The Toy Review

Man, does this doll make me feel my age! I remember when Baby Alive was the hot new toy, and all she did was not eat fake food off a mechanically triggered pink plastic spoon. Now there are like, 87 varieties of her, in several races. Some of them pee and some of them sleep, and some of them slurp. There are even potty and birthday versions!

Now, in truth, I feel the same way about the Baby Alive Newborn Sip-N-Snooze as I do most other electric baby dolls: they sure do strip the imagination right out of a kid, yk? I think kids are better served by dolls that let the children decide the course of events instead of a computer chip.

I have never seen this building toy before, and I am trying to decide if I like it or not. Certainly, the colors are appealing, but … I’m just not sure. The toy does have a five star rating, so I may be the only left still looking at it askance. I’d really liket to hold these in my hands and play with them before I make up my mind. Of course, being able to build without having to worry about lining up the pegs and notches might be the deciding factor. Since it’s magnetic, you can do things with it that lego type toys just won’t do. Like build a sloping roof. Hmm. I have apparently talked myself right in to liking this toy. I’d still like to play with the Magna-Tiles Translucent Colors to be sure, though, LOL!

My mom gave these Shake & Go Racers - Super Car to my boys for Christmas a couple of years ago, and they are such fun! Even young kids can play with them because they are powered just by shaking. You don;t have to pull back or wind a key, or anything that requires much coordination. Just hold it, shake it, let it go! The boys have spent hours racing those cars through our long kitchen. And so have their sisters

Who doesn’t love this? We like UNO because out of nine people, seven of us can play it at one time. It appeals to all ages, and it’s fun for everyone. Except Drama and DaBaby who only get to watch. A word of warning: the more people you have playing, the harder it is to go out and the more likely you are to have to play through the deck several times. That’s why you come here, to find out how toys and games play out in a crowd, right?

My kids love to bowl. They frequently set up pyramids of wooden blocks and then roll balls toward them. They think it is great fun, and I enjoy watching them until someone starts lobbing the ball. And when I say them, I mean DaBaby through Diva. That’s ages 2-13 for those of you who have not memorized my family dynamics. I’m thinking that the BARNYARD basics™ Barnyard Bowling™ would be a big hit for Batman on down, but especially for the youngest two.

We actually received this Hasbro Playskool Crew Dusty The Talking Vacuum for Christmas, as a gift from my mom to help my youngest two girls get over their fear of the vacuum cleaner. It worked very well for that, and both of them enjoyed the toy. Writing this post has reminded me that the handle recently broke on ours, and I now have the hot glue gun heating to repair it. I’ll let you know how it goes.