Category: Toys
CES 2010: Final Thoughts
The Consumer Electronics show, the behemoth of tech, the Valhalla of gadgetry, has come and gone for yet another year. But this time, rather than arriving with a bang, it slinked into sight with something more like a whimper. CES…
Video of the Day: Christmas Lights Guitar Hero hack
Remember that scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where all of Chevy Chase's festive struggles come good when his ridiculous fairy light system shines brighter than the sun? Well some bright spark has gone one better. Or should that…
Gro delivers the most stunning table football ever
A mix of chrome metals (there's a whiff of luxury bath taps) and atmospheric lighting, it really does look stunning.
The robot vacuum cleaner on a serious budget – the Brush Robot
The Brush Robot is essentially a kids toy, but don't let that put you off. You spend a few minutes building it and voila your very own robot cleaner and all for just £9.95.
SHINY PREVIEW: Rubik's Touch Cube
Rubiks puzzles. I hate them. Never could solve one. Never had the patience to. However, I do appreciate the genius of their design, well, I did. Until I met the Rubik’s Touch Cube.
The trouble is that it’s exactly the same mental proposition as the original Rubik’s Cube only with a completely rubbish interface in the way. From my, admittedly limited, time with the one in the vid, I found the touch effect pretty terrible and, given that they’re charging £139.99 for each one when they’re launched, I’d chalk it up as “one for the enthusiast”.
Lightsaber umbrella – turning Jedis into Stormtroopers
The answer you’re looking for is no. No, you can never have enough Star Wars themed merchandise – certainly not in rainy old England where not even a Jedi mind trick can prevent a downpour.
Instead, equip yourself with the £19.99 lightsaber umbrella. It’s got three internal LEDs, which light up the shaft when you hit the button, but, sadly, you’ll have to make all the sound effects yourself – probably quite fun when you’re cutting through all the pedestrain traffic.
Three AAA batteries are not included, which is a shame because that’s what it require to work, and the whole thing is 84cm long. Suitable for those 12 and over apparently.
You know, I don’t think I can use the word “shaft” with a straight face any more. How did you fair reading it?
Genuine nightvision goggles and other HM Forces toys
If you don’t want a pair of £99 nightvision goggles, you’re either Swiss or dead. These are part of the British HM Forces foray into the world of “toys” except these bad boys actually give you genuine, green, infra red-assisted night vision at up to 15m.
You only get monocular vision, as you do with the fully-fledged squaddie units, but, of course, in the land blind, the one eyed man is the guy that’ll sneak up, steal your mobile and give you a wedgie for good measure. If you don’t plan on sending your children out into the forest at night to gather wood, then you’ll be pleased to see HM Forces has also released a selection of 10 scale model toys too, as well as a few bits of dress-up costume.
There’s action figures of servicemen from the RAF, Navy and Army and each one is a perfect replica of just how they big guys should look. My personal favourite is the Royal Navy Diver complete with tank and flippers.
The collection has come as a response from the services as a frustration at how inaccurate other military action figures have been. No word as to the level of realism once down to the action pants. Come on, you were all thinking it. Weren’t you? Oh.
Scalextric enters the world of social media
Scalextric phoned me earlier. If you were a child of a certain part of the late 80s and early 90s, then you’ll immediately be envious. In actual fact, though, all that happened was that my inner eight-year-old immediately took the fore and started babbling excitedly. It was quite embarrassing. All they were trying to tell me is that Scalextric has entered the world of social media.
The company has launched a Facebook application, a YouTube channel and a blog. That wouldn’t normally be terribly exciting news, but the app and the channel seem pretty cool. The Facebook app lets you build a garage of cars that you can send to other people using the app. A few people will also win real-life Scalextric vouchers, so you can fill your real-life garage up with that instead.
The YouTube channel is also pretty awesome. There’s video of Jensen Button playing with the diminutive cars, but also guides on how to replace the contacts under the cars if they get worn, and footage of an attempt at the world record for biggest Scalextric track.
Lastly, the blog. It’s a little clunky, but there’s sections for news about the toys and space for news about motorsports. There’s also a ‘coming soon’ section for technical help on Scalextric builds, which I’m sure will come in handy.
The only thing missing in this list is a Twitter account. What’s that all about, Scalextric? I want to message @scalextric and not have some bloke from Warwickshire reply.
Blog, YouTube and Facebook App
Hexbug: Robotic scurrying insect wants to be your friend
Forget useful accessories for your desk and instead invest in one or more of these funky little critters.
The Hexbug is a little creepy-crawly robot (6 x 5 x3.5cm in fact) with touch sensors on its feelers and a built-in microphone. Upon hearing a loud noise it will scurry away in the opposite direction, and any time it makes contact with something it will step back from it…
Touch technology coming to toys of the 1970s – Rubik's TouchCube
Depending on your viewpoint and cynicism levels today, the Rubik’s TouchCube is either an extremely cool update of the 1970s puzzle world-beater, or a cynical attempt to cash-in on today’s touch screen madness.
Frankly, we’re prepared to confound your expectations by going for option #1 – it’s a very cool little toy. The Rubik’s TouchCube not only LIGHTS UP for your amusement, it also MAKES SOUNDS – sampled clunks and clicks, similar to those made by furious boffins racing each other to complete the thing the quickest…
