
Discovering Modarri, a new toy car company, was truly pure luck. In my experience, roaming the aisles of the New York Toy Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center can be somewhat of a labyrinth. The sheer number of exhibitors seems to grow exponentially each year causing tight squeezes and ultimately overlapping booths among smaller vendors and start-ups looking to attract the attention of the press and buyers alike. Thankfully social media has emerged as a useful tool to navigate unchartered waters. A random tweet made on Twitter announced that Modarri, a new toy car company, had reached and surpassed its Kickstarter goal. After checking out their Kickstarter page I was intrigued to meet the 3 Dads leading the start-up, all of whom are phenomenally successful toy industry veterans dedicated to creating and selling beautiful, functional, durable toys.
Toy Cars
Ridemakerz: A toy car company building great family memories

I was first contacted by RIDEMAKERZ, makers of custom designed toy cars kids can build, about a promotion to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. A generous portion of the proceeds from the sale of the radio controlled Chevrolet Corvette C6RS – Special Edition would go directly to help fund the cause. We reviewed the car and gave away one vehicle to a lucky CuteMonster.com reader. Late in October I received an invitation to attend the Grand Opening press event of the RIDEMAKERZ store-within-a-store debut at FAO Schwarz in New York City. Adding to the excitement was the chance to bring my whole family to build and keep our own RIDEMAKERZ rides. Clearly it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Little did I realize the best surprise awaited us.
RIDEMAKERZ Chevrolet Corvette C6RS Review and Giveaway – Help Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Toy car maker RIDEMAKERZ recently contacted me to review their Chevrolet Corvette C6RS – Special Edition – BCRF. Given that RIDEMAKERZ will be opening up a store within a store this Fall at FAO Schwarz in New York City, I was intrigued to get a first hand look at one of their toy cars. They have a similar business model to Build – it- Yourself stores in which a customer can choose different styles, parts, etc. in millions of combinations to create the cool car ride of their dreams. Factor in that RIDEMAKERZ generously offered to giveaway a Chevrolet Corvette C6RS – Special Edition – BCRF to one of our readers and that this limited edition car will support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, I welcomed the opportunity.
Awesome Vintage Wood Toy Cars

We love start-up stories like this. Vlad Dragusin’s biography on KickStarter states “I am an architect and designer living in Brooklyn, NY. I also became a dad a few years back, and toy design became my passion ever since.” The result of his labor of love? Wonderful vintage wood toy cars that evoke the classic lines of American vintage cars from the 1950s to 1960s. His company, Candylab Toys has already achieved its funding goal on Kickstarter, so production of MO-TO: Modern Vintage Toy Cars, will begin in the near future.
Review and Giveaway: TAGAMOTO Enforcer Road Set

At the 2013 NY Toy Fair, I had the opportunity to visit Innovation First International’s booth. I was treated to seeing the latest HEXBUG micro robot toys including the award winning HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots Battle Station. Yet what really caught my attention was TAGAMOTO, a new series of interactive toy cars that respond to interchangeable codes placed on racetracks.