From the makers of the popular NERF blasters comes the revolutionary LAZER TAG system, combining the power, precision and excitement of live-action blaster battles with the high-action, strategic, augmented reality game play of traditional video games.

Players download the NERF Lazer Tag app and then slip their iPhone or iPod Touch into the slot on the NERF Lazer Tag blaster. The App uses augmented reality to give users virtual targets to shoot via lazer, as well has a heads up display for tracking remaining power/rounds, scores, and health. There’s single player and two player mode and the lazer has a virtual range of up to 250 feet. There’s also a world wide virtual leaderboard that ranks each player’s profile and, with every successful mission, players will gain in-game access to upgradeable attacks, missions and gear.

The blasters will run about $40 a piece or $70 for a two blaster set. The App is fee for download at the iTunes App Store. Available late summer/early fall. Ages 8 and up.

Hat Tip – Engadget

If you’re not familiar with the Big Bad Bow, it’s basically a NERF NStrike weapon toy meets a compound bow. It comes with a trio of oversized foam darts which fit on the end and are propelled by a air emitting chamber that are look like they are powered by the twin casters on either end. Sadly, those are only cosmetic, but they sure look sweet and intimidating!

And although you can’t fire the darts with a bow string like a real compound bow, there is a trigger mechanism that powers the air piston that shoots the dart. It shoots the foam darts as far as about forty feet. Which isn’t really much if you’re Hawkeye trying to take down one of Loki’s henchmen, but still worth fun for playing pretend Avengers. There’s a target scope to help take careful aim at targets and the foam darts are great for knocking over tin cans to practice your accuracy. And if you’re really serious about your Nerf-archery, there’s modification videos on YouTube that will help you increase your range (one guy claims over 95 feet).

Cost is about $29, some assembly required.

Hat Tip –

The Personal Pitching Coach takes the standard pitchback design and adds a few things that help hone your pitching form. In addition to the 9 sector strike zone, it also has a high tech radar system which measures pitch velocit (from 20-99mph), calls balls and strikes, and even pitch counts for up to two different pitchers over the course of an inning. The Personal Pitching Coach will also tally strikeouts, walks, and total pitches, and it can be adjusted to handle both Little League and Major league strike zones. It’ll even measure for fast pitch softball so the girls aren’t left out. Made from durable 16-gauge steel with stainless steel hardware, the PPC is foldable and is powered by four D batteries that provide up to 100 hours of power.

But at $400 (compared to the low tech $20 model), it’s a bit pricey. But it’s Hammacher and that’s just how they roll.

Hat Tip – The Ferret

The toy is made by Bladez Toyz’s as part of their “Pump & Play remote control” line and is known as the RC Jumbo Inflatable R2D2. It’s 26-inches tall and will foot pump, and a wireless remote. And it scoots around pretty fast as well. The RC Jumbo Inflatable R2D2 is scheduled to come out this fall and should cost around $60. Bladez also says that with it’s licensing deal with Lucasfilm, there will be more Pump and Play remote control toys coming out in time for Christmas. That would be cool. What would you like to see? Personally, I’d like to see an XWing/Tie Fighter duo for R/C dogfighting, or the Millenium Falcon would be a must! I think that C3PO would be cool, but would be very tall and probably difficult to operate due to center of gravity. Course, you could get more astromechs, but once you have R2D2, why would you want anything else?

Hat Tip – Pocket Lint

Previewed on their NERF Nation Facebook page, the new Firefly technology is being launched with the NERF Vortex Lumitron and the conventional NERF Rayven shotgun style pistol, which has an extra long, 18 shot dart clip. The clip itself is battery operated because it’s also LED lit, while the Vortex discs and the conventional darts are glow in the dark to give your game play a kind of tracer round like feel.

The result is that kids can get into foamy firefights at night, although NERF is pretty adamant that kids need to play in an area that has been well cleared of obstacles so that they don’t trip and fall in the dark and kill themselves. Check out the video of it in action:

Additionally, there’s a great breakdown of the new extended ammo clips from Tactical Tag and how they affect the Nerf Rayven’s new rear mounted clip feeder:

As you can see, while cool looking to move the clip to the back, if you’re planning on using your drum feed clip, you’re going to run into some mild discomfort as you shoot on the run.

