The Topzy Tumblers Twirlin' Tumblin' Fun Park

When we saw it at Toy Fair, we thought the “magic staircase” was pretty cool, popping the figures up one step at a time until they reached the top, rolled down the ramp, and started up the staircase again.

Retailing for $39.99 and available in August 2011, the Topzy Tumblers Twirlin’ Tumblin’ Fun Park is appropriate for children 6-36 months old. While it requires three C batteries to operate, Fisher Price has included those so the fun can start immediately!

Sing-a-ma-jigs Duets

It’s hard to get much cuter than that, but we’re told there will be another doll holding a dog and singing, yes, you guessed it, “BINGO!”

Each adorable pair will retail for around $18 and will be recommended for children ages three and up. If the last round of dolls is any indication, the Sing-a-ma-jig Duets will be favorites with children, teens, and adults of all ages!

Laugh & Learn Dance & Play Puppy

This playful pooch has two modes: Learning mode and Play mode. In learning mode, the puppy plays songs that teach about letters, numbers, and parts of the body. Play mode encourages baby to play along by blowing kisses, reaching up “sooo big!,” dancing, clapping, and singing. Laugh & Learn Dance & Play Puppy has more than 25 songs and phrases to keep baby laughing and learning along.

Available in August 2011, Laugh & Learn Dance & Play Puppy comes with the required six AA batteries, and will retail for around $40.00.

Kid-Tough See Yourself Camera

Designed to survive the active play of a three-year-old, the Kid-Tough See Yourself Camera was made for little hands and big adventures. With rubberized sides and a wrist strap, the camera is easy to grip. However, since it’s made for preschoolers, it will keep working, drop after drop.

Kid-Tough See Yourself Camera

Small children can easily control the rotating lens, allowing them to take pictures or to shoot video of themselves or of the world around them. A 4x zoom lets kids get close up with the things that interest them the most, and a 1.2 mega pixel imager and low light capability will allow them to get pictures to share (even if the images are of toe lint or the dog’s nose). With 256 MB memory and an SD slot, little photographers will have a lot of fun documenting their worlds.

Kid Tough See Yourself Camera Back , View Screen, and Controls

When the photo shoot or video documentary is done, kids can use the 1.8 inch full-color screen to view pictures and videos and to modify them with fun stamps or distortions. Parents can also download the available PC-based software for even more special effects.

The See Yourself Camera requires four AA batteries (not included) and will be available in July 2011 for around $70.

Kid Tough Digital Camera

Redesigned for 2011, the Kid Tough Digital Camera is also built to survive tough preschool love. The camera is designed to allow kids three and up to easily operate the controls, including the 4X digital zoom, and to view their pictures on the 1.44 inch full color screen.  With 0.3 mega pixels, low-light capacity, and built-in memory capable of holding over 2,000 pictures, the Kid Tough Digital Camera allows small children to capture images of their world. Parents can help children connect to downloadable PC software to edit their pictures with stamps, frames and other special effects.

Available in June 2011, the remodeled Kid-Tough Digital Camera will go for around $40, plus the price of 4 AAA batteries.

The playset is cute and fun, preschoolers who are learning to explore with animals will enjoy the traditional play elements as much as the animal recognition technology. The set features a swing, polar bear slide and other fun exploration areas on both sides and it’s portable with include carrying handle. And perhaps most importantly, the animals look great. Additional figures are sold separately.

The Little People Zoo Talkers Animal Sounds Zoo will be available in July for a suggested retail of $39.99.

The truck remote offers four color-coded arrows to make it easy for kids to understand the controls. The truck has the same color codes on top, so kids can match up the colors for directional help. It maneuvers well on carpet too, something many other RC vehicles fail at.

The accompanying playset is pretty easy to work with too, with ramps that help guide the truck into the loading bay. Once loaded up, kids use the elevator to go up to the second level to drop a load from the truck into a hopper. When kids drive the vehicle to the other side, the elevator lowers the vehicle back down to ground level.

Other play elements include an “easy button” for manual elevator action, a crane to load/unload boulders with the plunger claw, parking area and gas hose. While there’s only one set available now, it’s reasonable to assume we’ll see Fisher Price expand  the Big Action line of products over time.

The Big Action Construction Site is due July 2011 for a retail price of $59.99.

Mickey features rock songs like “You Really Got Me” with accompanying head bobs and kick steps.

The demo was pretty impressive, Mickey has a suite of songs and the movements are pretty remarkable actually, at this price point. Of course the cord you see in the first image won’t be there, that’s just part of the fun that is demo-ing pre-production hardware. Kids that are into music and the guitar should certaintly find something to like with this rocking out Mickey.

Pricing and Availability

Rock Star Mickey is designed for ages 2 and up, and will be available September 13th for $49.99.

The sides of the case feature easy to grip handles and play rings, and the back a mirror, though the lock you see above is pre-production, a more user-friendly lock is expected.

