The Marvel Avenger Legends 14 Baron Zemo is a single figure in a series of Avenger figures released by Marvel. This particular set of the Legends figures come with a single action figure and a piece of another larger action figure. If your child collects all of the action figures in this set (there are 6 all together) they will also have all of the pieces to the larger action figure. The larger action figure called “Mojo” is a green blob of a character with mechanical legs and is comprised of the six individual pieces collected from individual Legends figures.

Each of the individual Legends action figures also comes with an accessory (for Baron Zemo it is a scepter) and a full size comic book. Each figure is also packaged in those really irritating plastic casings which are impossible to open but this irritating packaging also keeps the figure safely inside whether it is only for the journey home from the toystore or whether it is for a collectors edition of the figure, the packaging is sturdy enough to maintain the figure in mint condition.

The comic book that is enclosed with each figure is a full size, full length, color comic book and reads just like any normal comic book would but also serves as a collectors item. These figures are namely a collectors item and are suitable for any collector or an older child around the age of seven and up who likes action figure play they are not recommended for children under three; however, I would not personally recommend them for a child under seven.

I spent my childhood playing with mostly boys toys, He-man and G.I Joe figures to be exact but the Marvel Legends figures really don’t live up to the action figures of my day. These figures have a collectors value for older children but I really don’t feel that these figures are something to recommend for younger children or children who want to actually play with their toys.

The Avenger figures are made of quality materials and they do have multiple bends which enable them to be posed in various poses which are both plusses; however, the point still stands that other than being something nice to look at they are nothing more than collectors items. Children may find they are able to imagine play with the characters but the play is stunted by the inability of this figure to stand without falling over as well as the inability of this figure to clutch his accessory. The type of frustration that these shortcomings bring really take away from the play value as well as add to the stress of being a parent by causeing screaming frustrated children.

The Avengers Figures collection also comes with a single piece of one larger figure as stated above. This particular figure comes with the head portion of “Mojo”, a larger figure which resembles a green version of Jabba the Hut with mechanical spider legs and quite obvious drooping breasts which are a definite cause for concern. Although I am certain that this figure is male in origin it does not take away from the fact that this figure has prominent breasts which are definitely going to cause questions.

Overall unless this figure is for a hardcore action figure collector who has little need for constructive play this toy is going to cause more frustration than it is worth and the money would be better spent on another action figure who can at least stand on it’s own two feet without falling over.

The K’Nex toys are akin to Lego playsets; only the shapes of individual pieces differ greatly; however, the concept is similar. The K’Nex 4X Racer set comes in a plastic tire shaped packaging which is reusable to store the individual K’Nex pieces. The reuseable plastic tire container comes covered with a cardboard sleeve featuring a picture of the final model of the racer.

The K’Nex 4X Racers come in four different colors, red, yellow, purple and green and each of the colors creates a different type of race car. Most pieces included in each set are the same types of pieces; however, since each set is created to build specifically one vehicle there will be more or less of certain pieces in each set. The 4X Racer sets are small vehicles that are abel to move after being constructed; however, this particular set does not come with any machinery to enable it to move on it’s own, it does have to be pushed along the floor. If all four sets are purchased then the individual 4X Racers can be combined to create one “monster truck” by using all four sets of pieces. Individually, though, each vehicle fits approximately within an adult female’s palm.

The K’Nex toys teach children about the mechanics of things by teaching them how wheels and cogs and axles etc fit together to create machinery which results in movement and although the 4X Racers do not move alone by the use of machinery they do teach children how things fit together and result in movement.

K’Nex company creates an extremely wide range of toys from roller coaster sets to Lincoln logs but all of their toys are designed to help your child grow in the areas of developing cause and effect skills as well as learning how things function. Some of the more expensive K’Nex playsets come with fully functioning motor kits which enable your child to build items such as Ferris Wheel’s which run via a motor and turn of their own accord. The wide range in K’Nex products and the range in skill level that accompany all of their toys make them a prime candidate for any child above six years old.

I grew up as a Lego child myself; however when my twin brothers came along they introduced our household to the concept of K’Nex building sets. At first glace and within the first day of playing with K’Nex as a child I was irritated, I was a Lego girl and darn it I didn’t want to play with K’Nex…however I found myself getting dragged back in to the world of K’Nex no matter how hard I tried to be a “Lego girl”. The thing that irritated me the most as a child, and to be honest still irritates me slightly about the K’Nex playsets is that the pieces don’t always snap together the way you want them to when you want them to. The difference between Lego and K’Nex is that Lego is made of square blocks that just pop together with no effort at all; however the K’Nex pieces, because they are oddly shaped, don’t always pop right together and sometimes they take a little more manipulation to get pieces to do exactly what you want. So what was it that kept dragging me back to K’Nex as a child, and what is it that drew me in to reviewing teh K’Nex playsets now? The shear durability of the playsets.

