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Archived Reviews
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Search Toy Review:
Recent Reviews:
 Name: In the Trees, Honey Bees
Company: DAWN PUBLICATIONS
Age: 3-12
Price: $8.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: A Practical Guide to Faeries
Company: MIRRORSTONE
Age: 8 and up
Price: $12.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Shopping with Dad
Company: BAREFOOT BOOKS
Age: 3-7
Price: $16.99
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Global Green Pals™ Pink Coral Laurel
Company: RESTORATION GALLERY LLC
Age: 3 and up
Price: $29.99
Category: Dolls
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: BANDthology - The Board Game for Music Lovers
Company: BANDthology Inc.
Age: 8 and up
Price: $30.00
Category: Board Games
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: You Are Weird: Your Body’s Peculiar Parts and Funny Functions
Company: KIDS CAN PRESS
Age: 9-14
Price: $16.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about You Are Weird: Your Body’s Peculiar Parts and Funny FunctionsBack to top
 Name: Painting the Town
Company: CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS
Age: 3-7
Price: $15.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: green start™: one tree
Company: INNOVATIVEKIDS
Age: 3-6
Price: $6.99
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Benny and Penny in The Big No-No!
Company: RAW JUNIOR LLC
Age: 6-10
Price: $12.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Mama’s Kiss
Company: CHRONICLE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Age: 3-6
Price: $14.99
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: The Imaginary Garden
Company: KIDS CAN PRESS
Age: 3-7
Price: $16.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: A Pirate’s Quest: For His Family Heirloom Peg Leg
Company: CARL R. SAMS II PHOTOGRAPHY INC. (STRANGER IN THE WOODS)
Age: 3-11
Price: $19.95
Category: Books
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about A Pirate’s Quest: For His Family Heirloom Peg LegBack to top
 Name: ArtiSands Mini Geometric kit
Company: ARTISANDS
Age: All Ages
Price: $14.95
Category: Arts & Crafts
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: SphereXyz
Company: LA1PRODUCTS
Age: 8 and up
Price: $19.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What It Is: SphereXyz features two hemispheres and two sets of colored tiles that can be moved within canals on the face of the puzzle. Once the tiles are mixed up well, the goal is to rotate the hemispheres and move the tiles along the two axes until the white tiles are at opposite poles and each hemisphere houses only one collection of colored tile — green or purple.
What We Thought: Similar to the method of mixing the puzzle, solving the puzzle requires one to continue rotating the tiles and hemispheres, but in a controlled, purposeful direction. Drawing from my experiences with the Rubik´s Cube, I understood that I might become distracted in trying to fill in one particular corner, just to end up realizing my other corner had been shifted to a point of no return. I might also become disoriented and lose track of what goes where. My strategy was to go at it in a structured, methodical way. I knew the beginning would be the easiest. The hard part is toward the end when you have a small collection of colored tiles remaining and you don´t want to risk gambling your set pieces in hopes of getting the miscellaneous floaters in their correct spots. Well, I gambled, and it paid off, as the pieces I had already stayed safe and the remaining pieces fell in correctly, solving the puzzle on the spot. Mixing the tiles around sometimes required precision by making sure all were aligned correctly; otherwise, you would run into a tile jam. The rotating hemispheres fell victim to the same situation, but overall, not something that was too cumbersome. I tried my best to purposely mix the two colors in certain arrangements that I felt would come back to haunt me when it was time to solve the puzzle.
Why They´ll Want It: It took roughly 20 minutes to solve the puzzle, which seems to lean on the easy side of things. Ask my coworker, though, and she´ll tell you she struggled with it to the point of giving up — so it can offer a significant challenge! Also, it may be tougher to the minds of children between 7 and 14, where it presents itself as a challenge requiring cognitive functions such as predicting outcomes, visualizing the actions of all the moving parts, and understanding how the puzzle interlocks together with all its components. I feel that with more time spent on this puzzle, it would reveal a more recognizable sequence of techniques, allowing the solver to continually change or improve upon his or her approach. This puzzle is a solid production that can serve as a good brain teaser. Its ever-changing configuration of piece layouts increases its shelf life, and it's nice to have around just to exercise the brain. — Allen Tran, 7/24/09
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 Name: Mashoonga! SABERS
Company: REVEL KING, INC.
