I was surprised at the control that it had, and even though they wouldn’t let customers play with them, I could buy them if I wanted to. I believe that the booth was overcharging customers for these toys, as I saw this one on the Syma site for fifty dollars less.

The Syma S026 Micro Chinook Cargo Transport 3 Channel Indoor RC RHelicopter is “the world’s smallest and lightest” and it is “designed for indoor flight only”.

The control is so good, that a similar device was used as a prop to play floating fairies in a performance of the classic William Shakespeare comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’ve included a video of this after the jump if you want to see it for yourself.

Hey, if stagehands can be confident with the hovering controls of a product like this, then I’m actually surprised that we don’t see more toys like this.

I really think Lego needs to get on the indoor flying bandwagon and make something like this. However, if you want something that you don’t have to make out of bricks, then you should be able to head over to the Hobby eStore and lay down about $32.80.

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.

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.

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.

I still can’t believe that it took this long for Tamagochi to get color. Ever wonder why it takes way to long for some technology to improve? Man, it would be like using a phone with those green numbers. To me, that just seems messed up.

You should be able to purchase the Tamagochi ID on November 23 for a price of 5,040 yen ($56). Unfortunately, the color Tamagochi is only available in Japan in exterior colors of pink, blue, green, purple, yellow, and white.

Source

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.

It used to be you had to work the two knobs and you would get a sloppy simplistic picture.  You had to work at it to get anything that looked remotely decent.  Now kids can have the Freestyle version that instead of having two knobs, it has one.  This one knob swivels around a full 360 degrees.  That’ll allow kids to effortlessly draw curved lines.  At least they still have to shake the thing to get rid of the picture.  You can purchase one for $14.99.

Source: SlipperyBrick

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.

All I had to do was fill an ordinary 2-liter bottle to about one third full, and then turn that contraption upside down so I could put the bottle on it. By the way, you have to push that bottle all the way down to get it to work. This was the source of my frustration that was rather easily overcome.

From there, you just pump it up (when you don’t really need it). Seriously, all Elvis Costello references aside, you do have to pump it up about 10 times with an ordinary bicycle pump, until it can’t take all the compressed air inside.

Then all that’s left to do is stand back with that orange piece of twine which they call a lanyard and give it a sharp tug. All the compressed air is released in the bottle, and the bottle goes flying.

All in all, it is quite neat. It is definitely a terrific alternative for those who want a low-cost and low-maintance model rocket hobby. You should be able to purchase it at the AquaPod site for about $24.99.

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.

Perhaps all rides at Disney theme parks will have some sort of thing to to while waiting. Of course, we do have mobile device so keep us entertained, don’t we?

Source

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.

The puck will hover above your tabletop after you’re kind enough to pop in the 2 AAA batteries.  The game comes with those batteries, as well as 2 strikers and 2 cardboard goals.  If any of the set breaks, it’s obviously not going to be a big deal.  Which makes it the ideal game for a group that has consumed large amounts of alcohol.  If it does get broken, then all you have to do is pay $15 to Urban Outfitters to get yourself a whole new set.

Source: OhGizmo

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.

The project is easy to build and will work just fine for kids 8 years of age and over that.  When it’s all put together and outdoors the solar panel will give the boat all the power it needs.  Then when you’re indoors you can pop in 2 AA batteries and it’ll keep on running.  Just make sure to disconnect the solar panel before you put in the batteries, otherwise it’ll damage the solar panel.  You can purchase the Amazing Solar Speed Boat Electronics Kit for £9.99 or about $16 through Maplin.

Source: Envirogadget

Some people have this astounding ability to take a bowling ball and actually knock down all of the pins.  For those of us that don’t have that ability, there’s finally the RC900.  It’ll make sure those pesky bowling pins finally get knocked down where they belong.  This bowling ball is controlled by a remote and is easily able to dodge all kings of obstacles, like the gutter for example.

