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Nick Toys Tops this Season

NEW YORK, Nov. 6 -- "We Did It!" Dancing Dora has emerged as one of the most popular preschool toys this holiday season. Based on Dora the Explorer, the number one show on all commercial TV for kids 2-5, "We Did It!" Dancing Dora, appears on numerous Hot Toys lists, ranging from retailers Toys 'R' Us and KB Toys to industry expert PlayDate to eToys.

"Dora toys have by far been our biggest sellers this year with merchandise flying off our shelves," said Tom Alfonsi, Senior VP, Merchandising, KB Toys. "We're so proud to carry such a hot property in our stores."

Kids love Dora, a Latina heroine who teaches preschoolers Spanish through her adventures. Now kids can sing and dance to Dora's favorite song with "We Did It" Dancing Dora. By pressing her foot she comes to life by moving her arms and head and twisting at the waist. She says interactive phrases in English and Spanish as she moves. The toy, from Fisher-Price, joins a complete line of other popular Dora bilingual merchandise this season, which includes party goods, apparel and accessories.

Kids and adults alike are also clamoring for toys and accessories based on SpongeBob SquarePants, who's grown into a national phenomenon with hundreds of sponge-worthy items. A follow-up to the talking toy Babbling Bob, is this year's new hit, Eye Poppin' SpongeBob. From Mattel, Eye Poppin' SpongeBob features the physical humor straight from the TV series and lets kids re-create SpongeBob's hilarious expressions with his wacky Eye Poppin' feature. Squeezing him, shaking him, and even setting him down by himself all will trigger a sound chip, which contains over 25 hilarious phrases and his signature laugh.

Rounding out Nickelodeon's picks for every kid's wish list are:

Blue's Clues Mix 'N Music Master, based on Blue's Clues, winner of a 2002 Peabody Award and another favorite among preschoolers, is a child's very own music mixing console. In record mode, kids press the record button and the microphone records their own voice. In the music mode, kids press one of six song buttons to hear one of five different classic preschool tunes or the Blue's Clues theme song. Kids can alter the sound by adjusting the slide
switches which control tempo, warp and echo effects, and also press one of three character buttons to interject a character phrase at any time. There is also a volume control and fun scratch pad to add additional music or Blue's bark into the mix.

Joe's Learning Letters, another Blue's Clues toy, teaches kids object identification, phonics and ABC order using the clue play method from the show. It features 26 colorful letter icons and two modes of play.

On Blue's Kindergarten for WIN/MAC CD-ROM, Blue's house is transformed into a pretend kindergarten classroom where the games are all about science, telling time, rhyming, art, creativity, math and more! Kids can play Refrigerator Rhymes in the kitchen, tell time with Tickety, play a math game at the Sand Table with Pail and Shovel, and at Peri's fort, it's Super Science! The Blue's Clues host, Joe, loves to play Hide-and-Seek throughout the game! The game is also available in Blue's Preschool for WIN/MAC CD-ROM.

In Dora's Backpack Adventure for WIN/MAC CD-ROM, Dora receives a new backpack from her parents and sets off to return her library books. Along the way, Dora, her best friend Boots, and her friends Backpack and Map need help to solve problems, figure out puzzles and play games. Kids will also meet Grumpy Old Troll, Isa the iguana, Benny the bull, Tico the squirrel and, of course, that sneaky fox, Swiper!

In The Search for Pirate Pig's Treasure for Game Boy Advance, Dora and Boots come across the peg-legged Pirate Pig who has lost his treasure. If the two of them can help him find it, he'll share it with them. His treasure chest is full of gold, jewels and even chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting! It's up to Dora and Boots to lead the search over challenging obstacles and avoid Swiper the Fox who wants to hide everything that they'll collect on their adventure!

It's SpongeBob vs. The Flying Dutchman in Revenge of the Flying Dutchman for Nintendo Game Cube. While cruising through Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob discovers several treasure chests covered with WARNING signs. Ignoring the signs, SpongeBob opens the chests, only to discover he has released the imprisoned Flying Dutchman! The Dutchman is furious that he was disturbed, and now wants to make SpongeBob and his friends part of his ghostly crew. Help SpongeBob stop the Dutchman from raising havoc in Bikini Bottom.

Just in time for the highly anticipated movie which opens December 20, kids can play The Wild Thornberrys Movie for Game Boy Advance and follow the Wild Thornberrys from the majestic settings of the Serengeti to the proper streets of London. After an incident in Africa puts Eliza in grave danger, she is sent off to boarding school in London. Upon hearing about an evil plot by poachers to capture the wild elephants of the Serengeti, she escapes back to the wild to stop the catastrophic event and faces her biggest challenge yet.

Nickelodeon's Karaoke Machine lets kids sing along to favorite songs from the Rugrats, Rocket Power and SpongeBob SquarePants. It comes packaged with a microphone and CD with music from popular Nicktoons shows including The Wild Thornberrys and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Part of the Nicktivities line, Gak Splat, Smatter, and Skweeez capture all the wacky fun of Nickelodeon. Gak Splat balls are made from soft, squishy material and make a whirling, whistling, squishy sound as they fly through the air. They are so soft that no matter how hard you throw them, they will never hurt your hand when you catch them. Kids will have a great time throwing Gak Splat balls inside the house or outside! The Gak Splat mitt and ball set allows two people to have a game of catch.

Called "The Puffy-Fluff-for-Making-Stuff compound," Skweeez is super soft and lightweight, and easier to mold than most other compounds. Easy to use with no mess, Skweeez molding compound dries overnight when exposed to air, or can be kept fresh and re-usable in its cool side zipped pouch. Available in six different colors, Skweeez features a flip-top lid with built-in shape shooter extruder.

Available in three different colors, Smatter comes with a cool Nickelodeon Smatter Blaster handle, which shoots string far distances in one of three different forms, Original Smatter, Fatter Smatter, and Spit Smatter. Original Smatter shoots long strings that dry on contact. Fatter Smatter is three times fatter than Original Smatter and is great for full flings. Spit Smatter pumps out balls of Smatter that expand 50 times on contact.

Nickelodeon, now in its 23rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines, music and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 86 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic-cable network for more than seven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

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