Review Archives - Page 6 of 16

Brother P-Touch and Organizing the Playroom

November 17, 2011 TechyDad Cleaning, Organization, Review

We have a nice, big room upstairs. We wanted to use it as a playroom. Unfortunately, for the longest time, the boys couldn’t play in it because the room was just too disorganized and messy. I had already begun tiding it up when I was contacted by Mom Central about the Brother P-Touch. It seemed like the perfect compliment to our organizational project.

By the time the P-Touch arrived, I had already mostly organized the playroom. Of course, it still had plenty of room for improvement.

Using a gift card provided by Mom Central and Brother P-Touch for the organizational project, I went to Target and purchased some Rubbermaid storage bins of various sizes and a metal shelving unit. We had shied away from these kinds of units before, worried that they would topple over on the kids. This particular unit, however, is one that B’s father has used to keep his many plants. It is very sturdy, so we got one for our playroom.

Before long, the mess of puzzles, games and other toys were tamed. I couldn’t affix labels to the metal shelves, so I purchased some luggage tags. After putting the labels on these, I hung them on each shelf to show just what belonged there.

The storage bins were used to store toys such as Legos (previously jumbled in a much older storage bin whose lid didn’t fit on right, Lego figures (tossed in with the Legos and thus often lost), and Hexbug tracks.

This has really helped us out. Not only do we have a playroom that the kids can use, but we’ve been able to move more toys into it. This means less toys downstairs to clutter the living room or the boys’ room. While before the boys were content to stay downstairs on the couch watching TV, they’ll beg to go upstairs now. (Despite the fact that the TV up there doesn’t get cable.) They have no problem putting toys away upstairs (since the “homes” for each toy is so clearly labeled.

As for the Brother P-Touch, I found it very easy to operate. After the first labels came out with tiny type, I explored the settings and found that there are plenty of options. You can change the font size, bolding, the font itself and more. After about three minutes, I was able to produce labels that looked just like I wanted them to look. It’s a simple machine, but one with many options. The previous label makers I’ve used, were from a decade or two ago. It’s interesting to see how far they’ve progressed.

Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product and gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Review: Hot Wheels Custom Cars

October 17, 2011 TechyDad Review, Toys

My boys are big toy car fans, especially Hot Wheels cars. Heading down the toy car aisle is a dangerous affair as the kids will want “just one more car.” (Never mind the giant car bin in the house.)

The boys were eager to design a Hot Wheels Custom car featuring themselves. First, we needed a photo. This would have meant a long search through our photo archives, so I decided to take a new one. Here are the boys posing:

Those two smiling faces would soon be on a car. We chose the car type and decided on a name for vehicle. There is a character limit (21, if I recall correctly), but we came up with a good one. We even got to choose the cardboard backing.

After ordering, we just needed to sit back and wait. Then, the cars (see disclaimer below) came and the boys were eager to rip right into them. Here’s where we ran into a problem. The cars looked so nice in their packages that I didn’t want to open them. Here before me was a Hot Wheels car with my boys on it. I didn’t want that banged around and tossed in the box along with all the other Hot Wheels toys!

(Click to enlarge. The pixilated text on the car is from my photo editing since I don’t typically post NHL or JSL’s real names online.)

Luckily, the boys were easily distracted and the cars “disappeared.” They will be put away and given to the boys in the future. For now, I’m enjoying them in “mint” condition.

Although I didn’t open the boxes (yet), much is apparent through the packaging. The cars look just like they were purchased from a store. If that store stocked cars with your custom photo, name and cardboard backing. The photo quality is great as is the text on the side. It all looks exceptional.

Price-wise, it is more expensive than your average Hot Wheels car, but this is to be expected. Given the price of your typical custom photo product, the $7.99 (plus shipping and handling) isn’t too pricey. This would definitely be something I would recommend to give to someone as a gift (or get for a gift for yourself).

Disclaimer: Thanks to MomSelect, I was given a code for a free Hot Wheels Customs car and free shipping. The free shipping actually covered the cost of shipping two cars, so we decided to buy (and pay for) a second car.

Review: Hot Wheels Nitro Speeders

August 25, 2011 TechyDad Giveaway, Review, Toys

The kids love cars. They’ve got a whole plastic carton devoted to various Matchbox, Hot Wheels and other assorted cars. Up until now, though, their RC experience has been a bit limited. We’ve had a few RC-type toys meant for kids (a Lightning McQueen car and a Buzz Lightyear spaceship), but they were bulky and never quite worked right. These toys were soon pushed aside in favor of others.

When the Hot Wheels Nitro Speeders box arrived, I was excited to (re)introduce them to the world of RC cars. The kids, however, were even more excited than I was. They barely tolerated me taking photos of the box and cars before I put batteries in the controller/case.

I was stuck by how small these cars were. You can see, in the comparison photo above, that they are just bigger than a quarter. I’d worry about the cars getting lost, but, luckily, Hot Wheels has addressed this. The controller doubles as a case.

Even better, the case triples as a charger. The car itself contains a non-replaceable Lithium-Ion battery, but the case runs off of 4 AA batteries. Connect the car to the case via a cable (inside the case) and the car can quickly be charged. I didn’t time the charging, but it was definitely ready in under an hour.

All of this wouldn’t matter, though, if the cars weren’t fun. Luckily, they are plenty of fun. Again, my kids put up with me clearing the hallway of any obstacles (and closing doors so the cars wouldn’t scoot under beds). Then, they not-so-patiently put up with me videoing myself playing with the car.

