Reviewing Toys

Toys R US is having a GIGANTIC birthday sale for Geoffrey and it only lasts two days, this Friday (Today) and tomorrow. The sale begins NOW, at 3p.m today untl 1p.m. tomorrow. Hurry and buy up all those birthday/Christmas presents while they are on sale. I know from experience the prices of toys will only go up as the holidays quickly approach, get your shopping done now and focus on small parties and such you know you’ll get invited for.

Here are some great deals for you:

TEENS:
Nextar 2GB MP3 player for $19.99 - Why get these? These will be a hit with the preteens and teens this year as everyone wants their own tunes. You could even sign them up to download some tunes from iTunes.com.

Video games- Wii games are $24.99 this would drop prices 50% off and everyone in the family could pick out which ones they like.

Guitar Hero for $39.99-49.99 (marked down $20)- This is one of those big raves that just can’t go wrong, that is unless you have a teen or preteen that hates music and/or video games.

UNDER PRETEEN

GIRLS:
Quickbead or braids- little girls love doing their har and this bead/braid machine can definitely help out. $12.59

You and Me doll with car seat/carrier $12.99

BOYS:
Magna Wheels because boys just love putting things together $9.99
Hot Wheels Shark park. Do you remember life without them? $10.99

TODDLERS:
Dream Dazzler/Fast lane battery operated 4×4 $129.99
Tek Nek Rock’n'Ride pony $24.99
Step 2 Kangaroo Climber $99.99
Playskool Made for Me MP3 player (my son just loves it) $34.99
Leapfrog Classic ABC Driver $10.99

Hurry and stock up.

The toy company Mattel Inc and Jakks is teaming up with wrestling companies such as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc and TNA Entertainment. I’m sure those little boys are going to have a ball with this one. Now not only will they get to watch their favorite wrestlers on tv but now they can actually fight for them. Granted the toys will not be released until 2010, which is in just two years. Imagine the Christmas and birthday lists that year. Who do you think your child will choose? Will it be WWE or TNA?

No pics at this time. (hopefully later)

Cabbage Patch Kids have been popping up all over the world, but now there is even more of a demand. So much of a demand that one company, PlayAlong, has decided to bring back the Original Cabbage Patch Kids. Did you have one of them? I remember my first Cabbage Patch Kid, her name was Nadine and she had brown yarn hair and freckles all over her face.

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The 2008 TOTY Awards have been announced, check to see if you have any. For those that don’t know, the TOTY Award means “Toy of the Year”.

Toy of the Year-
Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle - Spin Master, Ltd

Girl Toy of the Year-
Littlest Pet Shop: Display & Play Round & Round Pet Town Playset - Hasbro, Inc. and Troop Groovy Girls - Manhattan Toy

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Hannah Montana “Best of Both Worlds” Singing Doll My daughter got a couple of the “singing” Montana dolls for Christmas and she loves them. Honestly from a parents perspective they are fine unless you are trying to sleep.

Here is what ya get with the Hannah Montana Singing doll:

The Other Side of Me in Concert Collection Doll comes with the Hannah Montana doll, a mirror, a microphone and a set of clothes for Hannah to become Miley in. A few bonus items are a small poster to go on the wall and a Live in Love bracelet for them to wear. She is wearing the light blue jeans with brown suede boots, a blue t-shirt with a white fur coat. A push of a button on Hannah Montana’s tummy and she’ll begin singing a chorus to her famous song “the other side of me.”

Hannah Montana “Fashion Collection”: 1
Hannah’s “other” outfit happens to be a white mini dress with pink poka dots and has a wide black and white spotted belt. Hannah is actually wearing blue jeans, purple top and jacket with gold boots and belt. She’s holding on to her microphone and comes with a brush and mirror. Hey, she’s got to prepare for the concert somehow right? This Hannah does not sing when you push her tummy.

The Fashion Collection: 2
Hannah is wearing light blue jeans and a black and light blue and black top with jacket. Her “other” outfit is an adorable silver dress.

Best of Both World’s Hannah Montana Doll:
Hannah comes wearing a cute black skirt outfit with a white shirt, black boots and jacket. As for bonus items, you’ll get the poster and a backstage pass. However, ya might want to let your little one know this does not mean she gets to go to a LIVE concert. My daughter thought it was and kept insisting that was why it was in there.

Moon Shoes are the next mini trampolines, basically they are large platform shoes with a springboard in them. Kind of like having two small trampolines attached to your feet. Sound like a Eddie Murphy moment, it sure reminds me of one.

Kids will be hopping up and down the street with moon shoes, which means getting them off the couch and into the fresh air. Do any of you have these interesting looking shoes? I’ve been reading some reviews on them and most of them sound like these shoes would make a great holiday present but at the same time I worry about the dangers of these shoes.

Dangers? Well sure, if you bounce the wrong way you can end up falling on your face or right into the road. If the shoes aren’t put on properly they can slip off. Another issue is depending on your body build you can easily get injured during a fall, it seems like you must really have strength to make these shoes really go far. Anger may also incur as you try to put these moon shoes together, one reviewer at amazon stated she had to wait for her husband to get home to do it.

