Gift Reviews, Toy Reviews
Getting Personal Travel Journal and Pencil Case.
The summer is nearly over – sob! However, we had a great time over the holidays. My daughter experienced her first plane trip and was able to document every detail in her personalised Travel Journal from Getting Personal. Yea!
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The journal was presented to her just before we left for our week to Spain and she was delighted. I was very pleased with the book, it’s glossy cover and with her name on the front, it looked really well. They can be ordered in different sizes and with or without lined pages. A simply unique gift and a wonderful keepsake. The hard part is choosing your book – have a look online www.gettingpersonal.co.uk The variety is vast and you will be sure to find a special book to suit your needs. Prices from £5.99.
After the holidays its’ the ‘back to school planning’! I hate this, with three children its’ no easy task. I spend days sewing labels onto jumpers, PE kits and school bags. Getting Personal can help with this bigtime! My children now have personalised pencil cases, and they are perfect for all the bits and bobs needed.
![Personalised-Princess-Pencil-Case_b[1]](http://pamperedpresents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Personalised-Princess-Pencil-Case_b1.jpg)
The pencil cases are large and will easily hold an entire set of colouring pencils, rulers, rubbers and pens. They come in different designs and can be personalised with any name on the front. We choose Princess Sophie, and its pink, fluffy, sparkly – just what any little girl would desire!
Dimensions 32×14.5cm £11.99.
Excellent quality personalised products from a great company.
Toy Reviews
Playmobil Cargo Ship with Loading Crane.
Am I the only grown up who kept their favourite toys? Most of my friends kept nothing, but I have my Playmobil playground! It is now enjoyed by my 3 children and is as good as new – honestly, apart from the pieces I have lost over the years, nothing was ever broken and everything works.
Playmobil has one of the best reputations of any toy company I know. Their toys are colourful, entertaining, educational and durable. Hours and hours can be spent with just one Playmobil set – I have proved that.
My sister has the Playmobil Noah’s ark and every time we visit, it is in the middle of the ‘playroom’ floor, played with my children from the age of 4 yrs right up to 10 yrs and thoroughly enjoyed.
Playmobil never dates – never. New toys are released frequently and they are up to date and modern each time. One of these new sets is presently my son’s ‘greatest bestest toy ever’!!
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The cargo ship is simply fantastic, like nothing I have ever seen throughout different toy ranges. It floats on water – which is great although we have never done that. It even has a working anchor. We may eventually ‘launch on water’, as dad is infatuated that you can upgrade this boat to one with an underwater motor. So, this ship will float at a later date to dad’s delight! For now, it is the centre of attention on our playroom floor. Two containers come with the set and can be hoisted on and off the ship with the loading crane. This is brilliant, and containers are constantly being loaded on and off in our house! The cabin’s roof comes off too, so there is really a lot of opportunities for imagination and role play.
3 Playmobil figures come with the set, and various accessories so lots of fun to be had right from the start.
Other co-ordinating sets can be added to this one – the loading terminal and the cargo truck with container. Check out the site www.playmobil.co.uk
The Cargo ship RRP £49.99 and my advice is to buy this now as every little boy will have it on their Christmas list.
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Toy Reviews
Lalaloopsy Littles Specs Reads A Lot.
The younger siblings of the original larger Lalaloopsy dolls, Specs Reads A Lot very much so has her own personality. She is super smart and is ‘sewn’ from pieces of a girls school uniform!
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I love that she wears glasses (removable) as it helps demonstrate that we are all not the same and perfect. She comes with her pet worm and is the little sister of Bea Spells-A-Lot, next on my daughters wish list! (Glad they are not highly priced).
Her head, arms and legs are fully articulated, which is great for playing with. My daughter even straps Specs in a car seat next to her when travelling!
The Laloopsy Littles are a great size for out and about. My daughter has loads of the Mini Lalaloopsy dolls, but on her travels, its Specs Reads A Lot who always comes along. She does attract a lot of attention, with her adorable clothes and cute little glasses.
I would definitely recommend this doll form a durability point of view as well – lets be honest, we are all skint, but my daughter has never tired of this doll, and even though I tuck them both into bed at night, most mornings the doll is on the floor (wooden floor) and has no signs of wear and tear at all.
I also have to mention that one of Specs reads A Lot’s biggest fans is my mum – she is simply in love with her as Lalaloopsys are a fairly new concept and such a change from dolls we as mums would have grown up with.
Do have a look at the website, it is absolutely beautiful and easy to navigate. Visit the fun workshop, see the full collection or just play games! Lots of fun to be had.
