 Evaluation Summary - Category Ratings
Category ratings based on scale from 1 to 5 [3] = Meets Passing Criteria [4] = Excellent [5] = Outstanding / Best
( Only scores of 3 or higher are published. )
Product and service final rating is averaged from the sum of all evaluation category scores.
( With a total of 323 evaluation categories, only 6 of the applicable evaluation categories are featured for public view. )
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Cost Benefit |
Durability |
Hybrid-Use™ |
Marketability |
Skill Improvement |
Visual Appeal |
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| Critical Evaluation Information These icons represent important attributes with which this product / service
is associated, contributes to, or encourages development of.
Select any of the unique icons below to learn more about the specific attribute it represents.
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 Safety / Quality Classifications |
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CE Marked | UL Approved | JPMA Certified |  | (Not Applicable) | (Not Applicable) | | | ASTM Compliant | eco-Friendly | eco-Conscious | | (Not Applicable) | | |
| BPASafe™ (Complies with CPSI EN71) | Soluble Heavy Metals
(Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106) | Mechanical/Physical (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106) | | (Not Applicable) | (Not Applicable) | | | Flammability - Solids/Textiles (Complies with 16 CFR 1500.44/CFR 1610) | Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials (Complies with ASTM-4236/16 CFR 1500.14(b)(8) ) | iWatchDog™ Approved (Complies with ICCS™ Certification Standards) |  | | |
| UPC | Manufacturer SKU | Age Grading | | Unknown | Unknown | Labeled/Appropriate |
| Manufactured In | Safety Hazard/Warnings | | China | |
Introducing Pretty Princess
Felt board stories have been around for generations. I remember waaaaay... back in the day when I used the big, luggy felt boards for teaching pre-school and kinder classes. The idea of using a felt board and felt characters was great and quite effective. Babalu, Inc. has taken this concept of learning and taken it to an entirely new direction in design with “Pretty Princess” and other felt board story titles.
“Pretty Princess” lets you get ready for a night at the castle. Dress your princess in her favorite ball gown, and add a cloak as the evening approaches. Gather her handmaidens and travel by carriage. Make a wish and kiss the frog, and perhaps….
Kids will love this wonderfully crafted storyboard. There is an attractive carrying handle attached, and a storage pouch for the felt pieces is included. With each felt board, we have created a story starter that is specific to each title to promote interaction and inspire the imagination.
Creative Imagination and More...
What you have here is a magical product
which triggers the creative imagination of a child to envision their wildest
fantasies around a royal princess. The
body's response to the use of creative imagination carries over to a countless
number of other developmental skills. In a sense you could say that it begins
a chain reaction, the completion of each response of the brain and body becoming
the catalyst to trigger yet another.
Quality and Design - The Importance
In all of the many products which circulate through our doors each week for
evaluation, we on occasion find a company that really takes business serious
in the design of their products. Babalu, Inc. the manufacturers of the FeltTales
products, goes well beyond just the quality and design of a product...
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The FeltTales Promise
"I captured the
words above from the Babalu,
Inc. web site. The image these words projects creates a far greater
sense of the value of the products produced by the company."
- Deliver the FeltTales Benefits
- Respect the Purchasing Customer
- Respect the Child who plays with the system
- Be sincere to the heritage of the product
- Enrich the felt play experience
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More Than Just A Bunch Of Felt Pieces
As you will read later in one of the excerpts from one of our
independent evaluators, FeltTales Pretty Princess is more than just a bunch
of felt pieces with a storyline to tell. Having a numerous variety of
felt pieces all associated with the theme, "Pretty Princess", a child, caregiver,
or teacher, has a literally unlimited variety in combination of color, shape,
and tactile sensation to be experienced. Each combination transforms
into yet another new world of mystery and delight just waiting to be explored.
Just imagine, the cute little frog who the princess bestows a kiss upon and
Poof!...he turns into a maid servant! Hey, of course he won't be a prince,
this is just an example of how the FeltTales Pretty Princess enables a
child to imagine fantasies of their own design. That's what make the FeltTales
Pretty Princess so unique and so valuable.
 Independent Evaluator Reports
Obtaining An Independent Perspective...
