Hasbro for the Holidays!
Thanks to Hasbro, our family recently reviewed some wonderful new toys and we now officially have a fifth family member.
Top of the list, hands down was Baby Butterscotch. My seven year old daughter’s pet pony.
I feel it necessary to admit that I am living vicariously through my daughter by playing with her pony.
My daughter (and I) absolutely love Butterscotch. She makes real sounds, responds to touch, cuddles with you, makes chewing sounds when you place a carrot in her mouth and best of all as a parent, has an on and off button.
She has a permanent seat at the dinner table and her own bed. We tuck her in at night and greet her good morning.
Suffice it to say, she is a great friend for my daughter. The age limit indicates 4+ but my seven year old is more than happy playing with her! She holds the title of favorite toy.
Kids 10/10
Parents 10/10
Hands down a must-have for your little princess (or prince).
Recommended age: 4+
ARV: $119.99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next up was a the Beyblade Metal Fury Destroyer Dome stadium. We are a big Beyblade family and have many a battle in the traditional stadium. This dome adds a fun appeal and the kids have become pros at angling their Beyblade for maximum tornado twirling fun.
I’d recommend this toy for any/all Beyblade lovers or any child 3+ (that’s how old my son was when he first started playing). The box indicates that the game is made for ages 8+. Our family has Hasbro Beyblade nights where we battle it out and the winner gets first dibs at desert.
The only downside with this toy is that it takes some practice to get the right momentum, if not done right, the Beyblades last only a couple of seconds.
Kids 9/10
Parents 9/10
My favorite part was that we could store all the pieces in the dome when we were done playing as opposed to requiring a separate storage case as we previously had.
Recommended age: 8+
ARV: $39.99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scrabble Catch Phrase
We are very big on Scrabble. Growing up the child of immigrants, Scrabble was the game our family would turn to on Saturday nights, it would help my parents practice their written English and us kids would get to test out our own vocabulary skills. We never understood how my late mother, who would struggle spelling a grocery list(or grosry as she would spell it) beat us all at Scrabble time and time again.
Getting on to the latest Scrabble Catch Phrase, it’s fun, it looks chic but it requires a large group to properly enjoy it. The objective of the game is to guess the word on the screen. The more people you have playing it, the more entertaining it becomes.
My personal opinion is that it works great in large groups of 8-10 people, but with 4 people I felt a lack of rules or parameters. With a larger group, you have more people guessing and it definitely boosts the fun factor.
Kids: 9/10
Adults: 7/10
Recommended age: 8+
ARV: $22.99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monopoly Millionaire
Monopoly happens to be a game that my husband and I grew up playing. We still have Monopoly game nights with our siblings from time to time when all the kids are tucked into bed. (Yes, we are a board game family).
We own a few versions of the game. The classic, Monopoly Here & Now World Edition with the electronic bank cards, and now Monopoly Millionaire.
The objective of this game is very different from the others. It’s essentially a race to a million dollars, first one there wins. The look of the game is very different and even die-hard Monopoly fans will need to read through the instructions carefully, but it’s a lot of fun to play.
I love how they kept the original platform the same but changed almost everything else about it. It feels like a sophisticated cousin of the original game, but in a very good way. I definitely encourage you to go check it out.
Kids: 8/10
Adults: 10/10
Recommended Age: 8+
ARV: $22.99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twister Dance:
I think most of us have played the original game of Twister at some point or other. Left hand on green, right foot on red, left hand on yellow…ring some bells?
My family recently tried out the latest Twister Dance game. Hasbro teamed up with Britney Spears and I must say, I like the results.
It comes with eight pads you place in specific patterns on the floor and a small game console that also serves as a stand alone music player if you’d like. It’s divided into two parts that light up telling your left foot what color to step on and the same for the right foot as well.
My kids enjoyed it and worked up quite a sweat trying out the different songs it comes preloaded with. We then tried plugging in our own phone and playing songs off of it. The player detects the beat and then comes up with instructions which managed to sync quite well. Overall I was pleased with the product.
Kids: 10/10
Adults: 9/10
Age: 8+
ARV: $36.99
PLEASE NOTE: Hasbro mailed me these games for free, to test and review but no further compensation was received. All views and opinions are 100% my own.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXSYJJg2BM4]
