TDmonthly -- Archived Reviews of Top Toys and Toy Ratings

The Sky Blaster by (Rhino Toys, Inc.) is a compact skyrocket designed with a built-in, elastic launcher similar to a sling shot. It achieves great speed and can travel over 130 feet. The rocket is built with a soft foam tip and whistles while in flight.

This compact, lightweight craft is remarkable and will provide hours of fun. A word of caution, however; although there is a warning not to launch the toy at anyone from point-blank range, it might be wise to revise the warning to state “do not launch the toy at anyone’s face from any distance.”

What more could one ask for; it’s fast, it’s fun, and it whistles. Children can launch the rocket by themselves or play a game of “catch” with a friend. Its bright coloring makes it a wonderful spectacle while in flight.

Twirled Paper is an arts and crafts kit containing spaghetti-thin paper strips that can be twirled into coils and glued together to make cute animals, flowers, insects and more. It comes with everything you need to twirl your way into a land of paper characters; including glue, plastic eyes, a twirling stick and a “how-to” book.

Twirled Paper is definitely a project for the artistic child. The twirling takes a great deal of concentration and time. Those who are content to quietly sit and create will find satisfaction in this kit.

This handy self-contained kit can provide silent amusement for the mature child. Constructing characters is challenging and rewarding. Children can be proud of their concentrated efforts through an artistic final product.

This colorful, plastic truck includes four basic shapes that fit into their respective holes on the side of the dumpster. Press the head of the truck driver to start up the engine, sound the horn and watch the little truck drive away!

The Sort ‘N Shake Dump Truck uses the brilliance of simplicity. It stimulates developing minds with distinct sounds, moveable parts and bright colors.

The youngest children will have so much fun putting the shapes into the dumpster and emptying them out that they won’t even realize they are developing hand-eye-coordination.

Bella’s Mystery Deck is a set of 52 illustrated mystery cards, each telling the story of a different mystery that Bella and her dog Noche have solved. At the end of the story, kids can try and solve the mystery, but if they get stuck, the mirror card will decipher the answer written on the bottom of the card. Bella herself is a modern-day Nancy Drew with a Latina twist. Many of the mystery cards have a word or two in Spanish written into the text.

This is a great way to analytically challenge young minds with the art of mystery solving. The characters and dialogue are entertaining but the mysteries are concise enough for shorter attention spans.

Since Bella calls herself a “Chicana,” children of Latino decent may identify with her amusing anecdotes of the “barrio” more than other famous sleuths like Encyclopedia Brown or Nancy Drew.

The Bug Jar ($14.99) proves once again that Happy Dog Toys is the leader in one-of-a-kind pet toys. Designed to look like a home-made bug jar, a small fan in the weighted base causes the lightweight “bugs” to flutter around the jar—an irresistible draw to any cat. The weighted base allows kitty to swat at the bugs, rocking the jar rather than knocking it over. Requires 4 AA batteries.

This is a wonderfully inventive toy for cats and their owners. Durable, simple and imaginative, it will deliver plenty of feline fun.

I want one, and I don’t even own a cat. What does that tell you? This toy is a kick, and will probably provide more family laughs than most sitcoms.

Thing in a Bag ($11.95) is yet another inventive and fun pet toy from Happy Dog Toys (ToyDirectory, ToyShow). The “bag” resembles an ordinary brown paper lunch bag, but is made of a durable material that’s claw and bite resistant. Inside the bag are crinkly-sounding materials and a battery-operated device that produces random movements from within. Requires 3AA batteries.

A great example of simplicity and innovation, Thing in a Bag will entertain both cats and their owners, and will surely deliver more laughs than a fake mouse.

Anyone who’s ever spent any time near a house-cat (all of us) knows that they have an inexplicable fascination with paper bags—giving this toy instant appeal.

