"B." toys at Target? Are these new?

[deborah_r]

Am I the last person to notice this? I was in Target looking for the section that always had the "Parents" Magazine toys. I found the toys, but the colors were totally different than they used to be (kind of cool, colors that aren't bright and obnoxious that might blend into your home a little more, IMO) and they all say "Phtalate-free". There's a lot of environmentally friendly messages all over the packaging (including the limiting of packaging). I bought one for my niece who is turning 1 this week. Looking at the back now I see it says "Battat" on the back. So has this been discussed here? I know the Parents Magazine toys used to be really popular with people here, at least when my first was a baby.

I was kind of excited to see these. Here's an example of one:

http://www.target.com/Battat-BX1013-B-Whacky-Ball/dp/B002YIRKQI/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1274124603&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576%7C1287991011&keywords=battat&searchSize=30&id=Battat%20BX1013%20B%20Whacky%20Ball&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin% 2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchRank=target104545&sr=1-20&searchPage=1

On my monitor, those colors look brighter than they did in the store. I had a much earlier version of this exact toy.

[MizMojoLaveau]

I did see them and thought they seemed very nice. I am thinking that somehow they are the same Parents toys (with new colors), just under a new name (same company)?

[elliput]

Yeah- B.Toys is the Parents stuff rebranded.

Battat/Parents Magnetic Sketcher (http://www.target.com/Battat-Parents-Young-at-Art/dp/B0000SVSLC/ref=br_1_3?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&qid=1274133221&searchView=grid5&sr=1-3&node=161212011&searchRank=pmrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=150&id=Battat%20Parents%20Young%20at%20Art&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel,price,target_ com_category-bin,target_com_age,target_com_gender-bin,target_com_character-bin,target_com_brand-bin) http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5146BMV29VL._AA260_.jpg

B.toys magnetic sketcher (http://www.target.com/B-Toulouse-Lap-Trec-Magnetic-Sketcher/dp/B002YIK42K/ref=br_1_4?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&qid=1274133061&searchView=grid5&sr=1-4&node=2325286011&searchRank=pmrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=150&id=B%20Toulouse%20Lap-Trec%20Magnetic%20Sketcher&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel,subjectbin,ta rget_com_age,target_com_gender-bin,target_com_character-bin,price,target_com_primary_color-bin,target_com_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin)http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hyqXWy3QL._AA260_.jpg