For children whose birthday falls on, or near Christmas, choosing new children’s toys as birthday gifts can be easier than it sounds. All the cool new toys will be in the shops in time for Christmas kids to choose their ideal birthday toys at the same time. This gives you, as the gift sender, the best possible choice.

Before you hit the shops looking for the newest toys, do some research first! Around the end of summer, the Autumn/Winter new toy collections are announced and released. These announcements include the hottest new toys to hit the market. These usually include super heroes, dinosaurs, robots, musical toys and electronic toys. With all this choice, you get to be the favourite family member or friend with the best new toy gift of the year. If you are not the parent, remember to consult with mums and dads to ensure you are not delivering the same new toy as someone else.

The important thing is to ensure the recipient of your gift knows that they are the star of the biggest family holiday of the year and there are some rules to remember when doing this. Firstly, separate birthday gifts should never, ever be wrapped in Christmas paper – make the distinction by wrapping presents in the appropriate type of wrapping; birthday wrap should be used for birthday presents. Secondly, if you are hosting the party, never serve Christmas leftovers for birthday dinner.

If you decide to opt for one big gift when choosing new toys [http://www.elc.co.uk/elc/star-buys/], remember to help Christmas babies feel special by ensuring there’s a little something extra to open for both birthday and Christmas.

When choosing new children’s toys at any time of year there are a few essential things to consider; whether you are looking for baby toys, toddler toys, pre-school toys or toys for older children. Price, toy safety, age range, quality and durability are all important factors to be taken into account. New toy trends can help you understand what’s big at Christmas but will the toy last and be enjoyable all year round? A robust toy that is safe and durable will be loved for far longer that a trendy new toy that breaks on Christmas day.

For those buying gifts for kids who haven’t chosen to celebrate a ‘second’ birthday at a different time of year, celebrating a birthday at Christmas needn’t be difficult. Not only are kids on holiday instead of at school, but all the best new toys on the market are available!

“Ben 10 is without doubt the hottest boys’ brand of the moment”. The Ben 10 10cm and 15cm Action Figures were selected as the “2009 Toy Of The Year” and the Ben 10 brand also scooped the “Boys’ Range Of The Year”. So what are Ben 10 toys all about and are they worth buying?

1. What are Ben 10 Toys?

Ben 10 is the superhero from the Cartoon Network show of the same name. Young fans all over the world are going wild for the merchandise relating to their hero and he now has his own toy range. The watch like object called the Omnitrix gives Ben his super powers and is central to the toy range. It allows him to transform into 10+ different superhero aliens, who form the action figure toys available.

Ben 10: Alien Force is the sequel to the original show. The trusty Omnitrix has evolved, resulting in new aliens to transform into. The toy range has been updated accordingly with a new Ultimate Omnitrix and new alien action figures.

2. For what age group are Ben 10 Toys suitable?

The range is primarily aimed at boys aged 4 to 12.

3. Are Ben 10 Toys any good?

Ben 10 toys are exciting, good value toys that entertain and inspire creativity. They are realistic to the cartoon, well detailed and well made. In this time of financial crisis it is all about trusted brands and the makers of the Ben 10 range, Bandai, are the world’s third largest producer of toys. If you are looking for high quality, durable, multi-purpose toys that can be played with in different ways – Ben 10 delivers.

4. How much do Ben 10 Toys cost?

You can get some good action figures starting from about £5.

The best ‘Omnitrix’ watches cost between £15 and £20.

The new Alien Force creature vehicles cost about £15.

The video games start at about £15 depending on platform.

You can find a nice selection of books for around £3.

You could perform a great Ben 10 bedroom make-over for around £60, to include curtains, a duvet cover & pillowcase, wall stickers and a lightshade.

5. Which is the best Ben 10 Toy?

The must have toys for any Ben 10 fan are an Omnitrix and some action figures.

The Omnitrix comes in many different versions so beware of the cheaper forms that are less playable. The two best Omnitrix watches are the Deluxe Omnitrix and the new Alien Force Ultimate Omnitrix. They are realistic to the cartoon series and are ideal for superhero role play.

The best value for money in action figures are the 10cm versions as they are poseable, well detailed and hard wearing but also cheap enough to buy a few.  Ensure you are buying the ‘right’ alien though as your Ben 10 fan will undoubtedly have their favourites. Take advantage of multi figure packs to get your Ben 10 fan’s collection started. The Creation Chamber figures also offer great creative play allowing children to mix things up and make new Ben 10 aliens.

