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The (Sticky) Fad of Summer

For a while there, it looked as if this could be a summer with nary a craze in sight. But not for long. Suddenly this has become the summer of the Velcro paddle and ball.

The idea for the new toy is simple: put stick-to-itself Velcro on a sphere that is roughly the size of a tennis ball. Apply the same stuff to two mitt- size disks that have a strap across the back for a handhold. Presto! A craze known variously as Magic Mitts, Scatch, Katch-a-Roo and Super Grip Ball. On streets, playgrounds and at the beach, players have added...

Quotes of the Day »

RAY KELLY, New York City Police Commissioner, on the arrest of a New Jersey man in one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases, the disappearance more than three decades ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
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