Mobigo & Storio - Two New VTech Toys

The company VTech have been creating educational toys for children for over 30 years! Some of their most popular toys of the last few years include the Kidizoom Plus Multimedia Digital Camera, Bugsby Reading System and the First Steps Baby Walker.

They never stop innovating, and this year they have launched two brand new products that look destined to become top sellers - the Mobigo Touch Learning System, and the Storio Animated Reading System.

The Mobigo is a handheld gaming system for children aged between 3 and 8 years. It features a touch screen, standard gaming buttons (similar to DS) and a slide out querty keyboard. The games are available in cartridge format, and one comes with the system - Shrek Forever After. Additional games available at launch include Toy Story 3, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Super Hero Squad: Sports Heroes.

The VTech Mobigo gaming system retails for around £49.99 and the games cost around £16.99 each.

The Storio is a animated reading system for children aged between 3 and 7 years. Like the Mobigo it also features a touch screen but with the Storio the emphasis is more on reading rather than gaming. It comes complete with a Toy Story 3 storybook cartridge, and you can buy additional storybook cartridges featuring Scooby Doo, Dora the Explorer and Shrek. Children can listen to stories and follow the action on the screen, as each word is spoken it changes colour. If a child discovers a word they don’t understand they can use the built in dictionary.

The VTech Storio reading system retails for around £59.99 and the storybook cartridges cost around £16.99.

You can find both the Mobigo & Storio at popular toy retailers like Toysrus, Early Learning Center & Argos. Just don’t leave it too late if you are planning on giving either as a Christmas gift, both could be in short supply as we get closer to the big day!

Kung Zhu Battle Arena

In an earlier post I wrote about the latest additions to the Zhu Zhu Hamsters range of toys. What I didn't mention in that post was that the same company behind them (Cepia LLC) has also created an additional range of hamsters and accessories aimed at boys. So how do you make cute electronic Hamsters appealing to boys? Easy, you give them armour, tanks and weapons, and then make them fight each other! Oh, and you also give them a name that implies fighting - Kung Zhu Hamsters!

At the time of writing this post there are eight Kung Zhu Hamsters available, four of these belong to the Special Forces faction, and the other four belong to the rival faction Ninja Warriors. Azer, Drayko, Thorn and Yama make up the Ninja Warriors. While Rivet, Rocko, Sergeant Serge and Stonewall make up the Special Forces.

Before the Hamsters are ready to fight they need to undergo extensive training, and this is possible through the various playsets. They include a wheel of fire, bases for each faction,  plus four different training grounds - each with it's own specific challenges and obstacles.

Obviously you can't expect hamsters to fight naked! Which is where the armour sets come in, they include lots of different kinds of weapons from war hammers to laser canons, and provide decent protection in battle. The two factions have their own armour sets - the ninja's have Blizzard Jenin, Dark Jonin, Fire Chunin and Shadow Jonin. And the special forces hamsters have Ambush, Dune Tracker, Night Raid and Thunderstrike.

For really tough battles the Kung Zhu Hamsters also have the option of using vehicles which offer greater protection and impressive looking weapons. The vehicles include Buzz Saw which has chainsaw style blades, Rhino Tank which has machine and laser guns, Scorpion Tank which has moving claws and spinning blades, and finally Spider Skull which features missiles and machine guns plus two pincers mounted on the front.

So once the hamsters are trained and kitted out with armour or vehicles, there's only one thing left to do… fight! These fights take place in the most important playset in the range - the Kung Zhu Battle Arena. The arena is circular in shape and combatants enter via two underground tunnels. With it's red and grey colour scheme and decorated with flags, it certainly looks the part. The Kung Zhu Battle Arena is big enough to hold around four hamsters at a time, but in reality it will probably work best when there are just two hamsters in - as any more than that could get a bit chaotic.

