Toy Fair 2001 -- Final Wrapup

Stops, Spellcast, and Mad About Movies

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by Frank Sobyak
Friday, February 16, 2001

Here are a few games we didn't get a chance to highlight during the show, but that deserve your consideration.

Show Spotlight

Stops (www.stopsgames.com; compare prices)

This is a must have trivia game if you're interested in geography. And, it's also is a superb learning tool to teach both kids and adults fun facts. We tried to arrange a game trade with Don at the show, but there was such interest in his game that they were all gone when we arrived for the exchange. We'll be sure to order one from their web site. The price is $35.99 and is a real value for what you'll get and what you'll learn.

Stops is an acronym for states, territories or provinces and comes in three editions; Stops American Edition, Stops Canadian Edition and Stops North American Edition.

Don Kimball is the inventor of Stops, who by now is sure to be the expert on North American geography trivia. We found game play to be both fun and educating . . . here's some detail on each of the editions.

Stops American Edition

This edition has 51 Stops (or 51 possible answers), the names of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., all of which are printed directly on the colorful game board. Stops provides you with a clue, and you try to identify the Stop (state, territory or province).

For fun, you can try these clues (answers below):

Easy (for 1 point)
The Santa Catalina Mountains tower to a height of 9000 feet near Tucson.

Moderate (for 2 points)
Attractions in the Keystone State include the Daniel Boone Homestead, a Please Touch Museum for Children, a U.S. Mint, the Fort Pitt Museum and the Hersheypark Arena.

Difficult (for 3 points)
It was in 1969 that 25,000 troops withdrew from Vietnam, man walked on the moon, and a music and arts festival transformed an alfalfa field into this Stop's third-largest city.

(Answers: Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York)

Stops Canadian Edition

This edition has 13 Stops (or 13 possible answers), the names of the 10 provinces and three territories. Here's an example of some of the questions for this version with answers below.

Easy (for 1 point)
This Stop, which became self-governing in 1999, has three official languages, English, French, and Inuktitut.

Moderate (for 2 points)
For years, this Stop has been represented in the Federal Government by four Members of Parliament and four Senators.

Difficult (for 3 points)
Known as Station Number One on Butch Cassidy's trail from Canada to Mexico, this Stop's Big Muddy Badlands is a forbidding terrain of rugged sandstone buttes, sheer cliffs and rough-hewn hogbacks.

(Answers: Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan)

Stops North American Edition

The Stops North American Edition combines trivia from both the U.S. and Canada. It includes 62 Stops (or 62 possible answers), the names of the 50 states, the 10 provinces and two territories. So, if you're up to the challenge, learn about two great countries in one game.

Spellcast (www.whichsisters.com; compare prices)

Karen Labossiere and Nicole Rondeau and the sister creators of the new game Spellcast. Spellcast is a game geared toward the "tween" girl market. In the game players gather ingredients to cast spells, fly to different realms, battle against other players using power cards and play hands with high energy crystals. Players then traverse the game board to acquire the necessary items to complete their potion.

We liked the colorful game board and the high quality game pieces that were used to create the game. Spellcast will definitely be a hit with its target market. The graphics on the game packaging, game board and cards are very well done and consistently follow the "magic spell" theme of the game. Good job! Kids are sure to be spellbound after playing this game.

If you can't get through to the web site you can contact WhichSisters, Inc. at 780-473-0167 (in Canada).

Mad About Movies! (www.madaboutmovies.com; compare prices)

Cherise Lambert is the inventor/creator of the movie trivia game Mad About Movies! and was last year's Toy Fair reporter for About Board Games. Cherise was on-hand at the show with a "cast" of other fun and friendly members from Park Life Games, Inc.

If you're a movie buff or if you just like to learn about movies then this game is definitely for you. Mad About Movies! stars every generation's favorite films and challenges the players knowledge of actors, movie quotes, characters and general movie trivia with four main categories: Who's Who, Quotes, In the Movies and Reel Knowledge. Mad About Movies! also features a secondary Directors category.

Whatever your knowledge level, Mad About Movies! is challenging and fun! If you're not a movie buff, many questions offer multiple choice options. Customize the difficulty level by choosing multiple choice level 2, 3 or 4. Movie buffs may increase the challenge by skipping the multiple choice altogether. Make your next party or family gathering a blockbuster with Mad About Movies!

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Many thanks to Frank Sobyak for providing tremendous coverage of Toy Fair 2001. Frank is the designer of Fib or Not?, a party game published by his company, Gather Around Games.

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