When I asked my own kids what they thought of them I got:

“Looks cool.”
“Oh I want those, I can jump real high.”

Yes, kids love things that make them feel like flying. I remember I always wished I could fly when it came time do go somewhere or clean the house. So, , no you may not jump to the moon but you sure can jump towards it.

moon shoes, presents, shoes, toys

Do you remember back in the day going to the park and using the teeter totter? Errr, maybe that should be the seesaw. Whatever the case may be your probably know exactly what I’m talking about. It was the one thing in the playground that no matter how fun it was you had to have someone else sitting at the other end for it to work. Right? They’ve got a new seesaw in town called the Spirohop, but lets go back a bit.

Think back, the original seesaws were made of metal and if it was too hot you’d burn your butt/legs or if it was too cold you’d freeze. Be careful not to get stuck to it from frostbite. Either way there were even more things to be wary of when using the seesaw.

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Dunkin Donuts has issued a toy recall on their Glow Sticks that they passed out between September and October. Apparently it comes on a string that would normally be worn around the child’s neck (a necklace)to keep them safe on Halloween. The recall is because the string poses a choking hazard.

Ummm, I can’t for the life of me think why a necklace would get recalled. So, if you are really worried about your child wearing this necklace, you should take it back to get one of their free donuts.

Glow Stick Recall

glow stick, Dunkin Donuts, recall, toy recall

Yeah, I’m not so sure how I feel about the new Baby Alive doll. The commercial was just on and it showed the baby getting changed and then suddenly it was peeing on the kids. Ummm, that’s one thing I don’t think I want to see. While I know it isn’t really pee it is the thought. Hey I’m the mother of four kids, I know it happens and while the toy might make me laugh the first time it peed on the kids I’d be busting up laughing. However, it would get old very fast.

By now, if you have a daughter under the age of 10 you probably already know about Baby Alive. But now they have two new ones coming out, Wets N Wiggles and Alive Slip N’ Slurp. Wets N Wiggles will actually pee while you are changing her bottom. Yep, just like a real baby. This baby will drink up everything and suddenly cry when she needs you to change her.

The slip n’ slurp will teach your child how to make those pleasant noises when sucking the spaghetti up. Slluurrrp! This one may be a lot of fun for a 5 year old as she has her own private tea party. It will be like a real person sitting right in front of her. Every little girl needs to have a baby doll and this one will drink straight out of her sippy cup.

The bad news is once she runs out of diapers or juice you’ll have to buy more. The wonderful news is she only needs 4 AA, normally dolls like this need C and 100s of other batteries. Now I’ve never liked the idea of the one that poops, that’s just too disgusting for me. The Slurp one may actually make it to a stocking this year, but don’t tell my little girl that. Shhhh!

With each doll you can expect 3 diapers, a few toys and a washcloth to clean her with. Currently there are three styles of the doll to choose from, there is a caucasion with blonde hair and blue eyes, an african-american and a Hispanic doll.

But when you change the doll’s diaper, watch out – babies can be full of surprises!

Do you have a Baby Alive, Baby Alive Wiggles N Giggles or Baby Alive Sip N Slurp? I’d love to know what you think of her.

Baby Alive, baby doll, Hasbro

I was shocked to see that I had won the Spinning Board over at Discussing Autism and once I showed the kids they were super excited. “Mom, mom, when will it be here!?” Yeah, you get the drift, they hear they can spin until they throw up and love the idea.

First off, if you ever win this don’t worry when you get a package with the words, “Kitchen Sink” on it. Yep, that’s what the delivery man dropped off. I was a bit confused at first thinking why would I order a kitchen sink, but once I read who it, Therapy Shoppe, was from I knew. The kids couldn’t wait to see what I’d got, especially since they read the box.

Once I placed it on the floor I heard, “I’m first, No I’m first, etc” I’m sure if you have kids you can imagine how this went. Honestly I had it facing the wrong way, I actually placed the Spinning Board upside down because I thought your finger held on by sticking it in the hole. Yes, laugh at me. This is something you DO NOT want to do.

Place the board so the small finger size hole is not showing. The bigger board should be on top. Have child sit in the center of the square and lightly spin it as to not scare them. I was first up, which meant I barely moved it as I can’t even sit on a swing without getting sick. Next up, my 4-year-old, she got scared as it moved too fast and wouldn’t get on for a whole day. The other two were quick to spin it faster and faster and take turns with each other.

It reminds me a lot of an excersize thing my parents had when I was a kid. You’d stand on this small (plastic) round thing and twist back and forth. This is NOT that.

The kids love this little “Spinning Wheel” as they call it and are constantly playing with it. There is one rule though: they are only allowed on it when I’m in the room. This way no one fights and no one stands on it. By the way, it only took my 4-year-old a day to get on it because she didn’t want her brother and sister to push her fast, she is currently spinning herself back and forth while watching Handy Manny. Another good thing, you don’t have to worry about splinters as it is sanded and polished down.

TIP: Do NOT stand on this and try getting off, you’ll fall on your rump.

Don’t forget to sign up for her giveaway for Calming cards.

I’ll post a picture once I can pull one up.

spinning wheel, spinning board, Therapy Shoppe, autism, discussing autism