The cost of the new Rayven and Vortex Lumitron are around $29.99, and Target has the Light Up Rayven right now. The Vortex Lumitron will be out by mid March.

Hat Tip NERF Mods and Reviews

LEGO Magazine has a new ad out for the Marvel Universe line of LEGO toys, and guess what … they’re coming just in time for my birthday! W00t!

According to From Bricks to Bothans, an April launch is a bit puzzling because we haven’t really seen any images (save the ones we posted from ComiCon here) or sets leaked. But if you look at the minifigs they’ve got in the ad, they’re pulling out the big guns right off the bat: Wolverine (with new steel claws replacing the typical LEGO U shaped hand), Captain America, a very oversized Hulk (seriously, he’s at least twice as large as the typical minifig), and then Tony Stark, aka IronMan.

The line of Marvel Heroes is part of the LEGO Super Heroes line, which was launched this month with DC Heroes (actually, they went on sale a few weeks early for Christmas last month). The opening salvo included SuperMan, Green Lantern, and Batman, with sets including Superman vs. Lex Luthor Exoskeleton. They’re all really super cool and is a perfect edition to the LEGO line. I can’t wait until LEGO comes out with the LEGO Super Hero Video game, with the same tongue and cheek fun as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and the like!

Growing up as a kid, I loved Viewmaster. It took you to places you probably would never go to and give you 3D memories so you could live vicariously. It was really cool (especially the NASA Apollo reels, they were the best). Every kid I knew had a Viewmaster and we would not only watch them, but we would also trade and borrow each others discs. It was a great toy for passive playtime. But as the world moved from analog to digital, Viewmaster was faced with it’s own extinction, and evolve or die was the watch word.

So, by partnering up with Spatial View, Fisher Price is going to evolve and offer Viewmaster Digital 3D, over a century stereoscopic images that can be viewed on your mobile devices and also through your 3D capable HDTV.

“The View-Master archive is a virtual treasure-trove of 3D imagery capturing over 100 years of history and culture,” said Peter Snajczuk, Vice President of Marketing for Fisher-Price. “We’re thrilled to be working with Spatial View to make these spectacular images available digitally for download from ViewMasterDigital3D.com to a variety of 3D mobile devices and Internet-connected 3D TVs.”

Beginning sometime in the first quarter of 2012, iPhone 4 users will be able to turn their device into a digital Viewmaster thanks to Spatial View’s innovative 3DeeSlide accessory which will then let them view the images in 3D without the need of glasses. Support for Android 3D smart phones, Windows PCs, and 3D TV platforms will soon follow. The 3D images, which will initiallyinclude a selection of titles consisting of national parks, travel, nature, and history, will be sold in the classic package of 18-21 images for $1.99 at the Viewmaster Digital 3D website.

For more information or to be notified when the View-Master 3D images will be available, please visit www.viewmasterdigital3d.com.

The idea is pretty simple. Physical toys and game sets are set up with special QR codes affixed to them. Then you download the WoWee AppGear app from either iTunes (for iOS) or the Android marketplace (for Android) and then you let the play begin. The toys will come to life while you interact with the environment and start shooting up the joint.

Doesn’t that look like fun? And rather than kids just sitting like a lump on the couch playing, they actually end up moving around, which is always a good thing. WoWee is planning six different games and apps for 2012, including Alien Jailbreak, Zombie Burbs, and Elite Commander, with a price ranging from around $10-20 (probably for the actual toy sets).

I’m telling you, this augmented reality thing really has no end to it. As an old school Dungeons and Dragons player, I’d love to see a bunch of friends gatehred around the old map, drawn out on plotting paper, and seeing battles actually come to life when you input a dice roll number on your iPhone. Or, as my son loves YuGiOh, seeing the monsters come to life and fight it out like it does in the TV show. That’s the future my friend!

