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Waste your money on more Halo toys
Joyride Studios has released Series 8 (they're up to 8?) of the Halo figurines. Among them are Spartan 117 with Flood infection form, a SpecOps Elite, a Jackal, and the Elite Heretic Leader. Why anyone would buy the Master Chief again just to get a Flood form is anybody's guess. Because I already have Master Chief. I mean, all of you have Master Chief, right? Right? Anybody?[Via Bungie.net]
Wowwee's Roboreptile reviewed
PC Mag, always one to get the scoop on these types of products, got the chance to play around with Wowwee's upcoming Roboreptile for a little bit, and frankly, the toy bot sounds like it leaves something to be desired. The main problem with this model is that its constant aggressiveness has the potential to scare off younger kids (it's not for children under 8, cautions Wowwee), while at the same time limited programmability will probably cause the older crowd to quickly tire of its basic functionality. Still, PC Mag does report that the $120 Roboreptile indeed performs as advertised, skulking around and avoiding objects (mostly) on its constant search for "food." The included remote supposedly allows you to calm Roboreptile long enough to slide a cowl over its head, but PC Mag found itself chasing down the bot more often then necessary due to its quick reflexes. All-in-all, if you're looking to buy your kids a dinosaur-inspired plaything, it sounds like you're better off with either a Pleo or Wowwee's other dinobot, the Roboraptor, unless the little ones have been real brats lately, in which case they probably deserve the frightening and/or frustrating experience that Roboreptile offers.[Thanks, Dave Z.]
Blue Man Group's crazy musical instrument toys
We're no fans of over-enthusiastic men in face paint, but there's something very appealing about this, the first of the Blue Man Group's new toy range. They all rocking the same PVC tubing meets Apple G5 meets Fisher Price styling, and feature "new proximity sensor technology, pre-programmed songs [and] interchangeable instrument sounds" to "enable kids to mix and layer music with a simple wave of their hands." This is the 'Percussion Tubes' model; the little green drawer on the right is for your iPod, which can play out of the speakers so you can "jam along with your favourite tracks." There's also a keyboard version, and a more interesting sounding Drum Suit and Air Pole. Can't wait until the circuit benders get their hands on these, which they surely will, the Percussion Tubes being $69, and the Keyboard being $79 -- available in July.
BlueBox intros miJam iPod toys
If it wasn't yet clear to you that the age of the DIY mashup is upon us, a new set of toys from a company called BlueBox -- which let even iPod-toting tweens "enhance" their tunes by dropping beats and sound effects -- should remove any lingering doubts. The three members of the new miJam series, which all attach to standard headpone jacks - a guitar, mixing board, and electronic drumsticks -- bear little resemblance to their non-toy counterparts, as all of the effects are triggered by buttons instead of real drumming or thrashing. Even the mixer sounds like it would be a letdown for budding DJ's, delivering canned scratches that will in no way prepare them for the beat-matching they'll being doing in a few years on their Numarks. Still, kids are pretty easily entertained, so the flashing lights and loud noises should probably hold their interest for a few minutes longer than your average gimmicky accessory. Like so many other pre-release products we bring you, we have no idea when these are coming out nor how much they'll sell for.
Steambots promise to delight, terrify
In a troubling development for the eventual war between man and machine, scientists in Germany have invented a steam-powered robot that will presumably be able to fuel itself with wood and water even after our descendants have managed to disable the rest of their mechanical enemies by cutting off their power supplies. Actually, the bot that you see pictured above is just a toy -- albeit an expensive one, at $300 -- that e-tailer Robot Island plans to import and distribute Stateside this summer, and we highly doubt that it's endowed with nearly enough abilities to make it capable of world domination. Still, we did see that movie Small Soldiers, so we know that sometimes even the most benign-looking toys can go bad. [Via Retro Thing]
Spore figurines at E3
Randall Bennett and I got a nice little sneak peak at Spore last night at Wired Magazine's presentation featuring Will Wright and guest starring Robin Williams. We shot some great video that will be up on the site as soon as it's ready. We also managed to get a private screening of the game thanks to the people at EA Games. Randall will be doing a full write-up of the game play experience later today, but I just wanted to share one little cool thing in the room where they hosted the preview: Figurines of creatures different Spore designers built in the game and then printed out as three dimensional models (like the guy pictured above). Check below the jump for more pics...
Fisher-Price unveils Kid-Tough camera and music player
We know more than a few preschoolers who seem more adept at technology than their still-trying-to-figure-out-the-VCR parents, but if for no other reason than the flashy colors, we think more than a few kids might dig Fisher-Price's new Kid-Tough digital camera and "FP3" player. Both devices are about as simple as they come, and feature certain kid friendly enhancements such as dual viewfinders on the camera and volume limited headphones so kids don't get that "iPod ear" too early. The camera shoots VGA stills and includes 8MB of included memory for 60 shots, and an SD card slot to add more. There's also a 1.3-inch color LCD for previewing photos, and a USB cable for offloading pics. The "FP3" player sounds a bit more fishy, since there's no mention of codec support beyond the kid-safe content at Fisher-Price's new Song & Story Online Store. We'll hope for at least MP3 support so your kids can start sticking it to the man, and luckily there is an SD card slot for cheap memory expansion. Both the camera and the music player will sell for $69, and will be available in June and July respectively.[Via Boing Boing]
