Kids Put Toys To The Test
If you're a holiday shopper still looking for the perfect toy, The Saturday Early Show's got some help, thanks to FamilyFun magazine's 11th annual toy test.
Over 1,000 kid judges ages 3-12 were asked a simple question: "Which toys would you like to take home?" After 30,664 toy testing hours during July and August, there were 71 finalists and 17 winners. In past years, FamilyFun's kid testers predicted the run-away favorites Sing 'N Snore Ernie and Tickle Me Elmo.
Here is how their annual toy test works:
T.O.Y. 2002 began in February at the annual Toy Fair in New York City, where FamilyFun Magazine editors scoped out the new crop of toys being unveiled by toy manufacturers for this Christmas season. Then in late spring, toy companies were invited to submit their most promising products to Digital Research Inc., the Kennebunk, Maine, independent research firm commissioned by FamilyFun to conduct the tests. As Digital Reseach received new toys from manufacturers, the entries were divided into four age groups: ages 3-4, 5-7, 8-9 and 10-12. In addition, toys were assigned to individual categories to ensure that similar products were compared to one another.
In Kennebunk, 150 kid testers screened the 519 entries down to 71 finalists. These were then shipped to eighteen KinderCare Learning Centers across the country for over 30,000 hours of full-scale kid-testing. The toys were introduced one toy at a time to ensure each toy received enough attention to have a fair evaluation. At the conclusion of the test, the children privately voted on the toys in their age group.
Here are the toys profiled on The Saturday Early Show with comments from FamilyFun :
Honey Bee Tree, International Playthings, Inc.
ages 3-4
$15
800-631-1272
In this Ker Plunk!-like gravity game, players try not to disturb a beehive as they take turns removing leaves from a tree. As foliage thins, dislodged bees fall down the tree's hollow trunk. The buzz on this one: cute-as-bugs bees and lots of drama.
Dancing Deedle Dudes, Imagiix
ages 3-4
$13
800-IMAGIIX
Clap your hands, and these noise-activated stuffed animals boogie and sing a nonsense song to a funky beat. Few could resist smiling when the dudes began their dance, and both boys and girls danced with them.
Rescue Heroes Ultimate Robotic Vehicle, Fisher Price
ages 5-7
$50
800-432-KIDS
Rough, ready, and armor-plated, this R-C android is the Robocop of rescue workers. His motto, recited at volume in an impressibly steely voice: "No one gets left behind." Kids responded to his official-sounding commands and happily steered him into peril again and again. They knew the big lug could take it.
Color-in Tattoos, BJ Toys Inc.
ages 5-7
$6
800-463-6181
These washable tattoos come in packs of 100. Kids color them in, then apply their handiwork to their skin. The child-friendly designs include elephants, dolphins, chipmunks, and monsters, as well as a bug-eyed mosquito. Why anyone would choose to put a mosquito on his or her arm, even temporarily, we don't know. Testers were so smitten, they colored extra tattoos to take home.
Queasy Bake Cookerator, Hasbro, Inc.
ages 8-9
$25
800-327-8264
Nothing hits the spot after a long day at school quite like a heaping helping of bugs and worms washed down with foaming drool -- or at least our testers thought so. The wholesome Easy-Bake Oven has gone Halloween, and our testers couldn't have been happier as they dished out one artificially flavored entree after another and wolfed them down in front of revolted adults.
FurReal Friends, Tiger Electronics
ages 8-9
$35
800-844-3733
Got allergies? Here's the next best thing to a real live kitty, and your kids will never have to clean a litter box. The FurReal kitty is covered with both eminently pettable fur and electronic sensors, so that it meows and moves differently depending on where it's being stroked.
(A semi-finalist, finishing behind the Queasy-Bake Oven)
Old Century Baseball, Old Century Classics
ages 8-9
$130
800-526-0314
This coffee-table "pinball" machine looks as if it came from Grandpa's workshop -- or his childhood. Kids can pull the plunger to pitch the ball, then use the flipper bat to try to score some runs. And with its quality wood construction (the only plastic here covers the tips of the steel levers), it's as good-looking as it is fun -- the kind of toy you may not even bug your kids to put away.
(No. 1 rated toy overall)
Hershey's Chocolate Magic Molding Kit, Spin Master
ages 8-9
$15
800-622-8339
The Play-Doh pumper meets the sweet tooth with this simple little device. Kids pour a handful of chocolate chips into the hopper, wait a couple of minutes for them to melt, and then squeeze out warm (but not hot) melted chocolate into one of the rubber molds. Our testers literally ate up this activity -- though cleaning up was another matter.
Stunt Hopper, Nikko
ages 10-12
$109
800-776-4556
Remember Speed Racer? His Mach 5 racecar could go underwater, sprout rotary saws to cut through obstacles, and jump over trouble. One out of three ain't bad -- Stunt Hopper, at the press of a button, springs a good six inches into the air, easily high enough to leap troublesome curbs.