Matchbox Mega Rig Space Shuttle

Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
Mattel and Amazon.com have teamed up to offer this item in Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, a recyclable, easy-to-open alternative to traditional packaging. A Frustration-Free Package comes without excess packaging materials such as wire ties, hard plastic "clamshell" casings, and plastic bindings. It’s designed to be opened without the use of a box cutter or knife and will protect your product just as well as traditional packaging during shipping. The Frustration-Free Packaging on this toy saves on 4-color printing and minimizes the use of PVC windows, blister packs, fasteners, and 4-color inserts. This item ships in its own box, without the need for an additional shipping box .




Little astronauts have all the gear they need to explore the reaches of outer space with the Mattel Matchbox Mega Rig Space Shuttle Mission Set. Using parts that snap together easily, kids will love building 30 different space crafts and inventing new worlds to explore. While the set is recommended for explorers aged four and up, it has small parts that make it inappropriate for children who require constant monitoring.

Getting Ready for Your First Mission

Since part of the fun is in thinking up ways to build a spacecraft from the many different parts, this Mega Rig set is ready to go without any difficult or time-consuming set-up. The set includes simple, illustrated instructions that will help you and your child build a large space shuttle with an exterior fuel tank and an all-terrain vehicle base that can be used as a launching site. The instructions include photos of other possible configurations and illustrations showing important details such as how to launch missiles, lock the shuttle's arm in place for space walks, and the many ways to combine Mega Rig wheels.

The UFO included in this set features other-worldly lights and sound, and it is powered by three button-cell batteries (AG13/LR44). Test batteries are included, but you will want to purchase another set just in case. The Shuttle Mission Set is compatible with all Mega Rig building systems, making it easy to combine different sets and inspire kid's creativity.

Galactic Exploration

Once a spaceship has been assembled, there are plenty of missions your child can accomplish. Between launching the satellite into orbit and coordinating an exploratory space walk, your child will be busy watching out for missiles shot from the UFO with its alien inside. The durable octagon shaped connectors hold pieces of each space craft together until they are pulled apart on purpose.

Our favorite configurations included snapping the bright orange all-terrain wheels onto the shuttle or UFO for land adventures, combining the shuttle and the fuel cell into one gigantic space ship, and loading the launch pad with accessories to create a headquarters for operations on distant moons and planets.

Other cool features include a space arm controlled by a lever, an oversized astro grabber for moving equipment or keeping the alien at bay, and plenty of fun compartments for the astronaut and alien to hide in. Your child will surely want to take this shuttle everywhere, but with so many small parts to keep track of, traveling with this set can require extra attention to detail.

Long-Lasting Imaginative Play

The sturdy plastic shuttle and its accessories held up well throughout our vigorous test missions, and the Mega Rig building systems are known for their durability. The moving parts and hinged compartments that make this shuttle so much fun could potentially come apart with lots of rough play, but we found the system to be extremely durable.

With the alien and the astronaut ready to be your friend or enemy, and the ability to make more than one vehicle at the same time, this building system is great for cooperative play or a single child with an active imagination. The ability to combine and recombine parts in so many ways offers a new experience every time your child picks up a piece of this shuttle system, so the fun never runs out.

What's in the Box

33 parts that can be assembled into more than 30 different space vehicles.

From the Manufacturer

Mattel Matchbox Mega Rig Space Shuttle is a mega rig building system which starts as one gigantic space ship and then becomes thirty separate super-cool space vehicles which you can combine any way you like. Plus it has lots of really cool accessories, like a space arm to grab things, an ATV and a UFO with a space alien inside. But don't let the alien and its flying saucer drags you away; the thirty out-of-this-world combinations means the Space Mission vehicle promises hours of fun and imaginative interplanetary adventure.

Wild Planet Hyper Dash

Product Description
Amazon. com
ReviewHyper Dash is an award-winning fast-paced race course game from Wild Planet that encourages kids to be active and think on their feet. Designed to improve listening, coordination and math skills, this exciting game is easy to set up and is an ideal way to help kids aged six and above to practice addition and subtraction while exercising and having fun.








































Fast, Easy Set-Up
The only set-up required is to install three AA batteries. Opening the battery compartment requires a small Phillips head screw driver, which means an adult needs to change the batteries. This keeps batteries in the right place during active play, but it also means that changing batteries on the fly requires you to have a screwdriver with you.

The manual is clear and concise, with descriptions of how to play and a list of all the special commands the Hyper Voice issues, so any child can be up and running in just a few minutes. There's no button to turn the unit off, but it quickly shuts itself off when not in use to save battery life.

Getting Moving Quickly
The electronic tagger plays upbeat music and calls out voice commands to control the game, while players following the commands race against the clock to tag targets identified by color and number. Kids can play solo, up to four players can compete head-to-head, or up to eight players can work cooperatively in teams of two. There's even a level where kids need to solve addition and subtraction problems to figure out which target to strike next.

With no complex set-up and no complicated directions to follow, younger children get started playing Hyper Dash quickly. Since players control where the five targets are positioned, there are infinite ways to play Hyper Dash. Combined with the fact that Hyper Dash offers four games to choose from with increasingly difficult levels to master, and it's easy to see why even older, more experienced players (including parents!) stay excited about this game.