The durability of K’Nex playsets is amazing, when your child plays with K’Nex sets they are not limited to square buildings and square horse stables and square…everything like they are with Lego blocks. K’Nex come in a variety of pieces which enable your child to build pretty much anything the imagination allows for. Even with the 4X Racer set that I purchased I was able to create other items from my imagination with the individual pieces.

The 4X Racer set is not, by any means the best K’Nex playset I have ever seen but for the price it offers all of the imaginative play and adventure that K’Nex offers with all of their sets. If I had the budget I would more than likely purchase one of the roller coaster sets that are significantly larger than the palm sized 4X Racer; however, the budget did not allow for a larger playset or one which was motorized so I chose to review a smaller, more affordable set instead. Although the set is small it allows for imaginative play and as a plus it also allows for the addition of other K’Nex playsets much like Lego and Mega Blocks do. A collection of K’Nex that begins with a 4X Racer can grow in to a thousand block set by gradually adding smaller sets over time.

The only drawbacks I have with the K’Nex 4X Racer set besides the slight frustration in getting pieces to snap the way you would like, is the fact that certain pieces do not stand up well to rough play; for example the axle (rod) pieces tend to bend after significant playtime. Pieces are also easily lost which can be a cause for frustration especially if your child only has a small set like the 4X Racer set where no extra pieces are provided, once one piece is lost the ability to build the racer on the packaging is also lost. To solve this problem I highly recommend you purchase an extra set – for the price it really isn’t too much to add on another race car which can also serve as backup pieces once pieces begin getting lost.

Overall I highly recommend any of the K’Nex playsets. If your budget allows I recommend the motorized or at least the larger playsets before I would purchase the smaller sets; however if the budget does not allow a child will still be more than enchanted with a smaller playset like the K’Nex 4X Racer.

To be perfectly honest Jakks Pacific is a completely new company to me, I have never even heard of them prior to my review of the Pokemon Pikachu Attack Action Bases toy. It seems they specialize in action figures, a new version of building blocks called “Gorilla Blocks,” scientific discovery toys, vehicle models, sports products, artistic products, stationary, TV games and dog toys. A strange variation of products to say the least. It seems from sifting through the variety of products that Jakks Pacific produces they are a hit or miss company when it comes to product development. There are a few products such as the funnoodle (yes that foam noodle you use in swimming pools), Creepy Crawlers, and Eyeclops which are widely known and have been on the market for years; however, there are also products which you have only ever seen before on TV infomercials at 3am. The very fact that they don’t seem to be a hugely reknowned company mixed with the “hit or miss” nature of so many of their toys makes me think twice before looking to purchase any of their products in the future…it could just be my personal opinion though so use your personal discretion in purchasing from this company.

Aside from the company the toy genre which I chose to review from them (action figures) seem to feature very well known characters such as WWE wrestling figures, Dragon Ball Z figures, Rocky figures and Pokemon figures. Being that they gained such toy contracts I do not suppose that they can be such a “bad” company, but still I find myself sucked in to the “it was on an infomercial” panic when I look at some of their toys (in particular BloPens). The action figures seem to be constructed well and appeal directly to the “boy” market in particular by featuring characters from wrestling and anime cartoons (that is not to say it would not appeal to girls only that they seem to appeal more to boys.) The figures are painted in to lifelike figures that manuever as one would expect them to, nothing special, yet nothing to complain about as far as the actual action figures go.

The Pokemon Pikachu Attack Action Bases came in the usual bubble type packaging with the cardboard backing and contained an “attack base” (a stand that shoots the Pokemon character off it), a Pokemon figure ( in this case Pikachu) and two pieces of “track” which slot on to the attack base. The track and the figure themselves seem sturdy enough; however, the “electric” base is not electric at all and is more of a flimsy windup type mechanism. The Pokemon character is true to the character itself and provides enjoyment for a child who likes the Pokemon characters; however in a nutshell the toy is overpriced and does not perform up to standard.

I really didn’t think that Pokemon were still popular among children anymore until I took a walk down the “boys action figure” aisle at Toys R Us and saw half an aisle dedicated to the little critters (incidentally, Power Rangers are also still popular, who’d have thought it!). I wasn’t going to pick up this toy to begin with until I saw a boy of around seven standing and just staring at the toys so I grabbed one, I needed to see what was so enthralling about this toy…and now that I have it I can quite honestly say that it must have been a character recognition thing because no way was it from first hand knowledge of what this toy can do.

