So much in love with shiny new toys, it's unnatural.
We loved the Pleo when we reviewed it a little while back, and now the smallest dinosaur in town has just been updated for more fun times. The 1.0.2 update will allow Pleo to interact with its surroundings more convincingly, wake from rest if a noise is detected and support a new grouped singing function, which we can't help but think is our little Pleo growing up and giving out the old mating call—those dino hormones sure are going to be tough to control. [Pleoworld;Thanks, Elvis. P]
Here's a confession: I've always kind of hated the Etch-a-Sketch.
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View-Masters were a part of just about everyone's childhood. For those trying to relive those days, Minnesota artist Debra Dressler has come up with these handmade clocks made with genuine vintage View-Masters. As you might suspect, "handmade" and "vintage" are usually codewords for "expensive," and at $145, that is pretty much the case here. However, if that is a little more money than you want to spend on a clock, you could probably build one using a newer View-Master fairly easily. [Uncommon Goods]
Much like Homer's makeup gun, this Glitter Gun allows you to apply sparkly bits to your woman in record time, allowing long waits on the couch while she's getting ready to become a thing of the past. The gun is a bit tricky, however, seeing as one glitter shot is not quite enough, and two glitter shots activates "drunk, horny slut" mode, so aim carefully. [Drink Stuff via Nerd Approved]
These little gadgets are perfect for really really annoying your house mates: flip one on and conceal it somewhere, and until it's dark it does nothing. When the lights are off the fun starts, as the box starts to emit either the distant sounds of dripping water or a barking dog. Of course, your victim will turn the lights on to hunt down the problem, and the box falls silent. Brilliant. We love them, in a very seven-year-old kid amused by whoopee cushion and fart-powder kinda way. Available for about $10 each. [Red Ferret]
USB Missile Launchers have been around for years and years and years, but why did it take this long for someone to stick a webcam on it? Seriously, what could be better for aiming a foam dart at that punk Bob from accounting than being able to see where you're aiming in first person view? If I had one of these instead of a standard Missile Launcher, I could have nailed Dvorak through the heart and recorded the thing at the same time. Oh technology, why are you never here when we need you? [IWOOT via Shiny Shiny]
This landline phone with an adorable unknown animal on it seems perfect for the phone-calling tyke in your life, but what's on the inside is truly scary. Its guts contain a voice-changing module with high- or low-pitch options, allowing you to choose between your inner Barry White and your inner Jared Wiley. Or your, you know, every kidnapper ever. It comes from world-famous shlock wholesaler Chinavision, so pick up one or five...hundred, starting at $10.27. [Chinavision via Crave]
Sure, automated fortune tellers aren't new, but Bandai's new Mirai Scope may just be the first personal Zoltar you can fit in your pocket. It even comes with a hint of scientific mumbojumbo, since it asks you fifty questions about your life to assess your personality digitally. Once it's singled out your type from the 236 available it calculates some biorhythm data to help you chart your daily life. You can even share the 
USB Missiles are fun (I shot Dvorak in the chest with one once, it did not induce a heart attack as I had hoped), but actual cannons are even more fun. This 25-inch field cannon is the closest you'll get to having a Civil War cannon in your office—unless you're the undersecretary of Civil War reenactments for the State of Virginia.
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The guys over at MAKE had a great time at the 2008 Toy Fair, and their round-up post links to all the weird and wonderful things they found there. We've had a look, and collected some of their findings into a gallery. Check it out and you'll find matchstick architecture, VEX robotic bugs, 3D mazes, crystal-growth toys, chemical building-brick sets, and the faintly worrying (and historical) "Mysto Erector." [MAKE]
These AI Tech Racers from Tomy are some of the more interesting slot-style racecars we've seen. The cars have built-in sensors to detect and avoid obstacles in their path—provided they have room to maneuver—and as a result, they can fly around a track without being locked into slots. Once started, the cars ride on their own, but you can give them a speed burst or hit the brakes if needed. Hit the jump to see these babies in action.
Phil from Make found these fantastic looking Timberkits over at the NYC Toy Fair this week. They're actually available now in various shapes, but the gist of the kit is that you build a dragon, pig, drummer or piano player from pre-shaped blocks of wood. It gives you the satisfaction of doing something yourself without the tediousness and finger-loss of actually carving wood. Sounds great to us. [MAKE]
One fifty-eighth of the size and much less than one fifty-eighth of the price of the real thing, these infrared remote-control Real Drive Nano Ferraris are so detailed they even have blinking turn lights. You can also race the officially-licensed three-inch Enzo, Testarossa, F430 and 512BB against each other as they all have different channels. Four little cars, see how they run in the short video.
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Billed as a way of acclimatizing kids with airport security checks, the Scan-It X-Ray machine detects the presence of metal in objects and is, let's face it, a scary addition to your child's toy box. Stick Barbie on the conveyor belt, pass her through the Scan-It and you will be able to see if her IUD is in place or not. It costs $29.95, but I'm going to hang on for the Crazy CIA Waterboarding Kit. Seriously. [OhGizmo]
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Given how delicious we all think Microsoft's touchscreen table, the Surface, is (apart from the $10,000 price tag) here's a more basic version from ToyQuest. The Touch Table EES (that stands for electronic education system) boasts a 21-inch touchscreen from which you can play games and DVDs (hmm, very educational). It does redeem itself somewhat, though. Find out how after the gallery.
