Grown-ups would have had a blast at last month’s Toy Fair in New York all their favorite toys have been repackaged.

Mr. Potato Head had his 50th birthday party. Malibu Barbie was reintroduced, unchanged from 1971 (except now she comes with sunscreen). And the 1980s characters Masters of the Universe are back. (Remembers Skeletor, He-Man and Teela?)

Watch what you say when the Secret Listener by Wild Planet is around. The device resembles a CD player but lets users hear a conversation across the room.

A back-to-basics mood prevailed at the annual toy industry showcase. Flashy electronics are mostly plugged into already popular brands such as Hot Wheels.

One good thing about the trend: Lots of the cooler toys were pretty inexpensive. Here are some toys you’ll see rolling out this year.

Toys you eat

Write a note on special paper and, if you need to hide the evidence, eat it. Hasbro’s Nibble Notes ($1.99) and Klutz’s Eat This Book ($9.95), among others, have edible, candy-sweet pages and pens that write in food coloring.

Other foody toys: Hasbro’s Queasy Bake Cookerator ($24.99) and the Queasy Bake Mixerator ($14.99) include everything you need to make edible Sewer Sludge Shakes, Mud N’ Crud Cakes, Blend-a-Booger drinks and other gross concoctions.

Nifty, super-tough bubbles were everywhere at the Toy Fair. You can catch them in your hand or stack them to form a tower on your finger. Blow 'em all over the house and tomorrow morning you might still find some unpopped.

Spin Master’s Icee Maker ($25) creates slushy drinks from anything you choose: root beer, orange juice, Gatorade.

Battling tops

A simple idea with a new spin: high-performance tops that duke it out in a little arena. Hasbro’s Beyblade ($6.99) can be customized with vicious-looking saw-toothed metal rings.

Available later this year: Spinjas ($2.99), by Toymax, light up as they spin; Blade Fighters ($4.99) from MGA Entertainment; and Rumble Rippers ($6.99) by Trendmasters. Based on the Rumble Robots characters, Rumble Rippers have a gyroscope that’s supposed to make them spin longer.

Spy stuff, gossip gear

The Secret Listener ($19.99) by Wild Planet looks like a CD player but it’s a device that lets you hear a conversation across the room. Wild Planet also offers The Truth Detector ($14.99), basically a lie detector you strap onto a person’s wrist.

Tiger Electronics has Text4U:-) ($9.99), an electronic dictionary on a keychain that lists the abbreviations and “emoticons” that people use in instant messaging and chat rooms (like “L8R” for “Later”).

Hasbro's Queasy Bake Cookerator allows young cooks the chance to create ooey, gooey, gross-looking treats that are actually delicious. In addition, most treats come with a magical surprise. For example, the Mud N' Crud Cake temporarily changes the color of your tongue.

Techie wheel toys

Lego’s Spybotics ($59.99) are robotic spy vehicles you build and program using a CD-ROM that comes with the set. In single-player mode, you race against obstacles or time. In multiplayer mode, you can go up against other kids’ spybots, to see who completes a mission first.

Another new tech-pumped product is Mattel’s Planet Hot Wheels. The car comes with an access code that allows you to download a game off the Internet and play it with a virtual version of your car.

Build-it-yourself

The Electronic Arcade ($89.99) by K’NEX is a pinball game you build yourself. It has electronic sound, sensors and scoring and can be customized. With Downhill Thrill ($19.99), also by K’NEX, you build a three-foot tower and send a car, ski-jumplike, down the ramp and off the track.

Bubbles

Nifty, super-tough bubbles will be everywhere this year.

Spin Master has Catch-a-Bubble ($3.99). Tangent Toys has several Magic No-Pop Bubble products, including the Touchable Bubble Pencil ($1) and Candy Bubbles, which are edible. Northridge has Wubbles, whose soapy solution is in the bubble wand, so you just dip it into water.