In this section we will cover "FeltTales Pretty Princess" from the perspectives
of qualified professionals in the specific field associated with the
product being evaluated. To accomplish that task we have called upon the assistance
of two top industry professionals who know their stuff and have the credentials
to prove it.
Our professional and independent evaluators have formed their own opinions
from extensive analysis and produced detailed, in-depth reports connected with
their study and evaluation of "FeltTales Pretty Princess. The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from those same reports with some which have been paraphrased and others verbatim,
in order to encapsulate the primary points being conveyed in each report. This
approach provides completely independent perspectives in the evaluation of "FeltTales
Pretty Princess.
PLEASE NOTE: The names of our independent evaluators are not disclosed to protect the privacy of these individuals upon their request. Their labors are provided at no charge to assist us in providing a well-balanced and qualified product evaluation summary. Their title is provided to clarify for our readers the specific type of specialist from which the information provided has been included in each product evaluation summary. All opinions and or statements from the independent evaluator(s) featured here do not represent the opinion
of The Toy Man® Product Guide, any other division of GreyWolf Corp, or GreyWolf
Corp itself.
PRODUCT: FeltTales Pretty Princess
Board Certified Behavioral Analyst
"FeltTales Pretty Princess" has taken an age-old educational tool
and re-invented it. Quite inventive and originative in its downsized design
and purpose,"FeltTales
Pretty Princess" literally
is a treasure trove of delight and productive stimulation for a child or
caregiver/teacher."
"For children, there is a substantial range of stimulation,
beginning first with the bright array of colors and shapes, followed by the
sensory stimulation as each felt piece / character is being picked up and carefully
examined. Soft
felt material, a vast array of colors, a variety of detail lines on each felt
piece, and a storyline on the back of the themed felt board;
these are a strong group of characteristics of the felt board."
"For a little girl, FeltTales Pretty Princess holds
a wonderful new experience which sparks the imagination. All of the girls
were overtaken with excitement when they saw how many different ways they
could dress the Princess and her handmaidens, pretending as though they were
real. One of the best features is how the FeltTales Pretty Princess
felt board encourages social interaction for all of the girls, not just a limited
few. It represents a medium which they can find a sense of comfort and
fun all at once whether individually or in a group."
"FeltTales Pretty Princess, you have a medium which is designed
to appeal to little girls with a theme of a royal court, complete with the
horse and buggy, handmaidens, the Princess, and of course a frog. The
felt characters are patient, each piece awaiting a little girl to select
them, to become a part of her bountiful
wealth of make-believe
creativity. The pastel colors, sizing, and variety of pieces to select
from will encourage repetitive play with the FeltTales Pretty Princess and
her royal court of a child's imagination."
In completion of my report and in summary of my results, I have found
the "FeltTales Pretty Princess" to be a product which is
a source of delight and productive stimulation for any child
including special needs individuals. It can encourage
a considerable level of growth to an individual making use of it, even
the caregiver or teachers themselves with their own child or within
a curriculum."
ECD Facility Director
"The 'FeltTales Pretty Princess' has
been such a delightful joy to work with over the past few days. The 'FeltTales
Pretty Princess' felt board and associated pieces proved to be
quite effective in developing substantial improvement levels of the students'
fine-motor, cognitive, spatial, sensory and overall developmental improvement
during their recreational play as well as general therapy."
"The 'FeltTales Pretty Princess' felt board itself, the
board and its pieces, or its pieces alone, no matter which part or combination
of parts you look at, you will find the proper catalyst to capture a little
girl's attention and urge to see more, to experience more. While many
of the students in all groups took great interest in the felt board and
its pieces, the girls made a connection, a bond with the product, or as one
of my students put it, "It's a girl thing" when I asked her why it was so
special to her.
What was thought-provoking for me with my general student group, was
how with the girls, pretend play and creative thought was the default response
standard. For the boys, it was sensory via touch and
feel of the felt board, and pieces. The girls were also immediate to
work with the product whereas the boys were more latent in their participation."
