International toy fairs and tech shows have been abuzz in the past few weeks as Razor reveals Turbo Jetts to the worldwide media.

Achieving in excess of 400M OTS, the lithium-powered electric heel-wheels have caught the attention of journalists and vloggers across the globe, including ITV’s This Morning.

Beginning with the worldwide unveil at the CES Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, Razor Turbo Jetts featured across a number of high profile blogs and websites, including global tech big-hitting site CNET.

At the BTHA Toy Fair, Turbo Jetts featured in Steph McGovern’s BBC news live broadcast throughout the morning. Other tech journalists were also interested, including Daily Star Tech Page and T3’s top toys round up. Top toy vlogger, Tiana of Toysandme, also showcased her skill on the Turbo Jetts.

Katy Fletcher, of UK distributor Re:creation, commented: “The reception from the media has been fantastic and we’ve seen clear impact from this exposure on Google Trends. In the UK we saw a great response and more recently New York too saw them highlighted as top picks of the show. We couldn’t have hoped for a better launch and we’re looking forward to continuing the drive toward full launch in the UK this summer.”

Razor Turbo Jetts are motorised heel-wheels that can be easily attached to any trainer, from junior size 11 to adult size 11. Riders can reach speeds of up to 16km/h (10mph) and enjoy around 30 minutes of continuous run time. Re:creation will roll out a communications campaign building towards launch including PR, TV, event activity, and digital.

Toys R Us is in talks to sell its growing Asian business to its local partner, Fung Group, according to insiders. 

The US chain is in discussions to offload its 85% stake in the Asian venture to Hong Kong’s billionaire Fung brothers, who own the remainder of the business, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A deal could give Toys R Us Asia a valuation of at least $1b, according to reports.

The tycoons’ private holding company, known as Fung Group, is reported to be considering finding partners to join it in the purchase. If a deal is reached, Fung Group may seek an initial public offering of Toys R Us Asia after one to two years.

Toys R Us and some of its North American subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in September, though the Asian unit wasn’t included in the proceedings. Growth in the Asia Pacific region helped offset weak sales in the US and Europe in the quarter ended 28th October. The company last year combined its Japanese business with the broader Asia venture, which now operates more than 400 outlets throughout the region, its website shows.

No final agreements have been reached, according to the sources, and talks could fall apart, or another buyer could emerge.

The launch of the all-new Wedding range is just in time for the upcoming royal wedding.

New figures will be joining the popular Fi?ures collection and Playmo-Friends, and the Ghostbusters range will also see new additions. Also being introduced is a new Porsche and some exciting Gift Eggs.

The new Wedding range features Bridal Shop, Wedding Limo, Wedding Reception, Wedding Ceremony, and Flower Children and Photographer sets. Children can use their imagination to create their own wedding scenes from the comfort of their own home.

Following on from the success of the Ghostbusters range last year, 2018 will see the launch of the new Ghostbusters II sets, which include a collection of products featuring the Playmogram 3D. After downloading the free app, children can then place the trap over the marker in the app, and watch as ghosts appear in hologram form.

Playmobil’s new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup offers children the opportunity to bring their favourite racing scenes to life. This is an addition to the Playmobil Porsche range, suitable for children aged four and above. The new set includes a removable roof, internal and external lighting effects, winners’ podium and command centre.

The Fi?ures collection welcomes the 13th set in the series, with the arrival of 24 new figures, and a new range of Playmo-Friends is now available too. Characters include Forest Elf, Royal Lady, Firefighter, Park Ranger and many more.

Jamie Dickinson, marketing and display manager from Playmobil, commented: “We have always looked to create a space for children to enjoy free play and be led by their imagination during playtime. Our new ranges offer the chance for children up and down the country to immerse themselves into an exciting adventure of their own.”

The voting began on Monday 26th February.

WWE Superstar John Cena will host the Kids’ Choice Awards show, airing on Sunday 25th March at 10:30am on Nickelodeon.

Nickelodeon has announced the superstar nominees and a one-of-a-kind performance for the highly-anticipated 2018 Kids’ Choice Awards. The awards celebrate kids’ favourites across movies, television, music, and digital.

Nickelodeon star and social media sensation JoJo Siwa will perform a medley of hits, including her triple-platinum smash Boomerang, with has garnered over 500m views on YouTube.

