toy

ATMs for kids: Are we missing something?

Speaking of parental duties, what kind of values does something like a toy ATM machine indicate? At least a play cash register implies some responsibilities, such as work, commerce and what it takes to buy something. But an ATM?

Hammacher Schlemmer claims that the toy "helps children learn money management as they maintain a savings account up to $999.99." Two points here: First, so far as we can tell, many kids think of ATMs only as machines that spit out money. Second, $999.99?? That says it all. Maybe the smarter ones will teach themselves how to … Read more

Old-school lunch box with modern twist

Here's yet another offline use for all of those digital photos you've been storing on Webshots, Flickr, iPhoto or the like.

The photo lunchbox from Ogg Studio is $35 for one photo, $45 if you want a photo on each side. Yes, each photo can be different. BabyGadget points out that kids love things with pictures of themselves; so maybe this is a good gift idea for one of the little egoists in your life. Ogg will also put artwork on the box.

Hopefully, you will find an image of something more inspirational than your dog or child … Read more

Not your kid brother's toy gun

Toy guns have come a long way from the days of Nerf. This one, the Airsoft Submachine Gun featured on ThinkGeek, is about as far from those neon-green pistols as they get. It has freaking LASER SIGHT. And an illuminator flashlight built in. And it's so awesome, it comes with protective goggles. Not to mention the fact that it actually looks like a legitimate weapon, rather than something out of "The Jetsons."

If you're one of those types who's so hardcore that you play paintball in tanks, then yeah, maybe you'll like this. Just … Read more

Death-defying children's hobbies

Don't you love when innocent playground activities meld with extreme sports?

The same crazy folks at Hammacher Schlemmer that brought us the Mountain Scooter, Gravity-Defying Boots and Push-Free Skateboard, are now pushing The Pneumatic Drive Highest-Jumping Pogo Stick.

This is not the pogo stick of our childhoods. No, no, this one's inner compression spring generates more than 1,500 pounds of thrust capable of hurtling you seven feet in the air, which incidentally is the world record for pogoing set by--you guessed it--The Pneumatic Drive Highest-Jumping Pogo Stick. Air can be added by bike pump or air compressor … Read more

DIY smart objects kit

Was there anything cooler than an Erector Set when you were ten? Twenty?

Billed by Thames and Kosmos as a "computer systems engineering kit," the Microcontroller appeals to those same instincts for constructive adventure. It comes with circuits and prewritten programs that will allow you to turn ordinary objects into "smart objects."

Actually, this $150 toy for kids is also a cool way for adults to mess around and learn how to assemble circuits and write computer programs.

The microcontroller contains a computer processor, storage for memory, timers and ports. The kit comes with 100 programs … Read more

All-terrain robocar isn't just a toy

That irritating mosquito copter we wrote about earlier had better not run out of batteries around this thing, or it'll be squashed like the RC bug that it is.

Hammacher Schlemmer has come out with this all-terrain "screw-propelled remote control car" that would gleefully crush anything in its path. Why "screw-propelled," you ask? As any schoolboy knows, that refers to the technology used by the "Snowbird 6 vehicle that crossed the Bering Strait during the Ice Challenger British exploration expedition of 2002," according to the product literature. When constructed wisely, a pair of … Read more

Bug your loved ones with a mini-copter

It's that time of year, when every manufacturer in the world hopes to strike it rich with the "It" toy. And every year we're flooded with e-mails touting remote-controlled mini-somethings.

This season, it's the miniature helicopter, all of 6 inches long and about a third of an ounce. You can see one in action in this cheesy video, complete with a score reminiscent of Magnum P.I. (A competing version that looks identical can be seen here too.) The demos are a far cry from this amazing RC plane footage, but the mosquito-like copters are … Read more

It's alive!

Boy, November is most certainly a hot month for gadget and gizmo birthdays. In addition to welcoming the Nintendo Wii, the PS3, the Zune, the Archos 604-WiFi, and the Samsung BlackJack, among many others to this rough and tumble consumer world, I'd like to welcome De-botz (the name given to the Lego Mindstorms NXT-based robot I recently built).

The $250 robotics kit (for ages 10 and up) gives you the tools necessary to build and program a variety of brick-based robots. I decided to go with the humanoid, patiently assembling what seemed like a thousand pieces, and that … Read more

Ferrari GPS or Etch-A-Sketch?

We have nothing against the Ferrari laptop and certainly nothing against the Dino. But of all the latest Ferrari-related announcements, this one just doesn't seem to live up to the legendary name above its face, at least in its appearance.

Granted, the Traffic Assist Pro (couldn't they come up with a better name?) is packed with features, including a state-of-the-art GPS system, 400-MHz processor, MP3-grade speakers and a touch-sensitive screen that Newlaunches says can support 65,536 colors. Perhaps most impressive of all to us, it can keep a list of speed radars in its internal database.

Still, … Read more

It's your kid's turn to spy on you

How quickly the tables can turn. Just the other day, we were relishing the thought of sneaking up on friends and loved ones with a Webcam-toting robot spy. Now we find out that another kind of surveillance tool is on the market, and it's for kids.

It looks like an innocent remote-controlled car, but the $100 toy vehicle is mounted with a video camera that sends live feeds back to its operator--which, by Target's definition, is anyone aged 8 and up. To top it off, this thing can even work in the dark with a night-vision feature, and … Read more