Collectables - Part 2

Hunger Games has legions taking up Archery

Heroine Katniss sports a bow and arrow, and does plenty of damage with her accuracy in the UK release of the blockbuster Hunger Games today. Since opening in the US kids (of all ages) have been signing up for lessons at Archery clubs, that's far too faddy for us, just pick up the finest toy bow/arrow kit around in the shape of the fine Z-Curve launcher and have yourself some grin inducing fun. A couple of round-nosed projectiles that easily reach 80 feet and a sucker dart that'll pretty much latch on to any flat surface (foreheads not included), we ...

Helium shortage is no laughing matter

We are, according to the Guardian, running low on Helium and one scientist in particular is putting the blame squarely on the party balloon industry and, that'll now include our favourite flyers the Air Swimmers. Pressure on stocks aren't likely to let up anytime soon from our end, we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Bass and Whale version of these surreal R/C's - Air Swimmers are the only brand that'll not have you trying to cancel your credit card transaction. Here's an Angry Bird version too (pictured) selling only in the US righ now, looking forward to a video ...

ARCHOS steps in to Kids Tablet market

ARCHOS have shown their hand in the Tablet market for kids this morning wading in with this, the Child Pad. It joins the MEEP and Kurio although it could well steal a lead as it is launching at the end of March, the others have a TBC date and late September. In the looks department all seems perfectly acceptable, it 'll run on the 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software has 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM - And it'll be just £99. Kids friendly features include access to the Kids App Store powered by AppsLib which is filtered down to ...

Angry Birds getting Flash

Yup, the licensing wagon rolls out once more for the Angry Birds mob and this time we're treated to a quadruplet of the crew, red bird, yellow bird, king piggy and white bird as USB flash drives. They're each able to carry around 4GB of your precious data and we think hat wanting to fling them into a structure of Jenga bricks or LEGO will be overwhelming, so buy one (or more) and get on with it. £14.99 a piece from FIREBOX

Angry Birds evolution continues, moves outdoors…

When Mattel took on the board game last year it was met with shrieks of delight from bird lobbing fans, within just a couple of months version two was amongst us, we eagerly await the next installment. From iPod docks, PC speakers, noise producing plushes and a raft of other beak based accessories nothing new or very exciting to see here, it is with unbridled enthuisiasm that we bring you Angry Birds, The Outdoor Action game from Tactic. From May and for about £25 you get the main game, that's a playmat, blocks, pair of Angry Birds, a pig and ...

Jubilee must-have

Lets face it, until just now you'd never realised how much you wanted a solar powered waving minature figure of Her Maj, did you? Pick yours from either pink or blue or buy both - Head THIS way for your purchase and to pick up some interesting facts about this great lady, our favourite is that she has opened 15 bridges in the UK!

keeping one amused

We're unlikely to see the veritable amount of tat that surrounded the Royal wedding last year, we're hoping that celebratory and commemorative kit will all attempt to be as classy as this chess set (over optimistic perhaps). Each piece is handpainted, it truly is a glorious piece of kit that's certain to find favour with those who refer to parts of their abodes with terms such as East and West wing. It'll set you back almost £300 HERE for those interested parties.

Star Wars slot sets – At last

We've been treated to a fair few Scalextric licences over the years, James bond ones were pretty good, Toy Story didn;t float our slot-car racing boat, this pair of beauties has us grinning from ear to ear. Why we've had to wait for so long to get Star Wars and Scalexctric to tema up Darth only knows, and frankly we don;t give a Yoda because it's finally happening - Exactly when we're no sure. So, we have the Micro 1:64 scale Death Star Attack set with a Lord Vader Tie Fighter battling a Luke Skywalker X-Wing, the spaceships have working ...

