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 control. 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 revenue though 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...)General images -
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Constri (from Construction set) -
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A ball-in-a-maze puzzle (from List of wooden toys) -
Girls assembling a puzzle (from Girls' toys and games) -
Toy Museum - http://www.raheelpatel.com/toymuseum.html. (from Toy museum) -
Lego bricks are a construction set example. (from Construction set) -
Jeujura wooden construction set (Swiss chalet) (from Construction set) -
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Paintings of girl with dolls (from Girls' toys and games) -
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) -
A matryoshka doll taken apart (from List of wooden toys) -
Burr puzzles (from List of wooden toys) -
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A bauernroulette game (from List of wooden toys) -
Rows of pink girls' toys in a Canadian store, 2011 (from Girls' toys and games) -
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A bead maze (from List of wooden toys) -
1970s No. 2 Meccano set (from Construction set) -
A puzzle of dexterity, a type of mechanical puzzle (from List of wooden toys) -
A gee-haw whammy diddle in use (from List of wooden toys) -
A girl in Udaipur playing "Jungle Child" (from Girls' toys and games) -
Various spinning tops (from List of wooden toys) -
An infant boy playing with a toy dump truck at the beach. (from Boys' toys and games) -
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Girls playing in a park in the Netherlands (from Girls' toys and games) -
Hello Kitty Dreamcast set, 2009 (from Girls' toys and games) -
Girls in Barbie Fashion Show in Children's Museum of Indianapolis (from Girls' toys and games) -
Tartu Toy Museum (from Toy museum) -
Interlocking Disks enable the construction of high-symmetry models such as that of C
60 Fullerene. (from Construction set)
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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 development economist John Toye said free-market proponents "first turn liberty against equality and fraternity, then overthrow liberty itself"?
- ... 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 Woody from Toy Story was originally written as a ventriloquist's dummy and the main villain of the film?
- ... that the Roman emperors Augustus and Claudius may have had an affinity for gambling?
- ... that the design for the water playground at Chelsea Waterside Park was criticized because local residents thought that the sprinklers resembled sex toys?
- ... that antique bisque dolls (pictured) are collectible, and dolls from French companies like Jumeau can be worth over US$20,000?
- ...that the first themed Lego Modular Houses set, released in April 2007, was designed for people aged 16 and older and meant to be "toys for adults"?
- ...that children up to the age of five can find it difficult to distinguish between television programmes and toy advertising campaigns?
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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 • Transformers • My Little Pony
- Related Projects
- Animation • Anime and manga • Biography • Comics • Film • Fictional characters • Media franchises • Music • Television • Video games
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