Happy Happy, Toy Toy
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page C13
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(Five toys this year scored perfect 10s from our testers!)
Rating: 10
Ages 6 and up
Mattel, $49.99
Race your cars, jump the slime pit and avoid the angry volcano. Kids thought it was "cool the way it throws fake lava and rocks" but did warn that it takes "too long to put together."
Rating: 10
Ages 9 and up
Hasbro, $20.99
Take a scavenger hunt through magazines. Flip a card and then try to find what's on it in your favorite magazine. The game plays music while you search frantically. Girls loved the game because "you can play this game so many times and not get bored." Another tester declared, "It's all a girl could want."
Rating: 10
Ages 6 and up
Tyco, $19.99
Boys and girls loved this remote-controlled, three-wheel vehicle that flipped against walls without getting stuck. It takes five batteries, prompting one toy tester to suggest the "toy company may be in a conspiracy with the battery companies."
Rating: 10
Ages 7 to 11
Learning Resources, $19.95
Learn all sorts of fun space facts while making your way across the Milky Way in this board game. Our testers liked it so much, their only complaint was that they didn't like "the colors of the astronauts' suits."
Rating: 10
Ages 8 and up
Wild Planet Toys, $14.99 to $19.99
Play laser tag without having to go to the arena. Gloves send out invisible beams at your opponent up to 75 feet away. Sounds and lights let you know you've been tagged. One tester described this toy "easy, peezy, lemon squeezy," which we think is pretty high praise.
Rating: 9.75
Ages 7 and up
Hasbro, $75
Last year we tested VideoNow, but kids didn't like that the player showed only black and white videos. (What was the toy company thinking?) But Hasbro heard the complaints, and now this hand-held video player has color. You still need to buy special discs (for about $8.99), but one tester said he'd "use it all the time" and another asked for it for his birthday.
Rating: 9.5
Ages 8 and up
Klutz, $14.95
This cool kit lets you make 24 tags to wear on necklaces, bracelets or in your hair. Testers said the instructions were easy to follow and the results looked great. Although one girl noted that a set of tweezers would have made the process easier.
Rating: 9.15
Ages 7 and up
Jakks Pacific, $20
For these video games, you just need to plug the small controller into a TV and start playing. Kids liked that there were lots of different games to play (we tested Ms. Pacman and Disney versions) and that there weren't parts to lose. One tester did have trouble working the joystick.
Rating: 9
Ages: 9 and up
Wow Wee, $79.99 to $99.99
Imagine a friend that stands 14 inches high, can whistle, dance, give you a high-five and do about 60 other things as well. That's RoboSapien, the elaborate remote-controlled robot. Testers were awed by the number of things Robo could do, but thought that sometimes his response time was a little slow. (Your mom probably says that about you, too!)
Rating: 9
Ages 12 and up
Zobmondo, $24.95
Would you rather ..... have your grandmother's name or her hairstyle? Try to answer these and dozens of other even tougher questions when you play this board game. Testers thought this game was fun because you could play it over and over without getting bored.
Rating: 9
Ages 8 and up
Jocapa Products (www.9gamesake.9com), $29.95
This is a game that lets you personalize it with family memories of the holidays. Testers thought it was easy to play, and had clear directions. But nobody liked the "lose a turn" cards.
Rating: 9
Ages 8 and up
Wild Planet, $29.99-$39.99
Need your brother's Game Boy? Send Spy Robot to retrieve it. This remote-controlled vehicle can pick things up, carry them and drop them off. It can travel about 100 feet. Testers liked what it could do, but noted it was pretty slow-meaning it was likely to get caught while on a spy mission.
Rating: 9
Ages 6 and up
Mattel, $4.99 to $19.99
These 2.5-inch dolls are small but they have lots of attitude. Girl testers loved the outfits and cool gadgets the dolls can "play" with. But there are lots of small parts (the dolls are called Shorties, after all) that can get lost.
Rating: 8.3
Ages 8 and up
Patch Products, $6.99
Get 10 colorful dice, toss them in the air and figure out how many points you get. Kids liked that this was a game that kids and parents could play together, and that it was portable and cheap.
Rating: 8
Ages 7 and up
Wild Planet, $7.95
It's a flashlight; it's headband; it's perfect for sleepovers. That's what our testers said, anyway. They really liked that it was hands-free.