Stone Age celebrated……

On January 18, 2012, In Boys Toys, Collectables, by peter jenkinson

One of the new Playmobil lines this year is that of Stone Age, and you know that their always going to deliver a cracking set, this lot though has exeeded even our lofty expectations. The Stoneage “Big Cave with Mammoth” set features the fantastic cave with a hiding place for the family of four in case the Mammoth should get a bit brave or the wolf decide to pay a visit. We’re really keen on this prehistoric stuff from Playmobil as it doesn’t realy on the tried and tested, and almost guaranteed success that the inclusion of dinosaurs would bring. Overall what excites us most is watching kids try to roleplay with these Stoneage sets, tere’s no real precedent for them to follow from TV, unless you’ve tried them on something very retro, and unbearable to watch from the 60′s. Check out the Playmobil range HERE

LEGO Superhero range sighted – Kapow

On January 12, 2012, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Family fun, Figures and Dolls, Film Fun, Get Involved, by peter jenkinson

You’ll be hearing and seeing plenty more about the LEGO(R) DC Universe Super Heroes range over the coming weeks as it hits the shelves, we’ve uncovered it on the virtual aisles on pre-order at Firebox and thought a heads-up was only fair so you could try and save some cash. Our favourite by far is the Batcave set, complete with Bane and his drilling machine trying to rescue Poison Ivy whilst Batman and Robin try and stop him – you decide who prevails. The set lets you transform Bruce into Batman as he travels down in the lift, it has a Batcycle included, the Drill Tank has flick missiles and there are a raft of other accessories to justoifyb the £70 price tag, but wait, what’s that, Holy Bargain Basement Batman, the range starts at about £10 with a Catwoman on a motorcycle….Can you resist her lure? We’re also keen to get our mitts on a Superman minifig, looks the business….

Tagged with: bane • batman • cow • drill • firebox • holy • ivy • lego • new • play • poison • robin • toys

Record all the action

On January 10, 2012, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Figures and Dolls, Get Involved, by peter jenkinson

Whether you are or are not fans of Mattels Hot Wheels range we would challenge you not to have a desire for this racer after we tell you a little. It has been around for a few weeks and we admit being slow off the mark getting our opinions online but, after seeing it on BBC Friday Download last week gave us the powerful nudge needed to offer our opinion. On-board, up at the front is a VGA camera, underneath a LCD diplay for playback and USB connection for PC, it’s able to hold onto 12 minutes of footage and has USB connection for easy PC transfer. The car can also be attached about your person or to a skatboard helmet to record non-track based action, so even though the £60 price tag appears a tad steep at first you are getting an action cam too. It was a shame on Fridays show as they managed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Video Racer, as it is longer than other cars in the range, struggles a bit on some track sets but no matter, we’re on the hunt for a definitive list of where it performs perfectly.

Star Wars slot sets – At last

On January 6, 2012, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Family fun, Featured, Figures and Dolls, by peter jenkinson

We’ve been treated to a fair few Scalextric licences over the years, James bond ones were pretty good, Toy Story didn;t float our slot-car racing boat, this pair of beauties has us grinning from ear to ear. Why we’ve had to wait for so long to get Star Wars and Scalexctric to tema up Darth only knows, and frankly we don;t give a Yoda because it’s finally happening – Exactly when we’re no sure. So, we have the Micro 1:64 scale Death Star Attack set with a Lord Vader Tie Fighter battling a Luke Skywalker X-Wing, the spaceships have working lights and the track has a glow-in-the-dark print for late night missions. Then, well this is the one that’ll have pre-order buttons ablaze when we find out when/where/how much, the 1:32 scale Battle of Endor, a 4.3 metre track with woodland features and accessories and Luke Skywalker and Scout Trooper aboard a pair of Speed Bike There is also the promise of more sets and solo vehicles to add to your Star Wars track, Like this all very much we do.

Airfix unveil kits for 2012

On January 6, 2012, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Family fun, Get Involved, by peter jenkinson

Our memories of Airfix are of getting our fingers stuck together and using as much paint on ourselves as on the models, the most enduring recollection however was the utter satisfaction of placing our completed creation in its pride of place. This year Airfix are releasing over 60 new models, we struggled to select a favourite but decided the Cutty Sark tall ship would be our re-introduction to model construction. Check out the line up HERE

Steve Jobs immortalised in Vinyl

On January 5, 2012, In Adults in mind, Collectables, by peter jenkinson

Fans of Apple won’t be able to resist this rather creepy looking 12 inch doll of the founder and icon that is Steve Jobs. For $109.99 you’ll get the figure, two pairs of glasses, three pairs of hands, set of clothes, a chair, a pair of apples (one bitten) and a “ONE MORE THING” hard backdrop. We can’t imagine that the Jobs estate or even Apple will allow this to continue so order yours sharpish, they’re almost certain to sell out soon and have a premium right away.

