Are you looking for toys that would hone your little one’s latent engineering talent? Or perhaps you’d love to see your own Narayan Karthikeyan zoom about in his Roary racing car? No, this is not wishful thinking.

India is fast emerging as the playground of the world as the best global toy and game brands set up shop here. This means not only innovative — but also safe toys for your kid. A word of caution: some of these might cost you a limb or two!

“The Indian toy industry is a hugely latent market of which only three per cent is organised. There’s a lot of area for growth,” says Rahul Bhowmick, head marketing, Mattel Toys India.

The industry has also received a fillip from tightening government regulations on toys imported from China. Add to that rising brand awareness and you’ve got the complete picture.

“The overall consumer has shifted towards innovative and creative toys. The consumer today has good awareness and understanding of international toys and hence has a demand for the same,” says Rohit Sharma, CEO, Zapak Digital Entertainment. What’s more, all of these brands follow international and national safety standards.

So, who are the big players making a difference to the game? Hamleys, the iconic UK toy retailer celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, has just opened its first 21,000sq ft flagship store in Mumbai in an exclusive franchise-agreement with Reliance Retail. They have another 20 stores set to open in the next six-seven years.

Funskool has tied up with the Denmark-based LEGO and launched a wide range of their construction toys in India in March this year.

Zapak Games, along with Nick has launched the iconic UK brand Roary racing cars (Rs 399 to Rs 599) for pre-schoolers. Moreover, Reliance Big Entertainment has just acquired a 50 per cent share of Codemasters, the leading British developer and publisher of video games. They are ready with their first offering — the International Cricket 2010 — released in India this month by Zapak.

Assembling Meccano’s remote-controlled Mini Spykee Robot and RC car challenges the child’s building skills

My Baby Excels, a wing of Excel Home Videos and Excel Interactive, has launched the celebrated ‘Mechanics made easy’ brand, Meccano.

Mattel, on the other hand, is flooding the market with a number of new product ranges. It has partnered with World Wrestling Entertainment to launch the WWE Action Figure range (Rs 699 to Rs 1,299) in India in May, with a giant-sized personality, the Great Khali, flown down for the launch. They also launched the Thomas and Friends and Barbie H20 Design Studio Dolls. And in the offing is the Toy Story range from Disney’s stable, coinciding with the release of Toy Story 3.

And then there is the Gurgaon-based Rubbabu, a brand that retails non-toxic natural latex foam toys to more than 30 countries in the US, Europe, Asia and Middle East from outlets like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, FAO Schwartz, Hamleys and Target. They have been the winner of this year’s Dr Toy’s Award for Best Vacation Children’s Products, Parent’s Choice Award and the Tillywig Brain Child Toy Award. Iseo Chemdis, its parent organisation, is planning to follow up the success by launching Rubbabu in premium stores in India and online on www.iseo.in in a few months.

Cradle call

Hamley’s Ziggles promises to be a winner

Everyone is entitled to have fun, even if you can do no more than win hearts with your toothless smile. And who would understand this better than toy makers? The result is a wide range of playthings designed to keep infants and toddlers happy.

Mattel has got the 80-year-old Fisher Price toys in this category. The just-launched Thomas and Friends range come not only with the engines, but play-sets based on the characters. They are tagged between Rs 399 and Rs 2,099. You can also choose between a wide range of products like the Toddler Rocker (an infant rocking chair), skates, bouncers and more.

Rubbabu targeting children up to five years, has tactile toys in “simple shapes to which the child can relate, and toys which allow him/ her to think as against telling them what to think,” says Rahul Butalia, founder and director, Iseo Chemdis. Check out the bouncy, designer Rubbabu Balls ($5.95 or about Rs 272), the 3D Shapesorter ($29.95 or Rs 1,369) and the Animal Farm and Water World Playsets ($24.95 or about Rs 1,140).

Pick up the Infinite Bubbles “gun” for Rs 699 from Hamleys and your kid is sure to go crazy with joy. Or you could go for the Magic Drawing Board, which makes drawing as easy as eating ice cream. But it’s Ziggles, at Rs 799, that takes the cake here. The child just has to clap or make any noise in front of it, and voila, Ziggles will start giggling!

Fun learn

The iconic Roary racing car is a hit with pre-schoolers

Playing is serious business — at least as far as parents are concerned. Zeroing in on the perfect toy that is safe, entertaining and formative for the little one is after all not an easy job. And going by industry trends, “edutainment” does not end with Scrabble and Pictionary.

