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SECTOR GUIDE ELECTRONIC TOYS 73 Electric dreams
It’s a big year for electronic toys, with children’s tablets and app toys – which utilise devices like the iPhone and iPad – adding new interest to the category. A certain electronic furry friend is also making a return, along with some other plucky electronic pets. Lewis Tyler looks at the top products on offer…
HASBRO FURBY
The new creature appears to develop a distinct personality based on the way it is played with. Through a combination of interactive programming and robotic engineering, Hasbro has created a creature with ‘a mind of its own’. Feed it, speak to it, tickle it or play music for it – the personality of each Furby is shaped
MATTEL
by these experiences. Emotional and unpredictable, Furby will let kids know how it feels through a series of animations displayed in its expressive LED eyes. From hip hop to pop, pizza or sushi, each Furby will react differently to these depending on its personality. When Furby is first brought home it will speak Furbish. The more Furby interacts with kids the more English it will start speaking. Each Furby can also recognise another; place two side-by- side and they will interact by dancing together or having a conversation. With the free Furby App, kids can virtually feed the Furby, access a Furbish-to- English dictionary, and use the Furbish- to-English translator.
PRE-SCHOOL Sesame Street Tickle Time Elmo (£29.99) loves to be tickled. When his tummy is pressed he will giggle and shake.
The more his tummy or feet are pressed, the more he laughs and shakes.
BOYS Web Shooting Spider-Man (£34.99) is a 13-inch, movie-styled figure with motorised web shooting action. The web shoots out of Spider-Man’s wrist, then retracts and shoots out the other wrist. The Star Wars Multi-Troop Transport
Droid Carrier (£149.99) has a large forward hatch which opens and releases the motorised troop deployment rack, which can hold 16 battle-posed Infantry Droid figures. Side hatches open to reveal racks for 20 blasters. Four Pilot Droid figures complete the Trade Federation MTT vehicle’s crew, but also included is an Obi-Wan Kenobi figure with lightsaber, plus sounds and missile launchers. The Nerf N-Strike Elite Hail-Fire’s
ammo rack gives it the highest capacity of any Nerf blaster. The Hail-Fire blaster
01628 500 000 VTECH 01235 555545 VTech has also signed several
partnership agreements which will give InnoTab owners access to a huge library of videos of TV programmes, mini e- books and music content. The content, from the Learning Lodge Navigator (LLN), will boast hundreds of downloads including TV shows, music and e-books.
MOBIGO 2 YIPPITS
Girls who loved the 2011 Girls Toy of the Year*, Fijit Friends, and pint sized singing pals Newbies, are likely to adore Yippits, the new addition to the Fijit Friends Family. An advertising campaign will see Fijit
Friends Yippits on TV screens across the UK in the run up to Christmas, to drive gift requests, while digital activity will bring them to life online. A heavyweight press campaign for girls kicked off in the summer and runs throughout the vital Christmas gifting season. It will create more than 600,000 opportunities to see the cute critters.
Driving collectability within the category, each of the Yippits has a different personality and colour. All Yippits unlock secret content in original Fijit Friends using sonic chirp technology for brand interaction.
The dancing pets use a clap sensor to let girls choose from three modes of play: dancing, training and game mode. Clever technology means that the
more the Yippits are played with, the better they get at performing tricks, tapping in to the all-important nurturing play pattern.
All of the Fijit Friend Yippits have built in songs so girls can dance along with them wherever they go. *UK Toy Industry Awards 2011 – Girls Toy of the Year, Fijit Friends.
INNOTAB 2 The InnoTab 2, for children aged four to nine, boasts a built in 1.3 mega pixel camera with a rotating ‘self-portrait’ lens. Children will be able to take their own picture, use the editing suite to add special effects to it and then use their photo in various games, in a similar way to the successful Kidizoom camera. As well as all the functions of the
InnoTab, such as the video player, art studio, G sensor, learning apps and online benefits via the Learning Lodge Navigator, the InnoTab 2 will also feature a built-in microphone. To accompany InnoTab 2, VTech is also launching a range of new software cartridges.
OCTOBER 2012
MobiGo 2, for three to eight years, is the new version of the Touch Learning System. The compact device has a ‘finger touch’ screen for interactive play. New features include the motion sensor for motion-based gameplay allowing children to shake, tilt or turn MobiGo 2 to complete the tasks, and a microphone. Sliding the screen up reveals a QWERTY keyboard and four- directional cursor. MobiGo 2 also includes e-books, drawing activities and a photo viewer and helps children to learn curriculum based school skills.
020 8569 1234
(£44.99) comes with four Quick Reload clips and 24 Elite Darts, and can hold up to four more Quick Reload ammo clips and up to 144 darts. The blaster’s acceleration trigger powers up the motor for semi-auto blasting. It also includes two tactical rails.
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