Toy Fair 2010: Off the Beaten Path, Technology-wise
Written on Mar 2, 2010 by RuthJS and filed under Featured, News
One of the really cool things about Toy Fair is that along side the big toy manufacturing conglomerates like Mattel, Fisher Price, Hasbro, VTech, and Lego, you also get to see small mom and pop shops, toys that are waiting to be picked up for manufacturing, and items sold overseas looking for a market share in the US. Here’s where I found some of the coolest items.
Ekomini Interactive Piggy Bank Review
Written on Feb 7, 2010 by Brian and filed under Reviews
We’ve seen innovation in many places, some expected, some not. The new Ekomini interactive piggy bank isn’t one we were expecting to see. The principle is simple, engage kids with a piggy bank that connects to the computer and opens an online universe that teaches saving and basic personal economics.
Review: Jazwares MP3 Player (Ben 10 Echo Echo)
Written on Jan 27, 2010 by Brian and filed under Jazwares, Reviews
Jazwares has created an great-looking MP3 player around the Ben 10 Echo Echo character. The 1GB player features a lot of great things like an LCD display and speaker to give kids a relatively robust portable music experience.
Review: LEGO Stop Animation Video Camera
Written on Jan 14, 2010 by RuthJS and filed under Lego, Reviews
LEGO has lent its formidable brand and style to Digital Blue, a leader in photo and video equipment for kids. The result: one cool video camera! The LEGO Stop Animation Video Camera records videos, takes still shots, and (coolest of all) makes stop animation movies. I love it, my testers love it, but it’s not without its quirks. Still, it would be hard to find a cuter video camera with a wider appeal.
Review: Freaky Creatures
Written on Jan 3, 2010 by Brian and filed under Reviews
Freaky Creatures offers a world of online competitive battle play that’s combined with social networking and offline action figures. Designed for kids 8 and older, the Freaky Creatures universe lets players customize their creature with attributes and special powers before heading off to battle. There’s even a mobile interface, expanding the world beyond just the PC.
Review: Ultimate Buzz Lightyear Robot
Written on Dec 18, 2009 by Brian and filed under Disney, Reviews, Thinkway
Ultimate Buzz Lightyear was a summer announcement for Disney and followed in the steps of the Ultimate Wall-E from the year prior. Ultimate Buzz features 7 motors, multiple sensors and over 100 sayings in Tim Allen’s Buzz voice. The sometimes-delusional Buzz can also walk, play games and otherwise be directed by kids via 15-button remote.
Review: Disney Pix Twist
Written on Dec 16, 2009 by RuthJS and filed under Digital Blue, Disney, Reviews
Disney’s Pix Twist digital cameras are designed for kids age 7 and up and come in two styles: Jonas Brothers and Disney Princess. The Pix Twist was part of Disney’s summer announcements of digital cameras and digital video cameras for the tween crowd and features a rotating lens for self portraits, 5 megapixel sensor and the Disney PhotoFriends image overlays.
Review: Playskool Monty Rex
Written on Dec 14, 2009 by Brian and filed under Hasbro, Reviews
We recently reviewed Playskool’s smaller animatronic dinos – we’re back this time with the much larger Monty Rex Dinosaur who was announced earlier this year at Toy Fair. Monty features six sensors that detect touch or sound and reacts accordingly with roars, crunches and even a little walking.
Review: Disney Mix Lights Digital Music Player
Written on Dec 8, 2009 by Brian and filed under Digital Blue, Disney, Reviews
Disney has expanded on their digital media products for kids with the Mix Lights line of digital media players from Digital Blue. The Mix Lights media players feature internal rechargeable batteries, 2GB of storage, SD card slot and a light show that pulses with the beat of your music. The Mix Lights comes in four designs: Jonas Brothers, Wizards of Waverly Place, Princess Wish and Hannah Montana.
Review: Disney Flix Jr. Video Camera
Written on Dec 5, 2009 by RuthJS and filed under Digital Blue, Disney, Reviews
The Flix Jr. video camera by Disney is a functioning digital video recorder for children ages three and up. Able to record up to 30 minutes of video in two minute increments, the Flix Jr. comes in three varieties: Cars, Toy Story, and Princess. I reviewed the princess version.
Review: LEGO Alarm Clock Radio
Written on Dec 2, 2009 by Brian and filed under Digital Blue, Reviews
Digital Blue teased us earlier this year (here and here) with a line of LEGO branded electronics. Those two news postings have been some of the most popular we’ve ever written. We’ve finally received the first one of these LEGO gadgets in for review, the alarm clock radio. The radio comes in four colors and is 10 times the size of a regular LEGO brick.