"For a significant period
of time, a number of our SN kids were engaged in taking the plastic re-closable
pouch, placing the felt pieces in and pulling them out repeatedly. Two
of the kids had a need to open and close the pouch repeatedly. With some
of our more challenged SN kids who tend to become aggressive in their behavior
with abrupt movements and appearance of distress, they appeared to be calmed
by touching and moving the dinosaur felt characters on the felt board. This
proved to provide a generous level of stimulation to their fine motor and
sensory skill development primarily."
 Consumer Hands-On Evaluation
Nothing is more powerful than hands-on experience by a consumer with a product
when it is being evaluated. Based upon that fact we put every single product
we evaluate at the mercy of consumers in a hands-on evaluation where anything
goes. Shall we see how the "FeltTales Pretty Princess" was seen with consumers?
FeltTales Pretty Princess really made
its mark with consumers at locations where we took it for spontaneous hands-on
evaluation and in the strongest way ever. I don't think we have
ever seen children ever interact for such an extended period of time so
smoothly. That is only a part of what was so special. They were
all play with the same product as well...FeltTales Pretty Princess!
Even the parents marveled how their child or children were playing together
for so long together,
having such enormous fun in pretend Play. Even the boys!
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The image at left is provided to give you a glimpse of the FeltTales
Pretty Princess felt board and some of the felt pieces
that comes with it. An invaluable point to consider is that the Princess
and hand-maiden you see in the image are not just a single piece. The clothing
can be interchanged! This adds even more options for a child's imagination
play with.
It was so amusing for everyone watching the children moving the
various felt characters and pieces around on the board and off. For
the children participating in our evaluation of the product, the felt
board was the home base in a sense from which the children moved
the pieces onto, off, overlapping, and around. |
For every moment of the experience, there was plenty of activity, laughter,
social interaction, just plain fun for these kids. It was a time
of learning and development for these children, demonstrating for our own
eyes, the value and functionality of the FeltTales Pretty Princess. After
reviewing our video tapes and all feedback forms, there the FeltTales
Pretty Princess passed this
consumer hands-on evaluation segment of our evaluation process.
 A Sampling Of Category Ratings
A small sampling of the individual category
titles & rating
scores from the complete product review itself
for this product are featured here. The categories which have been selected to
be featured in this product evaluation summary for
public view, specify some of the primary points of how and why that specific
rating score was reached.
- If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the
complete review is published for public view.
- When a score has been assigned to a category rating, it has been through
a thorough validation process to ensure accuracy and no inflection of bias.
- If a product scores an overall category evaluation
rating average of [2] Stars or lower from the complete review results,
it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
- Information for products which do not pass our evaluation is confidential and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
The Featured Category Ratings for this Product Evaluation
Summary are listed below.
COST BENEFIT: Rating Level - [5] 
The FeltTales Pretty Princess was a very easy product to evaluate and
determine an accurate rating in this category. When you consider the price point weighed against the convenient sized felt board, the informational storyline of the back of the board, the resealable plastic pouch to put the felt pieces into for storage, and the level of skill level improvement from the use of the product, determining the Cost Benefit doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. For kids, teachers, and parents, the benefit
is all too obvious. The FeltTales Pretty Princess felt board is a product which creates a want and fulfills the need. The FeltTales Pretty Princess pulls a perfect score of [5] Five Stars in this evaluation category for COST BENEFIT.
DURABILITY: Rating Level - [5]
The FeltTales Pretty Princess was a unique challenge to evaluate for durability
with it being so different than other products. Despite the challenge,
the FeltTales Pretty Princess was put through an excessive amount of wear
and tear via multiple in-house tests we perform, after it was already used
in our consumer hands-on evaluation. It was quite impressive how the
FeltTales Pretty Princess even managed to withstand the abuse of real life
application in some pre-schools and at a YMCA for a few weeks.
In the final analysis in our evaluation of the FeltTales Pretty Princess in
this category for Durability, it scored quite well in all areas in
this evaluation category for DURABILITY.
The FeltTales Pretty Princess closes the felt tales on this category with a
perfect score of [5] Five Stars.