Alright, so it’s actually marketed towards kids and those with physical limitations.  Lack of hand-eye coordination is a physical limitation, right?  The bowling ball is able to steer by adjusting the position of the weight screwed onto a threaded shaft within the ball.  The sad news is, it’s a pretty obvious remote control, so there’s no way to fake out your friends on this one.  Plus it’ll cost you $1500 from 900 Global.

Source: Neatorama

Besides your little magnetic golfer himself (apparently there’s no female version of him – that’s not very representative, now is it?), you’ve got a green with a moveable hole, a bunker, a water hazard and some trees to set up your own personalised fairway. It’s not point and flick game either, just a fractional increase or decrease in swing power can drastically alter the course of a hole, making it something of a fine art. With a bit of practice you can perform chip shots, tee shots and some pretty tricky putts and, because it’s all magnetised, you’ve got at least some chance of getting a hole-in-one.

Magnetic Golf could be a physical version of a time killer, and at least you don’t have to fool around with Excel desktop backgrounds in order to fool your boss – be bold enough to tell them you’re taking five in order to get a better grasp on the future money-spinning ideas for the company.

Any toy that teaches kids about alternative energy in a way that makes it fun for them is definitely okay in my book.  I’ve seen some that are kits and a bit more complicated.  Honestly, I think that this car is one of the best approaches I’ve seen.  It goes for the subtle angle, it’s a fun remote control car and doesn’t need a single battery to run.

Even kids know the joys of searching for batteries in the house so that their treasured battery-operated toys will work.  Explaining to them that this doesn’t need any and why, is a fantastic way to teach them about renewable energy.  The car itself actually runs on zero-emission hydrogen fuel.  It also utilizes solar energy, so it’ll teach them about a couple of different methods.  It can be purchased for $147.95 through Amazon.

Source: GadgetGrid

This groundbreaking R/C mash up combines the thrill of helicopter flight with the excitement of driving a SWAT truck. Wow! It might look like a stealthy brute of a vehicle – and it is – but this macho truck features a cavernous cargo bay that opens up, upon your command, to reveal a fully-functioning micro helicopter sitting on an auto-elevating launchpad. Incredible! It’s like Thunderbirds meets Airwolf with a highly Hasselhoffian touch of 80s folly thrown in for good measure. Both precision-engineered machines are controlled via a single transmitter with smart shoulder buttons that allow you to switch seamlessly between truck and chopper.

It will take some fair bit of hand-eye co-ordination to keep on alternating between the two as you plan an imaginary assault on the enemy base. One thing though – what happens when the helicopter is in mid-air and you switch over to the truck? Will it just hover there until the subsequent instruction? Guess you’ll need to fork out £59.95 to find out!

Dolls always seem to have the strangest features, yes there are still normal dolls out there, but there are just as many oddballs.  You can get babies that make noise, that pee their diaper and can even crawl away.  The strangest of them all is always the one that can soil a fake diaper.  Well now all the little girls of the world can have a doll to go with their Nintendo Wii.

The doll has an opening to allow a Wiimote to be jammed into its back.  It is created for the game Baby and Me.  Within the game it has the girl do the normal things like rock the baby, burp it and even teach the doll to walk.  It uses the speaker within the Wiimote to make the baby make the usual noises like crying and laughing.  Although the doll looks ridiculous to every rational full grown adult, I’m sure one toy commercial for this would be enough to hook quite a few little girls.

Source: CraziestGadgets

The particular toy comes with an actual doll that the child straps the Wiimote to. Then the baby doll “reacts by giggling, gurgling or crying through the Wii remote”. From there, I would imagine a child can learn the wonders of being a mother as he or she can feed the baby and put the baby to sleep.

I am assuming that this game will take advantage of the Wiimote’s motion control feature for this. By the way, players can even get the Wii Balance Board (presumably the one from WiiFit) to rock baby to sleep, burp the baby, and teach baby to walk.