To begin with, the toy was $9.99, a reasonable price for a collectors figure that actually does what it is supposed to do; however this “action base” figure most certainly did not do what it was supposed to…in fact it did nothing short of sit there and look pretty. The toy itself slots together and is supposed to “launch” the Pokemon figure off the base by use of what I can only describe as a “clockwork” mechanism (ie. not electronic and more like gears and rubber bands.) Clockwork does not make this toy worth ten hard earned dollars. Upon “launch” (hitting the button after placing the figure on the “base”) the Pokemon figure skids a very short way and drops off the table. In actuality the toy is supposed to “launch” off the base to “attack” another figure. The only thing this toy is attacking is the carpet as it careens off the table and on to the floor.

The “attack bases” figures are supposed to be collected, there were four varieties at Toys R Us, each featuring a different Pokemon character. When used correctly two characters bases are slotted together opposite each other and the characters are launched at each other; however, I definitely do not see this happening as they both go rolling on to the floor. The rolling on to the floor is the fun part though because guaranteed at least four out of every five times the launching mechanism will fail and your Pikachu just sits on the “attack base” or simply drops over to one side much the same as grandma would on Christmas eve after one too many glasses of eggnog.

To keep it short…a little late for that but all the same…this toy is absolutely not worth the money, it is flimsy, malfunctioning and something akin to what you would find in the Dollar Store. The only plus for this toy is the character recognition and even then you can find Pokemon figures for less than the $9.99 you would pay for this pile of junk.

Action Products is a smaller toy company that specializes in learning/educational toys for children. All of the toys produced by Action Products are considered to be interactive and make for great “arts and crafts” time with children. Being that the toys are all crafts type toys and require adult supervision most of the time they are not, however, recommended for younger children although there are some kits such as the woodkits that can be contructed by 6 yr olds instead of the recommended age of 7 yrs. The woodkits come in a variety of dinosaurs including: triceratops, apatosaurus, mammoth. brachiosaurus, pteranodon, tyrannosaurus and stegosaurus. A variety of wildlife including: mountain gorilla, mountain lion, spider monkey, red fox, alligator, grizzly bear, gray wolf, bison, and bald eagle. A variety of insects including: butterfly, mosquito, scorpion, praying mantis, and tarantula. A single sealife model of a sea turtle. And finally a variety of vehicles including: space shuttle, locomotive, F-15 Eagle and a WWII submarine. Action Products also produces other toys such as Curiousity Kits, I Dig Kits, Space Voyagers, JayJay the Jet Plane Adventure Kits, Play and Store Kits, Kidz Workshop Kits, and Action Classics toys which can be found at museums, aquariums, theme parks and zoos.

The woodkits are wooden kits that come with precut pieces that when put together form a skeletal figure of whichever animal or dinosaur that you purchased. The wooden pieces are flat packed and held in to thin wooden boards but are easily punched out. Once the pieces are all laid out they are pieced together easily and come together to create a rather large 3-D scale model of the animal you picked. The models not only teach kids about skeletal features but also about the animal they chose since they are able to observe how the animal is structured as well as the random factoids that come printed on the packaging.

The woodkits are easily put together but are recommended for supervised play, at least for younger children because pieces can have splintered edges at times and also snap when forced too hard (as young children are apt to do.) The assembled size of the final Tyrannosaurus product is 13 inches high and the final product can also be painted as desired which makes the models more personalizable. These models retail for approximately $3.99 and can be found at various toy stores. I purchased mine from KBToys however being that most KB Toys are currently going out of business you can also find them at Amazon or directly through Action Products website.

I will begin this weeks review by saying that I absolutely adore educational toys, specifically ones that prompt learning and discovery even once the initial project is finished which is exactly what the Action Products Woodkits do. Give a child a toy and they will play and be imaginative and creative, but give a child a hands on product and they will do all of those things but they will also ask questions and search for more outside discovery. What I mean by this is, when we look at the woodkit toys, we see that children are encouraged to build and be crafty but they are also forced to look at the anatomy of the Tyrannosaurus Rex which prompts questions such as “how big was he really?” which consequently leads to research. These are my favorite types of toys.

Although the woodkit itself looks to be a little flimsy when it’s opened the pieces are actually more sturdy than you would think. While the pieces do have the potential for being snapped by rough play and frustrated fingers they are not as likely to snap and break as they seem just from looking at them. The pieces pop out from the wooden sheet easily and fit together with the numbered diagram just as easily. While I don’t recommend the toy for younger age groups than it is actually recommended for, I do notice that this is something that could be completed by a younger child with parental help.