Available from www.lalaloopsy.com and other good toy shops RRP £14.99
Toy Reviews
Mini Lalaloopsy Sew Sweet Playhouse.
My 8 year old daughter simply adores Lalaloopsy dolls. She has quite a few and they are spread across a ‘no go’ area on her bedroom floor. She would set up the little furniture sets and the little dolls would have tea and ‘visit’ each other. She also has the Silly Fun House Playset too, but had no ‘house’ as such – until now. This is a great addition to the world of Lalaloopsy!
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The Sew Sweet Playhouse is just what she needed. It has 3 floors, bright and spacious and plenty of room to hold all her little sets of furniture – so now I can vacuum her room – thank you Lalaloopsy! The shutters open and close, and there are lots of other movable parts too. The house comes with fabulous little sets as well – a lemonade set, drinking cups and picnic table with umbrella. The porch swing is adorable, as is the pet door – her pets get just as much attention as the little dolls, so the little pet attic is just brilliant thinking. The pets go up and down in the pet elevator – Mum’s, you will play with this yourself! An exclusive Lalaloopsy doll is included, Mini Blossom Flowerpot with her very own pet.
The house is just super and it really does have it all – after playing with toys during my younger years and watching both my girls play, I could not have designed a better playhouse. Strong, lots of moveable parts and simply adorable to look at – the perfect gift for your little girl.
Suitable for children from 4 years and over.
Do have a look at the website, it is absolutely beautiful and easy to navigate. Visit the fun workshop, see the full collection or just play games! Lots of fun to be had.
Available from www.lalaloopsy.com and other good toy shops RRP £29.99
Toy Reviews
Power Rangers from Bandai.
Want to defeat evil in style – these are the tools you need! The futuristic Power Rangers cycles!
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Each cycle has a disc just like on TV. This spins when played with – like ‘magic’. My son is infatuated.
He has the Blue vehicle, with the co-ordinating blue power ranger (Kevin) and evil is blasted away regularly in our household. Even the girls join in!
Kevin is a disciplined master swordsman and a professional swimmer. His cycle with spinning disc gets him to the forefront of all the action.
Kevin is 10 cms tall. This toy is great fun alone, but can be combined with others from the Power Ranger collection.
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The red Power Ranger has a cool Megaforce style, making him stand out from the crowd. Jayden can morph into super mega mode and summon the power of fire to defeat evil. He comes with multiple battle accessories to help fight villains.
The green ranger, Mike, assists in battles and fights the toughest bad guys. He also morphs into super mega mode and blasts into action with his Samurai weapon.
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Perfect for roll play, and crafted with great detail, these figures provide hours of entertainment. They are perfect for long trips in the car or for taking on holiday. At 10cms tall, fully poseable, they are very transportable. My son re-created scenes everywhere – at home, in the car, in the shopping trolley and more. Great little figures with oodles of entertainment to be had.
From Bandai. Available from all good toy stores and online. RRP £8.49
Harness the power of the Power Ranger Megaforce with the Deluxe Gosei Morpher!
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Suitable for children from 4 years and up, the Morpher comes with 10 Power Cards. These can be used to activate over 180 unique phrases from the show! There is lots of ‘Morphing’ going on in our house from the Morpher arrived! The Ranger Zords never get a break, from morning to night, if my 4 year old son isn’t playing with this, my daughters are! Its light up action looks great too, especially at night (I know where the kids are in the dark!)
Definatly great value for money as some of the individual Power Ranger figures have cards which also can be used with this too. RRP £29.99
Toy Reviews
TechPet from Bandai.
Thinking of getting a dog? Don’t! Try this TechPet from Bandai.
My daughter has wanted a dog for years and we always said ‘not now dear’! This has ‘filled the void’ as from the TechPet arrived, there has been no mention of a dog!
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TechPet is an app based electronic pet. You can use an iphone or ipod to interact and play games and your pet can even be taught to perform tricks by voice recognition – very cool! It will walk forwards, backwards and even turn in a circle in recognition to voice instruction.
It walks, can wag its tail, dance and bark along to songs. Touch its nose to get to the main menu to check if your dog needs fed! Its quite strange to see this little thing come walking into the kitchen with my daughters face on – yes, you can customise its face to any picture. She has played with this for hours on end and any friends who come over, its straight to the new ‘doggie’! Other children with TechPets can use Bluetooth to allow up to 6 pets to sing and dance together.
Setting up was not complicated. It requires 3xAA batteries – not included. The dog will walk after being switched on, then she was on google and u tube and within 5 minutes, the dog was trained and performing to a captive audience! The instructions in the app are all in English so we found no problems, thankfully. I am not great with technology and you don’t need to be a tech genius to use this.
