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

All Lego construction sets and games are also going for Buy 1 get one at 50% off. Nerf toys, 25% off. BOGO50 deals on all baseball equipment and trading cards. Nintendo DS games 2 for $50. $25 off Microsoft Kinect and 2 Video games. BOGO50 on Thomas the Tank Engine Toys, $20 off bikes, BOGO50 on dolls. You’d be hard pressed to NOT find a deal on the toys you’re looking for as just about everything is on sale.

So hitch a ride on the Jeffrey Soul Train and shop early for Christmas! Sale ends Sunday.

Angry Birds is coming to board games ...

They’re fowls with a grudge and I don’t think they’ll be happy until they’ve taken over the toy world completely. It’s really something amazing. Angry Birds, the runaway iPhone app that’s coming to every single gaming platform ever conceived is now coming to tabletops with a board game edition. That’s right, the Birds have a grudge to bear and they want the family involved big time.

Developed by Mattel and Rovio, the board game adaptation has both sides of this vicious war including the green porky pigs and the Red, Blue and White birds complete with scowls. Players will get “mission cards” which will show how to build the structures to be assaulted. The other team uses the plastic model pieces to construct their porcine bunkers of death and then using the slingshots, players then fling the Angry birds in true fashion.
I just hope they include sound effects. That’s half the fun!

The game will launch in May for a paltry $15. There goes my Saturday nights!

Hat Tip – Joystiq

Vinci is a special tablet computer designed to foster a child's cognitive development.

It’s no secret that kids are hard on anything with a glass screen. With the added dimension of babies and toddlers, the danger rises faster than the interest rating on your credit card. That’s why this Rullingnet Vinci tablet is so great. It gives babies the tactile joy of playing with the tablet PC, and parents the piece of mind it’ll remain in one piece.

Encased in a sturdy., rubber casing, Vinci can take what a baby dishes out.

Based on the outdated Android Froyo OS, Vinci is bundled with educational 3D games designed to stimulate a child’s cognitive and coordinated development. It’s based on a Samsung Galaxy Tab design, but only prototype form, with a case that has handles 360 degrees around the tablet. Rullingnet says that they are working with Samsung to finalize a completely original tablet design, which will have a Cortex A8 processor, 3MP camera and microSD slot. It’ll all be encased in a spill proof casing. In addition, many other features have been stripped down because of undue “radiation exposure.”

It doesn’t have any internet or wireless access, but it will enable add ons and apps installed by microUSB.

Look for it in toddler’s hands by Summer.

Hat Tip – Engadget

Based on the upcoming Disney film TRON: Legacy, this toy tops Cody's list this year.

Knowing that nearly every kid has already sent his wish list to Santa, and with two weeks left, Cody has presented me with his 2010 Holiday Wish List. Here it is:

TRON: Legacy 12 inch Ultimate Action Figure – Sam Flynn
We saw nine minutes of Tron: Legacy at ElecTRONica, at Disney California Adventure and it looks amazing. But ever since, Cody has been Tron obsessed. And when he got two smaller Tron Legacy Action Figures for his birthday, the obsession went up to eleven. Now, all he can think of is getting the TRON: Legacy 12 inch Ultimate Action Figure – Sam Flynn complete with identity disk, Katana, nunchucks and staff, light up suit and and a pretty cool technology that lights up the jet black helmet with a video of his face and speaking lines from the movie. It’s pretty trick.

Based the upcoming Disney Film TRON: LEGACY, which follows Sam Flynn as he looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself sucked into the digital computer world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games, where his father, Kevin, has been living for 25 years.

Observe the season of Advent Lego-style with Lego Kingdoms Advent Calendar

LEGO KINGDOMS ADVENT CALENDAR – Being Catholic, we observe the church tradition of Advent and Cody couldn’t be happier since he gets a treat or gift every night in the month of December. And when he saw that he could get a Lego treat thanks to a Lego Advent Calender, he was ALL in. One of the most popular this year is the LEGO KINGDOMS ADVENT CALENDAR. In fact, it’s sold out now at the stores, but thankfully, Amazon has them back in stock. Also available in a Lego City version.

Nerf's NStrike Stampede ECS is shielded and has full auto capability.

NERF N-STRIKE STAMPEDE ECS SPECIAL Value Pack (with Bonus 100 Darts, 6 Dart Clips, Bandolier Strap, Blaster Carry Strap, Blaster Shield, Pop-out Bipod): Cody already has several of these military style N-Strike blasters and I must admit, they are a gas to wage foam based warfare with around the back yard. What makes this one particularly sweet is that it’s full auto and sports a shield to prevent from being hit by your opponent’s cushy darts of doom. The Stampede ECS Special Set comes with with 100 clip system darts, 6 Clips (4 extended clips cartridges – each holds 18 darts, 2 quick re-load clips cartridges – holds 6 darts), Bandolier strap, Carry strap, Pop-out bipod.

The downside … it takes 6 D batteries and goes through them pretty quickly, so plan on getting rechargables or getting stock in Duracell.

