Toy Fair 2012 (photos)

Activision's Skylanders franchise has been a huge hit with kids, and the company used Toy Fair to unveil the next version of the game, Skylanders Giants.

Activision only showed one of eight larger figures (one for each element) that are part of the new Skylanders Giants game that arrives this fall. His name: Tree Rex.

All of the new figures feature "Light Force" technology that allows the figure's body parts to light up when placed on the Portal of Power (no battery in the figure required).

No word on pricing yet, but expect the Giants figures to cost significantly more. After all, they are twice the size of the original figures, which can be used in the new game. Needless to say, the Giants characters in the video game possess certain unique attributes.

With its Apptivity line of games, Mattel is trying to marry "real" toys with iPad apps. The jury's still out on whether that's a good idea.

The nonscratching wheels of the Hot Wheels car work with the iPad's touch screen.

Apps evolve into plastic toys: Mattel's Apptivity line includes Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja toys that work with the original games.

Mattel's dancing Fijits Friends are back (Mattel said it sold 900,000 of them last year) and have added to their family with the smaller--and one might say cuter--Newbies and Yippits.

Dancing in the dark with a Fijit Friend.

Playing on the transformers theme Mattel has designed a Hot Wheel that folds up into a ball.

"With a quick fold and tuck, Hot Wheels Ballistiks turns from a vehicle to a ball that can be rolled rapidly across the floor, down carpeted stairs, or anywhere boys imagine up a stunt."

To transform from ball to vehicle, you simply crash the Ballistiks vehicle onto hard surface. There will be 24 vehicles in all starting in June.

The Barbie Photo Fashion doll has a camera in her back and a shirt with a screen that adds a frame around whatever you shoot. Photos can be offloaded from Barbie with an included pink USB cable. It's due out this August for $50.

Mattel says: "Never before done, these Hot Wheels vehicles utilize IR remote technology and supercharged micro-motors to create some of the fastest 1:64 scale cars ever."

This presenter (above) was showing just how fast and powerful these little cars are on a custom tight-looping track made for the show (the car actually went up the track).

The vehicles can be used alone or on Total Control Racing stunt tracks, which include one car and one booster. The cars are due out in may.

Mattel is bringing back one of its earlier RC vehicles, the Terrain Twister, after a long hiatus. As its name implies, this one travels on most any surface, even snow.

One of Cosmix's product promoters taking a load off her feet.

Mix a little soda with a few Mentos and suddenly you have a geyser-powered car. It's a short trip but soda's a lot cheaper than jet fuel, especially if you stick with generic brands.

A new wrinkle in the RC helicopter scene: Regal Elite's Glove Force uses a gyro-equipped arm band for some surprisingly accurate control.

A massive Power Ranger looms over the main lobby.

Magnetic sculptures on display in the Nanodots booth; this golden dragon's an impressive achievement.

Tosy's SketRobo, a sketching robot, is a dead ringer for a futuristic version of the automaton in the film "Hugo."

Snap Circuits, an easier-to-assemble type of electronic circuit board kit.

This Vechs RC car sports a telltale iPhone home button on its front hood that, according to our conversation with the company, won't be in the final version.

Augmented reality children's books from Popar require a nearby Webcam to translate the embedded AR codes into 3D animations that appear on the screen.

Digi-Piggy is a bank that counts coins as you insert them, and keeps a running tally of what's inside. Piggy banks just got a lot more depressingly accurate.

Remember Tangle, that '80s toy? Now it's a lamp.

Build your own Stirling engine! (OK, this has been around for a while, but we're still impressed.)

Teach your kids about fuel cells! This Thames & Kosmos kit coming out in the summer will build a car running on magnesium plates, salt water, and oxygen.

Teach kids to be green with their very own solar-powered mini eco home, from Thames & Kosmos.

Why does Crayola make a keyboard? To color-code the vowels and consonants, of course.

The Cosmix gals back in action.

Every Android fanboy will find comfort in a plush toy.

This toy "button" delivers your favorite Sheldon phrases. (Disclaimer: CNET is owned by CBS, the network the broadcasts the TV show "Big Big Theory").

Lacetek is small company that sells LCDs that attach to kids shoes ($19.95 for a pair). They recharge via USB, and you can upload new images to them.

Lacetek's motto is "Every shoe can be extraordinary."

Meet Scarab, Hexbug's spidery new bug that comes out later this year. Like real bugs, if this one ends up on its back, it can turn itself over. It will be available in multiple colors.

Hexbug is debuting a new line of Warriors Hexbugs later this year.

The Fisher Price Kid-Tough Portable DVR connects to a TV or DVR box to offload shows on-the-go; it comes with an expandable microSD card slot for an extra 32GB of "Dinosaur Train" episodes.

Another of Tosy's robot novelties: a dancing robot that gets surprisingly funky when exposed to music.

Carrerra's latest slot-car-racing sets have gone digital with readout displays and wireless controllers.

Simple and brilliant: Codee is a simple plastic bendable chain that comes with an assembly code for bending a little model toy in a certain order by following numbered and lettered notches on each joint. The single chain of plastic can be bent into other shapes by following other codes, which could be shared online.

Android tablets...for kids! Get ready for 2012's burgeoning holiday trend. Lexibook is one of several manufacturers looking to get in on making child-oriented Android tablets at aggressive $199-range prices this holiday season.

Scott Stein showing off Razor's Vapor Delta 500 gel ammo blaster, which fires 100 rounds of jelly-like pellets at a time.

A peek inside at the Vapor gel ammo pellets.

Nyko's Yo Gabba Gabba dock works with both the iPhone/iPod and Nintendo DS/3DS. That's a lot of synergy.

The Lapiluv is an apron made for entertaining your baby: clip-on toys and even an iPad can be slotted into Mommy or Daddy's willing chest. You, too, can be a walking appcessory.

Can't get your kid to smile at the camera? Shutter Huggers cleverly add a stuffed animal ring to your SLR camera lens. If this doesn't work, nothing will.

Bicycle gets in on the app-stravaganza with Jacked Up, which includes a QR code wild card that's readable by the game's app. Perhaps this is a case where an app wasn't necessary.

The Game Changer iPad accessory adds interactive board game flaps that work with a set of apps and skins.

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