Review: Ultimate FX LightSaber by Hasbro
Written on Oct 18, 2011 by RuthJS and filed under Brands, Featured, Hasbro, News
“An elegant weapon for a more civilized age,” is how Ben Kenobi describes a lightsaber in “A New Hope.” The Ultimate FX Lightsaber, new from Hasbro, is hands down closer to that description than any other toy lightsaber we’ve played with. And, agreed with us, our testers did. Overview Hasbro’s Ultimate FX Lightsaber is well-designed [...]
LeapFrog Tag Junior Now Available
Written on Jun 10, 2009 by Brian and filed under LeapFrog, News
The LeapFrog Tag Junior Reading System that was announced back in January is now shipping for $34.99. The Tag Junior does what the bigger brother Tag Reading System does, just for the younger set who are learning to interact with words. Tag Junior is a chunky unit that is designed for ages 2-4.
6-in-1 Solar Robot Kit
Written on May 29, 2009 by Brian and filed under News
Building kits are fun. Building kits that can make different objects are even better. Best yet are kits that can motor about, especially if the power source is the sun (or bright light bulb). This 6-in-1 kit from Red5 in the UK is not only cool, but actually quite affordable.
VTech 20% Off Everything
Written on May 27, 2009 by Brian and filed under News, VTech
VTech is currently offering a coupon worth 20% off your entire purchase from their web store. The promotion makes it a good time to pick up a V-Motion system or games, their new two-player games are very solid. With 20% off, games are $20 instead of $25.
Mattel’s Holiday Lineup Getting Ready for Release
Written on May 26, 2009 by Brian and filed under Fisher Price, Matchbox, Mattel, News
Mattel used CES to announce and show off a bunch of new kid’s tech toys for the 2009 Holiday shopping season. Then at Toy Fair their other brands like Fisher Price and Matchbox got in on the action. Their toys look so good that the Mattel family of brands took over half the spots in our “Best of Toy Fair 2008″ roundup. As summer gets into full swing, it’s about time to start seeing some of these products slip into the market as we prepare for Holiday 2009 shopping.
LeapFrog Announces Up! for Leapster2 (video demo)
Written on May 7, 2009 by Brian and filed under LeapFrog, News
LeapFrog has continued with their planned release of Leapster2 games that was announced in February. The latest release is based on the upcoming Disney-Pixar movie Up! Up! is designed for kids age 5-8 and teaches mathematics and other skills. As with all Leapster2 games, parents can track progress online and kids can earn rewards and connect to the PC for extra games and interaction.
WowWee CrashFX Remote Control Airplane Unveiled
Written on Apr 22, 2009 by Brian and filed under News, WowWee
WowWee launched a series of new products for this year at CES in January, but this remote control airplane was not part of those announcements. WowWee has released several flight vehicles in their FlyTech lineup over the years, but this is their first “traditional” airplane. And what’s not to love? With a name like CrashFX, we fully expect it to be durable enough to be driven nose first into the ground more than once.
LEGO Boombox and MP3 Players Revealed
Written on Apr 17, 2009 by Brian and filed under Digital Blue, News
At CES Digital Blue told us about their LEGO branded line of kid’s electronics and showed us images of their digital camera and walkie talkie. They’ve now released more info and pictures of their LEGO Boombox and MP3 players.
LeapFrog Number Rumble Released for Apple App Store
Written on Apr 13, 2009 by Brian and filed under LeapFrog, News
The Apple iPhone and Touch series of devices are arguably the most innovative mobile platforms in years, but one thing that’s been lacking in the application space is educational content for children. Today LeapFrog has released their first, of presumably many, educational software packages for the Apple App Store. Number Rumble is available now and lets kids age 6-10 multi-touch, shake and tap their way through math equations.
Vtech Spring Software Sale
Written on Apr 8, 2009 by Brian and filed under News
We’ve been logging a good deal of time on Vtech’s latest round of new V-Motion games, all of which add much more in the way of two-player activities. The games are also much more arcade-like, all six of the new games are probably better than all of the games that were released before. Vtech has a new promotion, new games included, where you can buy one and get one half off.
Dora Links Preview and Tween Dora Update
Written on Mar 26, 2009 by Brian and filed under Mattel, News
By far the most popular story we’ve written this year, at least in terms of comments, is the Toy Fair announcement of Dora Links and the new Tween Dora line. Mattel is taking a big risk here, it’s quite uncommon for a kid’s icon like Dora to be “grown up” to appeal to an older audience. Perhaps Mattel’s biggest mistake though, or not, if you think any attention is good attention, was the release of the Tween Dora silhouette that made some think Dora looked a little too “pretty.” As one of the few people who have seen some of the new Tween Dora toys, including Dora Links, it seemed appropriate to get those interested on the same page.