The Hog is Listening....Hog Wild December Special below.......

Frog Frogs Frogs Delivered from Tacoma

Secrets of the Sea gets the nod from Parents Choice

Secrets of the Sea
Spring 2009 Games
Ages: 5 & Up
Manufacturer: Playroom Entertainment
Price: $20.00
Review:
Secrets of the Sea is a game of treasure hunting at sea. Players use a UV decoder light (batteries included) to reveal hidden objects on the game board as they work to earn points collecting treasures, fighting sea monsters, and gaining rewards. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. A little strategy, some memory and matching skills, and a little luck combine to make this game fun for 5-8 year old deep sea divers.
Jeff Fogg ©2009 Parents' Choice
Look for this product at:
Major, Specialty & Online Retailers
Playroom Entertainment
http://www.playrooment.com

Fish Stix from Peaceable Kingdom Press wins Parents Choice Gold Award!

Fish Stix
Fall 2009 Games
Ages: 6 - 12 yrs.
Manufacturer: Peaceable Kingdom Press
Price: $14.99
Review:
In this visual strategy game, in which play progresses as in dominoes, players take turns matching fish by color and direction in which they swim.

As players draw a card with pictures of four fish, the goal is to match the fish cards and place them on the play grid. The images must match by color and by direction in which they swim. Cards must be played so the exact image matches touch. The first player to get to 10 points wins.

Young testers learned how to look for ways to build on a matching series another player had started, (an clever way to get 6 or 7 fish in a series at once) or to figure out how to get double the points by finding a card that lines up with two kinds of fish.
Kathy Walsh ©2009 Parents' Choice
Look for this product at:
Peaceable Kingdom Press
http://www.pkpress.com

QUELF BOARD GAME WINS 2009 GOLD NATIONAL PARENTING PUBLICATIONS AWARD (NAPPA)

IMAGINATION^® QUELF BOARD GAME WINS 2009 GOLD NATIONAL PARENTING PUBLICATIONS AWARD (NAPPA)

FLAPDOODLE Board Game Wins NAPPA Honors

 

LOS ANGELES (September 1, 2009) – Imagination^® announced today that its Quelf board game (Ages 12+, Players: 3-8) was chosen as the 2009 NAPPA Gold Award winner, adding this impressive honor to its growing list of recognitions, including the recent 2009 Creative Child Magazine “Preferred Choice Award.”

Quelf is a hilarious unpredictable party game that gives random a new name. It’s as simple as rolling the dice, moving your chosen character piece and following the random instructions on the cards to do things like, “Talk like a pirate until someone sneezes” or “Go to the bathroom and don’t come back until someone comes to get you.” “The fun quotient with Quelf is off the charts,” says Imagination CEO Shane Yeend. “You never can tell what will happen. I’ve played the game with three generations of family members and everyone really had fun. That’s so rare to find in a board game.”

Flapdoodle (Ages 6+, Players 3-6), the junior version of Quelf, took home the 2009 NAPPA Honors Award. Other recent awards include the 2009 Creative Child Magazine “Seal of Excellence Award” and the 2009 National Parenting Center “Seal of Approval.”

With more Americans choosing at-home socializing and entertainment, playing board games has made a comeback as an economical and fun way for friends and family of all ages to gather. Along with the popular Battle of The Sexes, Fact or Crap and Beat the Parents, Imagination continues to deliver new, innovative and non-traditional board games like Quelf and Flapdoodle that will surely give game night fun a whole new meaning.

About Imagination International

Imagination creates, produces and distributes the most compelling interactive entertainment to the world. Committed to innovation, Imagination has interests in traditional games and puzzles, DVD games, interactive television and radio.

© IMAGINATION. IMAGINATION™ NAME AND LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF IMAGINATION.  ALL OTHER TRADEMARKS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

FAMILY PASTIMES NEWS November 2009

QUESTIONS ASKED.

1. Is there still time to get stock for the gift giving season?

Yes, yes, yes.  We are still open for business.

We are a small and very flexible company.  Plenty of time.

We keep shipping even in December.

I have a New Yorker cartoon over my desk that shows Santa entering a room where the elves are working away making basketballs.  He has a purchase order in his hands and says to the assembled workers, “Stop making basketballs and start making soccer balls.”

In a nutshell that is what happens with my worker elves in the backrooms.  For example, we just got an order for 60 Sleeping Grumps and 60 Secret Doors.  We had enough Secret

Doors, but were short of Sleeping Grumps.

I entered the workroom with the purchase order in hand and announced, “Stop making Harvest Times and start making Sleeping Grumps.”

This is the advantage of being small and flexible.

 2. What are your games made of?

We have been using the same materials for almost 40 years now and, though sometimes this means paying more for them, we are very loyal to those suppliers who give us safe raw materials, non-toxic glues, inks and paints, and wherever possible 100% recycled materials.  We get our wooden pieces made in British Columbia, for example, when we could go to Asia and realize savings. We get our plastic pieces, pawns and dice, made in the USA, even though we could go to Asia and bring in cheaper product. It is important to me to make our contribution to local economies and maintain jobs for the local people who have helped make Family Pastimes the stable business it is.

When you see that CE logo on the games, this is your assurance that we have had to pass the very stringent lab tests for safety in Europe if we want to continue doing business in Europe. And that extends to anywhere in the world.

3. What have you got against competitive games?

I am not a fan of the many games that romanticize war and other forms of violence. I have heard all the arguments that come down to whether it is the chicken or the egg that came first.  In other words, are these games just reflecting the violence already in society or are they helping to promote it as an acceptable form of culture?

I only am certain of what I see around me…children are very imitative of what they see in the media and in the behavior of older humans around them. They imitate us.

I do feel, though, that we have more than a sufficient supply of competitive experiences..  What we need now is many more play experiences that involve sharing, making friends not enemies, solving problems with dialogue not aggression….remember someone saying something about making the world a kinder, gentler place?  I do.  He didn’t get very far and probably really didn’t try. Apparently, it is hard to lose the taste for blood.

If you don't have a current price list...just hit reply and type in Price List in the Subject.

If you want to know What’s New, click on my info site, www.familypastimes.com and view the Newsbits. ..

Keep those precious orders coming. We appreciate your continued support.

Cheers,

Jim Deacove

Family Pastimes

"We don’t stop playing because we grow old.  We grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw

HOHNER November Specials. Great deals on Guitars and Ukuleles

HOHNER November Specials:

·         $500 – FFA & Net 30 for approved accounts
·         $750 – FFA & Net 60 for approved accounts
·         Guitar -    buy 7 HAG 250 and get the 8^th free at case pack pricing ($157.36 total cost for 7 pieces - $50.00 retail value free)

·         Ukulele – buy 11 HU212 and get the 12^th free ($219.45 total cost for 11 pieces - $40 retail value free)

Orb Factory Deal for November

This deal is NOT available for Assortments, they are sold out.

This is only for the individual SKUs

New website dedicated to the other Japanese made eraser brand, Zensinyoji