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Category: Electronics
Name: Star Wars mimobot - Boba Fett
Company: MIMOCO INC.
Age: All Ages
Price: $49.95
Category: Electronics
What Is It?
This Bob Fett mimobot is a USB flash drive — available in 1-, 2- and 4-gigabyte versions — and Star Wars collectors´ item in one. It can be attached to backpacks and bags when dressed in a protohoodie keychain. MSRP ranges from $49.95 to $109.95.
What We Thought
Mimobots are novel compared to ordinary flash memory sticks. That´s the only edge I would give them, considering all the Star Wars merchandise that´s available. The 1GB size is a plus, although memory sticks go upward to 8GB for around $20. Functionality is the industry standard, but collectibility is off the charts, since you can pick up a mimobot that represents a character you like.
There were 16 different wallpaper designs included, each one having different resolutions so people can choose the resolution that best fits their screen size. The majority of the wallpapers involved a backdrop from the first three Star Wars movies and featured an illustrated mimobot in place of the actual character. It´s an interesting concept, but they could have used better quality images from the films, since the image and illustration did not mesh well. The other wallpapers are high quality and involved the illustrated mimobot in different angles and configurations — great as a wallpaper for minimalists.
Extras besides the wallpapers include avatars, screensavers, soundbytes, and web browser icons. Despite the Star Wars theme, Darth Vader was missing from the avatars, which I found disappointing.
Why They´ll Want It
Younger kids who may not be familiar with the Star Wars franchise may not have as strong a connection with this product, but might still like its artistic nature. For those who have seen the earlier trilogy, they will probably feel they have something special. Kids can use the drive to store media and then showcase the mimobot as a collector´s item when not in use, or show off the product among Star Wars friends when sharing files. — Allen Tran, 5/21/08
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Name: b2 mi Jam mini Lixx
Company: BLUE BOX TOYS INC.
Age: 8 and up
Price: $20
Category: Electronics
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: SmartKids Multi-Laptop Imagination PL-780
Company: CONCEPT ENTERPRISES INC.
Age: 3-6
Price: $39.99
Category: Electronics
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: TeleStory
Company: JAKKS PACIFIC INC.
Age: All Ages
Price: $34.99
Category: Electronics
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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Name: Monster
Company: MIMOCO INC.
Age: 10 and up
Price: $69.95
Category: Electronics
What Is It?
A computer device cleverly disguised as a monster, this is a limited-edition designer flash drive that makes collecting data ultra-chic. All Mimobots have their own personalities and hobbies. They come in well-designed, attractive packaging along with some fun stuff, such as wallpapers, already stored on the drive. Compatible with both Mac and Windows, Mimobots comes in 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB versions (with price ranging from $69.95 to $144.95).
What We Thought
This super-cool monster works just like any other USB drive. Monster looked funny when plugged in, though because it looked like s/he (Monster´s sex is unknown) had plunged its head into the computer, searching for data. The Monster´s head is screwed on pretty tight — it is hard to remove the cap when it´s clicked in. Monster was smaller than expected, too, which is a good thing in this case. However, if you have two USB ports adjacent to each other, it may be hard to fit a second USB device.
Why They´ll Want It
This is a trendy and highly collectible item. So trendy that Mimobots are on MySpace! It is a must-have for all the coolest nerds of (almost) all ages! — TDmonthly Review Team, 9/21/06
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Name: WavyWand
Company: ALIGHT TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Age: 6 and up
Price: $30
Category: Electronics
Please click here to read this special TDmonthly´s Expert Mom review.
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Name: Bass Angler Championship TV Games
Company: JAKKS PACIFIC INC.
Age: 5 and up
Price: $19.99
Category: Electronics
What Is It?
The Bass Angler is the latest title from JAKKS Pacific’s award-winning Plug It In & Play TV Games brand. It comes with a fishing-reel controller that plugs directly into the TV (nothing else required) and features fishing so realistic, you’ll wanna wipe the worm goo from your fingers when you’re done. It has all the elements: weather, temperature, water conditions, time of day and more than 30 different lures and six different lakes to create a fishing extravaganza. And the controller vibrates real cool, too when you hook a fish and reel it in.
What We Thought
So, me and The Boy (six years old and already a fishing fanatic) opened up the package on a Saturday morning, plugged it in, and went straight to fishing, completely bypassing the practice mode. Who needs to practice when the fish are biting? We cast and let the first lure sink down into the depths. Fish were everywhere as we reeled in, bouncing the bottom and then … getting a strike! The reel-controller tugged and vibrated, and my son totally started screaming. He landed a 1.2 lb bluegill, and we were — dare I say it — hooked. Saturday night saw us still playing, our biggest fish being a 5.4 lb. largemouth bass and some big ol’ pike. It was a good day at the lake.