Something else I found to be surprising about the woodkits is that besides being durable they are also pretty large. I didn’t particularly pay attention to the “size when finished” factor when I bought the kit because honestly it just intrigued me. The Tyrannosaurus kit turns out to be 13 inches tall when complete which is considerably larger than I would have estimated when looking at the pieces and packaging. Another huge plus with this product is that it is totally customizable, if you have a daughter whose favorite color is pink she is free to paint her tyrannosaurus pink! Or if your son loves zebra stripes he can paint his with zebra stripes!

There are really no drawbacks to this toy, it is educational, crafty, creative, customizable and it creates time to bond with your child. While some people may find the need to supervise play “irritating”, I do not. I find supervised arts and crafts time to be particularly important when it comes to bonding and having fun together. I say go for the Action Products woodkits, for under $5 you really couldn’t ask for more.

Mega Bloks building blocks are a building block much like Lego; however, they are targetted more towards younger children with their larger appearance. The building blocks come in small starter sets or larger packs all for very reasonable prices; an 80 piece set will run $9.99 and a 200 piece set will run $29.99. Each set usually comes with some sort of storage, for example the 200 piece set comes in a re-usable duffle bag and the 80-piece flat pack that I purchased came with a reusable tupperware tub. The blocks also come in a variety of colors depending on the set you purchase, the original colors of the Mega Bloks blocks are yellow, red, green and blue; however, if you purchase the Princess sets they will come with pink, baby blue and white blocks and the Dora playset comes with orange, blue, red, yellow and green blocks and so on.

Mega Bloks has expanded their building blocks market to compete with other companies such as Lego by employing a technique that we’ve seen before with Play-Doh, they teamed up with popular children’s characters such as Dora the Explorer, Disney’s Car’s and Disney’s Princesses etc. The great thing about Mega Bloks teaming up with so many characters is that a parent can find any child at least one set of blocks that appeals to them and being that they’re all Mega Bloks blocks all of the sets are compatible and easily built upon with other sets and extension packs. Another fact about Mega Bloks that very few people know is that Mega Bloks building blocks are compatible with Lego blocks of the same size!

Mega Bloks building block sets were an easy pick for me because as a “Lego child” I have always been intrigued by building toys and being that Mega Bloks are so affordable it seemed like a no brainer. The blocks came in a very cool re-usable tupperware type tub (minus the sealable lid, the lid does close but not with the type of seal you find on tupperware) which was a plus for me, I love toys that come with packaging that make keeping the house clean and toys off the floor easier.

The Mega-Bloks flat pack with 80 pieces is an exclusive toy to ToysRUs (just the flat pack version, you can purchase other versions at almost all other toystores) and only cost me $9.99 for an 80 piece set. The affordability of all Mega Bloks toys blows me away but specifically the building blocks because they are toys that you can continue to build upon over time and not be afraid of the toy going out of style or being discontinued (they have been in stock in stores since the mid 80’s).

There are very few negative things that I can say about the Mega Bloks building blocks because between the price and the durability as well as the creativity that they induce there is very little to choose from when it comes to negative points on the blocks. I do; however, find that the flat pack is a little deceiving. When it’s advertised that there are 80 pieces in the box you expect to find more than you actually do when you open the tub. In actuality 80 building blocks really is not that many and although it may serve as a great starting point for younger children I cannot recommend this as a complete set, it is great, though, for a starter set and the tub that it comes in can fit at least 80 more blocks so provides a good storage unit for at least two packs of blocks (when the collection gets too large I recommend rubbermaid tubs from Walmart or Target, they are cheap, durable and securely sealed shut.)

The second negative thing I have to say about the Mega Bloks building blocks flat pack set is a comment on building blocks of this nature in general, as is the third gripe I have as well. The noise factor of the blocks is amazingly irritating on a quiet Sunday morning as children rake through the blocks to find the piece they are searching for, much as they are when the tub of blocks itself is shaken up and down (see the video when I turn the box upside down.) The thing with the noise factor on this toy though is that the noise can be limited to short bursts if the blocks are spread out amply to begin with, or one can simply learn to live with the noise of blocks much as my parents were forced to do when I was a child (after all “quiet play” is somewhat of an oxymoron.) The final gripe I have with the building blocks is that they are very easily thrown; however this is simply the nature of such a toy and cannot be changed although I do not recommend purchasing this toy for a child who makes a habit of throwing their toys around the house.

Overall I have way more pro’s than con’s when it comes to the Mega Bloks building blocks, they are a creative outlet for children which encourage social interaction and play while being durable as well as compatible with many other play sets which can be found at reasonable prices at almost any toy store.

