Toys On The Brain

Posts Tagged ‘Hasbro’

Now here’s a classic toy. Everyone’s gotta have a Sit n Spin, right?

It’s too bad I couldn’t enjoy this toy much when I was a child; turning around and around on the flat wheel made my stomach well, turn around and around. But my little boy has thoroughly enjoyed this toy’s features since he could barely stand. And there’s nothing like a toy that lasts through several developmental stages.

He loves hitting the handle to play the music that goes through a round of tunes and stops, only to be started again when touched. As he got older, he learned how to spin properly: holding on to the handle while pulling himself in a circle with his lower body.

Then one day last fall, he laid down on his stomach and spun himself around - legs stretched and toes pointed - while pushing off the floor with his hand for speed. His daddy and I are certain it could be a new Olympic event.

The Playskool Sit n Spin was used when we got it, and it hardly has a scratch. It’s durable, lightweight, and I’ve yet to change the batteries after owning this toy for over two years.

Spin on baby, spin on.

• Sit N Spin at the Hasbro Website

Buy Sit N Spin Online:

• at Amazon.com

Today I took the two youngest Small People and ventured to KB Toys. We still had a $25 gift certificate to use from the stricken company and wanted to spend it before the store gave up for good. A series of irritating events had prevented us from using it while the store still had anything worth buying, so we had to scrounge amid the piles of garbage on the shelves to find anything even remotely worth purchasing.

When I say garbage, I’m being serious - most of the goods had been opened and strewn about the store. Small Person #2 saw four Rhino Rampage boxes, but not a single one actually contained the game. Of course, we wouldn’t have purchased it even if we found one intact; you can get it on Amazon for $10 at the moment, while it still would have been $13 at KB! Again, big shock they’re going out of business. So, what did we end up with? Lots of little crappy things, but the best find was the game Don’t Break the Ice. We got it for $4, and even though it had been opened it still contained all of the pieces, so I considered it a small victory.

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After the debacle I had with buying the Lost Temple of Akator Playset from Amazon, I finally found it for a slightly discounted price from Target. As you can imagine, I ordered it right away and it was delivered well in time for Christmas. Was it worth all the trouble? I’m going to go with yes on this one.

The play set is actually fairly large and contains a number of “traps” for Indy and the temple guard figure to fall into. Among these are boulders that can be launched out of the top, a breakaway door, and a sand pit. By far the most entertaining feature was the boulder launch. Small Person #2 quickly figured out that he could make Indy straddle the flipper that made the boulders fly out and cause Indy to fly across the room. Of course, having toys hitting the ceiling (and the ceiling fan, windows, Christmas tree, etc.), isn’t exactly ideal from a safety standpoint, but it’s great fun for the kids. By the second day, Small Person #2 had even figured out how to lean the play set over and aim the launcher so the toys flew where he pointed. Good stuff.

The other features are also fun, though the breakaway door doesn’t stay put very well and I imagine we’ll be losing those pieces rather quickly. Making Indy slide down the side into the sandpit is also a favorite activity. A few Star Wars characters even seem to have made the trip to Indy’s time, so all in all it seems to have been a popular purchase. I guess it was worth all the trouble after all!

Buy Indiana Jones Lost Temple of Akator Play Set Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Target

When I reviewed the Lite Brite Cube, I mentioned all the things that I didn’t like: no batteries, no place to really store the pegs, and shoddy construction, to name a few. Oh, sure, the boys still liked it, but it was a pain in the butt for the rest of humanity. So, it seems that someone out there was listening, as now we have the Lite Brite Flat Screen, which seemingly remedies all of these issues.

For the record, it’s entirely possible that this version has been out for a very long time. However, we just received it for Small Person #1’s birthday, so this is the first chance I’ve had to try it out.

The first difference with the flat screen version is that it runs off batteries - three D batteries, to be precise. This is great for travel or using someplace where you don’t have access to an outlet. Finally, Junior isn’t tethered to the wall! Of course, you’ll want to invest in some rechargeable batteries, or get a lot of regular batteries to keep up with its power needs if your child really likes it.

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This is what you’re thinking right about now: “Oh my god. Another Galactic Heroes thing? What is her illness with these toys?!” And yes, you’re right, I do have a thing about Galactic Heroes. But, they’re really really good! No, really! They’re perfect for small hands, they’re durable, and best of all, the kids love them!

Of course, there are things I don’t like about Galactic Heroes. One is that I hate them trying to get us to keep the packaging sitting around, and the other (which I have really and truly begun to despise) is how they “retire” sets after a short period of time, thereby artificially inflating the price for those of us who have kids who are a bit behind the times. We now can’t get a lot of the sets the kids would really enjoy because, let’s face it, $100 for a toy that a 4-year old is going to toss around the room is a bit ridiculous. Now, I would understand if these were high-quality, solid gold collector’s items, but they’re not. They’re made for ages 3 and up, and there’s just no reason to stifle production and artificially make them collector’s items. So piffle to Hasbro for that!

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One of the best toys for older infants I’ve found is this wonderfully simple, yet thrillingly exciting (for 9 month olds - you’ll be ready to scratch your eyes out well before they tire of it) pop up toy. It consists of five different little animals that can pop up when their switch is activated. The different switches encourage fine-motor skills by encouraging baby to twist, push, slide and otherwise manipulate.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand these days, it’s the over-proliferation of loud, annoying electronic toys for kids and infants. The wonderful, beautiful thing about this toy is that it doesn’t scream music, make animal sounds, or light up. Baby isn’t being entertained, she’s entertaining herself. Note that there are different versions of this toy that do require batteries and do all of the previously mentioned annoying things - avoid them. Find this one (it also comes in white) and watch your baby learn to have fun without electricity.