Four-Games-in-One
The original game, Hyper Dash, features the Hyper Voice calling out commands. Four different levels allow the players' skills to progress. Level one includes only colors in the calls. The calls on level two are a little faster and include both colors and numbers, while level three adds special commands like "Double Strike," "Triple Strike," and "Reverse. " Level four features the "CompuStrike" call, which require kids to solve basic math problems, such as "four plus one" or "three minus two. "

In Team Dash, a special command indicates when the Hyper Dash unit should be handed off, turning the race against the clock into a relay. The games Micro Dash and Team Micro Dash set out sequences that get progressively longer and trickier, providing a challenging test of memory.

The Hyper Dash unit keeps track of times and scores, and the Hyper Voice announces the winner at the end of the game, cutting down on arguments. With only one Hyper Dash tagger, kids will have to wait their turn to play in multiple player games. This can be both a lesson in patience and an opportunity to cheer others on.

RFID Technology for a Flexible, Durable Game

Hyper Dash uses radio frequency identification (RFID) to recognize the targets. The same technology is used to track packages and to identify books and DVDs in many libraries. This means that a wireless signal connects the Hyper Dash unit and the targets, so there's no need to strike targets with force.

While the Hyper Dash tagger unit seems incredibly durable, it is made of plastic. Just because RFID technology means kids can tag targets lightly, it doesn't mean they will. Our one concern about the game is the possibility that hard play will damage the tagger over time.

With RFID, there's no limit to how far apart you set the targets. You can set them up at opposite ends of a football field for a serious test of endurance, or close together requiring fancy footwork. You can even them up next to each other to see who has the quickest hands. This flexibility makes Hyper Dash appropriate for both indoor and outdoor spaces.

Award-Winning Educational Fun

Kids have so much fun playing Hyper Dash that they don't realize how much they're learning. Parents will love the way Hyper Dash combines active play with lessons that support color and number recognition, basic math skills. The game's format also inspires better listening and improves kids' coordination. It's no wonder that Hyper Dash has won an iParenting Award and a Seal of Excellence Award from Creative Child Magazine, along with several other honors recognizing it as an innovative, educational toy.

What's in the Box

Hyper Dash unit and five plastic targets.

Product Description

It's the electronic game that's as fast as you are. Test your speed and agility in a race against time using five targets and an electronic handheld unit. To start, set up your targets on the table, around the room, around the house or throughout the yard. Then, follow the announcer's commands as you zip around your racecourse to tag your targets with the handheld unit. The fastest time wins. Features four game modes that challenge your speed, skill, memory, coordination and teamwork. Includes ergonomically designed Hyper Dash unit and five labelled targets. Requires 3 "AAA" batteries, not included. Measures 4.5"L x 12"W x 10"H.

Vtech - Kidizoom Digital Camera

Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Rugged and easy to use, the Vtech Kidizoom Digital Camera is ready to document all your child's adventures. With two-eye viewing, grips designed to fit in little hands, and a built-in flash, this real digital camera can also shoot video. It also includes simple-to-use photo editing software so kids aged three and up can add creative touches to their images.



Get Ready to Show off Your Child's Photos
It's clear right out of the packaging that this camera was designed to stand up to tough play and rough handling. Bright pink rubber grips on each side make it easy for children to grasp the camera with both hands, and two-eye viewing make it easy to conceptualize a photo or a cool video. The camera even comes with two interchangeable faceplates, so your child can pick her favorite look.
Before your child starts taking photos, you'll need to use a Phillips screwdriver to insert four "AA" batteries in the grips of the camera. While the first few photos are being taken, you may want to set up the VTech Photo Editor on your computer. An intuitive installation wizard makes this process quick and easy. You'll need Windows 2000 SP3+/XP or newer to use this software. And don't despair if you're a Mac user. As long as you have Mac OS X 10.0 or above, you can still use the camera in mass storage mode.
Inspire Creative Development
Six buttons and a navigational joystick on the back of the camera let your child pick a mode and scroll through old photos. Between taking photos, shooting videos, and playing simple games on the 1.8-inch color screen, there's lots to do.
A built-in flash makes it easier to get well-lit pictures, especially if the subject of the photo is indoors. The flash does, however, often fire if you are trying to take a close-up shot, resulting in very bright, blown-out pictures. Inexperienced photographers may need to be reminded that the camera is not designed to focus on objects that are less than 1.5-feet from the camera. For super-sized fun, you can also link the camera to your television using the included A/V cable and view creative work on the big screen.
With 16MB of internal memory and an SD card slot so that you can add capacity if you need it, this camera lets kids collect lots of images. The included USB cable lets you upload the images to your computer. The VTech photo editor lets you or your child add cool frames to photos, stamp funny hats on people, and distort images. You can even run fun animations that makes the photo look like it is rotating or underwater.
The photo editor interface is easy to use, with big round buttons for kids to click on and drag-and-drop stamps. More advanced artists may be disappointed that there aren't more ways to creatively control output, but files from the Kidizoom can easily be edited in more advanced programs, too.
What's in the Box
Camera with 16MB internal memory, wrist strap, A/V cable, USB cable, two faceplates, and photo editing software on CD-ROM.