Toyology

Moshi Monsters come alive

We were invited by Mr Moshi himself last week to a preview of Moshi Monster products we’ll be seeing over the coming months and we reckon there going to be as big a hit as the online community itself. That will be a pretty tall order we know, they’ve currently over 27mn members with one new sign up every second, yes every second. So, tapping into the real world makes perfect sense of course and, teaming up with Vivid they’ve a rather decent range of plush dolls and little Moshling figures (pets of monsters) all of which will come with a code to tap into your account and get a surprise for your monsters room. They’ve plans for a Moshi gift box, Moshi trading cards, Moshi Top Trumps, stickers, Moshi Bandz, a magazine and a Moshi iPhone app called “Mouth Off” – It’s not just for kids either, pop along and sign yourself a monster, it’s a great place to interact with family and friends whatever your age.

Tagged with:
 

Hannah and her Baby Alive bouncing babbles

First impressions
8/10

The doll Looked really good in her cot, but then I realised the cot was only cardboard.

Easy to open
9/10

She was easy to get out of the box because she was only held in with ties that I could undo them myself.

Time to get ready to play

8/10

I could play with her straight away, but daddy had to use a screw driver to put in new batteries, so that took a little while..

Easy to understand

10/10

The doll is really easy to make her work, I just squeezed her hand and she bounces and makes baby noises..

Play Time first time

7/10

She was really fun to start with, but she only does a couple of things, so after a little while I got a bit bored..

Overall impression

7/10

She looked really good, but I think the packaging needs to be stronger so that I could play with the doll in a cot. Daddy said that the battery cover is a bit difficult to get to because the clothes are tight. She is easy to get bored with because she doesn’t do much..

Value for money

6/10

Mummy said that it’s not worth the amount of money as it’s easy to lose interest.

 

Psychiatric illness suffering plush anyone?

From the Paraplush company of Hamburg comes this new range of plush characters, each one has an illness, from bipolar disorder to acute depression and come with their own medical history, a referral letter and a treatment plan. The creator Martin Kittsteiner told us “Children and grown ups like their vulnerability and find something in them that gives them a great sense of comfort in helping to heal them.” Other patients in the range include Dub the turtle with severe depression, Sly the snake who suffers from terrifying hallucinations, Dolly the sheep with a personality disorder and a crocodile which has an irrational terror of water. Martin added “I think some adults see it as a form of therapy for themselves.” – £25 each…opinions please

 

Do the Boggle


Boggle Flash that is of course, the electronic word game we’ve been waiting on for months since first heard the word it was on the way. This ultra portable play item does away with the stalwarts of other word based play such as dice/tiles/timers and boards relying on clever electronic innards. Each tile features an LCD display which displays a random letter and you must put the tiles in order and spell as many words as you can. Forget about petty word based arguments, the internal recognition software combined with the dictionary does away with all of that, if Boggle says no, then it’s NO. Yours for £24.99 at FIREBOX

Tagged with:
 

Mio and Luca test the Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver

Untitled from peter jenkinson on Vimeo.

First impressions

Mio 9

Luca 9.5

It loooked pretty good in the pack

Easy to open

Mio 5

Luca 4

Really hard to open up and get it out, why is packed away like this, does it have to travel through space to get here?
Time to get ready to play

Mio 1

Luca 0.5

Batteries were really hard to insert – Dad had to get a screwdriver, we were getting a bit fed up by now

Easy to understand

Mio 10

Luca 10

Play Time first time

Mio 10

Luca 7

Looked really good, playing with it was alright

Overall impression

Mio 5

Luca 3.5

Worst toy so far as not very good, a bit boring, well very boring after a while. We’re not that into Dr Who though and suppose if you were into that and role playing and pretending your dad was a Dalek and all that it’d be more fun.

 

Breaking the Rules

The latest incarnation of the wordsmiths favourite tile based board game retains the basics of the origina, that is to combine letters on your rack and score points by connecting them to words already on the board with some double/triple word/letter scoring action along the way. This new version lets you play across a Trick square and take the opportunity to break a rule. There was an outcry earlier this year as Scrabble purists throught the original game was about to let in proper names and allow Lady Gaga or Barack Obama on the board but these new bendages to the rules only apply to this new version, out now, for about £15. Log onto www.tricksterscrabble.co.uk and create your own fantastic Trick for the next version of Scrabble Trickster and you could see your rule immortalised and bag a £1000 in the process.

Tagged with:
 

Evie and her Crayola Magic Light Brush

First impressions

9/10

I love painting and making a mess so this looked brilliant
Easy to open

10/10

Have to say dad did it for me, so it was really easy to watch him
Time to get ready to play

9/10

Open the pots set up the paper and your away
Easy to understand

10/10

Nothing to it, just got on with colouring in right away

Play Time first time

9/10

It is a great set and works really well, I made lots of pictures one afternoon because it was raining but I didn’t mind, it was fun.
Overall impression -

I don’t know where I’m going to get the refills now for the paint as I’ve been using it quite a bit. The brush is fine but you can’t make any detail on pictures, it is more for bigger fatterlines and splodges which I don’t mind really.

Value for money

8/10

I have used it quite a bit and mum says it isn’t a bad price for a present.

 

Eloiuse and Princess Rapunzel

First impressions

7/10

Really liked the bright box, and small animals looked cute too.

Easy to open

6/10

Tricky to undo all the ties with the mini toys held in.

Time to get ready to play

7/10

Easy to understand

7/10

Instructions were easy to read and to do, however the hair can get tangled very quickly and I could see this getting matted very quickly and then not plaiting well after a few times.

Play  time first time

6/10

I played with her for about 30 mins and then got bored, it waseasier to plait the dolls hair myself rather than use the machine and the doll can only stand up if it is held up in the clip.

Overall impression

6/10

Would suit girls from 4 to 6 yrs more than an 8 year old. I thought it would do more like her hair might change colour with cold water and stuff like that.

Other comments

I think the main thing is it would suit girls that cant plait hair already, maybe under 6yrs? Definitely one for younger girls.

 

Clayzee is Coming

An exciting new range of modelling compounds is about to enter the UK scene, it’s a strange new range because it’s one of the first in recent history not available in a dazzling array of colour hues, yet it is all the better for it. In the Clayzee kit range you’ll find Wood Works, Memories in Stone, Pottery Pals, Fossils Rock and Cork Board kits, each one aimed at kids to create their own artefacts that mimic the real thing, not just to look at but in weight and texture. Each kit has all the necessary to create one complete model and when you’re done sculpting just air dries ready for you to try and fool others into thinking you’ve made an important discovery on a recent dig. They’re going to be around £10 per pack from early next year, so, pack those cash donations from Santa insode Mr Piggy and be amongst the first to grab Clayzee.

Tagged with:
 

Jamie and Zingzilla cuddy toys

First impressions

7/10

I don’t watch this program but I did recognise the toys and was excited.

Easy to open

7/10

A couple of fiddly ties but nothing too difficult, we opened them pretty quickly

Time to get ready to play

9/10

Ready to play with straight away!

Easy to understand

10/10
Very easy to play with, these talk when you press their tummies and I got on with it all by myself.

Play time first time

7/10

I had fun with them

Overall impression

They’re a really nice size to take out and about but I did get a bit bored of them, not quite as much fun as my other toys on test over the past few weeks. They would probably be better for a big fan of the show.

Value for money

6/10

Mum thought they were a bit expensive for what they were, but for someone who loves the programme they would make a great present.

 

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...

    © 2011 Toyology
    Uses wordpress plugins developed by www.wpdevelop.com