Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters R/C

So I'm heading out to the store the other day and find a fun little box sitting on my table containing the awesome car in the picture above.  Of course the kid in me said "Open and play now" and the adult in me said "Take it out of the box since the box is wet and wait until you're done shopping".  So, the kid won to begin with and I immediately removed it from the box and checked to see what batteries I needed to be able to play.

So I went and grabbed several packs of batteries.  This little toy takes 5 AA batteries to function so I bought extra knowing how much we'd play with it.  I rushed home and added the batteries to the controller and hooked the car up to the controller to charge.  While all this was going on the biggest kid in the house (of course the man) decided to briefly skim the directions and bounce staring at the car as if the extra energy from his gaze would charge the car faster.

Eventually I gave in and we unplugged the car, turned the remote on, and started playing while there were no kids around to take it from us (let's face it, sometimes the real reason we have toys around the house is so parents can play).  We watched as this little car zoomed from place to place, spun around in circles, and eventually lodged itself so far under my bed that we had to grab a hockey stick to pull it back to safety.  Then we pushed the button.

In the center of the remote is a button that allows the car to do whatever trick it's designed to do.  In our case the car flips over repeatedly.  You see, on the other side of the car is another awesome car.  Instant love.  This car is awesome and now I want the other's to trick with (there are 3 different cars each with a different built-in trick).  I think I just may have to go get them since the three of us could all play with our cars on in the same room with different frequencies.  Nothing says family bonding like trying to run one another over with R/C cars.

An extra-special thanks to BzzAgent and Tonka for giving us the chance to try out this awesome car.  Coming up next will be a report on the Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters and what the little guy (instead of us grown-ups) thinks about them.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

How old were you the first time you saw a Star Wars movie?  Where where you at?  What did you eat?  What character in the Star Wars universe can't you live without?  These are questions that nearly everyone is able to answer.

Now the Star Wars Saga is coming to us in a completely new way.  Star Wars meets hi-def.

This is perhaps the best thing that could possibly happen to the next generation of Star Wars fanatics (well, okay, a re-release in theaters would be better, but hey, this is as sweet as it gets aside from that).

Let's take a look at some of the things that these Blu-ray discs will offer:  They're complete with deleted scenes and extended scenes that we've never gotten to see.  They contain a TON of documentaries for the Star Wars lover in all of us.  They're in HI-DEF (okay, so I already mentioned this, but it's worthy of a second mention).

This set is one that many of us never thought would be produced.  Remember back in the early 90s when word was that the original trilogy VHS boxed set was as far as the series was going to be permitted to go in the world of technology?  Remember the excitement when the DVDs first were rumored to be in the works?  Now we have one step better, and a step that should last for a good many years to come.

And the best part of all is that we will finally get to give the next generation Star Wars in a format that is much more "traditional" to them (even if it is nearly-new technology for the rest of us).  This means another generation of children who simply can not get enough and who will fall in love with the characters as many of us did as children and teens.  I for one can't wait to experience the wonder of Star Wars all over again with the next generation.

LunchBots Duo

Is this not the cutest thing ever?

Okay, time for a little story about me.  A few years ago me, the poor college student, decided that I could no longer afford the price of food on campus and that even if I could I could the campus food was anything but healthy (we only had fast food options).  So, I started looking for an alternative.

I soon found the wonderful world of bento.  What's bento?  Nutritionally sound meals served in tiny little boxes.  What's the point in the tiny little boxes?  To make it so your food doesn't bounce everywhere and make a mess (remember smashed sandwiches in elementary school?).  So, I found myself a bento box (or two) and started carrying my lunch.

Now, all the bento boxes are plastic.  Plastic has of course become public enemy #1 for health fanatics.  Let's face it, we've all switched to our lovely aluminum BPA free water bottles.  Yet we still carry our lunch (and pack our kids lunches) in plastic containers.  While I'm not 100% sold on the idea that a plastic lunch container will cause cancer to my child I'm not sure it's something I want to risk.

Which leads us back to the idea of the LunchBots containers mentioned above.  The food portion is made aluminum.  That means it is BPA free by default.  Perhaps more importantly for the bento crazed, IT'S ADORABLE!!!