Corgi’s (ToyDirectory) History Channel: Legends of Flight WWII Aces series comprises six 1/72 scale die-cast replicas of the immortal fighter planes of WWII: the F4U Corsair, Messerschmitt Bf109E-1, FW190A-3, P-51D Mustang, Hawker Hurricane Mk1 and Supermarine Spitfire Mk1. Each aircraft comes in a sturdy blister box suitable for collectors, complete with the pilot’s name on the front.

The detail on each plane is what you’d expect from Corgi, with accurate markings right down to the fuel capacity (85 gallons on the Spitfire). The propellers turn and the wheels roll—but they don’t retract. The metal has a sturdy weight to it that tells you this plane will survive the occasional crash landing.

These little fighter planes are the perfect size for desktop display, or for die-hard collectors; the blister box (with built-in display stand) makes for a perfect way to preserve and enjoy each plane. And at $19.99, it won’t take long to collect all six.

Part of the “Farmyard Tales Games” series from Usborne Publishing, Alphabet Lotto is a kid-friendly educational game for up to 4 players, and specifically designed for youngsters ages 2-6. The game consists of four brightly colored Lotto boards with letters on one side and pictures on the other. There are 36 letter cards, one for each of the letters on the boards, as well as 36 picture cards. The cards offer games of varied difficulty according to the age and stage of each child.

Enhancing pre-reading skills such as word and picture matching, featuring colorful cards of farmyard animals, as well as contents that can be adapted to varied difficulties depending upon the children, Alphabet Lotto is a friendly, inviting, and intellectually stimulating game.

Kids will surely have fun and learn valuable pre-reading skills, such as word and picture matching, with Poppy and Sam and the animals from Farmyard Tales. Parent’s notes are included to offer insight in helping children learn that words and reading can be fun. Alphabet Lotto is recommended for homeschoolers, and is a welcome addition to preschool and kindergarten curriculum enrichment resource collections.

Groovy Girl dolls from Manhattan Toy are made of soft velour fabric with embroidered facial features and yarn hair. Outfits are interchangeable and come in all sorts of fun and funky fabrics.

The Groovy Girls are quite cute with their snazzy outfits and sweet-smiling faces. We liked these dolls not only because they are fun for young girls to play with, but also because they teach children to celebrate the world of diversity, and that beauty comes in all colors, styles and sizes.

Each Groovy Girl is unique from the others, with her own cool details adding to her personality. The clothes are also easy to remove, so even small fingers will not have too much trouble getting the Groovy Girls all “dolled” up.

Zoogles are characters that kids can personalize. These little creatures are made with special materials that young artists can customize and collect. The 3-inch tall mini-monsters allow the Crayola washable paints to immediately soak in, making this a low-mess creative activity. There are three kits, each containing three Zoogles, eight washable watercolors, a paintbrush and three collectible cards describing each Zoogle personality.

With three kooky Zoogles to decorate, eight different washable watercolors and one brush, this kit makes craft time a blast anytime.

Kids will love decorating the zany characters. Plus each Zoogle comes with a trading card that reveals pieces of his or her personality, including favorite foods and secret hiding spots.

The Zoolio Activity Toy is a travel case that holds six animal-inspired panels featuring different classic toddler activities like buttoning, zipping and snapping. It comes with a convenient travel case with six individual panels that have separate features for development and playtime fun.

What We Thought

This soft and colorful activity toy is ideal to take on long car rides or even simple runs to the grocery store.

Lots of engaging activities will surely keep toddlers occupied and entertained…a plus for on-the-go parents! A series of fun hidden graphics are rewarding to discover.

What is It?
Megatech’s (ToyDirectory) Ocean Explorer 1 is an RC submarine able to submerge in water up to 6 feet deep. All that’s needed are eight AA batteries (for the controller), and you’re ready to explore the depths of your backyard pool or goldfish pond. Comes with an AC charger for the sub’s rechargeable battery and a carrying case to hold everything on your trip to the lake.

What We Thought
Some people might be disappointed in the submarine’s diminutive size (3.75”x2.75”x1.75”), but the fun of having an RC submarine ready to take to the water right out of the box will outweigh size considerations. The flashing red and green running lights keep the sub in sight, and the forward shining searchlights help you find your way in the murkiest body of water. A failsafe device prevents losing the sub to the depths: if the power is interrupted, the twin motors shut down and the ballast tanks blow, sending the sub to the surface.