If you don’t mind shoot-em up games, the Ben 10 video games are great. They are fairly easy to play, challenging but not too much so. There’s great sound and story line and you have to solve problems. The best bits for young Ben 10 fans are:

• another player can join or leave and help at any point in the game; and
• you start from where you run out of life so you don’t have to go back to the beginning of a level.

6. Which is the worst Ben 10 Toy?

The playsets are typically expensive, cumbersome and have too many parts that get lost. Generally they also require you to buy the rest of the product range to use with it, so are often not worth the money. The adverts and the packaging are always very tempting but once the box is opened and the first play frenzy is over, disappointment sets in.

The cheapest versions of the Omnitrix (the Omnitrix FX and the Alien Viewer) have limited appeal. Check out my other article “Ben 10 Omnitrix Watches – The Differences Every Parent Needs To Know” for more detailed information.

With the action figures you need to avoid the smallest and the largest.  The Transforming Alien Rocks or figures from Planetary Powder sets are tiny, mono-coloured and badly detailed. At the other end of the scale, the 30cm Epic Alien Figures are not poseable and made of inferior quality plastic.

7. What toys and merchandise does the Ben 10 Toy range include?

As well as the Omnitrix and Action Figures, the Ben 10 range includes:

• games and puzzles;
• vehicles;
• playsets;
• DVDs;
• video games;
• clothes & shoes;
• school equipment;
• dressing up costumes;
• arts & crafts;
• sports equipment;
• furniture;
• party supplies;
• bedroom accessories;
• books.

8. What educational value does the Ben 10 Toy range provide?

The toys encourage imaginative play with your child starting as Ben 10, meeting a villain and then transforming into one of the hero aliens simply by switching toys. They also help develop moral reasoning by identifying the good from the bad characters. When used to interact with other children, they will engage in cooperative and dramatic play.

9. Which toy should I buy for a child that has most of the Ben 10 Toy range already?

Take a look at some of the sports equipment, such as the skateboard or the scooter.

10. Where can I buy Ben 10 Toys online?

Everywhere! Ben 10 is so popular you can find the toys for sale at most online toy retailers such as Amazon, The Toy Shop and Toys R Us. 

© 2009 Chloe Alice Wilson

If you’ve been selling plush stuffed toys as a business, then you probably know that it’s very easy to sell them. The whole process is easy and if you choose a reliable manufacturer of custom plush toys, the rewards are countless. This is the main reason why a lot of people go into this business. It’s because they know that there is a big market for it. They’ve been around for generations and still enjoy worldwide support. No one is really worrying about competition because there’s enough market for everyone.

Now, you can choose to compete with other inventors of plush stuffed toys. As mentioned, there is a big market for it and there is enough for everyone. But why stop there? Why not get ahead of your competition by offering other things to your customers? Aside from the custom plush toys, you can also offer other things that complement them. Since it complements your toys, then it will benefit your customers.

You can do this by upselling. Upselling is a sales strategy where you will encourage the customer to buy additional items or upgrades. In the case of plush stuffed toys, these additional items or upgrades complement them. For example, you can offer clothes or accessories for the plush toy. As upgrades, you can offer gift-wrapping or express delivery. The clothes and accessories makes the toys better while the gift-wrapping or express delivery benefits the customer if they have a need for them. Remember, they are just add-ons to the original order of custom plush toys. It’s just a matter of developing products and services that you can upsell.

Now, those are upsells. It means that they have to pay for it. If they pay for it, then it means that they have a need for it so it’s clear what they’re getting from it. But what’s in it for you? Simply put, you can increase your sales with these upsells. Aside from the plush stuffed toys, you’re also getting sales from the clothes, accessories and added services. Think about it. Instead of just earning $29.99 for your toy, you’ll be getting additional sales of $5.00 for gift-wrapping and $8.00 for express shipping. You can also upsell the paid membership that you’re offering that has loads of information regarding custom plush toys for only $9.00 a month. If you do the math, you earned a lot more for just a single order. If you have these backend products and services ready, it can easily multiply.

It’s also very easy to upsell. After all, you have gained their trust already. They’re ready to hand over their cash or credit card for their plush stuffed toys. It’s just a matter of encouraging them to buy more products and services that can improve their experience with the custom plush toys. You’re not taking advantage of them so you don’t have to feel guilty. You just realize that there is an opportunity for you and your customers to benefit from these upsells so you’re just taking advantage of that opportunity.