HYBRID-USE™: Rating Level - [5]
Hybrid-Use™ is a term created and used by our publication to identify if a product
is applicable for use in more than one environment. The FeltTales Dinosaur Days
was determined to be quite effective for active Play for infants in the home,
day care centers, and with caretakers. There were a number of compliments shared
by the teachers at the day care centers as well as some of the parents whose
kids were able to experience the FeltTales Dinosaur Days at home for a
few days.
The FeltTales Dinosaur Days completed the evaluation in this category for
Hybrid-Use™ with a perfect score of [5] Stars.
MARKETABILITY: Rating Level - [5]
As always, one of the key points of interest for a buyer is most often times
the Marketability of a product. The FeltTales Pretty Princess demonstrates functionality,
extensive contribution to skill improvement, quality, and even education. The
voyage for kids to their land of pretend Play which they experienced makes
it all too clear as to why the FeltTales Pretty Princess faced no challenge
in grabbing the brass ring with a perfect score of [5] Five Stars in this category
for MARKETABILITY.
SKILL IMPROVEMENT: Rating Level - [5]
The FeltTales Pretty Princess made it easy for us to determine its standing in
reference to skill improvement. The FeltTales Pretty Princess
felt board and characters provided the medium for a child to explore a literally
endless number of worlds of wonder...the worlds of their infinite imagination.
Determining accurate scoring in this segment of our evaluation was probably
one of the easiest we have had yet to work with.
As one of our independent evaluators stated in her report, "...FeltTales
Pretty Princess is literally a treasure trove of delight and productive stimulation
for a child or caregiver/teacher." FeltTales
Pretty Princess does in fact encourage and contribute substantially to a child's
skill development. The FeltTales Pretty Princess pulled a perfect score of
[5] Stars in this category for SKILL DEVELOPMENT.
VISUAL APPEAL: Rating Level - [4] 
The FeltTales Pretty Princess was pulling plenty of attention in this category
for VISUAL APPEAL. The color scheme used was great with bright colors but
nothing to go WOW! over. The value for the FeltTales Pretty Princess was more
in the functionality, cost-benefit, and several other evaluation categories.
At the same time though, it was well above just average.
After carefully reviewing all pertinent
evaluation data for the FeltTales Pretty Princess in this evaluation category,
a determination
was reached that the FeltTales Pretty Princess passed this category with a
score which was well above average a fell short a perfect score by single
digit with [4] Stars in this category for VISUAL APPEAL.
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| Seal of Approval:
Approved |
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| eco-Recognition™
Seal:
Approved |
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| Award of Excellence:
Approved
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THE TOY MAN® ECO-RECOGNITION SEAL
"An emblem of the highest recognition...
for support of ecological concerns applied in full measure." |
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The Toy Man® eco-Recognition Seal™ embodies the highest recognition for products and services which provide a significant contribution to ecological concerns by one or more of the following;
- Recycled / Recyclable materials are being used primarily or entirely in the manufacturing of the product.
- Efforts are being made or already established for the product to be available exclusively or primarily online.
- A substantial effort is being made or is already available to provide a bio-polymer greenProduct™ option.
* The eco-Recognition™ Seal is part of The Toy Man® eco-Recognition Project™ to promote greenBusiness™ |
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THE TOY MAN® PRODUCT GUIDE AWARDS
"The globally recognized awards that are received by a limited few...
and give a product the well earned recognition it deserves!" |
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The
products and online services which become recipients of "The Toy Man® Award of Excellence" acheived an evaluation category rating average of [5] Stars, the highest level of rating available on a 1-5 scale evaluation model. The average is based upon the overall average from all applicable evaluation categories, not just the 6 evaluation categories featured in this summary. |
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"The
Toy Man®  Award serves as an emblem of recognition for products & online services that contribute substantially to positive skill growth and/or productivity. |
| ( This includes books, CD's, DVD's, consumer electronics & accessories, recreational games and equipment, home furnishings, juvenile, software, toys and specialty. ) |
This distinguished award is exclusive as well as unique, with the editor's signature which represents a product being selected as an  . |
PLEASE NOTE: The eChoice™ Award images which were used from 1971-1984, 1984-2007, 2007-April 2010 have been retired. Although the former versions of the eChoice™ Award have been retired, they still remain valid. |
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