Name:Beyblade Metal Fusion Super Vortex Battle Set

Manufacturer: Haboro

Price: Varies ($6.99-29.99

Length of Ownership: 9 months

Rating: 3 stars

Toy Review: What can be said about Beyblades other than: KIDS FREAKING LOVE THESE THINGS! We all have our vices, and for Ty, his is Beyblades. It’s as if Pokemon have come back reincarnated or something because Ty truly thinks that he has to catch em all. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into the review shall we?

I personally think Beyblades are pretty cool (I actually own one), the thing that stands out the most to me is the fact that they pack a ton of action into such a small product and still find a way to keep the toy pretty inexpensive ($7-10). A standard Beyblade pack comes with a Beyblade top which consists of 5 interchangeable pieces, a launcher, a ripcord, and an assembly tool. In addition, each Beyblade comes with a series of stickers that help customize the toy. For the most part, these stickers are completely useless as they are too small to actually be effectively placed on the toy, but hey “A for effort” right?

So now that you know what a Beyblade is, you may be wondering what in the world are you supposed to do with them. Well that’s simple, they battle each other. Each person assembles their Beyblade, places it on its launcher and then LET IT RIP (Beyblade speak). The tops basically spin around and “attack” each other until one top stops spinning. The last Beyblade spinning is declared the winner, easy as that. This is basically taking the old spinning top routine from our childhood and revamping it for our children’s enjoyment. Beyblades try to spice things up a bit by adding battle strengths (attack, defense, etc) to each top, and claiming that by mixing and matching the various components that construct the Beyblade, the user can create a top for every type of battle. I’ve found this to be a complete exaggeration and it’s part of the reason that these toys don’t score as high as others we’ve reviewed.

Ty tries his hardest to develop the best combination of attack, stamina, and defense to become the best Beyblader in the world, but at the end of the day, it merely comes down to how hard you pull your ripcord. The harder you pull the more spin you get, end of story. So there is no magical formula to being the best, in my opinion, there’s no need to even try and collect them all. Because although each piece is listed as having strengths and weaknesses, they all pretty much function the same.

With that being said, Ty seems to believe there is merit to all of the different Beyblades and he does truly enjoy them. The switching of components allows for a deeper level of involvement than we had as kids. Even if it is superficial at best, it does add complexity to the toys which is welcomed in this day and age.

This toy is Ty tested and Daddy Tolerated! It’s worth taking a look at.

 Name: My First Magic Set with DVD Instructions

Manufacturer: Cadaco

Price: $15.99

Length of Ownership: 3 months

Rating: 5 stars

Toy Review: I honestly must say that this is one of the best magic sets available for a young child.  It has a plethora of different tricks, many of which can be mixed and matched to add additional flare.  All of the tricks are easy to perform and simple to understand, which is excellent for those kindergarten magicians.  The tricks range from the usual “make something disappear” to magically changing the color of different items.  There are a total of 10 tricks to learn, but as I said, most items are interchangeable, which adds a bit of shelf life extension to the experience. Everything is housed in a corrugate carrying case which makes taking your magic show on the road a breeze. In addition to all of the props and written instructions there is also a DVD that comes with this set.  The DVD does an excellent job of showing how the trick is performed, and then going back and explaining step by step how to pull it off.  My son has been able to watch that DVD and perform a few tricks on his own without any parental assistance.  This is a big boost because it really makes him feel like a true magician who never has to reveal his secrets.  I would definitely recommend this magic set to any parent that has a child who has shown the slightest bit of interest in magic.

Name: LeapFrog TAG Reading System – Green

Manufacturer: Leapfrog

Price: $39.99

Length of Ownership: 2 months

Rating: 2.5 stars

Toy Review:  We all want our kids to grow up and be excellent readers right?  Well the Leapfrog TAG Reading system is another tool that will help your child along the path to reading glory.  But is the TAG Reading System all it’s cracked up to be, or is it another gimmick that feeds on parents’ yearning for increasing their child’s potential to learn? Let’s take a look at the meat and potatoes of this “toy” (and I use that loosely) and attempt to answer that question.

If you are not familiar with the TAG Reading System, here’s a brief overview.  It is a system that has specialized books, which allows you to take a “reader pen” and perform specific tasks.  Those tasks include reading the entire book, pronouncing specific words, and playing mini-games related to the story.  Sounds pretty action packed doesn’t it?

Let me start by saying the TAG Reading System does its job and it does it fairly well.  The reader pen is extremely responsive and can detect each word without a hitch. It is simple to use, pretty much point and press on the page in the appropriate area and you will hear the associated word, phrase, or description that you have selected.  Ty had no issues with utilization of the reading system at all.

Previously, I mentioned using the word “toy” loosely; let me touch on that a bit.  Most of the books for the TAG Reading System include several different games, meant to break up the monotony of reading.  The games are easy to play and we’ve found that they don’t offer up much excitement for a kindergartner.  There is also a rewards system, it unlocks different rewards based on your child’s progress, and you can connect your reader pen to the computer to view these rewards.  I’ve found that this feature has added very little to the experience.  Ty has never said “time to play TAG, so I can earn more rewards”.

In terms of an educational tool, I have to say that I am not very impressed.  For a kindergartener, this is not something that you can just let your child venture off on their own to explore.  They’ll need guidance to learn how to properly use the reading system; otherwise, they will just click on each word, without attempting to read them first.  That isn’t teaching them much is it?  The fact that the system can read the entire book to them, kind of felt like this is a parent replacement.  If the TAG system can read the book to my child, what do they need me for?  I personally enjoy reading time with my children and feel as though this system could potentially infringe on that quality time.  To be fair, as parents, we cannot devote all of our time to reading with our children, so this is a good replacement to help them along the way when we are not available.

The TAG Reading System does exactly what it says it will do; it assists with reading skills, reads to your child, and provides an entertainment factor.  The question is, are all of these things which can easily be provided by the parent value added?  Based on the cost of the books,  my answer would have to be no.

Name: Fast Lane Wild Fire Monster Truck

Manufacturer: Fast Lane

Price: $89.99

Length of Ownership: 2 weeks

Rating: 4 stars

Toy Review: This remote controlled monster truck is pretty awesome. I’m just gonna come out and say it, I love (almost) everything about it. Ty loves (almost) everything about it. Before I get to the almost, let me tell you all the great things about this truck, once I finish, that “almost” really won’t matter.

To start off, this thing is huge, I mean it’s really big, it gets one star based on its size alone.  It truly dwarfs most RC cars/trucks that I’ve come across.  Not only is it large, but it is really fast. For a truck of this size, the speed that it can reach is pretty phenomenal.  Another good thing is that with such great size and speed, durability is a must have and the Wild Fire surely has it.  We have taken this thing down a couple of stairs, run it into walls, demolished other toys with it and it still runs like new.  I was a little worried about how this truck would handle, but right out of the box Ty was able to maneuver it like a pro, its gets pretty good distance as well.  To add on to the standard remote control features, it also comes equip with real life monster truck sounds that simulate firing up the engine and several other monster truck sound effects.

So where is that “almost” you told us about, you may be wondering.  The only thing that I could find wrong with this toy is the horrific battery life.  When I say horrific, I truly mean it.  After about 15 mins of playtime (10 mins with sound on), the truck starts to get lethargic, a few minutes later and it will barely move.  The bright side to this is that the truck does come with its own battery pack and its the same one used by most other RC cars.  So you can easily swap them out if you have an extra one laying around the house, if not, I’d recommend spending an extra $10 to pick up a second battery pack.

Name: Hot Wheels Color Shifters Custom Color Shop