Important Advisory:

We are now requiring companies to provide us with documentation that their products have been tested by an independent lab for phthalates and lead.
Please click here for submission requirements for new products. However, as we are not a lab, we will not be independently verifying those results. Also, with the exception of the 2008 Platinum Toy Awards, toys submitted for review prior to January 2008 were not tested for lead.

Instructions for submitting product to the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio for review.

Contact the Toyportfolio @ (212) 598-0502 or by email at Webmaster@Toyportfolio.com.

Copyright 1995-2008. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio - All Rights Reserved. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Blue Chip Award are Registered Trademarks of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio.

High Tech Gadgets

( Hasbro $$24.99$ ) I-Dog works both as an interactive pet and as a speaker for an MP3 player. Cleverly it does have that sleek white I-Pod look. We tested the I-Dog with several groups of tween testers. The I-Dog was a bigger hit with girls. Boys tended to prefer the IZ from Zizzle. Girls thought it was a great accessory to their IPods. One tester wrote: "I really liked the dual use of the I-DOG. When I was experimenting with the toy first I realized that you can use the toy as either a game or a makeshift pet. It was incredibly entertaining." There were some complaints about the long set up time, but overall the I-Dog did very well with our testers (ages 7-14). Is this a must have toy? Not really. But if you're looking for a speaker for your child's IPOD, here's a good choice for the money. It also gets the music out of their ears so that they have a better chance of hearing you call them to dinner! Age: Late School Years, Tweens, Teens. Phone: 800-752-9755. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award 2006

( Zizzle $$39.99$ ) IZ looks like a playful alien. Twist his ears,nose and eyes and you will activiate a random collection of sound effects and music. Plug IZ into your MP3 player and he now becomes a speaker. We put IZ to the test against I-DOG, the ipod inspired pup from Hasbro. IZ appealed much more to boys (young and old). Our girl testers felt that IZ was cute but "younger looking" than I-DOG. Our 11 year old boy tester wrote: "It was still appealing after the newness wore off. It would be a cool desk toy to fool around with in the duller hours of the day." Boys generally liked the robotic, alien design of IZ. This same tester hit the toy on the head: "I found IZ, besides being entertaining, a bit pointless. But, then again, fun can sometimes be pointless, right?" We agree. Age: Late School Years, Tweens. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award 2005

( Hasbro $$74.99$ ) Our testers were looking forward to putting the VCamNow and Mattel's Vidster to the test. The idea of a video camera for kids under $100 is very appealing. Rather than hand off your own expensive video camera and hoping for the best, these small kid friendly options seemed like a great breakthrough. Both cameras got initial high marks for design. "Kids this age want gadgets that look like the real thing" noted one parent. However, both products did not test well with our tech savvy kids and their parents. The Vidster view finder was blurry and the output was too dark even when the testers added lots of light. The VCamNow had a clear view finder image, but the output was very blurry. "I would have taken both products back" noted one parent. Age: Late School Years, Tweens. Phone: 800-752-9755.

( Mattel $$69.99$ ) Our testers were looking forward to putting the Vidster and Hasbro's VCamNow to the test. The idea of a video camera for kids under $100 is very appealing. Rather than hand off your own expensive video camera and hoping for the best, these small kid friendly options seemed like a great breakthrough. Both cameras got initial high marks for design. "Kids this age want gadgets that look like the real thing" noted one parent. However, both products did not test well with our tech savvy kids and their parents. The Vidster view finder was blurry and the output was too dark even when the testers added lots of light. The VideoCamNow had a clear view finder image, but the output was very blurry. "I would have taken both products back" noted one parent. Age: Late School Years, Tweens. Phone: 800-524-TOYS.