The Buzz on Skylee

My Pretend Lawyer Made Me Write This: This is not a sponsored post.  However, I did receive a Skylee for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.

When I Love Robots.com offered me a chance to review Skylee, I jumped on the chance. I'd first had the opportunity to meet Skylee at the Clever Girls Collective brunch while at BlogHer this year and knew Skylee was something in which my daughter would be interested.

Official Product Description:

Meet SKYLEE, a chatty, interactive toy dragon for kids! This very friendly dragon comes with a very special surprise: an egg that holds a tiny fuzzy dragon baby named Bebe that loves to squeak and play with Skylee all day long!

Skylee flaps her beautiful dragon wings in response to a child's touch and responds with words of excitement to a child's greeting.

Skylee flaps her dragon wings in response to a child’s touch and responds with words of excitement to a child’s greeting.

My take?

Skylee was an immediate hit, as I had suspected.  And the little "bebe" that comes in an egg, which rolls out of Skylee's tummy?  The icing on the robotic cake.  Both kids giggled a storm over that one, then proceeded to stuff the egg back in, so they could make it come out again. Rinse, repeat.

You'd think this would be a girl's toy, but my 6 year old son loves it, too.  It's also a tough, good-quality toy -- we've had it for several months now.  It's seen plenty of play hours and the batteries are still going strong.  I do wish it was a little softer and snugglier, but that's just me.  The kids don't really seem to mind.

Anjali's favorite thing to do is to dance with her dragon:


Anjali and Skylee from Kelli Oliver George on Vimeo.

Also, she has renamed the dragon.  I hope Lady Gaga is flattered.  Ahem.

The Buzz on Mechatars

My Pretend Lawyer Made Me Write This: This is not a sponsored post.  However, I did receive a Mechatar for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.

Awhile back, I Love Robots.com offered me an opportunity to review a Mechatar and I said "Sure!"  As I seem to have a robot loving little boy in my possession, this seemed like a wise choice.

Official Product Description:

Mechatars are fast remote control robots that battle in the real world and connect to a FREE-TO-PLAY online game at www.Mechatars.com! You can customise your personal Mechatar and download new missions; complete each mission and earn new skills to level up then connect to take the battle online. Very quickly each robot becomes unique to its owner.

My Take?
The setup was quite easy -- we pulled it out of the packaging and immediately, my 6 year old son was able to use the remote to get his Mechatar rolling around.  As a parent,  I LOVE the huge, rolling leg/wheels (i.e. the legs do a complete rotation, which is not obvious from the photo) -- they have a soft rubber on them that grips our hardwood floor, but doesn't scratch it. Furthermore, the legs are very sturdy and since they are large, they give the Mechatar a sort of "agility" that ensures the robot doesn't get stuck.  The Mechatar works equally well inside and outside -- even from our driveway and through the grass!

Unfortunately, I was not able to completely review the training and battle portion of the Mechatar.  My 6 year old was just a little too young to navigate the website by himself. Additionally, we don't have a friend with a Mechatar.  I did play around with the setup and it was very easy to navigate.  And importantly, I did not see any questionable content or security issues that concerned me.  When my son gets a little older, I would have no problems with letting him play on this website unattended.  And considering how durable this toy is, I see no reason why he won't still have a working Mechatar in a few years.

Overall, I think a Mechatar would be a perfect gift for a boy aged 8 or above!

The Buzz on RoseArt's Color Blanks

For the Lawyer's Personal Pleasure: I received one free Color Blanks and purchased two extra with my own money.  I was not compensated for this review.

Color Blanks Product Description:
Your poseable figure gives you a white slate to design yourself! Use the included Color Blank markers to make it groovy green or bright orange with yellow stripes. Draw eyes, clothes or shoes on your figurine, then add the finishing touches with the included stickers. For extra originality, add your own fun stuff such as buttons, sequins, glitter, a hat or a prop – the possibilities are endless! Sets include 1 plastic figurine, 3 permanent mini markers and a sticker sheet.

RoseArt asked if they could sent me a Color Blanks for review purposes and I accepted. However, with two kids, I thought maybe there might be some issues with "sharing" and so I sent the review sample to a friend for her daughter and instead, bought a Color Blanks frog set  for my own kids (yes, with my own money!)  The Color Blanks singles are around $5 and the duo sets are around $10, so I figured we would get at least $10 amount of entertainment from them.

I had high hopes for these Color Blanks!  Unfortunately,  I did not realize these were meant for kidlets 6 years and older.  My son is 5.5 and my daughter is nearing 4.  With that in mind, we soldiered on.

First, we noticed that the markers did not dry very quickly.  And they were sticky while wet.  And the coverage was not spectacular for coloring the entire body of the piece. After awhile, both kids grew frustrated with how long it took to completely cover the piece in color.  The markers were all over their hands, although it did wash off with some scrubbing. I finished the coloring myself and we set the pieces in front of a fan to dry.  After they were dry, the kids did have fun applying the stickers.  And they do still play with their frogs.  So yes, RoseArt is onto a great idea - an art project that can be played with later.  They just need to work out the details since the markers were not just quite right for this.

I do believe we got our money's worth, even though my kids were under the target age. The project took about 40 minutes total and the kids still play with their frogs. I certainly didn't feel cheated out of my 10 bucks!  I would consider buying these again, in particular if my kids spy them and ask (politely).  However, next time I would approach this differently by doing the body color with a Sharpie* by myself, leaving the object to dry, THEN letting the kids go crazy with decorations.  In hindsight, I wish I would have passed my review sample to my 9 year old nephew because I think he would totally dig this.