So far, TechPet has never ‘wet’ in the house and we are all very pleased with this little four legged friend.
Suitable for ages 12 years and over.
Size 15.5, W11, D16cm. For ages 12 years and over. Available from all good toy stores and online. RRP £19.99
Toy Reviews
Ben 10 Figures. Khyber and Humungousaur.
From the Ben 10 Omniverse series come the aliens!
Each Omniverse figure comes with a small mini figure to be used with the new Omnitrix. The figures are for children ages 4 and upwards and I happen to have one of those! He has just turned 4 yrs and is Ben 10 mad. We have Khyber and Humungousaur, and they sure get good work outs!
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Khyber is 10 cms tall, so a good size and not likely to get lost as easily as some of the other toys we have. Khyber wears special armour made from the bones of animal’s he has hunted!! He is fully poseable and comes with a mini figure too. He does look quite scary and exactly like his TV image, so my son gets really excited watching Ben 10 now, when he can own his own alien figure. Something else to mention, Khyber is a strong toy so likely to last as well, he has been picked up by our doggie several times and survived !
The Humungousaur has regular disagreements with Khyber in our house, and again, these toys really do survive the greatest battles! Nothing broken, and always up for the next alien invasion! Humungousaur also comes with a mini figure.
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A brilliant buy for a small price, highly recommended.
From BANDAI and available from all good toy shops or online.
RRP £7.99
Toy Reviews
Harumika.
I have asked myself how so much fun was to be had with a ‘doll without a head’?
My girls play with these sets for hours on end and think I get it at last. They instantly transform themselves into fashion designers!
The appeal with harumika is that girls can get enthralled in the design – its’ not about playing like I would have done as a child. Children can fall in love with fashion and their designs and – here’s the biggie- UPLOAD THEIR IMAGES!!
The Harumika mannequins are designed with a slot at the back and come with a stylus type pen to push fabrics in place. This eliminates the need for glue – always a good thing with kids!
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The materials are co-ordinated in a way, but varies enough to let your daughter use her imagination with her design. Uploading the images is easy and allows them to share their very own fashion design with the Harumika community on-line. Many sets are available, with different mannequins and colours, so many to choose from and collect. There are always new sets to collect with very fashionable themes so your children will love these sets, like mine do.
From Bandai, and can be found at all good toy shops and online. Prices start as low as £6.99 for smaller accessories packs.
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Toy Reviews
Ben 10 Omni-link Omnitrix
This has got to be the toy of the future – the Ben 10 Omni-link Omnitrix.
What is it?? The name meant nothing to me – but to my son – well, he was so excited. Apparently this is what Ben 10 has on television and now Ben 10 fans can have their very own!
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The Omni-link Omnitrix is worn on the child’s wrist like a watch almost, with an adjustable strap, so it’s easy to put on and remove. It will react to play sounds along with the DVD included – as well as other online games, tablet apps and video games. This really is something else!! Even my daughters love it.
It can be used wirelessly and the 3xAAA batteries are included – thank you for that – so very important! Children can now take part in Ben 10 shows and games like never before – no more sitting ‘glued’ to the television – my son is running and jumping about with his Omnitrix blasting out alien like sounds. There are 12 different alien sounds, all very realistic – not that I have spoken with an alien but they sound just like the ‘monsters’ on the show! The additional sound effects are ‘super cool’ and with imagination, any child can take part in a battle and be a hero.
The Omnitrix also vibrates and lights up with the sounds to give the full effect. This is sure to be the number one toy on many Christmas lists this year as Ben 10 continues to grow in popularity.
From BANDAI, Available from all good toy shops RRP £29.99 Suitable for ages 7yrs and up.
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Toy Reviews
The YBIKE from Kickstarter.
Check out this brilliant concept – the YBIKE, the world’s first 3-in-1 smart bike for kids launched from Kickstarter.
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The way that Kickstarter works is that people see a concept they would like to back and help to fund. There are several levels of backing eg £5, £20, £50. Any backer paying £50 will receive one of the first bikes to be made at that cost. Once the Bikes are launched they will be around £160 rrp. For a bike that would last for 3 years and potentially more than one child, think of the money saved! Not to mention the space – I love the idea! Plus, no technical skills are needed to change the bike, brilliant!
The evolve begins as a trike to develop peddling skills, before transforming into a balance trike, and finally into an advanced balance bike – all with a simple and easy mechanism.
Many children grow to love their bikes, learn to trust them, and are wary of new ones. The Evolve bike was designed to leverage that trust.
A truly fantastic concept.
For more information please visit http://www.ybikeusa.com/