Today at the TODAY Show

Alex and Mr. Robot in the Today Show Green Room

My wonderful toy tester Alex and I arrived just as Susan Boyle was arriving.  We hurried in — ahead of her entourage.  I heard her — what a distinct voice!  We then went to the Green Room which was pretty crowded today.  Senator Chuck Schumer was there as was “That Girl” Marlo Thomas.  (Or as other people know her- Rachel Green’s mother on Friends.)   As I was getting hair and make-up done (the best folks on the planet!) , Susan Boyle was rehearsing.  Every time she sings, people just stop talking and listen.  It’s pretty incredible. I kept thinking where she was two years ago–and now all of this fame around the world.  She joked with the audience that was already there–she seems to be in the moment and enjoying herself.

My segment today was part of a whip–where they have several experts talk on the same subject.  One of the toys we had was the Mindflex Game which Alex demo’ed on air–no small feat when you have a room full of cameras, stage managers and oh yes, millions of people watching at home–but he did it!!  I was really so proud of him.  As we were leaving –Susan Boyle was about to sing.  I asked if he wanted to stay and listen—but he’s 11 — and he had no interest.  Not really her demographic!

Alex outside at the Today Show as Susan Boyle is getting ready to sing.

Monster Badminton…gone

Sad to report that the Monster Badminton set from International Playthings that I demonstrated with Al on the Today Show is not going forward. We loved the super large birdie…and equally large racquets.  Oh well.

At last…Outdoor Toy Segment on Today Show

The third time seems to be the charm for this segment that bumped around a bit…here’s the link.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/31185741#31185741

New date for Today Show segment is June 9th

The new date for the Best Outdoor Toy segment is June 9th in the 9:30 to 10am half hour. Let’s hope the third date is the charm. Some segments just seem plagued–but happily all the toys worked today and the kids were very cute. Al and I successfully played badmitton in the studio without hitting any lights. My childhood friends should be impressed that I hit the birdie repeatedly until I didn’t!  One of the two year olds has trouble with the word..”truck”…luckily he wasn’t wearing a mic.

After the segment…

I realized that after all the segments I’ve done with Al–there were no pictures. So Ali (my trusty assistant and niece) took this one right after we finished taping the segment….along with one of our great testers!  Al is so gracious – and brings so much energy to every segment–even when he’s been going for hours!

Crayola 3D Chalk…what makes it 3D?

One of our testers who really liked the 3D Chalk kits just raised a great question…is there something in the chalk that makes it 3D or will the 3D glasses make all chalk 3D…we posed this question to the folks at Crayola…

“Yes, the 3D glasses will work with any Crayola chalk and out sidewalk
crayons.  The ones that come with the Crayola 3D Sidewalk Chalk Kit allow for the best results
because we paired warm and cool colors together.”

Al Roker had a fun time with these glasses on our outdoor toy segment last year…click here to watch the segment.

Today Show/ toyportfolio.com Platinum Award Toy Segment

Right before we went on air, our 4 minute segment became 3.5 minutes–that’s right–to talk about over 15 great Platinum Award winning products! We also had kids on the plaza (bundled up) that were really into playing with the Castle of Courage from Step 2, the Arena from Playmobil, and the Candy Land Castle Game from Hasbro. Al Roker is always fun to do segments with – and I usually like doing segments outdoors because the crowds are there – giving that extra energy that you don’t get if you’re in the studio. The downside? The wind today was kicking up. So right before we were about to go on live, I turned sideways and all of my hair got caught in my lip gloss. Not the best look. But more important than my hair was that the Havoc Heli RC helicopters from Spinmaster couldn’t fly – too much wind for these really cool tiny helicopters that are meant for indoor use or a very calm day. Thankfully the big K’nex Double Ferris wheel did not fall over! It looked iffy there for a moment too. Of course I could really talk about any one of these products for 3.5 minutes–so it’s always hard to decide what the sound bite will be for each–and I didn’t want to skip any–so it was full steam ahead. If you want more info about these award winning products, you’ll find a lot more on our website at www.toyportfolio.com and we also have posted a calmer discussion of some of our award winners on www.youtube.com. The best sign of a successful segment, the kids didn’t want to stop playing with the toys after the segment was over!