Age: All Ages
Price: $24.95
Category: Outdoor Fun
What It Is: Created for playing the game of Mashoonga! with the goal of becoming a Mashoonga! Warrior™, these sabers consist of firm foam material covered with a stretchy, removable red or blue fabric, plus a sturdy handle. The life-sized “swords” are designed for battle.
What We Thought: The office staff had a total blast with the sabers, both in free-for-alls in the parking lot and in more structured, fencing-style contests in the hallway. In many cases, we couldn’t stop laughing as we watched each other develop distinctive maneuvers and strategies for battle. The foam surrounding the sword´s inner base helps prevent most bodily injuries, assuming the person dealing the damage is not swinging to hit a home run and not directing it at a person´s head. If strength is restricted to a reasonably safe level, duelists can still battle each other with enough force that one would feel they are in a real sparring match. It is important that children and teens (and adults!) heed the warning label, and avoid direct hits to the head, eyes or groin. The only gripe about the Mashoonga! saber is its weight, which falls on the length of the foam blade, requiring unnecessary expenditure of energy to hold it up. The weight also affects movement — if the weight was primarily in the hilt, it would make for better balance.
Why They’ll Want It: It´s a fun toy for pretend play as one can easily imagine himself as a sword master cutting away at the bad guys or at an opponent, without the worry of hurting people or furniture in the process. I remember fighting my friends with sticks and plastic swords for hours on end when I was young, and Mashoonga! is a terrific modern alternative. Parents may appreciate that it keeps children active; you can get a decent cardio workout while playing, with a low risk of injury. — TDmonthly Staff, 7-10-09
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 Name: Pentago CE
Company: MINDTWISTER USA
Age: 6 and up
Price: $19.95
Category: Puzzles & Skill
What Is It: Pentago CE is a two-player, portable strategy game in which the goal is to be the first player to create a row of five marbles. The twist is that after a player places a marble, he or she also rotates one of the four squares that make up the game board, 90 degrees in any direction. The game comes with black and white marbles.
What We Thought: Pentago is so intuitive players can begin a game without even reading the directions, and its sleek design and simple concept make it immediately attractive. The more one plays it or watches a game of Pentago, the more its nuances are revealed. One reviewer found it reminiscent of an extended tic-tac-toe game, and a little weak on the defensive end — not as well developed in the area of giving players opportunity to directly interrupt their opponent by, say, knocking out an opponent’s piece or issuing some kind of trump card-like counter attack. He appreciated, however, elements that other players applauded, too: the simple rules, quick play, and opportunity for extended matches. “I like Pentago specifically because it’s not too hard, so it has a wider appeal with non-geeks,” another reviewer commented. One player noted that Pentago features the long-term planning of chess but without the complexity. And, it seems the simplicity of the game gives a novice a greater chance of beating an expert than games like Othello or Tannhauser do.
Why They’ll Want It: As one reviewer noted, “This is one of the most elegant [strategy games] I’ve ever seen.” The sophisticated design, “twist” play, portability and easy-to-learn rules are all pluses for Pentago CE, as is the fact that it can be effectively covered in mid-play so opponents can return to a game later on, if need be. Also, since a game can be played in just five minutes, it maintains a rapid-fire pace that keeps players from getting too discouraged when they make mistakes. — Julie L. Jones, 5/29/09
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 Name: Crayola® Art Studio
Company: CORE LEARNING
Age: 4 and up
Price: $24.95
Category: Software
What It Is: Crayola Art Studio is a software program that lets children draw and paint with digital art tools, then edit their creations using special features. It includes 12 realistic art tools, hundreds of preset colors, undo and redo options so kids are free to experiment, and hundreds of images that can be used to practice digital editing techniques. Kids can save and print their work, and even design decorations and greeting cards.
