FREE Exclusive Cookie Chef Babo

aMuse Toys has teamed up with Ugly Doll to offer you the exclusive Cookie Chef Babo. He's yours for FREE with a purchase of $25 or more of Ugly Doll products.  

To receive your Cookie Chef Babo, simply complete the redemption form that is available at either aMuse Toys location. Mail the form with the UPC code, an original sales receipt and a check or money order for $4.95 to cover the cost of shipping and handling. Your Cookie Chef Babo should arrive in about 8 - 10 weeks.  

This offer is good from September 1, 2011 through January 15, 2011 while supplies last. Stop by either aMuse Toys location to add to your Ugly collection!

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Top Toys: Customer Picks

Here is a list of top toys we've compiled from your suggestions over the past few months. Let us know if we've missed one of your favorites!

1. Mozart Magic Cube

Kids love buttons and instant feedback. The Mozart Magic Cube entertains a wide range of ages. Press the buttons to hear a Mozart piece play. You can add and subtract the instruments you hear by continuing to press any of the large buttons on any side of the cube. The lights and sounds are engaging, and it's a great way for a child to dissect the instrumentation of one of history's greatest composers.  

2. Green Toys Stacker

This suggestion for the Green Toys Stacker comes from aMuse mom, Amy. Her daughter, Maddie, enjoys stacking the cups in both directions and loves the fact that they can double as pretend-play tea cups. Some of our customers even take their stackers to the beach and use them as sand molds. All-ages, Eco-friendly fun!

3. Jishaku

Jishaku, Japanese for magnet, is a favorite game among older kids. Be the first to strategically place all of your magnets in the playing board, and you win the game! Easier said than done, as the magnets are super powerful. 

4. Wedgits

Wedgits are great for any age. They will truly grow with your child over the years. This alternative building block set requires an inner structure, which adds an interesting twist to stacking. Wee Wedgits are great for stacking and playing in the bath tub, and classic wedgits are great for creative, open-ended play. For a more guided play for older children, give them a set of design cards to build their puzzle skills. Brilliant!

5. Baby Geomags

Geomags are a magnetic toy for young children. Their over-sized pieces are easy for small hands to hold onto, and their animal designs are great for character play. Fun for in the tub, too!

6. Green Toys Tea Set

For healthy playtime fun that is eco-friendly too, this tea set is made in the USA from recycled milk jugs. Purposeful design that is dishwasher safe.  

7. Doodle Track Car

Create the ultimate course for your Doodle Track Car!  This little sports car will follow the twists and turns on a track that you design with any black crayon or marker. 

8. Magnatiles

Magnatiles magnetic building sets foster patterning, shape recognition and three-dimensional thinking while developing building and fine motor skills. Kids explore basic math, science and creative concepts with this brilliant open-ended toy.

9. Sophie the Giraffe

This classic French teething toy named Sophie the Giraffe has been delighting babies since the 1970's. Colored with non-toxic pigments, her unique texture comes from using natural rubber. She squeaks when chewed on, and her neck is long and skinny enough to reach for those teething molars!

10. Gobblet Gobblers

Gobblet Gobblers is a Blue Orange classic. A unique twist on tic-tac-toe, the winner must get three-in-a-row. But be careful! The larger pieces can gobble up the little ones...

11. Sticky Mosaics

Sticky Mosaics are similar to traditional paint-by-number crafts, but they use stickers in lieu of paint. They are great for guided, independent play and encourage fine-motor development. 

12. Fantacolor Junior

Quercetti has been a leader in skill-building sets for over a decade. Fantacolor Junior is a first mosaic kit that utilizes chunky pegs to illustrate a picture. With a self-storage feature, and 8 interesting two-sided cards, kids as young as two can practice eye-hand coordination and fine motor skill development. 

13. Kickboard USA Scooters

Kickboard USA scooters are awesome. See what some aMuse moms have to say.  

14. Perpetual Commotion

Is an outrageously fast and incredibly addictive card game. Play your cards - as many and as fast as you can - into a common area. To win, you must play faster than your opponents. Perpetual Commotion is one part strategy, two parts speed and a healthy dose of luck-of-the-draw. 

15. Uglydolls

From the creative minds of two love-struck artists, David Horvath and Sun-Min, emerged the Uglydoll family. What started as a drawing of a playful, orange character named Wage, has turned into a whole new world of fun. These colorful and uniquely designed plush friends are oddly charming.

Don't forget to enter to win $150 to spend at aMuse!