Head count underway at London Zoo….

On January 4, 2012, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Current Affairs, Edutainment, by peter jenkinson

The annual stocktake is underway at London Zoo today, we’d not mind being in charge of elephants/giraffes or sloths – easy enough but what about those poor folk who have to do the reptile house? Anyroad, here’s a mini display of Zoo life that’d make a great toy for the kids or even a boardroom homage to all of Noahs friends….If we hear of an undercount in the lion/tiger enclosure we’ll let you know.

Tagged with: animals • london • news • play • toys • zoo

Cherry picker is a sweet build

On December 21, 2011, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Edutainment, Featured, Figures and Dolls, Get Involved, Girls Allowed, Pit Stop, Reviews, by peter jenkinson

It took us a while getting around to building our LEGO Technic Bucket Truck, that’s cherry picker to most of us or elevated platform to those perhaps allergic to cherries or very posh indeed. It’s the machine used to rig up local Christmas lights or fix street lights, very clever vehicles they are too. Just like its real life ride this Bucket Truck has a set of gears to raise and rotate the platform on the back, two more gears let you deploy the outriggers at the side of the vehicle to keep it stable when the platform is fully extended; and a large gear knob on the rear even lets you steer it. With all of these functions in mind, and of course the nifty looking design, this rig is as much fun to build as it is to assemble and so we pay homage with our 10^th, and final Toyology Gold of the year. Around £40 at John Lewis

LEGO lines up new girls range

On December 19, 2011, In Collectables, Figures and Dolls, Girls Allowed, by peter jenkinson

TV adverts start running this Boxing Day for the new LEGO line up aimed at girls 5-8 and represents the first solely focused girls line for the company in a decade. The LEGO Friends range, which includes five mini-figure dolls will star in a mini-movie in the New Year, to coincide with a second wave of Lego Friends. Living in a newly created environment called Heartlake City’ there’ll by accessories, brightly coloured building bricks and animals to role play in this new place and sets such as a tree house, beauty salon and veterinary clinic are coming soon. Plenty planned for the range, they’ve even added six brand new brick colours to make Heartlake City a bit different from anywhere else in LEGO land to date.

Tagged with: girls • lego • toy

Secret Agent stocking filler

On December 14, 2011, In Adults in mind, Boys Toys, Collectables, Deal of the Day, by peter jenkinson

If it were his real name it’d be quiet funny so lets stick witg it for now, Secret Agent Stocking Filler – Limbs, satsumas or small gifts, he can find them all. Right, this is actually GRIP from Playmobil’s Secret Agent range of fabulous playthings, we chose this one as the office walls are littered with this little man and we have strung our Xmas lights between them, to dramatic effect. We shall be deploying them next Yule with string between them to hold our Xmas cards, for the rest of the year we think they shall stay deep undercover. Only £2.99 a pop, grab one, a few…many

Previous Entries Next Entries

Hunger Games has legions taking up Archery

Helium shortage is no laughing matter

ARCHOS steps in to Kids Tablet market

Angry Birds getting Flash

Angry Birds evolution continues, moves outdoors…

Jubilee must-have

keeping one amused

Star Wars slot sets – At last

Stone Age celebrated……

LEGO Superhero range sighted – Kapow

Record all the action

Star Wars slot sets – At last

Airfix unveil kits for 2012

Steve Jobs immortalised in Vinyl

Head count underway at London Zoo….

Cherry picker is a sweet build

LEGO lines up new girls range

Secret Agent stocking filler

Toughest reviews from the

Newsletter

Newsletter Plugin by Bulk Email Software

Cats Vs Dogs

Follow us on twitter

Categories

Looking for something?

Visit our friends!

Archives

Newsletter subscription status

Hunger Games has legions taking up Archery

Helium shortage is no laughing matter

ARCHOS steps in to Kids Tablet market

Angry Birds getting Flash

Angry Birds evolution continues, moves outdoors…

Jubilee must-have

keeping one amused

Star Wars slot sets – At last

Toughest reviews from the

Newsletter agreement

Newsletter Plugin by Bulk Email Software

Looking for something?

Visit our friends!

Archives