Sony's Playstation Move controller

PLAYSTATION MOVE – Since we have a PS3, Cody wants to amp up his Star Wars Battlefront play and take it to the next level with the PlayStation Move controller which would allow him to be more physical and fight like he has a blaster and/or a light saber. And special add-ons for swords and guns which allow to slip the controller into them really turn games into simulators, rather than just sitting and working a controller.

As you can see, Cody has very discerning tastes for a 12 year old. And he wants some serious high tech and coolest-toys for the Holidays.

What do your kids want? Tell us in the comments.

Pleo is about to evolve ...

It is said that over the eons, dinosaurs evolved from the massive, lizard-like creatures that lumbered around Pangea to the small, aerodynamic birds we see sitting on the power lines every day. But that’s not how it is in the toy world where a dinosaur like Pleo becomes even more dino-like.

PLEO REBORN is the same adorable dino toy we saw fall victim to robot warriors, but with a few improvements under the skin.

First, Pleo can now be male (blue) or female (pink). Females make soothing noises while the males roar. In addition, each Pleo will be given a pre-programmed personality (called a seed personality) which to base learning on. And some personalities will vary, being happy or sad, cheery or mopey, like Eeore.

Pleo will know what time of the day it is and will behave differently as the day wears on. Pleo will also be able to recognize it’s users voice and respond by name. And Pleo has special touch sensors under the skin which will help the toy to respond and it’s motor skills have improved to be more natural.

It’ll get hungry, and sick, and what’s really interesting is, it will feel pain. So kids who mistreat their Pleo will learn pretty quickly that they can cause pain in another being. These features make Pleo an ideal introduction to responsibility should they desire to have a pet.

Pleo’s skin has been designed to be 5x more durable thank the previous model and will also have random skin changes from time to time and have up to 10 different eye colors. And Pleo’s new lithium battery doubles play time to over 2 hours. There are several other features, but you can clearly see that Pleo is evolving into a very smart, and cool toy.

Here’s a video of Pleo Reborn in action:

Hat Tip – Gear Fuze

XTractaurs teaches kids to play with DNA

Augmented reality is all the rage in toys these days. Being able to take your toy and give it life online give it’s an added dimension beyond just banging them together and pretending. Well, Xtractaurs takes the AugReal thing in cool direction by teaching kids about science while having fun battling it out with other dinosaurs online. And it may also unleash a little mad scientist while they’re at it.

The concept is right out of Jurrassic Park, sort of. Using the faux DNA extractor gun, kids take a sample of their dino’s DNA and upload it to the “secure” Xtractaurs website, where the dinosaur is brought to life in a virtual environment. In reality, kids are using the data built into the dino’s onboard chip to connect to Mattel’s website to do battle against evil “Megazaurs,” play puzzles and arcade games. Kids can even combine multiple DNA strands to create their own dinosaur and then play with them virtually. But it isn’t clear whether you’re taking on another player in the Xtractaurs universe or just taking on a virtual monster that the computer chooses. It would be cool if it had a global interactive element to it.
And each Xtractaur has different online content, and there are 15 in all to encourage kids to collect and combine (and with 15 different dinosaurs, there’s over 1,000,000 combinations). But once you have the basic Starter Kit – which has the DNA gun and CD software, kids only need to get each dinosaur separately (otherwise they’d have 15 different .
Check out these cool videos:

Cost is about $20 for each, but right now, the Starter Kit is on sale at Amazon for $10.

Hat tip – Inventorspot

Lego Mindstorms, a classic toy which gives kids a future

With the computer age, Lego knew it had to adapt or die. Not that kids would stop loving the cute plastic brick, heavens no. They would just want to do even more and more with what they have. Do being able to add gears, wheels, and electric motors, along with a programmable controller and suddenly kids don’t have just a toy, they have their own robot.

Originally created at the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Mindstorms has as it’s roots the Brick Logo, a programmable interface which used a rudimentary programming language called LEGOsheets. The original kit contained two motors and two sensors as well as a light sensor. As Mindstorms grew in sophistication, more parts were needed. Soon, sensors and motors added wheels, claws, and just about anything else a child can imagine to create his robot.

And the cost isn’t cheap. The current Mindstorms kit weighs in at $370. But with the ability to program a Mindstorm robot to do just about anything, may put a child on a lifelong pursuit of science and robotics. And there’s nothing better than at toy that teaches a child a lifestyle. And that’s what makes it a classic toy.

Hat Tip – Wikipedia

The Disney Princess Webcam hides in plain sight on her desk.

With Star Trek webcams that look like the Enterprise, Lego Webcams, webcams that put you in your favorite video game, there just seems to be a webcam for everything and everybody.

But we haven’t seen many webcams for girls, and the Disney Princess USB Webcam may be the perfect solution. And not only does it allow girls to live the Snow White fantasy of “mirror mirror on the wall,” but the seven bright LEDs serve to illuminate the subject, as better lighting makes for a better image.

And the lights come on automagically when the camera makes a connection, along with it’s audio. And along with it’s ability to work as a webcam, it looks like a fun little chatchke that can do double duty as a spycam should little brother sneak into her bedroom when she’s not looking.

Cost is about $52 from Brando.com.

Hat Tip – Red Ferrett