Fisher Price also has a full suite of Apps designed to be baby friendly. Three new free applications include learning centers around animals, numbers and letters and respond when the baby shakes the device.

Pricing and Availability

The Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Baby iCan Play Case will be available in July for $14.99.

"We Did It!" Dora in the Box

Out of the Box

Look - The Dora doll is about 14 inches tall and weighs just under two pounds (one lb., fourteen oz. to be exact). She’s wearing her standard orange shorts, flowered bracelet, and white tennis shoes. Her pink T-shirt has been replaced by a cute, ruffled tunic with a bow on the front, so Dora is ready for her birthday party. She’s missing “Backpack”, but her huge smile invites kids to just pick her up and play.

"We Did It!" Dora Ready to Play

Engineering and Design – The “We Did It!” doll is well designed. Most of the weight is in her feet with the battery compartments, so the doll is very well balanced and designed to stay upright, even during games and dance moves that require a significant range of motion. Additionally, there are plastic ball bearings embedded in the bottom of her shoes which allow her to turn and roll slightly as she dances, absorbing some of the movement that might topple another doll. The pink flower on her left shoe is a button that allows children to toggle through the game menu and to select an activity to do with Dora.

"We Did It!" Dora's Game Selection Button on Her Left Shoe

If your child is anything like our testers, the first thing they want to do is to practice dressing and undressing new dolls. As far as “We Did It!” Dora is concerned, her pants and shoes are not designed to come off though her party shirt is removable. Thoughtfully, Fisher-Price has included a pink tube top painted onto the doll to keep her modest. And, for children who want to interact with Dora beyond just dancing, she has long hair and comes with a brush so children can use her as a styling head as well.

Dora's Cute Tube Top

Packaging - Fisher-Price has made steps to simplify extracting Dora from the confines of her packaging. The bottom of the box she comes in has perforated lines that allow you to open a flap and access a few well-placed twist ties to remove her. It’s actually quite handy.

Perforated Packaging Makes Removal Easy

Batteries - Dora comes with the required four AA batteries in her foot compartments, so she’s ready to play as soon as she’s opened. While the included batteries are intended just to power the demo mode, we never had to replace the batteries during the time we reviewed the doll, so you can count on getting significant play time in before you need to find a screw driver.

Dora's Feet Showing Plastic Ball Bearings, Battery Compartments, and On/Off Switch

Modes - Speaking of demo mode, one thing to note is that you will have to turn the doll off and then on to reset the mode from “demo” to “play.” If you forget this step (as I did), you may wonder why Dora’s actions are so limited and why you can’t access the other games. Right, so don’t forget to flip the switch on her foot.

Now, you’re ready to rock with Dora.

Let’s Play

The “We Did It!” Dora doll has four games she will play with children: Teach Me, We Did It, Say it Two Ways, and Freeze Dance

• Teach Me – Dora goes step-by-step through her “We Did It!” dance, and teach the moves to kids. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and none of our testers had difficulty following along and getting down with Dora.
• We Did It – Dora sings and dances her signature song and moves, allowing kids to dance along with her. Need we say more?
• Say It Two Ways – children get the chance to practice words in English and Spanish, working on bilingual skills. The words are simple and clearly spoken, making the game age appropriate for preschoolers.
• Freeze Dance – Dora sings and plays music while children move, but when she stops, the children stop as well. This game was a favorite with our testers.

By pressing the pink flower on Dora’s left shoe, children can select the game they want to play. Now, check out her funky moves!

Demo Video:

Full Dance Menu Video:

It’s worth mentioning that the “We Did It!” dance option occurs between each of the games. So, scrolling through the menu, children will hear Teach Me, We Did It, Say It Two Ways, We Did It, Freeze Dance, We Did It. I suppose since this dance is part of what made Dora who she is, it stands to reason that users should be offered every opportunity to dance it with the doll. And, none of our young testers seemed to notice this feature at all.

What Did the Testers Think?

I’m glad you asked! Our reviewers loved Dora. Children ages 3-5 had a great time dancing with and singing with Dora. Most of them wanted to take her home; but, alas, we only had one doll. Many kids left the doll behind intending to put “We Did It!” Dora on a birthday, Christmas, or Hanukkah list.

In a Nutshell

Fisher-Price has done a nice job with the “We Did It!” Dora doll. She was a hit with our testers, and she was cute and well-designed. We give her:

5 out of 5 stars

Fisher-Price Moments to Share

One key feature is that parents can control exactly who can see the milestone timeline, whether it’s a small group of family and friends or all of their friends on Facebook.  Additionally, parents can designate specific people who are allowed to upload their own pictures and videos to add to the timeline, so grandma can post that priceless picture she took of the whole family on vacation.

This free application is the first of it’s kind and is available in Beta format at http://apps.facebook.com/momentstoshare.