DEL.ICIO.USSanta goes high-tech with new toys
For the Journal-Constitution
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Toy store aisles tend to bombard with sensory overload. Family members, especially youngsters, can easily be overwhelmed by an avalanche of holiday toy options. But like baggers at the grocery store, there’s an art to stuffing Santa’s sack of goodies. And we’ve hijacked the big red one’s checklist and are spreading holiday cheer with a few suggestions for boys, girls and tinier elves.
This animatronic version of Elmo, the popular ‘Sesame Street’ star, sings, plays games, and tells stories and jokes.
Having a pet dinosaur becomes a reality with Kota the Triceratops, a motion and sound-activated animatronic creature.
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FOR BOYS
Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Price: $2.99-$29.99
Manufacturer: Spin Master
Ages: 6 and older
Quickly becoming the next Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh!, this collectible card game continues flying off shelves in a blur. Individual packages include one metal card and one Bakugan ball. Kids spread out their cards and roll their Bakugan ball over the cards. Magnets cause the balls to pop open and reveal a specific creature. Kids battle it out, drawing from more than 100 characters available.
Pros: Hot property
Cons: The Bakugan balls are small enough to become couch food.
Hot Wheels Turbo Driver
Price: $20.99
Manufacturer: Mattel
Ages: 4 and older
This line of die-cast cars races its way into the computer. Pop the included CD-ROM into your computer and connect the controller with the enclosed USB cable. Each set comes with a working Hot Wheels car that also serves as a game cartridge. A total of eight Hot Wheels Car-Tridges are available (Invader, Drift King and more). Slide the cartridge into the controller and race in colorful virtual worlds such as the jungle, Arctic and around a steaming volcano.
Pros: Hot Wheels come to life on the computer screen.
Cons: Not Mac compatible
EyeClops Night Vision
Price: $79.99
Manufacturer: Jakks Pacific
Ages: 8 and older
You don’t have to be James Bond to use nifty gadgets. Budding super spies can snoop around and see in the dark with the EyeClops Night Vision. Both kids and adults slip on these rubber-strapped goggles and use its infrared technology to see up to 50 feet in the dark. Backyard play will never be the same.
Pros: What kid wouldn’t want to see in the dark?
Cons: Some things should just stay in the dark.
Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25
Price: $39.99
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Ages: 6 and older
It takes six D batteries to power this massive automatic toy gun. A belt system helps load the darts quickly into the gun. With a pull of the trigger, the gun blasts a flurry of foam darts, a total of three per second. Become a backyard or rumpus room sniper and use the folding tripod to hold steady aim. Includes 25 darts, which pack away into an ammo box for storage.
Pros: A literal blast. Kids spend less time loading the gun and more time having fun.
Cons: Those darts tend to disappear. Batteries not included.
Lego Agents Mobile Command Center
Price: $89.99
Manufacturer: Lego
Ages: 8 and older.
Lego’s Mobile Command Center allows kids to use Lego building bricks to create their own team of bad-guy secret agents and vehicles. The scenario finds Dr. Inferno locked in the command center’s jail, and his minions are busting him loose. More than 8,500 bricks help build character figures, two cars, a boat, two planes and a jumbo tractor-trailer truck that serves as a mobile headquarters.
Pros: Wonderful blend of cognitive learning and building with an action-adventure element
Cons: Ever stepped on a Lego with your bare foot?
FOR GIRLS
Clickables Fairy Charms Starter Set
Price: $29.99
Manufacturer: Techno Source
Ages: 7 and older
This interactive jewelry box, which comes with a necklace and three charms, combines safe online and offline play. Girls go online (www.pixiehollow.com) to visit Disney fairies Tinker Bell and friends and create their own fairy. The jewelry box-shaped Clickables system plugs into a computer with the included USB cord. Touch the center of the jewelry box with one of the charms, and it beams with lights and music. Each charm unlocks a particular gift, which can be found in the Pixie Hollow virtual world. Additional charms ($4.99 each) and friendship bracelets ($9.99) are sold separately.
Pros: An inventive twist on online play with an added dress-up element
Cons: Online can be hypnotizing.
Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker
Price: $29.99
Manufacturer: Jakks Pacific
Ages: 8 and older
The popularity of cupcakes bakes its way into girl toys. Use one of the four included batter flavors to fashion homemade cupcakes in a flash. Add water, stir and place the cupcake maker in the microwave for 30 seconds. Use the enclosed froster to decorate the cupcake and doll it up with sprinkles, too. Need more refills? Packages are $5.99-$11.99 each.
Pros: Fun comes to the kitchen while promoting the art of cooking.
Cons: May require a game of tag to help burn off the calories
Girl Tech Stylin’ Studio
Price: $59.99
Manufacturer: Mattel
Ages: 8 and older
The popular Digi Makeover toy goes to the next level. Girls give themselves digital makeovers with the Stylin’ Studio. Players plug the unit into a computer’s USB port and start primping. The unit includes a touch pad and stylus so girls can add hair, make up, accessories and clothing effects to their image. Print the picture or e-mail it to a friend.
Pros: Girls can play dress-up with oodles of options and without the mess.
Cons: Not Mac compatible
My Meebas
Price: $19.99
Manufacturer: Mattel
Ages: 6 and older
The tube-shaped, hand-held electronic toy features a tiny digital creature on a small, sliding LCD screen. The screen gives the illusion that the player is looking inside the tube at their creature. Players virtually grow their creature by guiding it through more than 20 games and activities and seven levels using buttons and the sliding screen. The object is to fully grow the creature. When this happens, the game itself is unlocked and opens to reveal a plush version of the creature inside. My Meebas are available in different colored tubes including pink, blue and purple.
