My 2 year old had a surprise play date with some of his fave peeps this week. He rocked out with Elmo, put Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy to bed, then got pally with a gang he called ‘Mr. Potato People’.
We were at Hasbro’s Christmas in July, the annual event where the company reveals their top toys before the December rush. Hot picks included the adorable new FurReal puppy Cookie (pictured) and the eerily lifelike FurReal Lulu the Kitty, as well as new kit from Spiderman, Thor and Star Wars. I couldn’t resist having a go on the super cool Jedi lightsabres, with strike sound effects and LED lighting.
I can already predict my 5-year-old going nuts for the new Kreo range that for the first time ever allows kids to build their own Transformers. It’s just been released and apparently is flying off the shelves in the States.
For Jed, it was all about Let’s Rock Elmo, who not only jams with a drum, tambourine and guitar but can join you in song (with the separate Let’s Rock microphone).
I’ve been silently craving Elmo through his various ticklish and dancing incarnations, and I think this might be the year I succumb. He’s just too cute. Oh yeah, and my kids dig him too.
Special mentions go to the Elephun Ball Popper, the Play-Doh pizza and ice cream sets and the Count ‘n’ Crunch Cookie Monster who counts cookies (thankfully, not calories!) as he munches.
I’d planned to have a closer look at the My Little Pony set and Baby Alive but Jed was all like ‘I don’t want to look at dolls, I want to play cars’ and dragged me back to the Lightning McQueen: Cars 2 Monopoly set.
My boy, the gender stereotype.
Thanks to Hasbro for giving us more inspiration for our Xmas Gift Guide (out later this year) and also for the goody bag heaving with toys. I let my boys pick two each and we’ll be giving the rest away. It’s not Christmas in our house just yet!