Fisher Price’s Giggle and Go line of toys are toys directed specifically at younger children in the toddler years. As a result of the age range towards which these toys are directed they are made more durable and less complex than other toys which are available to older age ranges by Fisher Price. The toys themselves are composed of a hard plastic without pieces that are likely to come off and be swallowed or lost. The paint on the toys is also durable enough not to scratch right off. The character base of the cars also makes them easily recognizable to children of younger ages.

Each of the two cars that come in the vehicle packs are made identically as far as the components of the cars; however each character is a different type of vehicle. Ernie is a tow truck, Cookie Monster is a car, Grover is a mail truck, Elmo is a van, Bert is a dump truck, there is another Elmo that looks like a 4-wheeler, there is yet another elmo that looks like a race car and Oscar the Grouch who is also a racecar.

The Giggle and Go line of toys are brightly colored non-motorized vehicle based toys available in a range of prices and a range of characters. Other Giggle and Go products include: Giggle ‘N Go Garage ($34.99), Giggle ‘N Go Construction Hauler (19.99), Giggle ‘N Go Fire Rescue Center ($19.99), Giggle ‘N Go Driver Elmo ($34.95), Giggle ‘N Go Garage Combo set ($36.99), Giggle ‘N Go Elmo and Grover vehicles ($5.99), Giggle ‘N Go Bert and Elmo vehicles ($5.99), and the Giggle ‘N Go Oscar and Elmo vehicles ($5.99).

I picked up the Giggle ‘N Go Ernie and Cookie Monster vehicle pack whilst shopping in Walmart namely because of the price, the double toy pack was in the clearance section of the toy aisle for $3.99; however the regular price was just as affordable at $5.99. I like to pick up the cheaper toys because most parents need to save a buck where they can, but these toys specifically looked like they were better quality toys than most of the under $10 toys I run across so I grabbed them. I am also a huge fan of Sesame Street because of the educational aspects of the show and I like that the characters are so easily recognizable.

The first thing I noticed after pulling the cars out of the pack (make sure you have two vehicles in your pack the first set I picked up in Walmart only had one vehicle! One had either fallen out or been stolen), was that even though the cars are called “Giggle ‘N Go” implicating that they make some kind of noise, they actually don’t make any noise at all…as in completely silent. I found this to be very disappointing because the packaging as well as the name of the toy indicate some type of motion or noise from the toys and while they do move when pushed they do not vibrate nor do they giggle.

The toys are durable (also launchable) which is a huge plus for the 18 month age range because they inevitably end up in the mouth. The colors and the characters make for interactive play for children who watch Sesame Street or are at least able to recognize the characters and give them the characteristics they posess on Sesame Street. The vehicles are easy to play with as the require no winding up or pulling back to cause motion, they are simply push along the floor toy cars. I found this to be disappointing because it makes for a pretty boring toy; however I don’t think that it is necessary for younger children to have too much to contend with when it comes to toys, plus it’s not as though it’s a $20 toy car, for $5 or $2.50 each I think you get your money’s worth from these toys.

The Giggle ‘N Go Vehicle packs do turn in to something a little more interactive when you include the other Giggle ‘N Go playsets like the garage or the Rescue center. With the playsets children can create situations and circumstances with the cars they have as well as learn a little more about vehicles; for example the car gets gas and gets washed at the garage. I will say that of all of the reviews i’ve read on the Giggle ‘N Go playsets none of them come highly recommended; while the cars themselves are fun for younger children it seems that the garages etc come with an extremely high level of frustration because of things like the ramp on the garage being too narrow so the cars have to be pushed down it instead of rolling down it freely. Without a review of these products I cannot give my personal opinion of them; however, from parental reviews of these sets I cannot say that I would be jumping at a chance to pay $19.99 and up for them.

Over all the vehicles seem worth the money for younger children but I don’t believe that they would keep older children entertained for very long and while they may be worth $2.50 to keep a child busy in the back of the car on the way home from the store there are other toys and books for the same price that would offer an older child more entertainment value.

Milton Bradley’s Disney Princess Memory game is a remake of the classic Memory game of years ago. The game comes in a plastic wrapped cardboard box with seventy-two colorful cards printed with Disney Princess movie characters fitted in to a cardboard template. The cards easily pop out of the template and are ready for play. The box also comes with a plastic organizer to keep the matching cards in when they are not in use. Also inside the box is a sheet of instructions although the game itself is simple enough to play they may come in handy for any family who has not played any version of the Memory game before.

