Toys

We’ve all seen puzzle dinosaurs made out of wood pieces before, but ThinkGeek takes things to the next level with their range of R/C Wooden Puzzle Dinosaurs! While they come with less parts than a real dinosaur skeleton counterpart, it will definitely freak your friends out as they see it move around, making them do a double take and pinch themselves as they look around your home to see if other miniatures have a life of their own ala Night at the Museum.

First you must assemble of course, but once you’ve jacked in the included motors and electronics you’re ready to rumble. Not only can you control your dino’s movements via remote, he (or she) roars and reacts to sound.

There are three play modes to choose from – demo, free and R/C mode. You will require a mix of AA and AAA batteries for the whole thingamajic to work with each other, where you can choose from the T-rex or stegosaurus models for $39.99 a pop.

Forget about the traditional methods when it comes to looking for hidden treasure with a metal detector in your backyard – the Treasure Seeker’s Shoes does so without having to burden your arm one bit. Why do we say that? Well, it is strapped to one side of your leg without making you look like some sort of nerd, alerting you to any potential treasure while you non-chalantly walk about.

These Treasure Seekers have the appearance of regular beach or summer wear, but have a nifty pack that straps to your leg and beeps every time your feet pass over a priceless Roman coin. There are three LEDs on the unit – green for normal (nothing detected), yellow for the slightest hint of something that might be worth digging for, and red for full-on ‘pass me that spade, I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams’ mode. Alternatively, if the squall of the beeping alarm is too much for you, you can always set it to vibrate instead. In truth, being discreet may well buy you precious seconds while you unearth your next treasure. When you’ve detected all you want to detect, you can simply unplug the detector pack and use them as normal sandals.

Made from black plastic, you can choose from small, medium and large sizes. The control box remains put on your calf courtesy of an elasticated band, while the box is no larger than a regular walkie talkie. Be prepared to get strange looks and questions from strangers as you walk around with this though. The Treasure Seeker’s Shoes retail for £39.99 per pair regardless of size.

Some of you might not understand that “in color” reference, but if you watch enough reruns of shows from the sixties, you will often see an intro with “Show name” in color. Yeah, back then, color television was like high-def. Pretty soon I’ll be saying that back then, color TV was like 3D.

It would appear that everyone’s favorite virtual pet from the late nineties has finally got a color upgrade! Yes, it took almost a decade before Game Boy got color, and it took Tamagochi just about that long.

This new Tamagochi, also known as the Tamagochi ID, has a color LCD screen and allows for downloading accessories, rare items, and mini-games. All a user has to do is download them with a separate mobile phone and transmit them through the infrared port.

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Those of you that thought some toys were far too sacred and classic to be updated should probably look away, because you’re probably not going to like this one.  Instead of your kids playing with the same old version of Etch A Sketch that’s been around for years, they can have a fresh new version.  A version that basically takes any and all challenge out of drawing pictures on the screen.

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I will honestly say that I was this close to giving the AquaPod a bad review. Part of it was because I had a hard time getting it working, but it was overcome once I got it right and saw that bottle shoot 100 feet in the air.

Okay, I didn’t get an exact measurement of its height, but it was enough to impress me. And if I, as an adult, am impressed, just think of how much a child would be. By the way, this is definitely a toy that you want to use with adult supervision, for reasons that I will explain after the jump.

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I remember this MAD magazine comic back in the eighties of a father who spends lots of money to get into Disney World, and his kids don’t seem to be interested in the rides. They are interested in the video arcade, and the last panel is the father sulking, probably thinking: “I could have just taken the kids to the arcade and saved so much money”.

Disney World has now figured out a better way to have their spectators play video games. They put them in the line at Space Mountain. Apparently, Space Mountain roller coaster has a reputation of being the ride with the slowest line. The cars aren’t designed with a conveyor belt system so passengers can just be loaded up while the cars are in motion.

As a result, spectators get very impatient in line. These video games are programmed to last about 90 seconds, and these games can accommodate 86 players at one time. I’m not certain if all 86 players are playing against each other, but it does look like a pretty cool game on the giant display.

It doesn’t look like the video games are too complicated. It reminds me of the Mission: Space ride at Epcot, where the spectators have to push certain buttons to go further in the ride. Not that the ride won’t go on if you don’t push the buttons, but it just creates a more interactive feel.

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The middle of the night seems to attract all kinds of strange games.  If you’re up working on a project at the kitchen table, then odds are the salt and pepper shaker are about to be turned into some sort of makeshift game.  If you happen to have buddies that are always up late with you, maybe you should actually buy a game for occasions such as these.  Instead of breaking yet another glass salt shaker, you could buy this game of Portable Air Hockey.

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As kids most of us enjoyed building things.  Even if it was just a sand castle or a Lego themed item that really didn’t do anything but sit there, it was still awesome.  For a kid to be able to build something that actually moves would be a whole lot more fun.  Especially if it’s a speed boat that they get to play with at the local pool or even in the bath tub.  Well this speed boat lets the kids construct it themselves and even teaches them about solar energy.

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