Doctor Who Personalise Your Sonic Screwdriver Set

Doctor Who Personalise Your Sonic Screwdriver Set

A toy for everyone from the young to the young at heart, the Doctor Who Personalise Your Sonic Screwdriver Set is a joy for anyone who enjoys the show. Whether you watched the original serials or just the new show, from the 9th Doctor onward, you know the sonic screwdriver pretty well.

There are three screwdrivers included – ‘base’ sonic screwdrivers, if you will. One is like the one belonging to the current 11th Doctor, one is a bit Steampunk-y and similar to the 11th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, and one is a mixture of the screwdrivers belonging to different Doctors, but seems mostly like those belonging to the 9th and 10th regenerations.

They come apart into a total of 12 pieces and your imagination is the limit as to how you put them together. You can mix and match the four pieces that each screwdriver separates into – the controls, the pommel, the grip, and the head, which is the part that lights up. You can play with the screwdriver just as the Doctor wields it against bad guys or create your very own version with which to defend the Universe.

While the dimensions of the screwdriver vary, depending on which pieces are combined, you have over 80 possibilities for assembly. That’s on top of the lighting and different sound effects included on the pieces. The screwdrivers have eight sounds and the sound chips seem very dependable. The only consideration is the placement of the speaker. The speaker is placed opposite the sound button, so if you hold the screwdriver in the way the Doctor does, it sort of covers the little speaker openings and muffles the sound a bit. Keeping your fingers out of the way of it helps with this, though.

All of the components of the Doctor Who Personalise Your Sonic Screwdriver Set are beautiful and have great detail. The set is meant for kids to play with, to assemble and reassemble many times, so it is made of plastic and seems very sturdy for that use. It doesn’t have the appearance of just another toy, though. If you want to purchase a set for your child to play with, you could buy another set for yourself to put on display – they’re just that nice looking.

LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Tablet

LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Tablet


Kids of all ages love a tablet. There is simply something engaging about the form. Of course, this allure can be a bit of a hassle for the tablet-owning parent. The solution then is to buy the child his or her own tablet, and the LeapPad Explorer tablet from LeapFrog is a particularly fantastic option that will engage and challenge your kids.

Although tablet-shaped, LeapFrog eschews a sleek design in favour of a chunky construction that will hold up to the type of abuse a toddler can dish out. The case material is relatively soft, sealed well and easy to clean, so jelly-smeared fingers aren’t a great concern. Likewise, the screen, which is bright and crisp, is surprisingly durable. You won’t experience any of the rippling that occurs when a child jabs their finger into a standard LCD screen.

The 5-inch touchscreen is attractive, easy to read and extremely responsive. Many “toy” tablets can be quite frustrating due to their unresponsiveness, but the LeapPad Explorer responds wonderfully, even after some substantial abuse. Using the touch screen, children can draw, play games, read, write and perform arithmetic.

LeapFrog’s LeapPad Explorer even has a built-in front-facing camera. It doesn’t support FaceTime or any of the other apps adults commonly associated with these profile cameras, but it does allow kids to take full advantage of the built-in studio app. The Disney studio app supports animation, video and music, and kids will have a blast letting their creativity flag fly. For many kids, the camera-studio app combo is all you’ll need to keep them busy for hours.

The 5-inch touchscreen is 16:9, 480×272 pixels. It has 2 GB of built-in storage, a 400MHz processor under the hood and available in green or pink. At these specs, the LeapPad Explorer can be a little sluggish and if you push it.

But users who use it as intended won’t experience any trouble. In fact, at this price, the performance is a bargain, and it even has a video player (4:3 only), photo capabilities and video-capture tools. Users can also expand on the built-in functionality by buying and downloading apps from the LeapFrog store the same way they buy from iTunes.

Don’t worry. You won’t have to buy apps right away. The built-in software selection is quite nice, and it will keep your kids entertained. The store is a great option, however, when you kids begin to master those built-in apps.

Dance Star Mickey

Dance Star Mickey is the new life of the party!

One of the most beloved Disney characters comes to life as Dance Star Mickey. Yes, Mickey Mouse now sings, speaks, and dances with impressive animation. Made by the well known toy manufacturer Fisher-Price, this amazing animated toy encourages your child to sing and dance along with Mickey Mouse with a never seen before realism. Dance Star Mickey is a one mouse show that provides laughs, giggles, and entertainment to Mickey lovers of all ages.

What makes Dance Star Mickey such a fantastic toy is the amazing advanced technology animation and they way Mickey speaks with believable realism directly to your child, encouraging interactivity and fun for all. Every year one toy surfaces as the must have Christmas toy which usually results in a short supply of the toy as Christmas draws near. Dance Star Mickey is likely to be this year’s must have Christmas toy, making shopping as early as September, whether in the mall or online, a necessity.

Dance Star Mickey has brought animated toys to a new level with the most realistic animation found in a single toy. Mickey’s legs, arms, head and mouth are completely animated which allows Dance Star Mickey to perform six different dances to six different songs like “Shake Your Tail Now”, “Get Up Offa That Tail”, “Mouska Mambo”, ‘Moondance”, “M to the I” and “Techno”. Dance Star Mickey dances the mambo, claps his hands, sings, and even does the Mickey Moonwalk. Through every dance Mickey is encouraging to your child to join in the dance.

Mickey can also play interactive games with your children, like “Mickey Says”, which is Mickey’s own version of the children’s game Simon Says. Another interactive game is called “Freeze Dance” which is led by Dance Star Mickey who dances with your child until Mickey says stop and then Mickey changes the dance tempo to double time, and triple time, and way beyond. Use Mickey’s Freeze Dance for an old fashioned game of musical chairs at your next children’s party. Forget about hiring a clown or filling a piñata, Dance Star Mickey is all the entertainment the children will need at the party.

Plush Dance Star Mickey stands 15 by 12 by 7 inches tall, weighs 4 ½ pounds, and is recommended for children between the ages of 18 months to six years. Dance Star Mickey is battery operated and requires six AA batteries which are included.

Top Toys For Christmas 2011

Top Toys For Christmas 2011

So far this year (early September) two different top toy lists have already been released by Hamleys and Tesco which include the most eagerly anticipated top toys for Christmas 2011, these toys will probably be the ones that are hardest to find on the shop shelves around November / December time so better to order early to make sure Santa doesn’t disappoint your little ones;

Hamleys Top 10 Toys

Barbie The Saturdays Fashionistas Dolls
Cars 2 Fully Loaded McMissile
Fur Real Cookie
iball 3
Kiddizoom Twist
Moshi Monsters Talking Plush
Nerf Vortex Nitron
Ninjago Fire Temple
Rock On Elmo
Transformers Mech Tech Leader

Tesco Top 10 Toys

Baby Annabell
Barbie Doggie Water Park
Bob the Builder Construction Tower
Bop It XT
Fijit Friends
Kidizoom Twist Camera
LEGO City Police Station
Monopoly Banking
Nerf N Strike Nite Finder
Transformers Optimus Prime

We will also be updating this top Christmas toys list to include the Toy Retailers Association dream toys for boys and girls when they release this new info on the 26th October.

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