The aim of the Memory game is to obtain the most matched pairs of cards hereby becoming the winner. The cards are shuffled and then arranged face down (princess side down) on the floor or table. Each player takes a turn at turning over two cards in an attempt to find a matched pair, if a matched pair is not found the two cards are turned back over and the next player takes a turn. If a matched pair is found the player takes the cards out of play and holds them off to the side. Once one player has the majority of pairs in play they are declared the winner!

The Memory game is also available from Milton Bradley in the original Memory format, a Spiderman and Friends edition, a Dora the Explorer edition, a general Disney edition, a Pooh bear edition, a Backyardigans edition, and a Toy Story edition. Each edition of the game retails in stores such as ToysRUs for $9.99 each.

I have always been a huge fan of board games as a means for both education and as a means for bringing together families without the use of television and junk food. Memory has also been a favorite game of mine for as long as I can remember and one that I used to play as a child. The game was not only easy to open and “assemble” but within five minutes of opening the game it is ready for play which unfortunately is not the case with many games today. The brightly colored matching cards simply pop out of the cardboard template and are ready for use which is yet another great factor to this game. The game is easy to set up and easy to explain and does not come with rules that are difficult for younger children to understand making it a great starter game for young children.

Once the game is actually set up play time is long enough to engage children but usually not so long that they become bored with the game and frustrated with having to sit still and play for so long. While the play time is short the time is valuable learning time in which children are forced to focus and develop their recognition skills as well as their ability to remember images. While there may be a minimal amount of frustration as children struggle to remember where cards they had previously seen are located it should be frustration for most children that is easily directed and identified as frustration with not remembering and not frustration with the game itself. I find in times of frustration with this game it is helpful to remind children that this is “just a game and it’s supposed to be fun,” while this does not always diffuse frustration it does proovea helpful reminder for older children.

There are few things which I do not like about the game “Memory” but one of them is the inability to play it without a large space to spread out the cards, something which can not be helped because of the nature of the game itself. With fewer cards to play the game would not require as much room to play but it would also not proove to be as challenging. The second factor which I dislike about the Memory game is that it is not as durable as I would like. Games like Memory get very exciting when they are played which often results in quick actions which cause cards to be bent and damaged. I have yet to find a Memory game that has been able to stand up to more than a year of play and while I agree that board games should be refreshed once in a while I also believe that they should be durable enough to shelf and pull out again a year or so later for play without the pieces being in tatters.

All in all I believe that the Memory game is one of the best games any parent can purchase for their household, it encourages educational growth as well as family togetherness but it is not a game that is too challenging for the younger members of the family. The price of this game is another reason why I recommend it for families, it is not one of those $30 board games that take hours to get through the instructions, it retails for under $10 at any store and comes in a variety of designs that are sure to appeal to any child. Even with the “con’s” of the Memory game mentioned above I cannot say that this game is one I would turn down for family game night.

The FurReal Newborn Farm Friends Piglet is an interactive electronic toy and just one of many different types of animals that the FurReal toys produce. The toy itself comes in a cardboard three sided box so that the toy is touchable before purchase; however, it is not really “testable” because the toy is not switched on. The toy is secured to the box with numerous twist ties that are secured at the bottom with packing tape. Inside the box there is also a feeding bottle secured with twist ties, and an adoption certificate hidden in the bottom of the box (underneath the cardboard platform that the piglet is on).

The piglet requires three “AAA” batteries which do not come with the toy when ordered directly from Hasbro; however, the piglet I ordered from Target via Amazon did come with the three “AAA” batteries in it already. The piglet is one of the “newborn” FurReal line which also consists of a leopard, a lion, a white tiger, a lamb, a chimp, a panther, a Calico kitten, a grey and white kitten, a marmalade kitten, a white kitten, a brown/tan puppy, a dalmation, a grey poodle, a boston terrier, a white lion, a honey bear, a silver white kitten, a grey/white bunny, a white bunny, a beige bunny, a black and white bunny, a white bunny, a black and white kitten, a cream kitten, a king Charles Spaniel, a tan and white puppy (bulldog), and a white poodle. The other FurReal friends products (not newborns) include Squawkers McCaw the parrot, Butterscotch the pony, S’mores the pony, a beagle, a black and white pup, a chocolate lab, a dalmation, a pug, a schnauzer, a chimp, a lion, a white tiger, a Burmese kitten, a Calico kitten, a marmalade kitten, Luv Cub baby brown bear, Luv Cub baby polar bear, Luv Cub baby grey bear, Luv Cub baby red and brown bear, and the Luv Cub baby panda bear. These toys range in price from $12.99 for the newborn friends to $19.99 for the Friends to $29.99 for specific friends and $299.99 for the FurReal friends ponies.

