TagsMania™, New Company Focused on Toys for Infants and Toddlers, Launches with Simple. Fun.™ Products

Press Release

Westport, CT -- TagsMania, LLC, a new company focused on Simple. Fun.™ toys, has launched its line of distinctive products that will captivate infants, babies and toddlers.

“TagsMania toys are eye-catching and compelling to children,” said Paul Oestreicher, Ph.D., TagsMania’s founder and president. “The colors and texture of the toys will keep them engaged in happy play. And, they’re uncomplicated -- as we all know, sometimes simple is best.”

TagsMania is starting with five different products. First are the TagBall™ and TagRattle™ toys. The TagBall is made up of approximately 150 fabric loops and has a soft strap to go on a baby’s wrist, or the handle of a stroller, baby seat or shopping cart. The TagRattle has a soft handle and a gentle rattle. They all come in primary colors, pastels and high contrast black/white/red. Coming soon are two-tone pink and two-tone blue.

Also on the way are Tagacuda™, Tagasaurus™ and Tagsdale™ plush toys. Only TagsMania toys have the tags truly integrated into the design of the products. Tagasaurus will be available in Jurassic Green, Prehistoric Pink and Fossil Blue. Tagacuda will be available in Sea Green, Paradise Pink and Ocean Blue. These unique toys will be coming to retailers and are also available on-line at http://shop.tagsmania.com.

“The inspiration for TagsMania came from my children,” Dr. Oestreicher added. “After observing what consistently caught their attention during play, I sketched some concepts in 1998 but put them on the shelf, along with over a dozen assorted ideas. More recently, I decided to move forward with TagsMania and developed six generations of prototypes. The toys that went into production underwent extensive safety testing.”

TagsMania toys will make their national debut at the annual American Specialty Toy Retailers Association (ASTRA) exhibition being held this year in Providence, RI from June 13-16.

About TagsMania
TagsMania is a new company focused on making Simple. Fun.™ toys for infants, babies and toddlers. TagsMania, headquartered in Westport, CT, was founded by Paul Oestreicher, Ph.D., a former scientist turned health and medical communications expert, and adjunct professor at New York University. After watching each of his four children spend more time playing with the tags and wash labels attached to their stuffed animals than they did with the actual toys, he invented a series of new products in 1998. The concepts remained on the shelf... until now. TagsMania toys are coming to a store near you and are also available on-line at http://shop.tagsmania.com. TagsMania toys are tested by a leading, independent safety testing laboratory. For more information, we invite you to visit www.tagsmania.com.

About Paul Oestreicher
Paul Oestreicher, TagsMania’s founder, president and chief designer, started his career as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Experimental Therapeutics department at Wyeth Laboratories. Dr. Oestreicher moved to the Clinical R&D team at Hoffmann-La Roche and then took on increasing roles of responsibility in their Public Policy & Communications department. In addition, he held executive positions at Edelman Public Relations, Hill & Knowlton, and Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, and founded Oestreicher Communications, LLC. Dr. Oestreicher is also an adjunct professor at NYU’s M.S. program in Public Relations and Corporate Communications, and is writing a book, Camelot, Inc., to be published by Praeger in early 2011. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Rochester, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from Rutgers University.