Maybe not the Pentagon, but definitely your whole neighborhood. I wanna rage through mine like Arnold in T2, with the Vulcan mini gun on one arm and the Hulk Abomination Blaster on the other—the big missile on it launches w/ enough force to knock a small, wobbly child on their back. My backup duffle bag would carry the Iron Man blaster, before switching to the customizable Recon CS-6 for SWAT-style divide, conquer and obliterate. We also got hands on with a couple Clone Wars guns and the Wii blaster, which actually has a nice build to it.
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The best new Nerf toy out of the entire Toy Fair 2008 lineup is this fully automatic dart gun. The toy is $40, and comes with 25 belt-fed darts, powered by six D-cell batteries (!). Paired with the Mission Kit Tactical Light, this is the kind of base unit a Nerf gun modder could really learn to love.
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I was honestly shocked to see this at Toy Fair. I mean, it's about toys. Yet they have this model prancing around in a skin-tight outfit that leaves little to the imagination.
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Hasbro's FX whip, part of the flotilla of Indiana Jones merchandise that is sailing into port this year, should be hung on the wall of every office in the land. This is what makes corporal punishment in the workplace such a pleasure. The $19.99 toy plays the theme tune —this is, sadly, the one crappy bit about it— as well as a thwack-a-lacka-boom-boom sound when you crack it. Hasbro could have come up with some more interesting sound effects, though. The FX whip will be available from May 1 from most toy shops. [Hasbro]
While Fisher-Price's Kid-Tough digital camera was already built to withstand the Guantanamo-level torture your average four-year-old dishes out to their toys, the latest model will hold up to 30 minutes of waterboarding too, despite a rounder, slimmer body. The insides have gotten an upgrade as well, with a 1.3MP sensor (up from 640x480) and 64MB of storage that'll hold 500 closeups of your kid's boogers. [Fisher-Price]
While weren't quite as blown away by D-REX as we were by Elmo Live—"jazz hands" killed our objective judgment—the level of interactivity is pretty impressive for what's supposed to be a dumb child's toy (the kid, not the 'bot). About the size of a small puppy, it behaves semi-autonomously, though it'll follow patterns you pick w/ the remote like guarding your room (if it detects a light change, it goes apeshit) and (cutely) responds to petting, calling and the like. I'm not quite sure it's worth $150 yet, but even in this beta stage, it's damn close, and the fall launch date leaves plenty of polish time.
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I always wanted an RC car that didn't eat batteries like 
We just spotted these great, life-sized Lego models of Indiana Jones, C3PO and a Clone Wars Trooper at the annual Toy Fair. We asked how many Lego bricks it took to construct each one, but were told that it was "a big secret." We couldn't care less, they look amazing, and we desperately need some new office furnishings to brighten up the place. Unfortunately, these are just show pieces, and those hoping for a gigantic Indiana Jones Lego pack will have to make do with these (movie spoiler) kits instead. Clone Wars fans get some smaller Lego-loving, too, but we want them so bad, we're going to try and smuggle the life-size models out. Stay tuned for news on the covert operation. Checkout the gallery for a ton of awesome images.
I've wanted to be Batman since I was a little kid, but I've never had the billions required to hire Morgan Freeman to construct swollass para-military gear for me to wield an overwhelming advantage over ill-financed and poorly equipped common criminals. So, I'm going to have to settle for projecting my dreams onto my future offspring. Step one: Strap Mattel's Wayne Tech Mega Cape on him from the day he can walk. The wings spring out with a single touch, instantly readying him to fly down a staircase and into the ER. $40, June. Health insurance sold separately.
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Basic Fun had a little bit of help from their friends at Activision and Red Octane for their miniature version of Guitar Hero. Measuring just 3 x 7.5 inches, the guitar neck folds down so you really can whip it out of your shirt pocket and thrill commuters with your ax licks. Of course, it's got a pared-down version of the whammy bar, as well as an LCD screen so you know what you should be playing. It's out at the beginning of March, but I'm still waiting for Keytar Hero to hit in the hope that Basic Fun will develop a mini version of that. [Technabob]
Toy cars are fun, but when it comes to acting out our Speed Racer fantasies we want to feel like we're part of the action. Soon we can with the help of the Race-A-Round Sound Helmet. Moving the helmet in any direction triggers a variety of crashing and breaking sounds, and buttons on its side play phrases from the upcoming movie. Top it all off with the Mach 5 logo in the front, and we could see ourselves driving around with this every day. Now all we need is a car. The Race-A-Round costs $25 and arrives in March. [Mattel]
We've got Mattel's entire line of Batman and Speed Racer cars for 2008, and we hope the movies are as geekgasmic as the toys. The Batman lineup punches all of my little fanboy buttons—not only the entire squadron from The Dark Knight, but the two best Batmobiles ever: from the animated series AND Adam Batwest. Speed Racer's got the Mach 5, its sleeker, zippier successor the Mach 6, plus a battle bus! Check out every one in detail after the jump, then tell us who has the most wonderful toys.
This animatronic head is sold as a kit so you can learn the fun of building a fully robotic nut that can "turn left and right," has moving eyes, eyelids and a mouth that "changes expressions"—though presumably not into a sexy pout, sorry robo-sex fans. BotBrain even has sensors that let it react to its environment, and its luscious eyelids make it a far cuter robot head than some we've covered. This educational robo-curio is available for $449, and frankly we'd expect much better "human-robot interactions" for that price. [Scientifics online via Red Ferret]
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