Everyone needs a hobby, but when you are just a baby toddler, habits are limited. This is why it is always every parent’s desire to buy toys for their children. Toys bring the happiness of children, knowing they can manipulate and play with whatever they have. Baby toddler toys are usually very colorful, and the baby gets to experience different visions while he or she is growing up.

Having little or tight money should not be an excuse for the parent not to buy a toy for his or her children. There are a variety of toys that can be found very cheap; some toys can even be free. Many children that turn to teenagers do not need their toys lying around the house; therefore donations are always happening all around you. Even some broken toys are playable but not noticeable by children.

The parent earns a lot of love when they introduce the baby toddler with a new toy. The child is always happy when the parent introduces them with a new toy; the child will then later realize that parents do want his happiness and like seeing them happy. Toys can also be a great punishment. When a child misbehaves, a parent can take away the toy. This shows the child that playing time is over as soon as a rule is being broken. This always encourages the child not to break the rule in order to stay on the safe side; playing with his or her toys.

There are many different toys for baby toddlers. One of the most common ones are the little cars that a child can ride on. Characters like the Chu-chu train or just plain cars make the child really inspired about driving when they are older. Although disturbing at times, toys that make a lot of noise show the baby different sounds they have not heard before and this really keeps them interested and playing for quite a while. This is why parents are suggested to buy different toys every once in a while. Toy sounds such as the baby hearing the different animal can be real educational for the child and makes him or her more knowledge towards knowing what animal is what, and how each animal sounds to them.

Puzzle games are also very suggested for parents who want their children to be educated well, and have fun at the same time. Puzzles can really have the child thinking and can teach them patience between knowing which puzzle goes where. It can also introduce many different images to the child. Puzzles can introduce art, and can inspire them to draw and paint more in kindergarten.

Stuffed animals are also great for baby toddlers, especially female babies. This introduces a great new level for the female child. It shows them how to take care of a baby, and introduces them a great knowledge of motherhood. Not only that, but it is also cute for the parent to see a child holding on to her stuffed animal before going to bed.

So, remember, never doubt the toys’ importance and different toys can serve different purposes depending on your choice. Choose safely and wisely; but most of all, may your children enjoy the childhood memories.

For those of us who own toy breeds, the frightening sounds of coughing, shallow breathing or in the extreme, listening to your tiny Maltese honk like a barnyard goose may be all too familiar. Most often these symptoms result from an irritated, or in more severe cases, a collapsed trachea. Although these symptoms are unnerving to those new dog owners who are not familiar with this ailment, it is a fairly common one. Estimates range that between 20-40% of toy breed dogs will develop some sort of tracheal disorder. The highest risk breeds are among our tiniest canine companions: Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians, Italian Greyhounds, Maltese, and Toy Poodles.

If your little dog occasionally exhibits these symptoms, you may notice that a tug on your dog’s collar, while out for a walk, may suddenly bring them on. It is important to understand that tracheal disorders are congenital. A tug on a collar rarely, if ever will cause a collapsed trachea. However it can certainly exacerbate an already existing problem or turn a predisposition into the problem. Tugging on a collar can easily cause the irritation that leads to coughing, which in turn, further irritates the trachea.

So, whether you are trying to curb the energy and exuberance of your new puppy friend, take control of your dog in unsafe situations, or just take your pup out to answer nature’s call, harnesses are the perfect choice for toy breed dogs. Designed to allow your dog to push with the chest rather than the throat, a properly fitted harness removes pressure from your tiny dog’s sensitive trachea. Even for small dogs without tracheal concerns, harnesses are best because they distribute pressure more evenly around the dog’s body, and are therefore much more comfortable. For “Houdini’ hounds, harnesses provide an escape proof alternative to the classic collar that can sometimes allow your dog to pull its head back through it. Toy breed dog collars should be worn to look wonderful and to hold tags only, not for leash attachment.

Once you have made the decision to shop for a harness, there are a myriad of harnesses to choose from. Unfortunately, for the first-time harness buyer, it’s like trying to buy athletic underwear – for someone else! I have talked to numerous little dog owners who can pull a harness that didn’t work out of the back of the closet. Too often, what starts off with the best intentions, ends up being an exercise in frustration. But, like anything you want to feel good about and have for a while, acquiring the right harness takes some planning.