Hat Tip – Our sister site, COOLEST GADGETS

For Girls:

1. Barbie – let’s face it, you can’t go wrong with Barbie. At 50 years old, she’s still hot and fashionable and with the new I Can Be a Computer Engineer Barbie, she’s putting forth a great message that girls can be anything they want.

2. Bizu Style Studio – With Bizu Studio, girls can make their own jewelry and accessories. Comes complete with beads, Beading Tool, 4 Character Templates and 2 Key-Chain/Backpack Attachments.

3. Fur Real Friends Electronic Pets - Nothing beats a puppy for Christmas. And with the realistic fur and interactive nature of the Fur Real Friends, kids can have that special friend without parents worrying over potty training! When you talk to her, she responds with a puppy babble. Give her a bone, she makes crunching sounds like she’s chewing it. And pet her back and she barks and wags her tail.

4. WowWee Paper Jamz Pro Mic Series – with Paper Jamz Pro Mic series, kids can live the rock star fantasy of their favorite stars. Features 2 built-in songs, auto mode that adjusts effects on the fly, Perfect pitch to keep you in tune, auto harmony sound, and a Chorus Multiply mode

5. Gift cards – When in doubt, the all purpose gift is a gift card. And if you give an iTunes gift card, you’re turning your coolness factor up to 11.

For Boys –

1. NERF – It’s NERF, or Nothin’. That’s the slogan and it’s true. Boys love the Nerf NStrike toys and the new disc shaped Vortex line is a must have for the holidays. Greater range, cooler designs, and disc shaped darts. But if you don’t want to risk getting something they already have, you can always just get accessories like more ammo or the cool bandoliers (you can’t have enough clips), or don’t worry about it, you can always use a second gun!

2. Hot Wheels Video Racers – With a video camera built into it, the Hot Wheels Video Racer gives a driver’s eye view of all the action. And every kid has the fantasy of racing on a Hot Wheels track. So this is a must. Just make sure you bring a track if your Nephew doesn’t have one. Or if he does, more track is always welcome.

3. LEGO – There’s no way you can go wrong with a LEGO building set. Because one, kids can always use more bricks and b) with sites like Rebrickable, the more sets you have, the more sets you can build you don’t have! And if you’re kid is into a certain line – like Ninjago, Star Wars, or especially the new DC Super Heroes line, they’ll certainly think you’re the coolest Uncle or Aunt on the planet with a new set under the tree!

4. Video games – What kid doesn’t like video games? And with new titles like SkyRim, Portal 2, and Little Big Planet 2, there’s a great game for all ages.

5. Gift Cards – Why a gift card? Well, kids love to choose their own toys and they’re likely to get more cards from other family members. Adding to the talley means they can get larger gifts or multiples. And if you’re the Uncle who gives the card that gets them over the top on a huge gift, he’ll remember you for it!

Here’s how it’s broken down so far …

The first day of Clix-mas is “A Gauntlet in my OP,” featuring the Marvel Comic Hero Clix Infinity Gauntlet.

On the second day of Clixmas… Two Pet Avengers, featuring Lockjaw and Hairball, again from the Marvel line.

The Third Day of Clixmas brings …

Three Mischievous IMPS from Quarriors in dice form. Which many fans on the WizKids Facebook page are calling shenanigans since that doesn’t officially count as HeroClix, but WizKids comes back with Clix-mas being an all inclusive holiday.

Day Four of Clixmas turns dark with 4 Justice League Dark Characters …. featuring Madame Xanadu, Enchantress, Zatanna, and Deadman.

And of course, HeroClix previews my favorite on the Fifth Day of Clixmas … FIVE GOLDEN THINGS! (although, technically, they’re a shade of brown). It’s clobberin’ time!

On the sixth day of Clixmas comes more Quarrriors with Six Trolls a Trollin’.

The Seventh Day of Clixmas heads to the Final Frontier with Seven Starships Shooting from the Star Trek Hero Clix collection.

Which leads us to today preview for the eighth day of Clixmas …. eight mole monsters marching?

Four more preview days to go. To keep track, head over to the WizKids Facebook page. And to have even more fun, check out the 12 days of Clixmas Scenario Game from HeroClix World!