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New toy alert: ‘Moana 2’ makes landfall

Photo illustration: the strategist; Photos: Retailers

As the site’s toy expert, I’m the writer behind this the Strategist’s “Toy Shop”. And gifts for every age — I get an early look at the latest and greatest new toys, often before they hit stores. There are dozens of new releases every month, so leading up to the holidays I’ll be creating a toy-focused edition of “Not Dillydally.” Here are the launches I’m particularly excited about at the moment, including a Star Wars marble track, chapter books for the Toniebox audio player, and a spooky new edition of Exploding Kittens.

The sequel to Moana is coming out this Thanksgiving, and there are plenty of plug-in dolls, dress-up toys, and playsets on the way — including an American Girl Moana doll that’s available for pre-sale now. Of everything currently ready to ship, I’m most excited about Mattel’s Moana doll singing an excerpt from the new song “We’re Back”; a LEGO set with everything you need to build Moana’s raft and a transforming island that houses the heart of Te Fiti; and a Squishmallow version of her chicken friend Heihei.

Exploding Kittens presents zombie kittens

This new addition to the Exploding Kittens universe features an all-new deck, including Zombie Kitten cards that allow previously exploded players to come back to life. But even dead players can continue to torment living players from beyond the grave.

Ravensburger GraviTrax 'Star Wars' Death Star Action Set

Gravitrax, maker of the complicated modular marble runs we’ve been recommending for years, has just released its very first licensed toy. The action set, which is modeled after the Battle of Yavin from Star Warshas a base plate in the shape of the Death Star; marbles printed with the faces of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Darth Vader; and X-Wing Fighter and the TIE Fighter figures to be incorporated into the track.

Wondery’s new line of STEM toys is inspired by the popular children’s podcast Wow in the world and made by Strategist-approved toy brand Thames and Kosmos. Each kit explores different scientific concepts such as phosphorescence, geology and physics. Inside the box you’ll find both printed instructions and access to step-by-step audio guides recorded by podcast hosts Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas.

Bratz x Mean Girls Collectible Dolls - Karen & Gretchen 2-pack

The third and final Bratz x Mean girls Collaboration Dolls – a two-pack of Gretchen and Karen – launches this week on Halloween at 11am Eastern. Each character from the collection comes packaged in a Burn Book-shaped box with their daytime outfits and sexy Halloween costumes from the movie. Compared to most toys I write about, these nostalgic Y2K dolls are aimed more at adult collectors than actual children. And even though I’m not a doll collector, if I were to buy one Mean girls Bratz dolls, it would be this pair, as they are the comedic backbone of the original film. Like Regina and Cady before them, they are expected to sell out in minutes.

Fraggle Rock Collection by Little Tikes Jim Henson

For even more nostalgia, Little Tikes just released a set Fragile Rock storybooks to use with the very popular Story Dream Machine – a retro-style projector and audio player. My almost 2 year old son loves his Story Dream Machine, and it’s been a nice little step in getting him to watch TV that doesn’t actually count as screen time. I love the weirdness of the Fragile Rock characters and can still sing most of the theme song, so this is big news to me.

Audiobook Tonies - All 4 sets

Finally, a big launch for the Toniebox audio player aimed at older children: including chapter books Captain Underpants, Ramona Quimby, Big NateAnd The questioners, aka Rosie Revere, Ada Twist and their team. Each set contains four unabridged chapter books in the form of real books instead of toy figures.

The Strategist is designed to provide helpful, expert recommendations on things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Each product is independently selected by our team of editors, which you can read about here. We update links where possible, but note that offers may expire and all prices are subject to change.

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