At Moondoggie, Inc. we offer the following advice to our toy breed customers:

TAKE 3 MEASUREMENTS – around your dog’s neck, along the length of your dog’s back (topline) from where the collar lays to the base of your dog’s tail, and around the biggest part of your dog (girth) which is usually just behind the front legs. ADD 2 inches to the girth measurement.

THINK COMFORT – Avoid harnesses that have pressure spots where they can rub and irritate your dog’s skin. Nylon and some unfinished leathers have a tendency to do that. Choose soft fabrics that “breathe”. 100% cotton, or soft, porous, semi-stretch, neoprene blends are great because they are machine washable and dry quickly. If leather is what you want, try rounded or “tubular” leather, and although it may be a bit more expensive, purchase a buttery soft leather dog harness. It will last forever, continue to soften with age, and look fabulous!

LOVE WHAT YOU CHOOSE – If you love the harness you’ve chosen, you’ll be motivated to help your dog learn to love it too. Like dog collars and other forms of dog clothing, dog harnesses come in a variety of themes – preppie, rocker, classic, biker, princess, surfer, athletic, camouflage, floral, patriotic, modern, vintage, even psychedelic! They also come in a standard adjustable style, a vest style, and a flexi style (meaning the head goes through the neck opening with the strap going up and around the dog’s belly with a quick release mechanism on the side). For those of us who love to dress our little dogs, there’s no need to strap a harness over a beautiful outfit. Now, even the most adorable dog dresses, dog tee shirts and even little dog polo shirts are designed with sturdy harnesses built right into them!

HAVE FUN – Dogs are creatures of habit. As you have probably already experienced, new things are approached with caution and often resistance. Introducing a harness into your dog’s already contented life may require some creativity and more than a little patience. Be prepared and keep your sense of humor when attempting to harness your dog for the first time. Beware of the classic canine defensive move, when first approached with a harness, which is the rollover. Sometimes it happens before you even get close. More often it occurs just when you think it was a breeze and you can snap that buckle, and in a flash your pup rolls over and turns into dead weight. When you try to put your pup back on all fours, he suddenly develops “jelly legs”! Another maneuver to expect is the “I just want to see what you’re doing” twirl. It is next to impossible to put a harness on a dog while it is trying to watch what your hands are doing! (It is pretty funny to watch someone try to, though.)

To avoid these challenges, we recommend that you lift and place your dog on a bench or table where you have more control over the action and your dog has less room to maneuver. Talking to your dog in your “good dog” voice also helps. But most of all make each time you put on your dog’s harness a prelude to a ride in the car, or a walk to the park, a cookie treat, or something really fun. If you make the association between the harness and the subsequent positive activity really clear, it won’t take more than a few times before your dog is so happy about wearing the harness, getting him to stop wiggling with excitement will be your only challenge!

Harnesses are essential for the health and safety of your toy breed pup. Well worth the initial shenanigans that may be required to coax your baby into one, they can be fun and fashionable too! Once you start harness shopping, we would like to offer one final word of caution. Your dog may not be the only one that gets “hooked”!

Security Cameras are among the most popular devices that are used for the purpose of maintaining home and business security. Home security camera systems provide protection against intruders and other criminals. However, just like other devices, they can somehow become useless. And that’s because many criminals are now experts. As a matter of fact, they can easily blind the security surveillance cameras and your outdoor wireless security camera, allowing them to commit the crimes flawlessly.

If you don’t want things like this to happen to you, then you need to be smart-even smarter than the criminals. If they are wise, then you should be wiser. You need to think just like how a criminal thinks. Carefully think about where he will possibly enter. And from there, you need to come up with an effective plan where you can use your Security Cameras without them knowing that there are cameras installed. If a hidden security camera is properly installed in the area where the criminal would possibly pass through, then you’re sure to have him recorded.

The best thing that you need to do when using hidden Security Cameras is to install them on children’s toys. But then, this wouldn’t be as simple as that. This will involve a series of steps so if you’re interested to know how you can install your hidden cameras for home on toys, you need to follow these:

1. Make sure that you’re going to install the hidden cameras on toys that are normally out. For instance, you can have the camera installed on a teddy bear or other stuffed toys.

2. Decide on the best angle for the camera. You should have it placed in an area where the criminals would pass through.

3. Decide how high the cameras need to be. If you want to have a view of the entire room, then you will need to have it placed in a high area.

