BEST SELLERS

Who wouldn’t love a green avocado plush toy? Scrooge? Schleprock? Debbie Downer? They’re probably the only three, because the rest of us wouldn’t be able to resist this approx 15” x 10” x 5” two-tone-green avocado half with a beige pit for a face, brown eyes and a very happy red smile. There’s a little brown stem on top, too, and a hanging loop. Way softer than an actual avocado.

From Insect Lore, these rubber band-powered, wind-up butterfly toys will delight any child of wonder, and probably some adults, too. Measure approx 5” x 5” each, and actually fly. For extra fun, wind one up and place it inside a greeting card. When the card opens, the butterfly escapes. You’ll get (2) different colors and/or designs, ranging from yellow to orange to blue. Ages 4+.

You may well have wondered where the boneless chicken breasts in your local supermarket come from. The answer is from boneless chickens. And we have some life sized rubber models of the birds to prove it. Modeled from life, they are shown plucked and as they might appear hanging in the poultry store window. Seeing is believing, at least in Missouri, so get one and look.

This puzzle’s in our pocket, and yes, we’re excited to see it. You will be, too, because it will help you finally memorize the symbols for all of the lanthanides and actinides. Imagine a very detailed, full-color periodic table composed of (150) pieces, each of which would just about cover the thumbnail of an adult copywriter. Assembled, it’ll measure approx 6" x 4". Also comes with a 4-1/2" x 3-1/8" periodic table chart, and it all travels nicely in a clear 6” x 1” tube with a screwcap.

Spin this spindle and watch it turn in perpetuity!!  Well, for a long time anyway.  Inside the 5-1/2" long colored plastic spindle are magnets which are repelled by magnets in the 5" x 3" black plastic base.  The variously colored spindle floats in the air above the base thus virtually free of normal friction. Nifty desk toy named "Revolution".

Shoot one of these little plastic arrow-helicopter-rotor gismos straight up with the included rubber band launcher and watch it soar as far as 300 feet! A fun outdoor toy that grows in sophistication as you learn how to adjust the arrowcopter for wind conditions and flight patterns: distance, return, circular descent etc. Our "each" contains a package of two (2). Recommended for kids over the age of 9.

Our seriously oversized #2 pencil is perfect for someone taking really important notes, or anyone who's tired of misplacing pencils. Also good for that big test. Measures 14" long x a 1-1/8" octagon, with a working eraser. Really thick graphite runs about 2" into the pencil, which will be plenty since we couldn't find a pencil sharpener to fit it anyway.

Plunk your magic twanger and call yourself froggy. This 3-5/8" long steel jaw harp, or mouth harp, is technically a plucked idiophone, but don't say that in Nashville. Includes playing instructions. Pay no attention to that vibration in your head.

Not every kid lives near the beach, or by a putty factory, and even if they did, they wouldn’t find stuff like this, which is why we’re so proud to offer it. You pick: the Magic Floppy Sand in yellow, green or blue, which is light and puffy, sort of sticks together and flops over when you try to hold up a big piece of it; or the Bouncy Putty in red, green, blue or yellow, which bounces when you squeeze it into a ball. Just make sure to mix it well first. Both come in a little plastic jar that’s 3” dia x 1-1/2” high. We’ll pick a nice color for you. ! WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD–Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.

Imagine the family competitions you could have with this floating ball game. Hours of fun, minutes at a time! The wooden pipe is approx 6” long, and the 1-3/8” Styrofoam balls are yours to levitate through the magic of steady breath and balance. Oh, the wonders! Ages 4+.

Forget that the 6-3/4" long body is festooned with Latin phrases and old maps. The stones/beads/glass inside the tube would make designing windows in cathedrals a snap. And hey, that's good work if you can get it. A nice gift for Rosetta window fans, and a must for that special bishop in your life.

Numerate, are you? Find out with this Ninja Assassin Sudoku book of (248) puzzles--(2) per page, plus solutions--in a 176-page paperback. Puzzles are intermediate level, easy to easy medium, by Frank Longo from Puzzle Wright Press. Best part is you can ignore the $6.95 cover price.

It's an author! It's an NPR correspondent! It's Nancy Pearl, the librarian with the super-power to start the “One City, One Book” program. She fights a never-ending battle against censorship, anti-intellectualism and ignorance. We don't know how tall the real Nancy is, but her action figure is a petite 4” tall, and she’s wearing a red cape. Packaging includes the Librarian Code.

When your Faustian rubber duckies want to sell their rubber souls to the devil, this is the Devil Duck they call. In traditional devilish red, with black horns and tail, it measures 4-1/2” long x approx 3-1/2” from waterline to horn tips, and is cute as the dickens.

We're suckers for an overbite, so we couldn't be prouder to offer Noddy, our bobblyhead squirrel in underpants. The world's cutest rodent stands 5-3/4” tall in his tighty-whities on a grass-green base that has a peel-off adhesive so he'll bobble on your dashboard if you so choose.

AKA hand boiler. An exotic bit of hand blown glass with a bulb at top and bottom connected by some zippy tubing that spirals, loops, and/or jogs. In the closed system is some colored liquid (methylene chloride) that is very light. Hold the lower bulb in your hand and as the liquid is warmed it pushes through the loops to the upper chamber. When all the liquid is pushed out of the lower bulb, expanding air will bubble through the tubing making it appear that the liquid is boiling. WARNING! The glass is fragile and the liquid is nasty. If you drop the thing on the kitchen tile, it will eat the finish off the tile and the stain in the liquid will permanently stain the floor, so don't let kids handle this item unsupervised. About 7" tall, it is a favorite in our stores.

Half of the best stuff in the world comes in a can; the other half comes on a stick. (It’s true, don’t argue with us.) Now you get to pick from two kinds of canned fun, both in 5-5/8” x 4” x 2-1/4” deep cans with hinged tops. You pick. The Pranks in a Tin has straw finger traps, a whoopee cushion, nose & mustache glasses, a joy buzzer, the nail-through-finger trick with a bloody bandage, and a squirting ring. Go make a pre-adolescent happy. The Classic Games tin holds a standard deck of playing cards, rubber ball and (10) metal jacks, tiddlywinks with a small felt pad, (30) pick-up sticks, and (5) shooters plus (30) smaller glass marbles, and not an electronic game in the bunch.

We went to a Mystery Gift Ball once and it was nothing like Eyes Wide Shut. This ball isn’t, either. It’s made of paper, and looks like an old cartoon “BOOM” bomb, black and 5” dia. It’s filled with (5) toys, like a mini pinata, but you don’t whack the crap out of this one. You peel it open to reveal the gifts. Then again, you could probably whack the crap out of it if you wanted to. ! WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD–Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.