FIVE SCRAMBLE SQUARES® PUZZLES NAMED “BEST OF THE REST” in THE 2004 25TH ANNIVERSARY GREAT AMERICAN TOY TEST
REDONDO BEACH, CA…November 30, 2004… b. dazzle, inc. of Redondo Beach, California, has announced that five of its Scramble Squares® 9-piece brain teaser puzzles have been honored by The Great American Toy Test for 2004 for the 25th anniversary of electronic media’s biggest and most respected toy test. The 2004 Toy Test results will be aired as a six part television news series and half-hour program in over 50 television markets nationwide. b. dazzle, inc. received more of the awards for its Scramble Squares® puzzles than any of the almost 100 other major toy manufacturers that submitted a total of about 7,000 products for evaluation. The five Scramble Squares® puzzles receiving this prestigious award are “Butterflies,” “Equestrian,” “Frogs,” “Serengeti” and “North American Birds.”
More than 90 major toy makers entered toys in this year’s Great American Toy Test, produced by KTVU TV, the Fox television network affiliate in San Francisco, California. Each toy maker supplied KTVU with dozens of copies of each toy, so that nearly identical sets of toys could be assembled by the Toy Test producer, Sharon Navratil, and her staff at KTVU. The Toy Test reports that about 7,000 toys were submitted, which were collated into comparable sets of about 100 toys per set. The sets were shipped to day-care and latchkey kid centers in Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Hartford, Greenville, Harrisburg, Wilkes/ Barre,Richmond, Charleston/Huntington, Flint, Lexington, Roanoke, Ft. Myers, Portland (OR), Rochester, Johnson City, Evansville, Lansing, Augusta, Erie, Binghampton, Chicago, Nashville, San Antonio, Memphis, Little Rock, Tulsa, Green Bay, Des Moines, Paducah, Shreveport, Chattanooga, Cedar Rapids, Sioux Falls, Montgomery, Peoria, LaCrosse, Columbia/Jefferson City, Rochester, Mason City, Minot/Bismarck, St. Louis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, El Paso, Boise, Rapid City, Scottsbluff, Los Angeles, Portland (ME), Las Vegas, Fresno, Monterey, Eugene, Bakersfield,Medford, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Reno and Bend.
Kids 2-years to 12-years-old played with the submitted toys for three weeks, while their teachers and supervisors observed. The toys were graded by the adults and kids on these criteria: quality, durability, ease of assembly, maintenance, short-term interest, long-term interest, educational value, safety and just plain old fun.
Exquisite, award winning Scramble Squares® brain teaser puzzles for ages 4 to 104 are at least as popular with adults, seniors, teenagers and college students as they are with children. Although each Scramble Squares® puzzle has only nine 4” x 4” pieces, Scramble Squares® puzzles are Perhaps the World’s Most Challenging Puzzle™! At under $10.00 retail, Scramble Squares® puzzles make inexpensive, but highly entertaining and valued gifts for both men and women alike… for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Halloween, birthdays, get well, graduation, travel and holidays. Scramble Squares® puzzles are Easy To Play, But Hard To Solve!™ Over 100 exquisite styles of colorful original art are available on nature, sports, history, culture, geography, science, technology, occupations, fantasy, hobbies and activities, and more new styles are added every six months. Store displays come complete with the unique Scramble Squares® “5-Minute Challenge™” in store free puzzle giveaway promotion for consumers who solve a Scramble Squares® demonstration puzzle within five minutes!
Current Scramble Squares® puzzle topic categories include nature, sports, history, culture, geography, science, technology, occupations, fantasy, gourmet, hobbies and activities. New styles are added approximately every six months. The suggested retail price for a Scramble Squares® puzzle is $7.95 each. Each Scramble Squares® puzzle package includes a panel of fascinating factual information on the subject of the puzzle, as well as a trivia question and hidden answer, all packaged in a unique and handy heavy duty 101/2″ long x 53/4″ wide x 3/8″ deep resealable vinyl travel pouch, which may be collected and stored easily in a standard 3-ring binder. The vinyl pouch is crystal clear, enabling the consumer to see the extraordinary beauty of the puzzles’ realistic original art, while achieving a very high amount of retail value per square foot of store space for the merchant.
Scramble Squares® teaches:
o Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Skills
o Patience
o Perseverance
o Statistical Probabilities
o Cooperative and Solitary Productivity
Scramble Squares® also helps maintain mental agility, sharpness and memory in seniors and
adults, while providing hours of quiet and stimulating entertainment.
b. dazzle provides a free 24″ x 36″ full color “WIN A FREE PUZZLE” promotional poster to any store offering its customers the Scramble Squares® “5–MINUTE CHALLENGE.™” Retailers can give a free Scramble Squares® puzzle to any customer who accepts the challenge and successfully solves the nine piece Scramble Squares® demonstration puzzle within five minutes. b. dazzle promptly replaces the stores’ puzzles awarded to consumers at no cost to the merchants. b. dazzle’s permanent wood counter, floor and slat wall displays each feature a demonstration puzzle on an interactive playing surface with an electronic timer to time consumers in the 5–MINUTE CHALLENGE.™ b. dazzle also offers a free, very compact, corrugated counter spinner display, including the timer and poster, with the purchase of any 72 Scramble Squares® puzzles in any quantity per style.
“Our company’s mission is to produce a wide range of beautiful, wholesome, entertaining and informative gifts for under $10.00 retail for all ages of adults and children that can be selected by style to appeal to the personal interests of the recipient ,” says b. dazzle founder, puzzle designer, president & CEO, Kathie Gavin.