4. Prepare the toy where you will be hiding the mini security camera in. You need to make a small hole on the stuffed toy and make sure that the hole is big enough to contain the camera.

5. Insert the hidden camera into the stuffed animal toy and secure it according to the manufacturer’s directions.

6. See to it that the camera is hidden. To make sure that the camera is hidden and it will not fall off from the stuffed toy, you will need to sew the opening so that only the camera’s lens will be exposed.

7. Do not forget to sync the hidden camera with the base station and install any software on your computer that will accompany the hidden camera. Set the preferences according to how you want it to be.

8. Before you use it against the criminals, make sure you test it first. You need to test it until you’re satisfied with it. If you’re not satisfied with one camera, you can use two or three of these Security Cameras.

To help you make a good investment in your choice of toys for your child, keep in mind the importance and benefits of play that a carefully selected toy can enhance. Toys are tools for play, and when you provide your child with the best tools for play, his or her play experience will nurture essential skills. Many toys are not very good tools for play at all. Any toy that is not safe, that does not interest your child, that easily breaks, and that has no developmental value with use is not a good tool for play. The best toys are interesting and fun for your child to play with and are successfully designed to promote essential growth and development.

Finding the best toys requires some general knowledge, selective shopping, and an appreciation for the old saying, “you get what you pay for.” In the long run, paying more for a well designed and crafted toy made of better materials is also a much better value. Look for award-winning toys proven to foster skills such as sequencing, matching, sorting, counting, hand-eye coordination, memory, visual-recognition, touch, problem-solving, emotions, pattern-recognition, and fine motor skills. As children grow they advance to toys that enhance such skills as mathematics, science, construction, and basic introductory engineering.

The right toy for the right play experience will also help grow your child’s imagination which can be stimulated through storytelling, dramatic play, themes, role-play, and pretend. Some of these same toys and activities that help develop your child’s imagination can also help him or her to better recognize, understand, and process emotions. Children actually learn to express their feelings through healthy play before they are able to express them in words. The joy and laughter of children at play alone is worth the price of a quality toy that fosters such delight.

A well-chosen toy can also help children learn to better interact with others as they play along side other children and develop social skills. Some toys are specifically designed for group play for this very purpose. It is good for children to enjoy playing alone, and it is equally important that children learn how to play well with others and enjoy doing so.

The right toys can do wonders at helping to make all these skills and developments a reality through constructive and enjoyable play. Now, let’s ask the question once again, “What good are kids toys?” The answer is simple: A carefully selected toy, one that is well designed and carefully crafted, can be a whole new world of good to your child as an excellent tool for beneficial play that helps your child grow in many important ways.

Choosing the right toys for your child should be important to you because play is important to your child’s growth and development. Be advised that not all toys are equal. Beware of junk toys that do not last and that have no developmental benefit built into their design. Rarely will you find the best toys on the clearance aisle or at a garage sale. Toys that are a good investment in your child are high quality toys made for years of use. These are the toys that create cherished childhood memories, and that are often passed down to the next generation.

She is an amazing Certified Therapy Dog but, she will steal resident’s stuffed toys if I would allow her to. Now, for those of you who are handy with the needle, you could remove the stuffing, and fill the toy with tough fabric instead, that way, it will last forever!

I think that dogs feel closer to being a dog when they actually have a stuffed toy in their mouth. They feel that they have caught it. They can carry it around, they can claim it, they can retrieve it (especially retrievers), and it’s theirs. And, it feels good to them. After a while, the smell of this stuffed toy becomes awful to us, but great to the dogs.

Depending on the breed you have, some dogs will kill the stuffed toys, some dogs will love it, sleep on it and snuggle with it. Retrievers will consistently have it in their mouth when you return home.

By far, the cheapest way to keep your dog in stuffed toys is buying cheap, right sized stuffed animals at garage/yard sales. I wash them in hot water, and a bit of Solumel (Melaleuca household cleaner that helps get rid of bacteria and it is animal and nature friendly), this is very important! Then, I remove all the detachable; lose things like eyes, whiskers, etc. These toys are a very cheap alternative to expensive pet store toys.

Be very careful though that you check and make sure that this toy is not stuffed with small, styrofoam beads. Avoid those. You can easily tell by squishing the toy in your hand. Dogs often rip open their stuffed toys, and the styrofoam beads could become a hazard to your dog.