Buy Busy Poppin Pals Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Toys R Us

What could be better for a 3 year old than being given permission, even encouraged to whack away at a toy while simultaneously competing on an equal footing with all-to-often smug older siblings? It turns out, very little.

Hungry Hungry Hippos is a classic children’s game that you may remember from your youth. In our day, the marbles were probably denser (now they’re very lightweight plastic) and the hippos were probably a little more substantial (of course, they probably also had lead in them in some way), but it’s still a good toy. Perfect for little ones who are old enough not to stick everything in their mouths, it’s a family game that doesn’t involve reading but which is great for teaching everyday mathematical concepts.

Basically, each player (up to 4) releases one marble from their chute (this may involve a little re-instruction once your little person figures out how to launch the marbles across the room) into the middle of the playing field. Then all players whack on their hippos’ tails, causing the heads to dart forward and compete for the marble. Whoever gets the most marbles in the end wins. Or, you can start out with all marbles on the board and see who gets the most from the entire group at once. Once you’re done whacking, it’s time to sneak in some mathematical lessons - who had the most? How many did you have? How many more would you need to have as many as your brother? Before you know it, they’ll be doing algebra!

The only issue we’ve had with the game so far has been finding a few of the marbles stuck on the undersides of the hippos. A small screwdriver and a little lever action rectified the situation pretty quickly, but it’s something to watch out for. Also, this is definitely one of those parental supervision games - if you’re not careful, you’ll be finding little white marbles all over your house, especially in the middle of the night when you’re walking down the hallway to go to the bathroom.

The recommended age is 4 and up, but as long as you feel confident your little person isn’t going to try and taste the marbles, it probably won’t be a problem if you start a little younger. Small Person #2 is only 3 and loves the game. Oh, and it comes in a nice, sturdy box you can store the game in… if you want to disassemble the whole thing every time. If you actually have a life and don’t feel like doing that, the box has absolutely no point. Get a Ziploc for the marbles and you’re good to go.

Buy Hungry Hungry Hippos Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at WalMart
• at eToys
• at KB Toys

Imagine you’re a 3-year old kid. Now imagine tearing off the wrapping paper from a present to reveal inside… a potato. A potato? A potato?! What the hell? Are they just messing with you? Who wants to play with a freaking potato??

Well, luckily, you’ll soon figure out that what you’ve received is, in fact, an absolutely fun, wonderfully simple toy that will bring plenty of entertainment to your world (assuming you manage to keep track of all the pieces, of course).

Originally a set of plastic pieces that could be used to decorate real vegetables (now that sounds like fun), Mr. Potato Head got his plastic body in 1964 and continued to evolve into the form we know him today.

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As I mentioned in my review of the Galactic Heroes Assault on the Death Star, I freakin’ love the Galactic Heroes line of toys from Hasbro. They’re a perfect option for younger kids, with few small parts, sturdy construction, and enough extras to keep kids happy. The Starfighter is no exception.

The Starfighter comes with a young Obi-Wan Kenobi figure, an R4-P17 figure, a proton bomb, and the ship itself. The kids, who are obsessed by the older trilogy, keep calling the R4 figure R2-D2 (even though they have at least two R2s), but whatever makes them happy, right? The proton bomb fits into a little compartment on the bottom of the ship that’s opened by pressing on the built-in robot. Thankfully, unlike toys that launch missiles, there’s no chance of eye damage here - gravity is the only force operating on the bomb, as it drops out of the bay when the toy is held aloft and the robot-button is pressed.

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As a kid, I never had any of those kits which allowed you to create weird stuff like bugs or delicious gummy goodness (can you tell I’m still bitter about not having the gummy creator?), and I never even had friends who had them. However, Small Person #1 has been seeing the sets in toy catalogs for quite a while, and when we needed to find something for his sister to “give” him when she was born, I found this in Target. It seemed ideal, since it doesn’t require heat and the ages were 5+ - close enough for a 4 year old to do with supervision. Turns out, Baby Sister made a very good choice.

The set consists of an alien spaceship that neatly holds all of the supplies, three cans of some playdough-like stuff that’s used to make the molds, a roller for the playdough, a dull plastic knife, plastic tweezers, three squeeze bottles of the goo that makes the aliens, and fourteen half-molds that can be mixed and matched. You fill the center of the spaceship with the playdough, pick the two pieces you want to use together and stick them to the roof, close it to make the impression in the dough, then fill the dough with the goo, cover with another piece of dough, and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes. The earlier you take it out the gooier it can be - you can even dissect your aliens and watch their gooey insides go all over if you’re so inclined. We prefer to let them dry completely.

Once dry, the aliens are very slightly slimy, and must be kept in an airtight container when not in use; otherwise, they dry out and shrivel up (we’ve found that a small Ziploc bag works quite nicely to store them in). Still, even if that accidentally happens, you get plenty of goo to make lots of aliens, so it isn’t a disaster. Refill packs are also available.

Due to ease of use, quality construction, encouraging creativity, and how much enjoyment the 4 year old has gotten out of this, I have to award Hasbro’s Martian Matter Alien Maker the highest accolades I can give. Bonus points because Small Person #1 has finally stopped asking for all the other sets he sees in the catalogs. The only thing that would make this set better would be if he could do it completely on his own; while he isn’t capable yet, I know he will be soon.

In the words of Small Person #1: “I love it!”

• Hasbro’s Martian Matter Website

Buy Martian Matter Alien Maker Online:

• at Amazon.com