Portal:Toys
The Toys Portal
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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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Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll which Handler had purchased while in Europe. The figurehead of an eponymous brand that includes a range of fashion dolls and accessories, Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for over six decades. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, making it the company's largest and most profitable line. The brand has expanded into a multimedia franchise since 1984, including video games, animated films, television/web series, and a live-action film.
Barbie and her male counterpart, Ken, have been described as the two most popular dolls in the world. Mattel generates a large portion of Barbie's revenue through related merchandise —accessories, clothes, friends, and relatives of Barbie. Writing for Journal of Popular Culture in 1977, Don Richard Cox noted that Barbie has a significant impact on social values by conveying characteristics of female independence, and with her multitude of accessories, an idealized upscale lifestyle that can be shared with affluent friends. (Full article...)
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Interlocking disks enable the construction of high-symmetry models such as that of C
60 fullerene. (from Construction set) -
A girl in Udaipur playing "Jungle Child" (from Girls' toys and games) -
A ball-in-a-maze puzzle (from List of wooden toys) -
Constri (from Construction set) -
Girls in Barbie Fashion Show in Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from Girls' toys and games) -
A puzzle of dexterity, a type of mechanical puzzle (from List of wooden toys) -
1970s No. 2 Meccano set (from Construction set) -
Detail from Children's Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1560), showing Flemish girls playing popular games of the era (from Girls' toys and games) -
Various spinning tops (from List of wooden toys) -
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Girls playing in a park in the Netherlands (from Girls' toys and games) -
Jeujura wooden construction set (Swiss chalet) (from Construction set) -
Hello Kitty Dreamcast set, 2009 (from Girls' toys and games) -
Lego bricks are a construction set example. (from Construction set) -
A matryoshka doll taken apart (from List of wooden toys) -
Paintings of girl with dolls (from Girls' toys and games) -
Burr puzzles (from List of wooden toys) -
An young boy playing with a toy dump truck at the beach. (from Boys' toys and games) -
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Girls assembling a puzzle (from Girls' toys and games) -
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A bead maze (from List of wooden toys) -
Rows of pink girls' toys in a Canadian store, 2011 (from Girls' toys and games) -
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Tartu Toy Museum (from Toy museum) -
A bauernroulette game (from List of wooden toys) -
A gee-haw whammy diddle in use (from List of wooden toys)
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A dollhouse is a toy home, made in miniature. For the last century, dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. The term dollhouse is common in the United States and Canada. In UK the terms dolls' house or dollshouse are used.
Did you know...
- ... that Elizabeth II's childhood toys at 145 Piccadilly included 30 toy horses and a farm set collected from Woolworths?
- ... that crab is served in school meals in Toyama Prefecture?
- ... 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 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 "Toy Town" was said to have "almost destroyed" the happy hardcore scene?
- ...that the red and yellow molded plastic Cozy Coupe from Little Tikes was called the "world's best-selling car" for most of the 1990s by The New York Times?
- ...that fingerboards are reduced scale model figures of skateboards that are featured in videos and used as 3-D visual aids for skateboarders to understand potential tricks and maneuvers?
- ...that as of 1981, New York City's Toy Center was the site of 95% of the toy business transacted in the United States?
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| Industry | |
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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
WikiProjects
- Parent projects
- Arts • Entertainment • Visual arts • Games
- Main project
- Toys
- Sub-projects
- Board and table games • G.I. Joe • Lego • My Little Pony • Transformers
- Related Projects
- Animation • Anime and manga • Biography • Comics • Film • Fictional characters • Media franchises • Music • Television • Video games
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