Why They’ll Want It
It vibrates and feels like a fish is at the end of the line. Who can resist that? Plus, there are lots of different places to fish, types of fish and lures to fish with, so it doesn’t get boring. Tournament play adds an extra element (we kicked butt), and any fisherman worth their waders will want one of these babies. The only thing missing is being able to fry up your catch at the end of the day. We went out and got some fish sticks, and the world was perfect.
--TDmonthly Staff, 1/5/06
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Name: You Build It Voice Changer
Company: CHRONICLE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Age: 8 and up
Price: $15.95
Category: Electronics
What Is It?
Build a real voice changer! That’s right, a few wires, a resistor, capacitor and transistor, a circuit board, a couple of red plastic doohickeys that make up the case, some speakers, and voila: a voice changer that would do James Bond Jr. proud. You got your squeaky, helium-kinda voice, robotic voice, scary voice and booming, echo voice. Along the way, a fun (it’s got the SmartLab dog in it) illustrated book/manual talks about sound, sound waves, and all sorts of other things scientific-sorta things. It’s very cool looking in the box.
What We Thought
First, find an 8-year-old. That done (I used a nephew and his friend), we began to build it. I read the instructions, and the kids built. After a few false starts (no one really listens to the instructions until things go wrong, do they), we got the whole thing together. Unfortunately, batteries not included (or in this case, one 9-volt battery). We hunted around the house and came up with… a dead battery. We hit the store and came back with a live one. The rest is silly-voice history. It’s pretty loud, and definitely changes the voice, if in a kind of computer-y way: it sounds digitized (which, come to think of it, it is). The kids fought over it (should have gotten two), and eventually we taped them doing some silly stuff, and we got a kick out of playing their voices back to them. A good time was had by all.
Why They’ll Want It
It’s ingenious: scientific, but cool. Electronics kits are always fascinating, but the SmartLab line comes up with particularly intriguing stuff – and fun. Not only did we all get an education in the physics of sound and the electronics of sound manipulation, both analogue and digital, we had a blast. Perfect for the budding scientist or voice-over artist.
-- TDmonthly Staff, 8/29/05
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Name: LighTalk
Company: Compact Impact.com, LLC.
Age: All Ages
Price: $39.99
Category: Electronics
What is it?
Lightalk is a handheld scanner that transforms drawings or words into pictures that can be seen in the air. The 8-1/2” toy has a scanning area of 4” x 7”. A press of a button allows the user to scan an image made with a black marker that’s at least .2” thick. After the image has been saved, the user flicks the switch again and waves the Lightalk back and forth extremely rapidly; a series of orange LED lights magically recreates the image, thanks to the persistence of vision. It can also be programmed to store up to 4 images at a time. The scanner comes in blue, white or pink and includes a matching cord so kids can carry it around their necks to scan at a moment’s notice.
What We Thought
Once our fumbling tester mastered the timing of the little switch and the scanning/saving button, the toy did just what the manufacturer said it would, though the image was a bit more pixilated than the illustration on the package led us to be believe. Simpler images worked best. Swinging in a darkened room was better than a light room, though the most important thing was to choose a nondistracting background.
Why They’ll Want It
Kids can waves secrets at each other in the backseat of the car for hours on end. They’ll have fun guessing what the drawing or message is. It’s a great bit of high tech for a relatively low price. Two AAA batteries are included, as is a page of instructions, so kids can get started scanning right away. It’s a cool gift to give, too, for birthdays or holidays.
-- Alison Marek, 7/20/05
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Name: Squeeze Breeze Water Misting Fan
Company: IELLO
Age: 6 and up
Price: $5.99
Category: Electronics
What is it?
The Squeeze Breeze is a spray bottle with a battery-operated fan attached to the nozzle. Fill the bottle with water. Insert two AA batteries into the nozzle head. Just flip the switch and the fan spins while you manually spray the water.
What We Thought
The spray bottle alone is made of durable plastic that sprays a nice even mist. The handy carrying strap makes for easy transport to the beach, or other hot places where a fine, cool mist is welcome. The propellers of the fan are made of a soft, flexible foam rubber material that better distributes the mist and aids in keeping a person cool. The propellers, however, do sometimes get caught on the spray nozzle, and need to be bent out of the way so that the fan can properly work.
Why They’ll Want It
It’s a nice way to keep cool in the summer, and for a relatively low price. It’s a great impulse buy and would display well near a cash register and/or in a section of a store that sells outdoor products such as beach chairs and coolers.
--Susan Maddela, 5/3/05
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