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!

Continue Reading »

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.

Continue Reading »

I’ve seen a ton of the new types of inflatable pools at Target. If you haven’t they look very sturdy and range in size from small, for the kiddies, to huge. Big enough for several adults. They are built from Dura-Tech, which is a very strong kind of rubber. This new generation of pools seem to be built around that same principal that allows your neighbors to have those huge, inflatable lawn ornaments for the holidays. Basically they stay inflated via powerful fan that runs continuously.

Backyard fun has really reached a new level of fun (beyond inflatable pools) with the Banzai Sidewinder Falls from Manly. It was not too long ago that fun water rides and pool slides were only assessable at amusement parks and your ultra rich relatives’ house. Now you can have a ten foot tall water slide in less than 3 minutes. Yes three minutes. The Banzai Sidewinder Falls has a waterfall climbing wall, a slide and a shallow pool at the bottom of the slide. Kids can scale the waterfall and then slide down into the pool.

Continue Reading »

Back in the day pool toys pretty much consisted of inflatable (insert animal name here) toys, the odd pool volleyball net, and maybe some lame squirt guns. This summer the “robo” toys will be taking over the pools of suburbia starting with the Radio Controlled Hammerhead Shark from the Discovery Channel Store.

Continue Reading »

Every kid or grownup has had the dream to be a hero but not many would actually attempt to fight off the supernatural forces of Dr. Octopuss or the Joker in real life. What parent wouldn’t expect their kids to take things upon themselves, to be brave enough to tackle any situation? How would you foster courageous and honest feelings in your kids? How would you motivate them?

We have found the answer in the form of a toy called Mazu Kan: Two Player Invisible Fighting Game. One has to agree that latest movies, like the Star Wars, have impacted everyone’s lives especially the younger generations. Mazu Kan is based upon the same terminology which introduces a virtual fighting/training stimulation. This two player stimulation game is played by wearing two button straps around both hands and the central shield like unit on your chest. The fun starts when the player squeezes the palm buttons which cause vibrations in the central unit generating the feelings as if you have punched the opponent.

What’s super cool is that the palm buttons create vibrations in your opponent’s chest unit. Yeah… it’s true. Once you start hitting opponent in the air, the opponent’s chest unit will vibrate if he/she doesn’t block it by simple hand fold signaling. That’s where you are considered to have scored a successful hit.

Players can shuffle between basic and advanced modes and play with more moves and hits. Hitting on walls will also get your chest unit to vibrate. Using advanced the mode a player can use more moves to hit and score against their opponent. Some of the moves a player can gain are punch, a power punch, block, power block, double power punch and block, Force field, Heal and overheat features.

The maximum distance that the players can try their moves is approx 30 feet’s at a frequency of 433 MHz with each unit having 3 AA batteries. $29.99 gets you the entire package from ThinkGeek.com, with two complete fighting suits, instructions, and your child’s path to superhero fame and glory.

A rather innovative Japanese Web site, SF Paper Craft Company, has published an array of Star Wars ships and vehicles that can be made entirely with paper, scissors, tape and a ton of patience. The designs include Tie Fighters, AT-AT Walkers, and even a Star Destroyer. What I really like about these do it your self ships is that the markings for the Rebellion and Empire are already on the cutouts.; no adhering stickers for two hours. There are other sci-fi vehicles, for those not in tune with the force, from Star Trek and Back to the Future.

To get started; you just go to their site, click on the shi-fi ship of your choice and up comes the Adobe Acrobat file. From there you just print, cut, and tape. Viola your very own desktop Tie Fighter. The best part About this interstellar origami is that if you make mistake you can simply print off a new one.