toy reviews

Now, I know that there are many places on the Internet where one can go to contribute toy reviews, but mine will not be very detailed and are only meant as a future reference for myself on what toys worked for my E.

First, I gave her a video girl Barbie for Christmas. Excellent toy with one drawback: no light source. E has been taking videos in and around the house. When it is daytime and a window is behind her, E's videos have been good. However, when E does not have daylight or does not put daylight behind her: Barbie's videos are very dark.

I am going to pick up a book light with a flexible wand to wrap around Barbie's neck and bring the light up to the top of her head to shine light forward when Barbie is filming. However, I am hoping that Mattel might pick up on this flaw and launch Video Girl Barbie version 2 with an embedded light in a cap (preferably with a low light sensor) that activates during video capture.

E has played with her video girl Barbie off and on since Christmas so it scores an 8 for playability and a 6 overall since it doesn't have the light and needs modification.

Second, yesterday, E opened and assembled the Hannah Montana Dream Designer Kit she received from her tio B for Christmas. She needed a little help with the furniture pieces. I had to tape the legs on the piano to allow it to stand properly. Same for the cardboard figures, they needed a little help to stand with folded tape extensions on each side of the feet for balance. The pic on the box includes an extra floor piece, an extra post, panel holder and topper that were not included in the description of contents nor the box. It would have been nice if the picture on the box used exactly what is offered in the kit. E's set up is slightly smaller as a result but still looks really good.

I am more impressed with this than I thought I would be. E took great pride in assembling the kit and showing off her handiwork when done. I may pick up another kit like this as it really is neat to watch her figure out how all the pieces get put together and then to decorate it as she likes. This kit also offers future playability as she can move her play figures around the house, stage and outdoor play scenes. It comes with enough stickers and gems, but needs more glue, markers and tape...all things we have anyway. I give this kit an 8 out of 10.

Third, Santa gave E a whole pile of LPS pets and playsets. The pets can be played with anywhere and anytime (there are a couple of them in the car), the playsets mostly sit unattended. There are some playsets E prefers more than others: the get better centre and the pet town seem more playable than the tricks and treats centres. Even though the clubhouse looks nice, it doesn't seem to offer much to E's play so it hasn't moved at all since she got it. Additionally, E was more interested in creating her own play structures for her pets. I give the pets a 10, but the playsets a 5. In retrospect, I think Santa should have given her the pets but only 1 playset.

Fourth and final, the Disney Princess Sing Along dvd has been a huge hit with both E and the little girl we drive home after Peruvian Dance. A Christmas gift from L and her family. Thanks L! My E loves to sing along and can often be heard singing those songs long after she has watched them on the dvd. The only drawback is that it promotes the videos from whence the songs have come. E has already asked for Cinderella 2, a straight to dvd movie advertised on this dvd. I will have to look for it on ebay. The added commercials drop my rating to a 9 on an otherwise excellent dvd with music and educational special features.