“Parents tend to buy educational toys for children,” says R. Jeswant, vice president (sales & marketing), Funskool (India) Ltd. Adds Sudhir Pai, vice president & head — Hamleys (India): “Learning is in the Indian psyche, and parents definitely prefer buying educational and developmental toys for their children.”

So, the toy brands are vying with each other to bring out a large range of mess-free and innovative educational toys that captivate children as well as parents.

Mattel has partnered with World Wrestling Entertainment to launch the WWE toy range

If you think your young one is adept with his/ her fingers, pick up Zapak’s Aquasand. It’s colourful, magic sand that can be sculpted into any shape in water, and comes with accompanying moulds and squeezer bottles. Once taken out of the water to dry, it can be reused. While the basic pack would cost about Rs 399, you’ll have to shell out Rs 1,299 for the theme-based Light up Kingdom where the child can build an aqua castle illuminated by an LED light that changes from red to blue to green.

And if your angel has a flair for designing, why not encourage her with Mattel’s just launched Barbie H20 Design Studio Doll? The new range, tagged at Rs 999, allows her to fashion new designs for her Barbie’s dress. Just add water to the design tools and then spray, stencil, stamp or draw right on her dress. Once it’s dry, she can do it all over again. Talk about starting young, huh?

Building block

The Barbie H20 Design Studio range allows the child to design the doll’s dresses

Taking “edutainment” to a completely new level are the construction toys that help to hone a child’s latent building or engineering skills. Meccano and LEGO Toys, both world leaders in this segment, are ready to captivate kids with their booty.

“Since India is a hotbed of engineering talent, Meccano along with My Baby Excels looks forward to leverage demand in India. The brand enjoys a cult status among enthusiasts and children,” says M.N. Kapasi, managing director, Excel Group.

Meccano toys, priced between Rs 699 and Rs 39,999, help the child to build working models and mechanical devices and come up with clue sheets. Check out the fantastic Mini Spykee Robot, which comes with light and sound effects and has voice sensors. The 20-part robot has to be assembled and then controlled with an infra-red remote control. The fully loaded version comes for Rs 39,999.

You can also go for their range of RC Cars. Made of plastic and metal parts, the cars have to be assembled and fixed before the child can play with them using a remote control. You’ll have to shell out anywhere between Rs 3,499 and Rs 7,499 for these.

(Top) Zapak’s Aquasand can be sculpted into any shape in water; Children have a field day with LEGO’s playsets

LEGO products, sold in over 130 countries, consist of colourful interlocking plastic bricks that come with an array of gears. They can be dismantled, assembled and connected to construct various objects. Says Jeswant: “We expect the LEGO brand to inspire children to explore and challenge their own creative potential by offering a range of high quality and fun products.”

So if you pick up the LEGO City Fire set, your kid gets to build a Fire Station which comes with a modern fire truck, fireman’s pole, detailed living quarters and offices, and even a blanket for rescuing cats! It’s tagged at Rs 5,399. To make it even more realistic, add the Fire Helicopter for Rs 2,699. The power chopper takes off with a huge bucket to scoop up water (to douse the fire, dummy!) and boasts of two rotors, a fire-fighting canon, three mini-figures and an off-road fire car.

Or you can go for a helicopter that can lift loads and can be rebuilt into a seaplane for Rs 1,249. A LEGO Car Building Set or a House Building Set costs Rs 649.

Tech buzz

It’s the age of the techies and kids take to it as ducks to water. It’s no surprise then that electronic toys are close behind educational ones in the popularity box office.

International Cricket 2010 ensures a superb cricketing experience

Hot off the block is International Cricket 2010, developed by Codemasters and marketed by Zapak. It can be played on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and is tagged at Rs 1,999. The game is officially licenced by the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia to feature official players, stadia and kits. It comes with a camera that takes players right on to the pitch and also has a “Power Stick” to give you 360° batting control. Zapak also has some cool DVD board games like Jungle Life and Sea Life for Rs 499.

Our good ol’ Monopoly has also gone electronic. Marketed by Funskool, Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition comes with an electronic banking unit and VISA cards. So there is no more a little mound of paper notes building up on the side of the board — instead the kids do “cash less” transactions. Tagged at Rs 1,499.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time for the little ones to play!