I know of some big dogs that shake their stuffed toy to so much that they are actually killing it. If you have more than one dog watch that the other dog doesn’t get hurt by the toy that is being shaken. It is easy to have your other dogs eye get punctured or hurt.

So to repeat the question, why do dogs like stuffed toys? Well, it seems that we all love stuffed toys. Adults have them, kids love them, cats play with stuffed mice, and dogs claim them to kill it, to claim it, or just to love it.

The action toy market is growing almost on a daily basis. Today, several media franchises use the toy market to enhance their profits, and one would find any kind of toy figures that they would want. In fact, this market is not just about the kids, but many of the toy models are collector’s items, and are worth quite a considerable amount. Because of the incessant demand for toys of all kinds, several unreliable operators deal in duplicate, substandard toys, which are rip-offs of original intellectual property. These products are available for a fraction of a price of the original product, but one should stay away from such products. Here are some simple reasons why one should never buy duplicate action figures.

Original company sanctioned toys undergo a strict manufacturing protocol, and come to the market only after they are tested for safety and other aspects by various national as well as international organisations. The fake products do not undergo any of these tests, and they pose a potential hazard to the child. Even when it comes to original toys, they are suited only for children of certain ages. For example, an action figure with small accessories is a potential choking hazard, and therefore the manufacturers post a sticker on the box, informing the buyer about the choking hazard and the age that the toy would be suitable.

Apart from choking hazards, one can never be sure about what ingredients the manufacturer has used to make the toy, which is another hazard to the user’s health. Several ingredients go into the manufacturing of the toy, and one needs to be sure that the paint does not peel, or that the material does not chip away, or even that the accessories do not break up into little pieces, grossly decreasing the experience that the user would have.

Last but not the least, fake and rip off products have no manufacturing warranties and guarantees. There are chances that even the shopkeeper will not know who the actual manufacturer of the product is, so there is little chance of you getting any after sales service if you buy a fake toy, like an action figure. A typical toy nowadays is a complicated manufacture, and there is every chance that some or the other part of the device stops working or breaks down, and then you have no other option but to dump the toy and get a new one.

These are some simple reasons why you should never buy a duplicate action figure. Before you buy an action figure or other toys, go through the packing and the other marketing collateral, and look for any tell-tale signs that point at the duplicity of the product. You could buy original games and toys either at your local supermarket or at you could buy them online, as many retailers now have websites through which they provide you toys and games at heavy discounts.

If you are considering buying a model train set, one of the first choices you have to make is what brand to get. Since model train brands have been known to come and go, it is a good idea to select a popular brand that is more likely to be around for a long time.

Based on an analysis of Google searches where a model trains brand name was included in the search phrase, the most popular brands are Lionel trains and Bachmann trains. These two brands account for over 70% of searches, both in the United States and globally.

Lionel trains dominate the model train hobby with 59% of all searches in the United States and 37% of searches globally. Lionel trains are primarily O scale, which is one of the most popular scales available, especially among serious hobbyists. Lionel is also one of the oldest brands with train sets dating back to 1900. However, the original Lionel Corporation went out of business. The brand was revived in 1969 by General Mills, the cereal company. They launched Lionel, LLC and quickly became the leading brand.

In the United States, Bachmann trains are the second largest brand with 13% of searches. Globally, Bachmann is the third largest brand with only 8% of searches. Bachmann trains were first introduced in 1946. Bachmann manufactures a large product line consisting mostly of HO scale trains, including the popular Thomas Tank Engine electric train sets. Bachmann also produces N scale, O scale and large scale trains. Prices range from under $100 to over $2,000 per train set.

Globally, Hornby is the second largest brand with 35% of searches, placing them just slightly behind Lionel. However, Hornby is based in the UK and their sales are almost all outside the United States They received only 1% of searches within the United States. Horny trains have a reputation for quality but their product line within the United States is very limited.

The top three brands, Lionel, Bachmann and Hornby, accounted for 73% of searches within the United States and 80% of searches globally. The remaining searches were spread among a dozen other brands led by LGB and Marklin, each with 5% of global searches. MTH with 3% and Atlas and Micro each with 2% of global searches. The remaining 3% of global searches were spread among all other brands. Of these remaining brands, the largest was Athearn, which received 3% of searches in the United States but only 1% of searches globally.