La famille Beaufoix has a new role. Or is it have a new role?
Anyway it is very serious and important and fabulous and one we plan to fulfill to the best of our abilities.
It will be tough.
There may be hard times, tears, squabbles, possibly even bruises, but we will soldier on because we live to serve and all that. We may even have to wear a really uncomfortable uniform.
Ack who am I kidding. We’re testing toys people. Woo hooooooo. I mean, who could say no to the chance to receive lovely Toys R Us goodies and try them out?
So without further ado I bring you our first day as official ‘Toyologists‘.
The box arrives and two very happy little girls dive in.
We build.
A week ago I would never have imagined Misses E and M would get quite so excited over a Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 (age 4+), but they played with a friend’s Hot Wheels set just the day before so were almost giddy with joy when they saw this. I was actually a bit scared.
Putting it together was a team effort and it was really good seeing them work everything out. My girls don’t generally go for toys like this so I was surprised how easy they found it. What was less easy was getting the car to do what we wanted it to do but we haven’t given up yet and it’s fun trying. I think it’s got something to do with the angle of the ‘gravity feed ramp’, timing the drop perfectly so as to avoid the ‘jaw trap’, and making sure the G-Clamp is correctly positioned on your lovely spotty table cloth…
Sighhhh, so pretty.
The second item they tugged from the box were the Blendy Pens (aged 6+). To be honest I wasn’t sure of these, but Miss E explained that her mate L had some and they were really cool so we went for it.
Stunning results right? I’d like to direct you to the seahorse picture in the bottom right hand corner in particular, cough.
The idea is that you create colour blends by clicking two different Blendypens into the ‘Fusion Chamber’. The nibs touch, the colours leak into each other and you get a mixture that gradually fades back to the original colour as you shade.
While in my mind these are pretty much gimmicky felt-tips, as you can see both E and M love them. E (10) really experimented with shading and has already decided we need more, while M (5) didn’t quite get the concept but loved colouring the textured designs included in the pack. A couple of pieces did fall out of the fusion chambers but we pushed them back in and they seem to work ok though you’d have to keep an eye on these if you have younger kids.
Our box also included a Ben 10 Shaker Maker, a Galt Magic Science Kit, Pirate Snakes and Ladders, the ‘Logo’ board game, face paints and a cuddly giraffe, so you can expect a post involving pink painted super heroes, bubbling potions, gurning children and a traumatised Mummy who has foolishly let her 5 and 10 year old loose on her face. It won’t be pretty.
In the mean time I would like to leave you with Miss M on the phone to her Daddy:
Miss M: ”I’ve been playing with my new cart wheels Daddy.”
Miss E: ”It’s hot M.”
Miss M: ”I mean, HOT cart wheels Daddy.”
Miss E: ”No, HOT WHEELS M.”
Snort. She is such a girl.
And, if you deliver a huge box of toys to the home of a five and ten year old what do you get?
They did like the toys better though. I promise.
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August 25th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Excellent reviews!! You were much kinder about the Blendy pens, though – you could basically do that with a regular marker- than I would’ve been.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Ta lovely. And yep, you probably could do it with normal pens but this way seems less messy, honest. Girls love stationery stuff don’t they.
August 25th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Hot Wheels are always good. Even Hot Cart Wheels.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:44 am
The Hot Wheels are cool. I’m wondering if you can join other tracks onto the set we’ve got as I think my two would play with it more if you could.
August 26th, 2010 at 5:26 am
Oh my god – they still have shake-a-makers?
August 27th, 2010 at 11:46 am
They do PM, and my two have never used them yet so I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re like. Ben 10 may get a new look though.
August 26th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
I wish they would send over some of those toys to my house for me to play with.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Nora they’re so cool. We are very lucky. You can always come and play with ours.
August 27th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
My brother used to have an intensive set of Hotwheels, and would run the track all over the house. Our cats would chase the cars. Good times!
August 29th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Awww Susan that sounds amazing. Hmmmm we may need to get some add ons.
August 28th, 2010 at 5:48 am
Wow i think this is a great piece of marketing for Toys R Us, what a fantastic idea. It looks like the kids enjoyed the free toys too. x
August 29th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
It’s a win win situation. And I will try my best to make the reviews interesting and fun to read, but in the end, it’s all about the kids.
August 29th, 2010 at 5:31 am
OMG, been gone so long and missed you and your adventures with the girls…glad to be home in Blogland and see that you and the wee ones are still just as rambunctious as ever! You may be setting their future careers here…I’d love to be a Toyologist!
Sandi
August 29th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Sandi imagine? It would be such a cool job wouldnt it? It makes me think of the film Big. I would love that job.