The Kung Zhu Battle Arena doesn't include any Hamsters,  these will need to be purchased separately, as will the armour sets. The Arena retails for around £30 and the Hamsters and Armour retail for around £10 and £8 respectively.  Just like their Zhu Zhu counterparts, the Kung Zhu range is tipped to be one of Christmas 2010's top selling toys, so if you like the sound of them you might want to snap them up early!

View a video of the Kung Zhu Hamsters and the Kung Zhu Battle Arena playset.

Dave The Funky Monkey

Could a Funky Monkey top the Christmas 2010 best sellers charts? The company behind this innovative new toy think so - Wow! Stuff Managing Director, Richard North:

“People love Dave the Funky Monkey and he’s already proving to be a great success with the media who have taken a sneak preview, even though he hasn’t yet hit the UK market.  Although he’s a plush robot, his personality is far from static!  We’ve sold out of every Dave we can make”

So what exactly is Dave The Funky Monkey and what makes him so special? On the outside he’s a friendly looking plush toy, a little like a Capucin monkey. It’s on the inside that the magic happens, Dave has micro-electronic motors which provide smooth, realistic motions. These motions include head and hand movements, and they can be triggered by using a small, easy to use remote controller.

The controller is small for a reason, it’s designed to be kept in your pocket where you can press the buttons without onlookers noticing. The controls are divided between four modes, conversation, greeting, puppet and action. Different modes allow for different gestures, so for example when Dave is in action mode you can make him laugh, scratch, dance, blow a raspberry and break wind!

Besides the controller Dave The Funky Monkey comes with one other important accessory - a shoulder support, which lets him perch on your shoulder. This allows you to operate him like a modern ventriloquist puppet and really adds to the comedy value.

Dave The Funky Monkey costs around £25 which should definitely add to his popularity.

Watch a video of Dave The Funky Monkey in action.

Zhu Zhu Hamsters

Last Christmas Go Go  Pets, or as they are now known Zhu Zhu Pets, were one of the UK's best selling toys. During November & December it was really difficult to find anywhere that had any stock, and some stores reported selling out within minutes of receiving new stock!

A year on and the  Zhu Zhu Pets range of products has grown. Some of the old favourites  like the Spiral Slide & Ramp, Adventure Ball and Funhouse are still available for purchase but they have been joined by new playsets, vehicles and hamsters.

The current Zhu Zhu Hamsters lineup now includes some funky looking longhaired hamsters! Below you can read a little about some of the more interesting additions.

Zhu Zhu Hamsters Kingston heads up the new longhaired hamsters, he spent some time in London,  where he developed a  love of punk fashion and music. Fellow longhair Roxie found her passion - singing at an open mic night in an Icelandic coffee bar, she certainly looks the part with a distinctive streak of pink hair. Just looking at the orange colour of her coat tells you where Peachy got her name, she’s known for her cooking and warm hospitality. Jinx is a  black and coloured hamster and loves sport, his favourite sport is football and regardless of whether he’s practicing or playing in a match he always gives his all.

Onto the Zhu Zhu Hamster Vehicles, the convertible sports car and Station Wagon have been joined by a Police Car, and a cool looking Hamcycle (motorbike and sidecar). Zhu Zhu Hamsters probably can’t swim so it’s a good thing that there’s also a Speed Boat. And for those adorable baby hamsters look out for the pink Baby Hamster Pram which holds 2 babies, and can be pushed by one of the grown-ups.

Finally moving onto the playsets, which are what keeps all the hamsters and owners entertained. The Zhu Zhu Pets Salon looks to be the biggest and best of the new range. It’s great for a spot of hamster pampering with it’s working hair blower and mirror with lights and miniature brushes.  Looking for to get away from it all? The Hotel Carrier is perfect, it can carry up to five hamsters at a time and thanks to a handle, is easy to carry. Fancy some take-away food? Send your Zhu Zhu Hamsters to the Pizza Shop, it has a funky retro design and includes some tiny pizza boxes and a traditional style chef hat.

If the new Zhu Zhu Hamsters are on your children’s wish lists please don’t leave it too late, all the signs point to Zhu Zhu Pets being best sellers again!