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Top Stocking Stuffers for Under $10

While Santa has been making his list and checking it twice - we have been too. Here is our list of Top Stocking Stuffers for under 10 dollars. Hope it helps!

1. Rory's Story Cubes

Roll the story cubes for infinite inspiration! Simply roll the 9 story cubes and begin with the image that catches your eye first. Start each tale with, "once upon a time..." and then let your imagination run wild. Great for solitary play or to use with others! 

2. Shrinky Dinks

Shrinky Dinks have been and always will be awesome. Just color the special Shrinky Dink paper and stick it in the oven or microwave. Watch them shrink into much smaller, thick, plastic charms that you can use as jewelery, attach to magnets or just to keep around because they're cool. 

3. Hexbug Nano

Kids love bugs; parents don't. Hexbug Nanos are the best of both worlds. They're bugs, but they're not disgusting! Kids love to watch them scurry around, just like real bugs. Watch them run into walls, change direction, and flip themselves over if they get stuck on their backs.

4. Ugly Doll Clips

Ugly Doll clips add gobs of character to anything you clip them to. Hang them from your belt loops, your back pack, your keys - or anything else for that matter! They make great collections because each Ugly comes complete with their own stories explaining their quirky, unique personalities.

5. Holiday Smencils

Made from recycled newpapers and stored in biodegradable Eco-corn tubes, Smencils are a huge hit with school kids and adults alike. Memory is closely linked with the olfactory sensory system, so they'll be sure to remember the warmth of the holidays when they take a whiff while writing.

6. Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's Ladder is the classic optical illusion toy that's been around for ages. Hold the top block and flip it over to watch the other blocks click and clack and appear to cascade downward. It's been delighting children and adults for centuries!

7. Tangle

This awesome sensory toy is great for twisting, snapping and tangling together. Tangles come in different colors, sizes and textures, which are sure to keep any fidgety hands busy.

8. ALEX Undercover Rearview Spy Glasses

Every good spy needs to be able to see what's going on behind them. Help your kid be a good spy by putting these in their stocking. They're a guaranteed win.

9. Yomega Yo-Yo

Tricks are great. Yomega yo-yos are great for learning all kinds of tricks. Many of them have metal bearings, which allow for maximum spinning speed.

10. Splashimals

We LOVE splashimals. They are floating playing cards that double as stickers for bathtub walls. Play them as a matching game, create your own weird animal combos or use them as a learning tool for animal and word recognition. They also make for great fun at the beach or in the pool!

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The Toy Fair!

Guest Post by Allison Humphries, Assistant Manager at aMuse

When I started working for aMuse in 2008, I remember hearing about the Toy Fair that takes place every February in New York City. It sounded like so much fun to walk up and down endless aisles of toy booths and build relationships with the creators of my favorite brands. I had so many expectations of what it would be like to attend the largest toy fair in the world.

From the moment I received an email containing my train reservations to and from New York, I anxiously anticipated my day trip to the Toy Fair 2010. I'll have to admit that waking up at 4 a.m. to meet Tom and Claudia at Penn Station was not my cup of tea,  but I’d do it to experience the energy and excitement of the Toy Fair! After all, it isn’t everyday that you get your picture taken with a six-foot Ugly Doll! 

In true aMuse fashion, Claudia and I spent the train ride to the fair playing Crossword, a great traveling game for enhancing vocabulary and just pure fun! We arrived at Javits convention center with time to organize our game plan and we were off!

Our first stop was my favorite of the entire day; a company called All New Materials, Inc. They have a line of stuffed animal heros, Ze Zuper Zeros, which will be coming soon to aMuse. The colors were vibrant, the people were inviting, and the toys were incredible!

By one o’clock we had covered a ton of ground and were ready to refuel and prepare for the rest of the day. We grabbed some lunch and sat down to organize our virtual tote bag and order forms. The virtual tote bag was an amazing environmentally-friendly iPhone application created for Toy Fair to limit the amount of paper circulating throughout the fair. Next came a quick picture with the oh-so cool “Big Toe” Ugly Doll and we were back out on the floor.

The rest of the day flew by. Captivating designs and stimulating creations were found around every corner. Every booth we visited had its own unique style and personnel to play games with and ask questions. I was able to meet sales representatives from my favorite companies including Haba, Blue Orange Games and Plan Toys. It was an amazing experience that made me so passionate about my role in the aMuse family.

I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll let Tom and Claudia fill you in when they return from the fair later this week!