Thanks to the imagination and skill of two of Walt Disney Animation Studio’s most talented animators,  Mark Henn and Glen Keane, Disney Princess fans and doll collectors can now see a whole side to the beautiful princesses.

Cute versions of all the favourites – Ariel, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Pocahontas, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Tiana and Snow White  – are all available now from the Disney Store and show a clever resemblance to the famous characters that they become in later life. The little dolls each come with a special pet too and are priced around £20.

Many board games last for years, of course, but eventually their useful life will come to an end, either due to families growing up, pieces getting lost or simply new editions becoming available. By recycling the boards, Ellie Ellie has created a beautiful new line of sketchbooks and given tired old games the opportunity to provide fun and entertainment all over again.

Paying homage to the classics, the sketchbooks are bound in covers made from original boards of games like Monopoly, Cluedo and Scrabble. Each handmade sketchbook is priced around £19.50 and contains about 50 heavyweight pages of 100% recycled paper.

Sonic will be as speedy as ever in Meccano form, with sets including a Green Hill playset (just a mention of that should be enough to get videogamers of a certain age all nostalgic).

Gears of War will see the introduction of a different building system to recreate vehicles like the Armadillo APC, Centaur Tank and King Raven.

What might be considered Meccano’s core values are not being neglected. The Construction, Build & Play, Turbo, Space Chaos and Multi Models lines will all see new additions, and the company has already enjoyed success, with the new Advanced Toolbox (pictured) named as the best new toy in the Construction category at The Toy Fair.

“Our Construction Toolboxes are designed to engage beginners through to advanced builders,” said Meccano’s Sue Barratt, “getting incrementally more complex as you work your way through the four sets from Easy to Expert. Add to this the exceptionally useful toolbox itself, which keeps everything in one place, and you have a product that ticks all the boxes.

“These are exciting times for Meccano. We are taking our considerable brand heritage and fusing it with some of the hottest licensed properties around. “

my little BABY born Boy Potty Training Time tells you when he needs to visit the potty after having a drink and will also come with nappies.

my first Baby Annabell will be refreshed for 2012 and will continue to offer an entry point into the Baby Annabell range, being suitable for ages one and up.

my first Baby Annabell will have a soft, huggable body and eyes that close as she falls asleep.

The Outspeeders have already been recognised as one of the best new toys of 2012, winning the Hobby and Models category at the Toy Fair this week.

A new children’s range, Revellutions, will target the 8-12 age group with a range of colourful cars, as well as Smartphone-controlled and video camera-equipped helicopters.

The traditional plastic model kits will not be overlooked, with an intriguing new launch scaling things down to micro size. The Micro Wings sets will reproduce famous planes like the Spitfire and Messerschmitt in tiny proportions, which should appeal to collectors.

The company’s Star Wars Easykit range will also expand to tie in with the release of The Phantom Menace in 3D, while two more down-to-earth models, the London Bus and London Taxi, should be well placed to take advantage of London fever during Olympics year.

Grossman is banking on the fact that kids love things that adults recoil from, so this selection of corpses that kids bury in the coffins provided will certainly bear watching!

A set of 12 characters, each coming with coffin, headstone and grass to be buried under, will kick-off the range, and a website will let kids explore their ghoulish side even further, by creating more corpses and burying them.

Joining these macabre figures will be a three-foot inflatable Dalek, new scooters from the company’s Ozbozz brand (including the Trail and Twist, Torq Trekk and Moshi Monsters licensed models) and new additions to the Raskullz line of fun cycle helmets.

Other new stuff will include the Megasaurs (replica monsters for dinosaur lovers) and a pocket money-friendly Princess Fizz range.

At the top of the range will be a selection of dolls, including The Best Dressed Bean Dolls, Bestest Bestest Friend Rag Dolls and Lola’s Favourite and Best Outfit Dolls.

There will also be arts and crafts toys, including a Paint Your Very Own Door Hanger and Lola Loves Painting Doll Set. Lola will also be getting playful with her Most Favourite Things Dominoes Set.

“It is a great privilege to be working with the Charlie and Lola brand,” said Rainbow Designs’ Anthony Temple, “and we are extremely excited to be launching the new ‘Lola loves…’ collection.

“The brand is fresh, fun and contemporary, and our new products offer variety, originality and the winning combination of traditional toys with modern day touches.”

We’ll be getting our first look at the new range at next week’s Toy Fair…

A little sister will appear, in the form of Lalaloopsy Littles, while fans of collectibles will be excited to learn about the new Lalaloopsy Micro characters, with 24 pocket money-friendly dolls coming in foil blind bags.

The Mini Lalaloopsy range will also welcome some new additions, as well as introducing a Sew Sweet House Playset and a remote-control car.

The Bratz dolls will have three new themes – Catz, Featherageous and Neon Runway – while the Moxie Girlz will see the introduction of Magic Swim Mermaid dolls, Glitterin’ Style dolls, Ballerina Star dolls and Sweet Style dolls.

Stone tools, animal skin clothes, cave paintings and that all-important fire will add realism to a range that promises to be educational as well as fun.

At the opposite end of the timescale, the Future Planet range will feature high-tech fun in the form of lasers, infrared remote controls and even solar power.

Set in the year 2113, there’s a battle ranging between the E-Rangers and Dark Rangers (no prizes for guessing who the bad guys are) and sets will include a Tower Station, exploration vehicles, turbo jets and explorer bots.

In between these two extremes, Playmobil will also be squeezing in a new selection of pirate sets, a farm and a harbor range. In all, there will be more than 128 new items heading our way over the year, which will certainly keep us on our toes.

Priced around £22.74, the set consists of a set of 200 double-sided clue cards. The cards contain two clues and the answer to each clue is a single word.

The questions can be quite challenging, but since you know that both words will sound very similar (‘tee’ and ‘tea’, for instance), you can sometimes arrive at your answer after working out just one of the clues first.

Suitable for children aged seven upwards, the game also comes with four 8cm buzzers, each of which make a different fun sound to indicate which player thinks they have come up with the homophone first. The answers are on the back of the clue cards and there are two levels of play for increasing vocabulary and listening skills.