The FurReal friends piglet moves and squeels/oinks in response to stimuli. There is an on/off switch inside a secret Velcro pouch on the piglets stomach (also where the batteries are hidden) which activates the piglet and a sensor on the piglet’s back which causes the piglet to respond. When touched the sensor on the piglet’s back causes the piglet to grunt, wiggle his nose and squeel and when held it causes the piglet to bow down and “oink”. When you stroke down the piglet’s back his tail also wiggles.

The FurReal Newborn Farm Friends piglet was high on my list of toys to review because the entire line of FurReal friends is rapidly growing and topping many Christmas lists this year. The interactivity of the FurReal friends also intrigued me since there are few toys with the claimed level of interactivity that FurReal friend’s did for the price they are sold for. I picked the piglet because out of all of the toys the piglet was the cutest one and other than that the other FurReal newborn figures in the same price range all seemed to do the same thing…which now that I have had a chance to review the toy, really isn’t that much.

The toy itself is recommended for ages four and up, and while I feel that the toy would prove entertaining enough for children of four to six I feel that it would not prove to be entertaining enough for children over the age of six (possibly seven). While the toys could be collected by children over the age of six, I really don’t feel that this line, at least the FurReal friends excluding the pony’s and Squawkers McCaw the parrot, would be much fun to a child over six. The reason I came to this conclusion was that although the toys are fun to play with for the first few minutes it soon becomes apparent that they do very little other than make a noise and bow down. The piglet, for example, does not respond to it’s bottle with suckeling it simply stands there unless the back sensor is touched and then it responds with a nose wiggle and a grunt; however, at no point does it’s mouth open to receive the bottle.

While the piglet is a cute toy and can serve as simply a “cute toy on a shelf” I found that the “interactivity” of the toy wasn’t as much as it was hyped to be. The piglet responded only to touch on it’s back sensor and there is nothing in particular that you can do to elicit certain actions from the piglet other than holding the sensor to make the piglet bow and touching it briefly to make it grunt, oink or wiggle it’s nose or tail. There isn’t a specific “do a to get b” “do c to get d” type of structure to the toy. The lack of response to any stimuli other than touch is also frustrating, the toy comes with a feeding bottle so I expected the piglet to actually respond to the bottle either by opening it’s mouth or suckeling, it did neither.

The FurReal Friend’s piglet is worth the money for a younger child in the recommended age range; however, I do not recommend it for older children in that age range unless they specifically want to collect “cute toys.” The FurReal friends initially reminded me of the Furby frenzy a number of years ago; however the fact that they do not mature in their responses and simply come with a pre-programmed set of actions that are minimal at best proved to be frustrating and while it may be enough to entertain a younger child, it will most certainly annoy an older child.

The Lego Terrain Crusher Tiny Turbos car kit comes in a re-usable plastic casing shaped like a tire with a large sticker wrapped around it. The packaging itself is enticing to any child, not just a Lego lover; however, be warned that the packaging and the actual product itself looks MUCH bigger in online stores than it actually is. The complete toy, including packaging is about the size of the average adult woman’s hand. The top of the tire shaped case just pops off after breaking the seal of the wrap around sticker and the Lego pieces are inside a plastic bag for “safe keeping.” The Lego set comes with a sheet of stickers, just enough pieces to construct the car itself (so make sure you don’t lose any pieces!) and a sheet of instructions.

The sheet of instructions is readable enough to create a car but as an adult woman it took me a couple of tries to get the car completed as per the instructions. Since the instructions show groups of pieces as steps instead of piece by piece instructions it is a little more difficult than one might think to contruct the actual car featured on the packaging; however, it is possible after a little extra frustration of extra pieces and starting over a couple of times. Once the car is completed as per instructions the sticker sheet provided gives your child the opportunity to decorated their very own Terrain Crusher to look just like the one on the packaging or to their own specifications.

Lego Tiny Turbos has a few models of vehicles available including the 8130 Terrain Crusher, the 8131 Raceway Rider, the 8132 Night Driver, the 8133 Rally Runner, the 8134 Night Crusher, the 8135 Bridge Chase, the 8147 Bullet Run, and the 8681 Tuner Garage. These are the Tiny Turbo vehicles and vehicle sets available but there are also other classifications of Lego vehicle sets available including the Power Racers and the Ferrari sets.

The Lego Terrain Crusher Tiny Turbos vehicle set was mildly dissapointing but not so much so that I wouldn’t recommend it to friends. The primary disappointment of the set was the size, although I realize that Lego are small building bricks, from the size of the set featured on KB Toys website I expected a much larger set. The actual set (the size of my hand) contains just enough bricks to complete the car on the packaging and no more which was also mildly disappointing but again not largely so.