*Yes, I am the crazy lady with a rainbow of Sharpies.  Respect the Sharpie.

The Buzz on Animal Mastermind Towers

For the lawyer's personal pleasure: I was given this game by Pressman Toy for FREE to review and you can bet your sweet bippy, I will be keeping this game at the end of my review period.

And the winner......... was Hunter's Prize!!

At BlogHer this year, I meandered through the Expo Center twice, hesitantly. My heart just was not into it this year, but I did want to at least see it. However,  I came across the Pressman Toy Corporation and was more than happy to talk to them - games are a pretty serious business in my family and I have confessed to having devoted a linen closet to my collection of them. (I also recognized Pressman as the makers of the Let's Go Fishing game, for which I have actually paid my very own real dollars.  A game from which we have gotten HOURS of entertainment because Team Chaos plays with the fish separately as well - the little fish make great bait for their angler fish and sharks, apparently. And yes, I just reviewed something for free, something that I paid for because as I have already admitted, I don't really get this reviewing thing.  Obviously.)

Whoa.  Tangent much?

So!  Pressman!  They had a couple of games that we could actually play in the booth - Mastermind (ages 8 and up) and Animal Mastermind Towers (ages 6 and up).

I was sent the Animal Mastermind Towers for review.

Official Description:

Like classic MASTERMIND, the new Animal Towers version is a game of logic, problem solving and fun that challenges players to figure out their opponent's code in as few turns as possible.  To play, children stack their animal tiles in a special tower.  Players take alternate turns trying to guess the order of the animals in the other player’s tower by asking questions such as, “Is your giraffe below your pig?”  This new vertical children’s edition of MASTERMIND teaches important skills in three levels of gameplay, entertaining children as their matching and logical thinking skills progress. 

Animal MASTERMIND Towers is the first in a series of MASTERMIND games in the new vertical format.  Upcoming editions will feature licensed children’s entertainment properties such as Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants™, Disney Fairies™, Disney®, and kids’ favorite Looney Tunes™ characters.

My kids are a wee obsessed with animals in general and I thought that my nearly 5 year old son would dig the animal tiles, at the very least.  And I was correct.

When the game arrived, we immediately set it up.  It was actually hard to control his excitement because as I suspected, he wanted to just fool around with the cards and tiles.  I let him have "his moment" of playing with the cards and tiles (and yes, there is a unique satisfaction with sliding the tiles in the tower - think of that cozy feeling when you drop checker in Connect Four.  Yeah, that feeling.)What I really liked about this game is that you can ease your kid into it - we played with 4 tiles at first, then added the 5th tile when he got the hang of it. He's probably ready for the 6th tile next time.  I also appreciated that as an adult, I needed to pay attention to the game (I have live-Tweeted Candyland games.  Not my proudest parenting moments.)  Is this a compelling game chock full of serious strategy?  No.  And it was not meant to be.  However, it is a pleasant way to spend some time with your kid.

Christmas potential?  Pretty high - this is the sort of present that parents love and that makes the giver look thoughtful - a game! and it is educational! Furthermore, it is something the kid can open up right away and immediately begin fiddling with the tiles while the adults continue to suck down their eggnog. I do think this could be given to a 4 year old, but that would probably be the lowest age - my daughter is 3 and she is certainly not ready for this game yet.   I would say the maximum age is 8 or so, given the adult version is age 8 and up.

Giveaway!
I have a copy of the game to give away! Here is the deal:

Comment on this post and tell me your favorite children's board game.  (If you answer Candyland, your entry will be disqualified.  Kidding.  Maybe.)  And please, please include an email - otherwise, I have no way to contact you if you do not already have a Blogger profile!  Your email will not used for any other purpose than contacting you if you win.  I solemnly swear on the eternal soul of my recently departed tarantula, Sofia (may peace be with her. Sniff.)

Short version to winning?
Comment and tell me your favorite children's board game.  Leave an email if you want me to contact you if you have won.  That is it!  Contest will be closed at Friday, September 24th at 12:00pm CDT.

The Buzz on the Valentine's Style "Hugs Fur You" Monkey from Build-A-Bear

The Winner!
These random numbers were brought to you by Random.org (aka Blame Them, Not Me):
Commenter#3 Dee has won the Build-A-Bear certificate!

Please email me your snail mail address to cagey333(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Confession: I do not like stuffed toy animals that are not in their "natural" color. Yes, I freely admit I am a snob about this. And then? I gave birth to a daughter who loves animals - period. She would rather have an animal than a doll and she does not care if it is stuffed or plastic. She does not care if it is pink, brown, purple, or black. Therefore, when I was asked to review the Valentine's Style Hugs Fur You Monkey I was quite happy to do so - I suspected that Anjali would agree.

She was taking her nap when it arrived at our house. I set the half-opened Monkey Condo and went about my business. When she woke up from her nap, she almost immediately discovered the pink fur peeking out and helped herself to digging it out of the box. I have to say, I was a bit smitten myself. This pink monkey is totally and unbearably Rub Your Face In It soft.

Quality? I had my way with it - pulling, poking and prodding - it is a well-made animal and I suspect we will get many years use out of it (speaking of quality - a Build-A-Bear frog that I bought my nephew 4 years ago is still in rotation at my sister's house.)

So, in conclusion - Build-A-Bear was a resounding success in our house and I suspect we will be making a trip there for Anjali's 2nd birthday this summer. I am thinking Hello Kitty may catch her eye. If not, I may disown her or just buy it for myself. Or both.

I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to Build-A-Bear! Please comment on this post by Midnight, February 14th and I will draw someone at random.