51 years ago, Barbie was introduced at the American Toy Fair

March 9, 1959: 1st Barbie Doll was Displayed at the American Toy Fair in New York City. According to Wikipedia: It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second.

Happy Birthday, Barbie!

Lego's Build Plan portal offers instructions from over 3300 different kits in PDF format for easy download.

If you’ve lost your Lego Build Plans, or your kids have torn them to shreds, take heart, Lego has a build plan portal which will allow users to download PDF copies of most Lego Build Plans (there are over 3300 online) from just about every design line in the Lego Universe.

Users just need to head over to this link and either do a quick word search by keyword, or by brand production line. So, for instance, you input Star Wars and you end up with a pulldown menu listing all current and past Lego Star Wars Sets. And they are completely saveable, so there’s you can archive them for future use as well.

But there’s also an added benefit of seeing what parts you need to build other sets and seek to find those individual parts either at the Lego Store, or from portals like eBay.

Meanwhile, there are third party custom sites like MOCpages.com which offer build plans for a wide variety of custom concepts which Lego hasn’t made a set for yet. Google is your friend.

I mean, it only makes good financial sense in this economy to use what you have in as many different ways you can. So why not let the generic pieces do double or even triple duty to build another set?

New Deluxe Buzz Lightyear Wingpack has retractable wings and sound effects from the Disney/Pixar hit movie.

The classic scene where Buzz pops out his rocket pack wings and soars with Woody to Andy’s car, with Buzz decreeing “this isn’t flying, it’s falling with style.” It was a classic scene which made my son long for that jet pack. And when he saw it in action in the opening of Toy Story 2, he REALLY wanted one. Well finally there is one from Mattel called the “The Buzz Lightyear Deluxe Action Wing Pack” and it’ll have kids screaming “to infinity and beyond!” Just don’t let them near a stairwell banister with it.

The wings have a span of over thirty inches fully retracted, and play cool sounds from the Disney/Pixar movie and promises to give kids tons of fun Space Ranger Adventures. Couple it with Buzz’ Toy Story Buzz Lightyear Gloves, Buzz Cuffs and the Deluxe Buzz Lightyear Costume, and you have a sweetly realistic Halloween costume for the fall!

“The Buzz Lightyear Deluxe Action Wing Pack

The cost of the Buzz Lightyear Deluxe Action Wing Pack is around $40 at Amazon.com, the gloves are around $10, Buzz Cuffs $20 and the costume ranging from $24-50. All they need now is that cool space helmet!

Hat Tip – Kids Tech Review

With a wide range of military accesories from swords to machine guns, BrickArms.com is an arms dealer for Lego minifigs.

Lego minifigs are so popular that third party accessories are popping up everywhere. And with the new Toy Story Army Men on Patrol set, Brick Arms has announced a new weapons pack to outfit your patrol with everything they need to cry havoc and let slip the play dogs of war.

Brick Arms has been around for awhile now, as they have provided everything a budding Lego General needs to break bricks and capture minifigs by force of arms. And aside from their new green color, there really isn’t anything new here, just rifles, pistols, knives and bazookas. Brick Arms also provides swords for knights of the Lego Castle line, Halo themed firearms for those wanting to make a minifig master chief, and even fun Steampunk kits. They also offer custom minifigs like a western outlaws and world war two commandos.

Now I know, some may have an issue with this – glorifying war and what not – and fine, you can say that. But as a child who grew up playing war with models, GI Joes, etc, I didn’t live a violent life, nor do I live under any allusions that war is anything but the worst of human activities. But having said that, the Lego Green Army men need their accessories! And if they could make a green land mine detector, that would just be awesome!

Hat Tip – Brothers Brick

This wireless Wii Proton pack controller was created by a Ghostbusters fan!

Heat em up! A fan of the Ghostbusters 3 video game for Wii has transformed his Wiimote wireless controllers into a proton pack controller for exclusive use in the game! But don’t worry, there’s no” unlicensed nuclear accelerator” inside, just some awesomeness that screams “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!”

Coupled with a cyclotron backpack that lights up four blue LED lights, the powerpack also has light indicators which show how much power the proton controller has left before recharging. The Wiimote wand fits in a clot in front, while the nunchuck handle goes in the back for holding stable. And thanks to the Wii-mote internal speaker, when you heat em up and let it fly, the Proton controller plays all the ghostbuster effects as well for added realisim.

The Proton Backpack has power levels to show when the Wii controller needs recharging.

The designer of the proton controller, Jack Rossi, built this cool controller out of the Wii controller set and surplus plastic. And since it’s wireless, there’s plenty of room for some nice shootin’, Tex! He promises to have a video up of it in action later this week, so check back and we’ll post it as soon as we can.
Pay attention game companies. This guy is worth hiring!

Hat Tip – D’Vice

The AirHog Sharp Shooter helicopter deploys foam dart missiles with deadly accuracy.