After taking the pieces of lego from the packaging and arranging them so I could see which pieces were which I realized that the actual construction of the car featured on the packaging was not going to be as easy as I assumed it should be. I mean honestly, how hard can it be to contruct a car out of Lego? I pull out the instructions provided and realize that the instructions themselves consist of groups of pieces. For example the first step includes building the base of the car, it does not show exactly which pieces to use but you are left to guess which pieces look right and your confirmation only comes when the final result of your step one looks identical to the final result of the instructions step one. Although this is a slight inconvenience it is not hard enough to make the toy one that I would not recommend.

Lego have always been a huge favorite of mine when it comes to children’s toys, I had Lego growing up as did my younger brothers and as will my own children when the day comes. Lego are the perfect toy for any child because they encourage learning and socializing as well as imaginative play which is ALWAYS a plus with any toy. I not only love the educational and imaginative factors of Lego though, I love that it is a toy that you can build on. Lego is a toy that can be collected and built upon for years as well as passed down from generation to generation and they continue to still be compatible with each other even as the years pass.

As for the Terrain Crusher Lego set, while I don’t highly recommend it as a Lego playset you could do a lot worse for yourself as far as toy choices go. I have seen other Lego sets that I would be more apt to purchase by personal choice, such as the themed playsets or the movie inspired sets (think Star Wars,) but if your child has his or her heart set on the Tiny Turbos vehicle sets, for the price I wouldn’t fight it. The cost is justifiable for a durable toy which offers hours of entertainment and can also be broken down to individual pieces that are compatible with other Lego sets and collections.

The Transformers movie legends action figures come in a plastic shell packaging on a cardboard backing. The back of the packaging includes “transforming” instructions for the figure as well as statistics for each individual transformer with vitals such as “strength” and “skill” which enables different movie legends Transformers to be pitted against each other in play. The packaging is easy to open and the toy runs around $3.99. There are a variety of the movie legends figures available currently including: Jazz, Ratchet, Barricade, Blackout, Bumblebee, Megatron, and Starscream. All of these figures run at the same price; however, as they become harder to find in stores and online you will notice that certain stores (both reputable and not so reputable stores) will bump up the price on certain figures and not others. The original Habro website; however, always charges the same price for all of their figures but they do frequently run out of stock and seem to be running at a constant backlog.

The Movie Legends Transformers are one of the most readily available of the Transformers action figures as opposed to the Movie Deluxe figures which are not as easily found. The Movie Legends figures are also one of the cheapest Transformer toys on the market at a cost under $5 each, which aids children in completing a collection with their own pocket money or aids in parents who are seeking complete collections for their children. The actual figures are approximately as long as the average woman’s middle finger (excuse the reference, but it is easier to put things in perspective.) The figures are also extremely lightweight and plastic as opposed to various diecast Transformers figures on the market. Each figure available transforms from one vehicle to one Transformer robot figure.

The toy packaging was simple enough to open and the toy itself easy enough to extricate from the twist ties holding it inside the packaging but honestly that was the most fun part of the Movie Legends Transformer figure. The plastic figure not only feels cheap but it is so cheaply made that it literally fell apart in the first 4 minutes and 4 seconds of me “transforming” it. While the movie legends toys do offer a cheap alternative for parents who can’t afford the full blown Transformers figures for their kids this Christmas, I don’t recommend spending the $3.99 on them.

The toy fits the bill as far as looking like a Transformer, the colors are perfect and as long as your child doesn’t actually want to transform the figure you should be safe; however, once the transforming action starts you stand a pretty high chance of your Transformer of choice losing a limb or two. Pieces come off easily and while they can be replaced on to the figure the replacing of limbs is frustrating and a little harder than it was to accidentally remove the limb in the first place. Not only is the transformation factor a risky one when it comes to limb loss, but it is a frustrating one as well. Instead of a slide and lock system that completes smoothly the transformation process consists more of a cracking, snapping frustrating sequence of curse words and pinched fingers. The pieces fit together loosely and don’t stick in place creating a slumped mess of semi-Transformer.

I am sad to say that aside from the visual of the toy when it is untouched, the Transformers Movie Legends toy falls so far from my expectations of such a popular toy that it left me speechless. As a childhood fan of the old school Transformers action figures I had such high expectations for the newly released figures and while the newer released larger scaled action figures may meet or exceed those expectations these small scale Movie Legends figures do not. I could not recommend these figures to anyone other than a collector who will leave them in the boxes, as for your children? Move on and try another action figure with more to give and don’t waste your money on these.