Once this short video was done, I let them have at them. Notice the two cars. B got selected for this review as well. It wound up being a good thing because otherwise the boys would have fought over the controller.

Of course, still photos of smiling faces and racing cars is one thing. It’s quite another to hear their reactions and laughter.

The box says that it is for ages 8 and up, but JSL (age 4) had no problem operating the car. I’ll admit that I couldn’t quite get the car to go where I wanted it to go, but that could be the fault of my inexperience with RC cars more than the fault of the controller. Even without pinpoint accuracy, I had fun making the car race, turn, and spin out. This is definitely a toy that I’d recommend for kids or even grown-ups.

Giveaway

You can win a Hot Wheels Nitro Speeders RC car. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What kind of cars do your kids like playing with?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete. (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
Follow Hot Wheels on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @Hot_Wheels and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: On your marks, get set, RC race with @TechyDad and @Hot_Wheels Nitro Speeders #Giveaway http://bit.ly/n5848v
Subscribe to my RSS feed or let me know if you already are. (1 bonus entry)
Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from August/September. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)
Enter B’s Hot Wheels Nitro Speeders giveaway. Leave a comment here letting me know that you’ve entered. (1 bonus entry)
Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, August 25th and ends at Noon EST on September 12th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by MomSelect. I received a Hot Wheels Nitro Speeder to review. All opinions above are my own.

The Brother P-Touch Durability Test

August 23, 2011 TechyDad Review

With two boys home all summer, keeping the house organized can be quite a challenge. Some days it seems like all of the effort we put into cleaning and putting items away are undone when Hurricanes NHL and JSL blow through. Thus, I was very interested in seeing how the Brother P-Touch system could help.

The first part of this review campaign was a durability test. As you can see, a box was sent to me wrapped in caution tape.

Inside was a sponge, scrub brush, abrasive soap, a wipe soaked in nail polish remover and a piece of plexiglass with a label attached.

First, I scrubbed as hard as I could with the brush.

Next, I added some soap (mixed in water) and let it soak for a bit. Then, I wiped it off with a sponge.

The label didn’t show any sign of wear, so I used the scrub brush a bit more.

There was still nothing, so next up was the nail polish remover.

Besides smelling bad, there was still no sign that I had done anything to the label.

I’m definitely intrigued. I put this label through abuse that should have removed it or at least scratched it. Instead, the label held up. If it can hold up to scrub brushes and abrasive chemicals, it might just stand a chance against two young boys.

Review: Z-Curve Bow & Zing-Shot Launcher

July 18, 2011 TechyDad JSL, NHL, Outside, Play, Review, Toys

The boys love the playground and they love tossing/firing things. Combine these together and you’ve got a sure hit. I had the opportunity to try out the Z-Curve Bow and the Zing-Shot Launcher from ZING Toys. The boys were even more excited because, thanks to watching Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, they saw the bow and arrow set as an opportunity to pretend that they were Hawkeye. (A superhero archer with perfect aim.)

Since the bow and arrow set says it launches over 100 feet, I thought it wise not to try these out in our front yard. Even though the darts are made of a soft foam, which probably wouldn’t even hurt if they scored a direct hit on a person, I thought it wise not to take a chance damaging one of our neighbor’s cars. So off to a local park we went.

Now, my boys are 7 years old ( almost 8 ) and 4. The package said that these toys were meant for ages 8 and up. I figured that JSL would have a lot of trouble with them. Sure enough, he did. With my guidance, he was able to shoot off a few arrows. I didn’t measure how far these went, but they were a good distance. Maybe 20 feet. Not bad for his first bow shot!

NHL had a bit of trouble at first, but adapted quickly. Before long, he was shooting arrows quite far away. I don’t know if they landed 100 feet away, but they were pretty far.

Then it was my turn. I liked that the arrows fit into a “quiver” that could be attached to a belt loop or other strap. This helped keep them in place when they weren’t flying through the air. The arrows have hooks on them that grip the bow’s rubber bands. Pulling back, I let the arrow fly. Sure enough, the arrows went extremely far. I didn’t measure, but it just might have been 100 feet.

Here are two photos showing the distance that the arrows travelled. The first is of the boys recovering an arrow that I shot. The second is of me standing approximately where an arrow landed after one of NHL’s shots. (Click to enlarge.)

As NHL and JSL took turns running after it, the arrow’s red tip really helped us locate the arrows on the green grass.

Next up was the slingshot. Unlike the bow and arrow, this had a ball that gets positioned between two stretching prongs. You pull the ball back and let it fly. Theoretically, it then shoots over 50 feet. Practically, the ball kept twisting and getting caught on the prongs. These misfires only went a few feet. We did get a few good shots out of it, but it was definitely the harder of the two to properly fire.

Both the Zing-Shot Launcher and the Z-Curve Bow were a lot of fun. It didn’t take long for our toys to catch the notice of other children on the playground. They asked to try and before long there was a veritable line of kids waiting to try them out.

Of the two, I would definitely recommend the bow and arrow over the slingshot. It was easier to work and launched much further. Plus, the “quiver” helps keep the arrows in place while the slingshot’s balls don’t have any receptacle to keep them in. Either way, both toys were a lot of fun and both of the boys have begged to use them again.

Disclaimer: I received the Zing-Shot Launcher and the Z-Curve Bow from ZING Toys to review. However, the opinions expressed above are my own.

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