Pros: Offers a tangible result, which many virtual games do not.
Cons: The games can be a tad confusing.
Spa Factory Spa Fantasy Aromatherapy Fountain
Price: $29.99
Manufacturer: Jakks Pacific
Ages: 8 and older
The Spa Factory line brings the pampering experience to young girls, and this is the signature item. Ever imagine creating your own sparkling lip gloss or nose-tingling perfumes? Budding primpers can do this and more, including making bath fizzies and facial masks using recipe cards and mixing tools. Girls add bold fragrances such as jasmine and pink grapefruit to the flower-shaped bowls of the working fountain. The enclosed gift bottles can be filled with creations.
Pros: A girly version of chemistry play
Cons: Watch out for messes.
FOR EVERYONE
Crayola Glow Station
Price: $29.99
Manufacturer: Crayola
Ages: 6 and older
Kids take the light wand and put it to the glow canvas to create glow-in-the-dark artwork. They use stencils, texture sheets and other tools to enhance the illustrations. Or petite artists can draw with a dry-erase marker on acetate and use the light wand to transfer the image to the glow canvas.
Pros: A fresh and inventive way for children to enjoy drawing
Cons: Don’t lose that wand!
U-Dance
Price: $74.99
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Ages: 8 and older
It’s a plug-in-and-play video game that asks players to bust a move. This dancing game doesn’t require a mat. Instead, it relies on motion-sensor technology. Players attach sensors to their feet and follow the footprints that pop up on screen. Dance along to the beat of music from the likes of Chris Brown and the Jackson 5. As the game progresses, it gets more difficult.
Pros: Exercise masked as game play
Cons: The four AA batteries needed to operate the system are not included.
FOR YOUNGER ONES
Animal Scramble
Price: $25
Manufacturer: Wild Planet
Ages: 3 and older.
A preschooler game that fuses education and physical activity. Kids run while using an electronic giraffe toy to tag other animal figures while playing games that teach colors, letters, and animal names, sounds and attributes. For example, if the giraffe blurts out an instruction like “Who is orange?” the player runs and tags the tiger and moves on to the next command as soon as possible. And it includes two other games, a memory-building exercise and a hide-and-seek treasure hunt.
Pros: A great way to sneak in learning and exercise
Cons: If you lose an animal figure, the game is a bust.
Elmo Live!
Price: $59.99
Manufacturer: Fisher-Price
Ages: 18 months and older
They’ve tickled him, made him stand up, fall down and get up again. Now Fisher-Price takes its interactive Elmo toy to the most technologically advanced stretch of Sesame Street. It’s as if you’re watching the fuzzy red monster perform as he does on TV. Watch his mouth open and close while he sings songs, plays games, and tells stories and jokes. Elmo stands up, but if he’s tired, he’ll sit on his stool, cross his legs and flap his arms. He’ll come to life with a touch to his nose, foot, back or belly.
Pros: The closest kids can get to hanging with the real Muppet
Cons: A bit heavy for tinier tots to carry, and you can’t cuddle with an animatronic.
Laugh & Learn Smart Bounce and Spin Pony
Price: $69.99
Manufacturer: Fisher-Price
Ages: 12-36 months
Last year, Fisher-Price paired education and exercise with its Smart Cycle, an exercise bike kids use to play learning games. This one is designed for early toddlers. It looks like a cute, horse-shaped, bouncy, ride-on toy. But parents plug it into the TV and kids experience learning and reinforcement by just being kids. Games include learning first words, animals, letters, counting and more. And it has a basic bounce mode so kids can ride at will without Mom and Dad having to turn on the TV. The wide base of the horse provides stability while tots spin and bounce while hanging onto the handlebar, which sports a roller drum that plays music and other sounds.
Pros: It offers multiple ways to play, teaches toddlers and promotes physical activity.
Cons: Could be a gateway to the sometime-addictive world of video games.
Kota the Triceratops
Price: $300
Manufacturer: Playskool
Ages: 3 and older
Playskool doesn’t know the meaning of the word extinct. With a heavy dose of modern technology, kids can get up close and personal with Kota the Triceratops, an animatronic dinosaur
that measures more than
40 inches long. With sensors scattered throughout his body, Kota responds to touch with a roar, a flick of the tail or a move of the head. Talk to him, and he’ll roar back. Feed him a toy leaf when he’s hungry or climb on top of him for a ride.
Pros: Can’t get much cooler than a pet dinosaur
Cons: For that kind of money, you could buy a dog.
Spike the Ultra Dinosaur
Price: $129.99
Manufacturer: Fisher-Price
Ages: 3 and older
Another interactive dinosaur toy experience comes courtesy of Spike the Ultra Dinosaur. Command this toothy and goofy long-neck dinosaur with the remote control. The buttons on the rock-shaped remote use pictures for easy understanding. And each button allows Spike to perform a basic command such as opening and closing his mouth or roaring. He’ll catch a toy boulder in his mouth, blink his eyes, light up his spikes in battle mode and hop on his hind legs.
Pros: Remote control fun with great interactive elements
Cons: At approximately 3 feet tall, he’ll take up a bit of closet space.
Kid Tough DVD Player
Price: $149.99
Manufacturer: Fisher-Price
Ages: 3 and older
Kids take their favorite
DVDs on the road with this grab-and-go player. Rechargeable batteries that last two hours supply the power to play DVD movies
on the 3-inch screen. The rugged construction justifies the price tag. And it can be plugged in at home, too, with help from its A/V jack and wall power unit.
Pros: May be the perfect accessory for that long holiday road trip
Cons: Do kids really need more TV?
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