How many times have you found yourself saying “if only I had some sort of desk robot to bring me that pen over there.” Or, “I really wish that salt shaker wasn’t all the way at the other end of the table.” Well now your prayers have been answered with the new R/C Desktop Forklift at Think Geek.

The R/C Desktop Forklift is capable of hauling around all that desktop inventory with the touch of a few buttons. In reality this little guy can haul around desk clutter the weight of an empty soda can; but it looks darn cool doing it!

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I always had blocks growing up. It seems like every kid has them at some point, whether they have the standard letters on them to spell out words or painted on windows and doors to make houses.

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While working on our 2007 Water Gun Roundup I noticed this video that features an interview with the inventor of the Super Soaker. It turns out that he is a rocket scientist who just happened to have a brilliant idea.

There is nothing worse than finding yourself in a modern day water gunfight with a sub par weapon. Ever since the Super Soaker was invented back in the early 90’s the water arms race had never been the same. Check out our list of the most cutting edge water weaponry for 2007.

5. Super Soaker Max-D 2000 Twin Pack
Sometimes you find yourself shooting at two targets. The Super Soaker Max-D 2000 Twin Pack gives you two for the price of one. These are basic Super Soaker models with small water tanks but great pressure and a decent distance. With these in hand you will easily blow away any kid with those old crappy clear guns I had growing up. The Super Soaker Max-D 2000 Twin Pack retails for about $13.

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In somewhat of a bazaar crossover; Mattel has just released a line of Wizard of Oz Barbie and Ken dolls. I get that the Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic, but in this day and age are little girls still interested in that movie? I guess Mattel ran out of colors for Barbie’s dress and decided to mix it up a bit.

If you look closely at all of the dolls, including Dorothy, the Good Witch, the bad witch, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man; you’ll see that they all resemble the characters from the movie with one exception. The Wicked Witch of the West is beautiful. They clearly just took a spare Barbie doll and put black clothing on her. It’s odd that they wouldn’t take the time and effort to mold some new heads for the doll with a huge ugly nose, which was easily the witch’s most defining feature.

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Here are eleven new toy recalls. Three if which have too much lead. I didn’t think they still made toys in this day and age with lead in them. oh well, hopefully none of you have any of these in your homes. Note: the toy pictured is real. It was recalled back in the 50’s.

Oeuf LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y., is recalling 1,400 infant bouncer seats. The tubular metal frame can break, posing a fall hazard to infants in the seat.

Tequila Rose Distilling Co. of Weston, Mo., is recalling 60,000 Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream candle sets. The martini glass containing the gel candle can break while the candle is burning, posing fire and burn hazards.

Hunter’s View of Peoria, Ill., is recalling 200,000 additional tree-stand harnesses, after an April 2005 recall of 500,000 harnesses. The harnesses could fail during use, resulting in a hunter falling from the tree stand and suffering serious injuries or death.

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I saw this short local news story online regarding Webkinz. It briefly touches on the dangers of your kids becoming addicted to their Webkinz. Through Webkinz.com a child has to take care of their virtual pet, on a fairly regular basis. The pet needs to be fed and interacted with to stay happy. This is the double edged sword of this hot toy. You child learns things like responsibility without the parents having to flush a neglected pet down the toilet. On the other hand this is another way for kids to become virtual couch potatoes.

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Being the son of a Latin teacher I always heard about how younger kids learn additional languages easily.  Given this fact and the huge advantages people who speak multiple languages have I don’t understand why more parents don’t take the initiative to give their kids toys that foster a love for language.  When I was growing up in a small town in VA, the only foreign language I had access to was Dad’s Latin lessons and the brief Spanish lessons on Sesame Street. 

With the Internet and the advances in modern toys teaching kids a second language should be a no brainier; but we as English speaking Americans have never seen a huge need for this.  As the world shrinks people will have to be better communicators.

I live in a neighborhood where there are at least five different languages spoken and my son stays with a family that speaks Hindi.  I never thought to really try to get him to start learning a second language like Spanish or French but the time may be coming where he’s old enough to start.  The advantages are huge, especially as they get into high school and have to take the required foreign language classes.

There are some bilingual toys on Amazon but I don’t know if any are worth getting.  More challenging will be getting my son to play with them.  I’ll let you guys know soon.

Movie Toy Roundup Part 2 of 4, Web Sling’en

In Movie Toy Roundup Part 1 of 4, we looked at Pirates. Now we take a look at the number 2 contender for 2007 boxoffice champ, Spiderman 3. There are a few standout toys from the latest Spider-Man installment. I found three that are both innovative and promote constructive activities.

The first toy that caught my attention is the Spider-Man 3 My 1st from Hasbro. This is basically an action figure that has two webs, that more closely resemble discs, that shoot out from Spidy’s hands. The brilliance behind this toy is that it is an action figure that is meant for the 3 year old crowd. The problem with almost ALL action figures is that they are meant for older kids because they come with very small parts that can be a choking hazard. Not the case with the Spider-Man 3 My 1st Spider Double Web Shooter. This one gets a thumbs up in my opinion. You can pick up this guy for $20 at Target.

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Finally a toy that encourages the kids to play in the street at night! Seriously this thing is pretty cool. The Spy Video Car is a radio controlled car with a night vision camera mounted on it. Kids can see everything the car sees with a special set of goggles. The R/C Spy Video Car is small enough to navigate the living room without smashing into too many pieces of furniture. As a parent all you can do is hope that this thing is loud enough to hear coming so you don’t get caught doing something I don’t want the kids to know about.

The Spy Video Car comes with a Heads Up Display (HUD) that can be worn by the operator to see everything the car sees in the dark. It is basically a set goggles with that plug into the controller with tiny monitors in them. The HUD receives the digital camera signal via a wireless transmission from the car. The night vision picture is in black and white.

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