Why They’ll Want It
This is a toy that will give fathers and sons something fun to do on those fishing trips when the trout aren’t biting, or at the backyard pool when it’s too cold to swim. The $109 price tag may seem steep, but considering you get the Sub, RC controller and charger in one purchase, it’s worth busting out the credit card.

What Is It?
The Crayola Crayon Maker lets kids take those worn-down crayon nubs and recycle them into new crayons of their own creation. The maker uses a small electric bulb to melt the old crayons, which are then poured into a mold as kids watch it all through the clear plastic top.

What We Thought
With each melt taking about twenty minutes, kids will need parental coaching to be patient. The safety features are good: the lid locks until the melting process is over, and there’s an automatic shut-off switch on the bottom of the unit which stops the process if the Maker is turned on its side. Available accessories—molds shaped as alligators, ships or trucks—will make the process even more fun.

Why They’ll Want It
Crayola Crayons have been around for a hundred years and have lost none of their popularity. Giving kids the ability to create their own multi-colored crayons, before wrapping them in the 24 genuine Crayola labels provided, will be a hit at home or in art class.

What Is It?
Ello Jungala is a construction set for girls comprising 306 pieces of different shapes and sizes. Also included are reusable vinyl stickers so girls can customize their creations. All pieces are contained in a neon-pink, zippered carrying case.

What We Thought
Mattel did its homework when creating ello. The organic shapes and bright colors have strong girl appeal, as ello’s brisk sales will attest. Knowing that instructions are the last thing a kid wants to deal with, Mattel wisely omitted them, instead providing a color fold-out showing some of the possibilities: jewelry, CD racks, animals, people, picture frames or whatever a girl’s imagination can conjure.

Why They’ll Want It
Many parents searching for an alternative to fashion dolls for their daughters will be attracted to ello’s ability to build self-confidence and imagination.

What Is It?
Just published in November 2003, Baby Mood Swings is a desktop display book capturing babies’ faces in their myriad emotions. The book’s jacket can be opened into a free-standing base for easy display.

What We Thought
If this book can make a misanthrope like me laugh, it must have something good going for it. The photos of wee ones’ facial expressions—with headings such as “I’m feeling grossed-out” or “I’m feeling naughty”—are so adult-like (without being posed), they can’t help but make you laugh in recognition that, even at the diaper stage, children possess very developed personalities.

Why They’ll Want It
Like I said, Baby Mood Swings will make even the cynics smile. Any new parent will want this book for their desk or kitchen counter.

What Is It?
Color and Wash Finger Puppets by Fanny´s Play House (ToyDirectory) come in a set of three (fish or butterflies), with six markers for kids to create their own colorful puppets. Puppets are machine-washable.

What We Thought
Children can enjoy the fun of a coloring book, while creating a toy all their own.

Why They’ll Want It
These are puppets parents will want to keep in a scrapbook long after their kids outgrow them.

What is It?
Wall Street Spin by Fun Spin (ToyDirectory) is a board game that lets you “play” the market without risk. Mastery of complicated stock market jargon is not required to take a spin on this pretend version of Wall Street. Just as Monopoly taught people how astute property development creates revenue, Wall Street Spin gives players an entertaining introduction to smart investing.

What We Thought
The game is challenging, but easy to master, so families can enjoy playing it together. It bridges the generation gap, teaching kids how to value and invest money.

Why They’ll Want It
Kids will find the cool board and colorful pieces engaging. Plus, how fun would it be to acquire all of Dad’s hard-earned assets! Parents will love it because it teaches children valuable lessons about saving money. No more misspent allowances!

What is It?
Young sci-fiers can catch their own extraterrestrials that are hiding out in an intergalactic Burger Barn by Mega Bloks (ToyDirectory, ToyShow). The 100-piece kit comes with a comic book, Agent Buzz, and bioplasm to mold and create slippery aliens.