Beginning today, Nickelodeon will roll out a new, four-week voting wave, where new categories will be revealed each week leading up to the show. Kids can cast their votes on Nickelodeon’s digital site kidschoiceawards.com, using special KCA hashtags and the hashtag of their favourite nominee. In addition, kids will have the chance to influence the show in real time with all-new live votes.

The nominees and categories for Nickelodeon’s 2018 Kids’ Choice Awards include:

Favourite Movie: Beauty and the Beast, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Pitch Perfect 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Greatest Showman, and Wonder Woman.

Favourite Animated Movie: Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Cars 3, Coco, Despicable Me 3, Ferdinand, Smurfs: The Lost Village, The Emoji Movie, and The Lego Batman Movie.

Favourite Cartoon: Alvin and The Chipmunks, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teen Titans Go!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Loud House, and The Simpsons.

Parragon has announced its intention to enter into consultation about the potential closure of the business. 

The Bath-based book company has been underperforming for a number of years due to difficult market conditions and severe pressure on margins.

Announcements were made to employees in the company’s offices in the UK, Germany and the US on the 26th, and to colleagues in all the other Parragon offices around the world yesterday (27th), including Hong Kong and Australia.

The proposal means up to 245 jobs are at risk of redundancy globally. In the UK, the business will enter a 45-day collective consultation process with employees. In other territories, the company will follow the respective processes.

CEO Mike Symons commented: “Early last year, the new management team joined and undertook a strategic review of the company, implementing some immediate changes which improved the company position. Under their guidance, the whole team made really significant progress over and above the expectations of the shareholders, but the market has gone against us further than anticipated, so today we are announcing that it is the strategic decision of DC Thomson to exit from Parragon operations worldwide.”

Over recent months, Parragon and DC Thomson have committed significant resource and investment to analyse all options for the future commercial viability of the business. The company is still exploring whether a sale of all or part of Parragon would be possible.

David Thomson, director of DC Thomson added: “Whilst we are still open to offers and expressions of interest for the business, DC Thomson is unable to run this process indefinitely. Therefore, the company has made the decision to enter into a consultation process. This decision has not been entered into lightly and, as owners of the business for more than a decade, we are very disappointed to be making this announcement today.”

He continued: “No other parts of the DC Thomson group are affected by this and DC Thomson is fully committed to supporting Parragon throughout this process. We would like to thank everyone involved in the Parragon business for their continued hard work and support. We will work with all individuals to support the best possible outcome during this period, providing employees with details of opportunities elsewhere across the group where possible.”

The Lincoln garden centre, which also stocks a range of toys, joined the buying group on Monday.

Pennells is one of the oldest garden companies in the country and is probably the oldest still in the same family ownership. The business was founded by a Richard Pennell in 1780, and today the company is run by the seventh and eighth generations Richard Pennell and his son William Pennell.

The address is as follows: Pennells Garden Centre Newark Road South Hykenham Lincoln LN6 9NT.

For more information, please contact Rachel Kirk by telephone on 01522 880 033, or email gifts@pennells.co.uk.

Significant growth of online retail over the last three years has prompted research into UK online shopping habits.

OnBuy, the online marketplace, asked 1,550 people about their online shopping routines. By analysing the individual responses, OnBuy could identify the most common online shopping habits for each region of the UK.

The respondents were asked two main questions, and could give multiple responses for each. The answers to question one – ‘Where do you usually shop online from?’ – showed that the majority of UK respondents shop online while watching TV (54%) or when in bed (43%), while 20% shop at work and 17% shop in the kitchen.

When asked ‘What is the reason behind your purchase?’, 77% of respondents indicated that they simply needed the item, while 38% had been tempted by a sale offer. Gift purchases made up just 15% of online shopping, while feeling depressed (6%), breaking up with someone (5%) and being drunk (4%) were also given as reasons.

OnBuy also sought to find out how much time and money Brits spend shopping online. When asked the average length of time they spend online in a single shopping session, 22% of people said less than 15 minutes, while nearly half of respondents (47%) said they spend up to 30 minutes online. Spending between 30 minutes and 60 minutes on a shopping session was common for 27% of respondents, and only 7% would spend more than 60 minutes shopping online.

The survey also revealed that 32% of respondents spend less than £20 per week on online shopping; significantly lower than anticipated. The majority (43%) of the respondents spend between £20 to £50, while 22% admitted to spending between £50-£100 on items in a single week. 5% of Brits spend between £100 and £150 weekly, while 1% spend more than £150 online a week.