Sure, r/c aircraft are cool. I mean, what could be cooler than flying turbofan r/c jet fighters or hovering Cobra helicopters from a distance? How about arming them for dogfight and air to ground attack? Now that would be cool. And Air Hogs is doing it with the Sharp Shooter.

Now granted, you’re not going to turn your buddies R/C copter into a fireball, but how awesome is it that R/C flyers can fly remotely and when coming upon a target of opportunity, knock it down with a kinetic missile dart? And it’s not just a best guess firing solution either as the Sharp Shooter deploys missiles on target thanks to an LED locator. And the double, counter rotating helicopter blades provide excellent stability in order to keep on target. Both missiles also fire independently so the pilot can fire and forget and move on to another target of opportunity.

Comes with Sharp Shooter helicopter, controller/charger, Targets, missiles and instruction sheet.

Cool Video here -

Comes with Sharp Shooter helicopter, controller/charger, 6 foam missiles and instruction sheet.

Ages 3 and up for around $40 at Amazon (w/ free Super Saver shipping)

Kettquad's Four Wheel off road capability let's kids shred anywhere.

I can see it now. You give your kid a Kettquad 4 wheeled bike and by the time they’re 15, they’re competing in the X Games on ESPN. Seriously, this thing is extreme.

The cool thing about the Kettquad is that it has four meaty wheels, which means that kids who have trouble learning to ride bicycles will feel quite comfortable not only riding this bike, but really thrashing in the bush, leaving their friends in their wake as they can go where no one else can.

The Kettquard has pneumatic tires, a completely enclosed chain drive to protect against harsh off-road conditions, disc brakes and more. And for all that, you can bet it isn’t cheap – try $800! But if it ends up getting popular, you can bet more affordable knock offs will be on the horizon. Until then, check out this video and dream for your kids:

Hat Tip – Nerd Approved

Designed for the 30th Anniversary of Empire Strikes Back, this ATAT Transport toy is over 2 feet tall and amazingly detailed.

To say this ATAT toy, designed by Hasbro in celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back (where have the years gone?) is huge is an understatement. Measuring in at over 2 feet tall by 28 inches long by a foot wide, the All Terrain Armored Transport looks like it walked right off the movie screen from the frozen tundra of the ice world of Hoth to the play area in your kids’ bedroom.

And not only is it impressive in size, but also in detail, as it includes room to transport up to 20 action figures, LED lights, firing projectile cannons, a dep[loyable speeder bike, retractable zip line for Luke’s light saber/grenade attack to the belly, and articulated walking legs which makes for real serious game play. There’s also the traditional movie sounds and phrases for realistic special effects. Both cockpit and troop sections open up to deploy and the head moves from side to side. Comes with speeder bike and 3.75 inch minifigure.

Man, what great toy. It’s as if the toy’s designers brought their kids in on the project and gave them everything they wanted save real laser cannons!

Cost is $100, which very affordable considering what you get. Ages 4 and up.

Hat Tip – Uncrate

My First Doll House is eco friendly and fun to play with.

Normally, kids toys are anything but eco friendly, as they are filled with plastic, PVC and other materials that – while recyclable – aren’t bio degradable. But the PlanToys My First Dollhouse is very eco friendly thanks to it’s all wooden design.

Made of recycled rubberwood, the My First Dollhouse is a two story, four room design with flower wallpaper, an over head balcony, and sliding room doors. And it’s ideal for a child just starting out with her dolls (or his action figures – I mean, GIJoe has to live somewhere, right?).

And while the dollhouse doesn’t come with any furnishings or accessories, the Toy Doll House Family is available for an additional $17, while the Doll House Nursery will make the backyard greener for another $18.00.

How your child furnishes it is up to her, but there are additional furnitiure and kitchen sets also available.

Cost is $89 from Amazon.com

Play indoor roundball and keep score on this custom backboard and hoop!

This Basketball hoop and scoreboard is perfectly safe for indoor play bec ause the ball itself is made of foam. Still, I’d mount it on the wall in your room, just in case.

The common misnomer about foam balls is that they won’t knock down anything breakable. People tend to forget that while foam weighs next to nothing, if you start tossing said foam basketball all around the house, it’s bound to knock something over and break it. So, while this is a very cool basketball backboard and hoop, with custom name plate and chalk scoreboard, it’s probably a good idea not to mount it on a wall next to mom’s china plate collection.

What’s cool about this Hoop and Ball set is the chalk scoreboard. Although that means you need to be able to really dunk your shot so you can write and erase the score, but it’s a fun low tech extra.

Some key features:
•
• Two chalkboards keep score (chalk not included).
• Hoop folds for easy storage.
• Hangs from any door for easy portability, or can be secured to a wall; includes hardware.
• Personalization is available for an additional $6.50, so your little hoopster always has the home court advantage.

I think though, that for an extra $25 or so an electronic scoreboard would be cooler. But for $60 at Pottery Barn, it’s not a bad deal.

Ages 3 and up.

Hat Tip – Playgrounder