What We Thought
This fun kit allows children to explore construction and move into an imaginary world filled with creatures from another planet. They can also experiment with different mediums in this creative process: bloks and bioplasm.

Why They´ll Want It
Alien Agency provides hours of fun by enabling children to pretend that they are Alien Agency Agents saving the Earth from space invaders.

What is It?
Teams of Enemies by Big Toe Games (ToyDirectory) is a trivia game where teams keep changing and, in the end, only one player wins. With each round, new captains and teams are picked to answer challenging questions about nine different categories, including movies, music, and sports.

What We Thought
Big Toe Games has a hit with this game that requires players to build bridges while getting ahead of the group. Another unique aspect of the game is that there isn´t just one trivia game but five separate games that probe players’ brains.

Why They´ll Want It
All the brain-bending questions combined with a dog-eat-dog scoring mentality makes the game not only a test of knowledge but also of strategy.

What is It?
Oops challenges players to build a pyramid shape with the wooden balls provided. Sounds easy, right? The tricky part is building the shape while keeping the identically colored pieces separated. Balls are joined in pairs and can only be stacked on the cherry-wood base in one specific order for successful completion. Good luck!

What We Thought
This is a brain-teaser that will promote problem-solving and logical reasoning skills in any player.

Why They´ll Want It
Players can solve the puzzle repeatedly, and once they are comfortable, they can advance to Oops Again, Channel Craft´s more challenging version of this puzzle.

What Is It?
These days, graphic novels are a hot category for retailers, and no name is better loved among fans than the Sandman by Chronicle Books for Children (ToyDirectory), the mystical deity who escorted readers through 75 issues of supernatural wonder and mayhem in the early- to mid-1990s. In Sandman: King of Dreams, author Alisa Kwitney chronicles the comic´s popularity via behind-the-scenes stories, new illustrations and interviews with Sandman creator Neil Gaiman.

What We Thought
The classy hardcover book is a boon for Sandman readers, offering a treasure trove of new illustrations and marginalia likely to delight the dedicated fan.

Why They’ll Want It
The book will make a great companion to the Sandman issues but will also intrigue those new to the series and its characters.

What Is It?
Dunecraft (ToyDirectory, ToyShow) brings together the wonders of horticulture and the ancient age of dinosaurs to curious young minds. The Amazing Dinosaur Plant is a 250-million-year-old species that can hibernate for up to fifty years, reviving every time it is given water. The plant resembles a dead ball of foliage until immersion in water, when it transforms into an evergreen plant within hours. If it dries out, the plant will return to its dried state.

What We Thought
The kit, which contains a plant, display bowl and real volcanic stones, is an educational winner, astounding kids as well as adults.

Why They’ll Want It
The kit brings scientific wonder from the Jurassic age out of the books and into your living room. And best of all, it’s a renewable resource that will enchant children again and again.

What Is It?
As mind-boggling as it may appear, Color-A-Cookie’s Cookie Coloring Kit lets kids decorate cookies with non-toxic markers to create vivid and edible designs. The cookies feature seasonal designs and licensed characters like SpongeBob SquarePants.

What We Thought
An easy-to-make treat, these cookies are a great stocking stuffer and are a tasty way to combine arts and crafts activities with snack time.

Why They’ll Want It
What better way to have fun with favorites like SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer than to gobble up colorful creations?

What Is It?
The ready-to-fly Merlin is a “slow-flyer” designed to offer aerial fun for RC novices. The plane arrives mostly pre-built and requires some basic construction by an adult. Once pilots get the plane airborne, it travels at a top speed of 11 mph, enabling newbies to master the basics of steering and maneuvering.

What We Thought
The lightweight construction is a great deal sturdier than the plane first appears, making it ideal for first-time flyers that are still learning to make their approaches.

Why They’ll Want It
The Merlin is a great starter plane to introduce kids to the world of RC flight, without saddling them with a lot of frustrating construction time.