By the way, there is eight play mode games that include a rattle, catching, clapping, and playing with balloons. The player can dress the baby with new clothes, accessories, and customize playrooms.

By the way, the non-special edition has a strap so you can just put a Wiimote on any dolly and play the Baby and Me game. There is no word on a price as yet, and the initial release will be in Australia.

Source

This is different from Sketch Art. These are individual LEDs that will light up on their own. Of course, LEDs will always need power to light up, and the Sketch Art is powered by batteries, USB cable, car adapter, or AC wall adapter. I believe that all except the batteries come with the Sketch Art kit.

I’m a little “Sketchy” as far as what actually keeps the pegs on the board itself, but the kit comes with an LED Insertion Tool and LED Extraction Tool, so they must be in there by a force better than gravity. By the way, the kit comes with 100 3mm LEDs of assorted colors.

You might notice that there is a Las Vegas sign in the picture that has been decorated appropriately. I found that sort of odd, because Lite Brite traditionally had all black backgrounds. The kit apparently comes with six different backgrounds, so perhaps the Las Vegas sign is one of them.

You should be able to get the Sketch Art from the Hi-Tec Art’s website for about $49.95.

Source

Perfect for scaring the local kids and giving elderly relatives a heart attack, the range of disgusting acts you can perform with this set is delightfully wide. All in all, you can take pleasure in making your audience (or just the cat if you can’t rustle one up) feel quite sick with these clever little tricks. You can snap bones in your neck, discover a disembodied hand, even tear someone else’s arm off – all with the help of the included instructional DVD. Of course, the Magic Circle might not approve of these secrets being divulged, but that won’t matter a jot when you’re merrily terrifying anyone watching you yank a blood-drenched and still-moving arm out of a box. Of course, the tricks are surprisingly simple and just require a little bit of acting (not method-acting) and rehearsal to make a convincing show. Included are all the props you could need for these illusions, such as a box (with one panel missing), a fake ear, a fake arm (with gore detail), a bone-click simulator, a fake hand and various other bits and pieces to create the impression that you’re doing yourself some irresponsible harm.

The Freaky Body Illusions will retail for £24.99 and ought to make for a really wacky gift set.

Ropid is the creation of a Kyoto based group known as Robo Garage, and it has the ability to run and jump. By the way, the robot is programmed to jump with a vocal command. In other words, if you say “jump”, then the robot may not say “how high”, but it will jump as high as it can, which is 8 centimeters high.

That’s not bad considering Ropid measures 38 centimeters tall, and weighs 16 kilograms. The robot has 29 joints and four gyro-sensors, and is powered by a lithium-ion battery. By the way, the vocal commands will also run when you tell it to run, and stop when you say stop. Now if it could run and jump, perhaps it could beat the Olympic long jump record.

So far, there is no plans to market this guy, but I think that Wowwee would be all over this thing. Ropid’s movements aren’t as fluid as say, a human, but it is enough to beat the snot out of any toy robot out in the market right now. Now, if only it could fold up into a car or something.

Source

Perhaps this is why some designer made a Rubik’s Lamp. It is made of 26 smaller cube-like pieces that somehow fit together. The end result is some sort of multi-colored lighting experience that will only be un-trippy if you solve the puzzle.

The next Rubik’s Cube is tied into a franchise. I suppose that you could make a Rubik’s Cube out of anything with some stickers, and that is what was done with this special edition Transformers AllSpark.

Yes, this is the AllSpark that you see from the first movie, the thing that gave all the Transformers life. This one is a bit more colorful than the ebony black one portrayed in the movie. I’m going to assume that it cannot unflold into a Borg-like cube that is big enough to build Hoover Dam around it.

The Rubik’s lamp is still a concept now, just looking for someone to mass produce it and make a lot of people some extra money. As for the Transformers Rubik’s Cube, that is available in November from Milton Bradley for about $13.99.

Source1 and Source2