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!

Barbie Hairtastic Printables

Girls age six and up can create custom hair extensions for themselves and for Barbie. Just create a pattern using the online software and print on any inkjet printer.  (The interface is easy to use, and the is very similar to that of the Barbie® Doll’d Up Nails Digital Printer.)

Barbie Haritastic Printables Interface

Available in fall 2011, Barbie Hairtastic Printables retail for $29.99 and come with a Barbie doll and sheets of printable hair extensions. Additional printable extensions can be purchased separately for $14.99.

Barbie Hairtastic Printables On a Printer

Fijit Friends Hang Out On a Dresser

Each Fijit has an audio coding device on the bottom of the doll that responds to sounds. For example, the toy will respond to more than 30 spoken commands or dance to music played nearby, going so far as to preform different dance moves depending on the beat of the music. The Fijits also have more than 150 phrases and jokes to communicate back with you and to keep you entertained.

In addition to reacting to spoken commands and music, the Fijit Friends have an integrated Sonic Chirp technology. The doll’s audio coding device can “hear” and respond to high frequency sounds that humans (and pets) can’t hear. Using an app on a mobile device, you can send a high freequency audio commands to your Fijit and trigger programmed reactions. Mattel is even talking about encoding TV programs and webisodes with audio to which Fijits will react. Imagine watching your favorite program with this little doll dancing and laughing along!

Available in fall 2011, just in time for the holidays, the Fijit Friends will be available in four colors, each with its own style and personality. Fijits are recommended for children ages six and up and will retail for $49.99 each.

The demo we saw had the RC Nitro Speeders doing three 360 degree loops in succession, before blasting straight up in the air at the end of the track. The little guys appear to be very durable too, as they routinely went from table to floor while we were at the display.

While the concept of micro RC cars isn’t new, Hot Wheels is banking on the fact that these are the fastest micro cars to date, and that will hook boys. They’re probably right, but the Nitro Speeders will probably hook dads too – they’re a great cubicle toy.

Like other tiny RC cars, these come with a multi-function remote that also charges the Speeders. At release the Nitro Speeders will come in several designs including a Team Hot Wheels Ford Mustang, Supercharged Camaro and the Ken Block Fiesta Rally Car.

Hot Wheels RC Nitro Speeders will be available this fall for a suggested $21.50.

Each Video Racer car houses a video camera capable of shooting up to 12 minutes of 30 FPS (frames per second) video. Kids can then flip the car over to check out their recordings on a small LCD video screen, deleting any videos they don’t want.

The Video Racers also come with a protective case that can be attached to anything – like a helmet for instance, so kids can record their own adventures while riding a bike, skateboard or whatever they like. The included Velcro straps and clips offer another level of play and creativity, giving the Video Racers tremendous flexibility.

Once kids are done recording, the Video Racers connect to a computer via USB cable and kids can edit their recordings with included software. The Hot Wheels software includes several sound effects, music and scene transitions to give kids a chance to personalize their recordings.

Hot Wheels Video Racer vehicles will be available this fall for a suggested $59.99.

The game comes with two headsets that contain sensors for the forehead and earlobes to measure each player’s brainwaves. The ability to control these brainwaves manages the levitation of the foam ball. Players simply to try get the ball through obstacles to the other side of the board. Winners are notified by lights and sounds when the game is over.

If you’re kids are more interested in playing with each other rather than against each other, there’s also a cooperative mode where kids can work together to move the ball along or participate in five included challenges.

The board is totally configurable, kids can make it challenging like the one you see above, or a bit more pedestrian.

Radica Mindflex Duel will be available in August for a suggested price of $99.99.

Our favorite part about the house rules is that families can get active together. For instance, if your house rule is that everyone must pet the dog, Roboto will issue that command randomly at some points in the game. This really gives families a way to make the game more fun and exciting, while at least giving the option to get kids and families active by making rules like “touch the front door” sending everyone scurrying, trying not to be last.

UNO Roboto is definitely a unique take on the game and ensures the experience won’t be repetitive, adding to the replay value. Roboto will be released in June for an MSRP of $24.99

After firing his cannon Smokey will prompt kids to reload, telling them he’s thirsty. Smokey The Fire Truck also sings, dances and offers several other light and sound actions.

Smokey will be available this fall for a suggested $59.99.

Lightning McQueen Alive

Mattel is behind the headliner, Lightning McQueen Alive. Media were shown a video of Alive in action and the performance was impressive.

First off, the car is the size of your typical die cast car – tiny. When pressing Lightning McQueen’s roof, he’ll take of, driving around the floor in one of several pre-programed routines like zig zags, backwards and 360′s. And while that’s neat, the real fun is his mouth is rubberized and moves when he talks, as do the eyes. The voice is Owen Wilson, so the entire experience is very authentic…just in a little tiny way.

Lightning Alive has an internal battery and charges off the gas station, via a plug on his left side.

Lightning McQueen Alive is targeted more toward the collector, with a $59.99 price point. The release is scheduled October 10th, however units can be pre-ordered at Matty Collector.

Zero Gravity Finn McMissile

Spin Master’s Air Hogs line is releasing the Zero Gravity Finn McMissile, which lets kids drive the spy car up the sides of walls. Finn starts out as a remote controlled car that drives along the floor like any other car, but when he comes up to a wall the front wheels allow it to transition up the wall to continue on the mission.

Zero Gravity Finn McMissile will see a May release with an MSRP of $39.99.

Missile-Firing Finn McMissile Vehicle

Finn has all sorts of remote control action – this one though is more than just a basic RC car. Finn McMissile can be driven in his “normal” mode but with a press of a button on the remote, he transforms into full attack mode with missile bays opened. What’s more, the missiles can even be fired with the remote, giving kids more flexibility with imaginative RC play. They also get authentic character voice spoken from  the remote.

Missile-Firing Finn McMissile Vehicle will be available in May for $44.99.

1:24 RC Vehicles

An entire series of smaller RC cars will be available for younger kids, including Lightning McQueen, Mater and Francesco Bernoulli. They have great styling and even feature moving eyes when steering, a nice touch that made the kids we saw playing with the demo models smile. The cars are  largely geared for indoor play and use a simple RF remote with front/back and left/right buttons.

The suite of 1:24 RC Vehicles will be available in May for $24.99.

There will be many other Cars 2 licensed tech toys. We spotted a revised slot car track and several new GeoTrax sets. Pricing and availability for these units were not revealed. There will also be a new Cars 2 video game available on all major platforms.

While Angry Birds is the #1 paid Apple App Store game of all time, kids will get a new kind of satisfaction playing with the physical game. Launching the Angry Birds with a catapult at the pompous pigs is a new sort of fun. Kids can configure the pieces any way they like, continually developing new challenges.

Gameplay is a combination of launching and features card game components also. The set comes with three birds, four pigs a launcher and several structure pieces.

Sadly the bomb bird doesn’t explode and the yellow bird has no turbo boost, but the squishy soft birds are fun to play with and we expect at $15, Angry Birds Knock On Wood will not only be popular with the kids, but with desk dwellers too. What better way to avoid doing work than playing Angry Birds not just at your desk, but on your desk as well!

Pricing and Availability

Mattel Mattel Angry Birds Knock On Wood will be available in May for $14.99.