Diecasts & Toy Vehicles

If the coronavirus crisis has shown the advertising industry anything, it's that creativity rises above even the most adverse challenges. And now Škoda has become the latest brand to create and shoot an international ad campaign remotely from home. Created by agency Optimist with production company Halal, the campaign, which includes four short films, strikes a different tone to what has come to be expected from car brand advertising and was created inside the directors' own homes. Rather than featuring a car so smooth that it has the effect of rocking a baby to sleep or a sporty vehicle effortlessly hugging the bends of a road that stretches through a dramatic mountainous landscape, this Škoda campaign puts three miniature SUVs—a Kodiaq, Karoq, and Kamiq—front and center. In one spot, a man is seen rolling around in his living room playing with a toy car and in another an SUV is seen dodging egg cups and coffee cups as it navigates around the kitchen. Ško...

BORIS Johnson has announced Brits can hit the high streets again from next week as he set out his plans for the staged reopening of shops in England at his Downing Street press conference. The Prime Minister has said Britain is heading into "step two" of his plan to get the country moving again. ⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates The UK will reopen thousands of high street shops, department stores and shopping centres next month. Outdoor markets and car showrooms could be reopened as soon as they are able to meet the COVID-19 secure guidelines from June 1. All other non-essential retail from June 15 if the government's tests are met. The PM said: "There are careful but deliberate steps on the road to rebuilding our country "We will set out our formal assessment of the five tests that we set for adjusting the lockdown later this week as part of the three-weekly review we are legally required to undertake by Thursda...

From Car and Driver As if kids didn't already reach for food with their fingers enough, it'll be nearly impossible to stop them when their breakfast is shaped like toys. CucinaPro has a waffle maker that forms the carbs into 3D cars and trucks, so it's like having a pile of Hot Wheels on your plate. You use this small appliance by pouring your favorite pancake and waffle batter into the nonstick slots and closing it to cook. The top half has corresponding cutouts, so as it cooks, it molds the top half of the cars and trucks. The result: waffles in seven different shapes of cars and trucks. We almost don't want to cover them in butter and syrup and eat them, but we all know we will (after having some fun with them first). The CucinaPro Cars & Trucks Waffle Maker is available on Amazon for $39.95. It looks like the toy-inspired appliance is a hit, because while it was available recently, it won't be back in stock until September 15. You can still order it now, to ...

Fox Business Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com. Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here. If you think the coronavirus slammed the brakes on vehicle sales in recent months, it all depends on what car buying demographic you were thinking about. Parents in the United Kingdom bought so many Little Tikes Cozy Coupes in March that the toy vehicle outsold the country's best-selling car, according to one report. TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %FFORD MOTOR COMPANY5.65+0.02+0.36% Usually, the U.K.'s top car is the Ford Fiesta, but sales of the vehicle fell in March to only 15,987 because of the coronavirus, The Sun recently reported. CORONAVIRUS LEADS PARENTS INTO DEBT, LENDINGTREE SURVEY FINDS Meanwhile, Little Tikes put the pedal to the medal and sold 85,000 toy cars during the same time, according to the British tabloid. "We're thrilled to see the Cozy Coupe is still the car of ...

About 10 weeks ago, parents of the western world collectively realized they needed something to keep their children occupied while under quarantine. Some committed to rigorous home-schooling programs, others shut their kids up with electronics, and a huge number bought Little Tikes Cozy Coupes—so many, in fact, that the iconic, foot-powered toy car became Britain's bestselling car for the month of March. The Sun reports that during the third month of 2020, Little Tikes sold approximately 85,000 of its Flintstonian toddler-mobiles or one about every 31 seconds for the entirety of March. That's more than the country's six bestselling vehicles' combined sales as of the end of April according to Auto Express, and more than five times the year-long sales of the country's top-selling car, the Ford Fiesta, which moved 15,987 units in the first trimester. Countrywide, Britain's car market accounted for 254,684 new vehicle sales in March according to This is Money. Had t...

The Remember When Toy Museum in Canton acts as a time machine. Visitors can take a guided tour through the museum to see and hear the history of toys from the 1950s to the 1980s. Robert Wyatt, owner of the Remember When Toy Museum, said he gave the museum its name because of the reactions visitors had as they walked through the door. "They'd say 'I remember when I had this!'" Wyatt said. The museum opened in 1987, and Wyatt estimates that since that time, the museum has collected around 20,000 toys. His collection began when he started looking for a fort play set he had as a child. He hunted through catalogs and posted ads in comic books hoping someone would have the fort for sale. Eventually, he had purchased so many boxes of old toys and learned so much about toy manufacturing that he put them on display. Louis Marx and Co. produced the majority of the Remember When Toy Museum's collection. Marx was a leading toy manufacture...

Montessorian parents follow the philosophy of Maria Montessori in that children should "cultivate their own desire to learn." In keeping with this parenting style, there are definitely certain materials and toys every Montessori mom has her in home. These toys and materials are meant to create a prepared environment that invites children to be independent, inspires their natural desire to learn, nurtures concrete learning, allows them to practice real-life skills independently from a very young age, and to focus on their sensitive periods, according to The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davis. "[Montessorians] do not believe a child is a vessel to be filled with facts. The child genuinely loves learning, making discoveries for themselves, and coming up with creative solutions," the book notes. You'll notice many of the items on this list below aren't only necessarily "toys," but also materials and tools in order to prepare the "environment"...