deserves a sound night’s sleep for healthy development. Plus, they are dedicated to providing less fortunate children with contributions to charitable organizations nationwide.
	Green Start Up to 30% off | Sale ends 7/19 Helps make kids aware of the world around them and shows them how we are all connected to it. Discover these fun games, puzzles and books that incorporate environmentally friendly practices and teach kids as they grow.

Upcoming Sales

Young Picasso Innovative Kids Travel Buddies Lolliez Sale Open 7/16 Sale Open 7/16 Sale Open 7/16 Sale Open 7/16

Online Private Sale Alert! – Green Start Up to 30% off

Nowadays everyone is trying to  make efforts to become more eco-concious and “green” in some way.

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This year for Earth Day, we dedicated the entire month of April to the subject  discussing how “going  green” has become a trend in the toy industry and how important it is for the future of our children.

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In addition to our efforts as parent, it is especially important to teach our children how to properly care for Mother Earth, and how they too can make the world a better place to live by doing their share in practicing the 3 {Green} R’s

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Reduce.

Reuse.

Recycle.

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Our latest private sale event features a great new line of books and puzzles by Innovative Kids, called Green Start.

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Green Start books and puzzles teach children all about the natural world around them. From insects and animals to our senses and recycling – this series is all about loving nature and doing good. The best part about these books and puzzles? They are all made from 98% post-consumer recycled materials and printed with eco-friendly ink! We love eco-friendly kids products!

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These deals begin Wednesday July 14th will last through July 19th, so be sure to check them out!

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Also, do not miss our Twitter Party Thursday…. we have exclusive 24 hr deals in store as well as many chances to win some great prizes- including BIG TOY BOOK CASH to shop til you drop!

You can RSVP here.