What is It?
Players compete to identify the speakers of pop-culture quotes in five categories: “The Arts,” “Leaders,” “Sports,” “Pop Culture” and “Life and Literature.” Individual players or teams get three points for any quote they can identify without a clue; two points go to players who can tell the speaker with a one or two word hint; and players receive one point if they can choose the speaker from among three choices.

What We Thought
Powered by great quotes, speakers’ biographies and a competitive play format, Don’t Quote Me is a romp through pop culture history.

Why They’ll Want It
In a sound-bite era, Don’t Quote Me provides the perfect party-game fix for lovers of legendary repartee and wit.

What is It?
Owl babies Sarah, Percy and Bill wake up one night to find their mother has flown the coop. The book is accompanied by a small, plush baby owl to help young audiences feel like they’re part of the story.

What We Thought
This picture book tells a story any child will respond to: the anxiety that comes when Mom is away. The added plush owl will help young children feel they’re part of the story, and the pages are sturdy enough for small hands to grasp.

Why They’ll Want It
With most of today’s moms working full-time, kids need reassurance that mom will, as Owl mom does, return to the nest.

What is It?
SportsRing by Next Step Family of Products (ToyDirectory) is an indoor/outdoor hoop kit that can be used as a miniature basketball hoop, or as a target for play baseball pitches or football passes.

What We Thought
This is more than just another novelty basketball hoop to hang above the trash can; it’s an easy-to-assemble and durable sports toy. The mounting bracket provides an adjustable, versatile method to attach the Ring to horizontal or vertical surfaces. The Ring can also be adjusted for different angles. Backboards are available in lightweight foam, tough sintra plastic, or plexiglass for an authentic NBA look. The foam ball is heavy enough to make throwing, passing or dunking feel like the real thing.

Why They’ll Want It
SportsRing is a fun, inexpensive toy for a kid’s bedroom, college dorm-room or Dad’s office. And it’s made to last.

What is It?
Rubber Stamp It! is a fun activity kit that allows children to stamp and emboss, make multi-colored stamp illustrations and even design their own stamp. The instructional book by Alicia Newman gives art project ideas, including cards, stationary, wrapping paper and picture frames. The kit also provides two ink pads, 14 rubbers tamps, embossing materials, five felt-tip markers, carving tool and blank rubber block.

What We Thought
Rubber Stamp It! is more than a stamp kit. By teaching kids how to carve their own stamp, they’re learning the basics of wood-block print-making, a centuries-old art form which endures to this day.

Why They´ll Want It
The chance to make their own stamp will enthrall kids as they see the carved shape they created transform into an image on paper.

What is It?
Victor Flores Designs Corp. has created a craze in the Tween market for their new stylish and expressive line of QT Charms. The charms let girls do everything from spell out their name to display a garden of flowers. Charms aren´t just for a bracelet either; they can be attached to a necklace, shoestring or even a hairdo.

What We Thought
This is a fun way for girls to express themselves and personalize their jewelry to fit their own style and attitude. The charms are well-crafted and come in a plethora of designs.

Why They´ll Want It
Accessorizing an outfit is a form of personal expression, and girls always have a lot to say.

What is It?
Scramble Squares by b. dazzle (ToyDirectory, ToyShow) is a challenging puzzle that requires players to unscramble the nine square pieces into a perfectly matching picture. Sound easy? Try it and you may think otherwise. The puzzle comes educational facts about the puzzle´s subject matter.

What We Thought
This brainteaser takes puzzles to a new level. Scramble Squares is a great way to practice attention to detail and logical reasoning for people of all ages.

Why They´ll Want It
You can redo the puzzle again and again because you can´t memorize where each piece goes, making the game a new challenge every time.

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Many of the toys considered for review are donated to children's services organizations, such as Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Also, to recover the cost of reviewing, starting August/2012 we may occasionally resell products that are sent to us.

* Please make checks payable to ToyDirectory.com, Inc. Payment does not guarantee a positive review. Advertising with ToyDirectory and TDmonthly Magazine does not guarantee a positive review. Quality, play value and educational value are considered when reviewing toys and games.

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