Getting into the groove

There's been a lot of noise made about the affect portable audio and video devices are having on tween consumer purchasing patterns. Toycos are continually on the lookout for ways to keep this demo engaged, and both Hasbro and Zizzle struck paydirt last year with their toyetic iPod compatible speakers that move and light up when connected to the most desirable of MP3 players. At Toy Fair in February, attempts to capture this burgeoning niche got turned up a notch with at least two companies debuting music toys that key into both the hot iPod trend and tweens eternal desire to customize their belongings. These musical hybrids not only hook up to iPods, but they also let kids create their own tunes.