What We Thought: “Crayola Art Studio is a great tool for developing young minds in art,” wrote an 8-year-old girl who reviewed this product. She observed that some tools, like pencils, are thin, some tools, such as the tempera paint and slick stick, don´t have much of a difference, and other tools, such as oil pastels and markers, are very different. She especially enjoying zooming in on images to see the pixels, and felt like kids could easily create an entire art gallery with the elements available in this program. Her younger sister, 5, most enjoyed using one tool with the symmetry feature that shows a mirror image of the artist’s drawing. Stamps can be added to pictures and shapes, too.
Why They’ll Want It: Aside from parental help when installing the program and saving artwork, the children were able to navigate and enjoy Crayola Art Studio on their own. Although they wished the program would allow them to animate images, overall, they said they prefer Crayola Art Studio to Kid Pix by Software Mackiev because of the variety of colors and tools available. The reviewers spent a couple of hours (not consecutively) with the software during the initial evaluation, and said they definitely plan to use it again! — Julie L. Jones, 5/29/09
Learn more about Crayola® Art StudioBack to top
 Name: F.A.S.T.® SpeedDial®
Company: YOYOFACTORY
Age: 8 and up
Price: $50.00
Category: Yo-Yos
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about F.A.S.T.® SpeedDial®Back to top
 Name: Morph-O-Scopes Kit - Sports of All Sorts
Company: OOZ & OZ
Age: 5-14
Price: $15.99
Category: Educational
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Morph-O-Scopes Kit - Sports of All SortsBack to top
 Name: Perfect Sense
Company: PATCH PRODUCTS INC.
Age: 12 and up
Price: $25.00
Category: Board Games
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: SLIDER™ the Unscooter™
Company: IDEA MILL LLC
Age: 3-99
Price: Not Specified
Category: Sporting Goods & Accessories
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Make Shrink Art Jewelry and Tags for Your Pet and You Too
Company: BOWWOWMEOW
Age: 8 and up
Price: $17.99
Category: Arts & Crafts
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Make Shrink Art Jewelry and Tags for Your Pet and You TooBack to top
 Name: Bye Bye Monster Gift Set
Company: YOUR THYME INC.
Age: 4-12
Price: $49.95
Category: Eco-Friendly
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Sweet as Can Be Fairy Doll
Company: LINDA RICK, THE DOLL MAKER
Age: 3 and up
Price: $25.00
Category: Dolls
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Jim Copp, Will You Tell Me a Story? Three Uncommonly Clever Tales
Company: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Age: 6-9
Price: $17.95
Category: Music
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Jim Copp, Will You Tell Me a Story? Three Uncommonly Clever TalesBack to top
 Name: Ask the Planet: The Missoula Coyote Choir & Friends
Company: THE BIOMIMICRY INSTITUTE
Age: All Ages
Price: $14.98
Category: Music
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Ask the Planet: The Missoula Coyote Choir & Friends Back to top
 Name: Rocketship Run
Company: TWO TOMATOES RECORDS LLC
Age: 1-6
Price: $15.00
Category: Music
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Rocketship RunBack to top
 Name: Ultimate Spinner
Company: ROBBINS TOY
Age: All Ages
Price: $49.95
Category: Wooden Toys
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
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 Name: Food Pyramid Bingo Updated Deluxe Edition
Company: SMARTPICKS INC.
Age: 10 and up
Price: $29.95
Category: Educational
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Food Pyramid Bingo Updated Deluxe EditionBack to top
 Name: Comet, The Fast Path to Learning - Family Edition
Company: ACTIVE MINDS INC
Age: 11 and up
Price: $39.95
Category: Educational
Please click here to read TDmonthly´s Toy Expert review of this product.
Learn more about Comet, The Fast Path to Learning - Family EditionBack to top
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