Zoom Zoom Zoom

Are you a F1 fan? F1 actually stands for Formula One and it is actually a racing tournament that sees drivers in their race cars racing against many others in circuits around the world. I am not sure how the eventual winner is selected but each circuit would have their own champions and runners up. Frankly speaking I have never been to a Formula One race before though I have heard from many people that it can be either very loud or exciting. Obviously people either hated it or loved it!

If you ask me, I prefer to do my own formula one racing at home. You must be wondering what I am trying to say here but I am definitely not rich enough to have a personal driving circuit at home! What I am saying here is to just play with my own toys cars or racing cars at home! Yes I am happy to admit that I have a big collection of toy cars at home and nothing beats looking at my own collection. My favourites are of course the BMWs, the Ferraris and the Audis. These classy cars are a man’s best dream and I sure hope that I would be rich enough to own a whole new fleet of real cars but of course I would have to be very rich to be doing that. I do not think I would be writing articles online if I was that rich! So I have to resort to buying cheap toy cars instead.

Anyways there seems to be a new bird in town. Something innovative and creative because these cars can travel upside down! Introducing the new Air hogs nano zero gravity race cars! Pretty cool if you ask me. Grab them before they pull a fast one!

Ben 10 Omnitrix Toy Shopping – 3 Mistakes To Avoid

If you are new to the whole Ben 10 craze, beware. There are so many toys and other Ben 10 merchandise out there following this ever popular cartoon series that you may end up buying the wrong thing. Take the ‘must-have’ toy – the Omnitrix watch. There are at least five different versions of it – do you know the differences between them? If not, in this article I will cover which of these watch toys to avoid, so you can spend your money carefully.

1. Do not buy the earliest versions

As the Omnitrix is so crucial to the plot on Ben 10, there have been many versions created for the toy shelves since the shows fan base started growing in 2005. The two earliest versions the Alien Viewer and the Omnitrix FX are weak at best and should be avoided. The Alien Viewer does not have lights or show sound effects and the images you are supposed to be able to see are miniscule. The Omnitrix FX is slightly better but does little more than flash lights, play some sounds and show tiny alien silhouettes.

2. Make sure you match your aliens to your Omnitrix

There have been two series of the Ben 10 cartoon – the original and the Alien Force sequel. Between the shows the Omnitrix changed. Originally it was black, called the Deluxe Omnitrix and contained aliens such as Ripjaws, Heatblast and Wildmutt. In Alien Force it was green with new aliens such as Chromastone, Swampfire and Big Chill and called the Ben 10 Alien Force Ultimate Omnitrix. So if your child is used to one series and his heroes are the aliens from that show make sure you get the Omnitrix to match.

3. Do not buy the Deluxe Omnitrix for children under 5 years old

The original series Deluxe Omnitrix is a cut above the rest as it includes a mini computer game. It has a small LCD screen on the watch dial which is either used to view aliens and transform when role playing or can be used to play a game. In the game the computer displays the alien it wants you to transform into to fight the villain, Vilgax. You then dial through the aliens until you find the right one and watch the ensuing battle. For children under 5 or those who cannot read, they will not be able to play the game and may therefore find it frustrating. They may also find it hard to move between this game mode and the normal mode where just alien pictures are shown.

So do not be fooled into thinking anything Ben 10 Omnitrix will do. With so many choices each doing something a little different, it is worth having a heads up on which one does what. There are also various normal wrist watches such as the Ben 10 Flip Top Watch to add more confusion to the mix, but if you avoid making the mistakes above and you should be fine.

Do You Know Much About The Kidizoom Camera? Take This Quiz To Find Out

This is a guest post by Chloe from All Ben 10 Toys.

There are a few children’s digital cameras on the market at the moment – some are popular, others not so much so. With VTech’s Kidizoom version being tipped for greatness this Christmas, if you are thinking of adding it to your shopping list, you probably ought to check you know what you are buying. Nobody wants a gift disaster especially in this gloomy economic climate. Take the short quiz below to help you make sure.

What are the features of the VTech Kidizoom Camera?

a) Photo taking.
b) Photo taking and video making.
c) Photo taking, video making and game playing.

The answer is (c). The VTech Kidizoom digital camera is a fully functional multimedia kit. It is easy to use and well designed for children with its chunky handles and large intuitive button controls. It is also not very heavy. You can see what you are taking via the 1.8” LCD screen on the back of the camera. Once you have taken your photos or video you can use the included cables to transfer them to your computer or watch them on your television. You can also use some included software to edit the photos by adding highly funny devil horns or rabbit ears to your photo’s subject.

How many megapixels does the VTech Kidizoom camera use?

a) 0.3
b) 3.0
c) 5.0

The answer is (a). The main downside of this toy camera is that the picture quality is not that great. The few megapixels mean that the photos are more of the quality of an old mobile phone than similar to your fancy camera. But remember this is a toy, not really a proper camera and your younger children are not likely to care or even notice.

What does the 16MB capacity of the VTech Kidizoom camera’s internal memory really mean?

a) 20 photos
b) 200 photos
c) 2000 photos

The answer is (b). The internal memory of the Kidizoom camera can hold approximately either 200 photos or five minutes of video. This may sound like a lot but won’t be when your child gets snap happy. The best option is to buy an external memory card when you buy the camera. This is also highly recommended as without one if the camera runs out of battery all the pictures are lost.

Well done if you answered all of these questions correctly – you are well aware of what you are buying. If you struggled on them, hopefully you have now learned a bit more about this popular children’s camera.

Top 3 Ben 10 Figures

The Ben 10 toy range includes watch like alien devices called the Omnitrix, many figures and various games to name but a few things. For cool alien role play, your child really needs an Omnitrix watch and a collection of the best figures. The best Ben 10 figures are comprised of the following – 10cm Alien Force figures, Creation Chamber figures and Micro figure packs.

Ben 10 figures come in various sizes ranging from 2cm up to 30cm. The best, however, are somewhat in the middle at 10cm. They won ‘Toy Of The Year’ in 2009 and the Alien Force variety is actually a two-in-one toy. You get two figures for the price of one in that you get the standard 10cm figure along with a smaller translucent one that fixes to the Alien Force Omnitrix to unlock the alien’s voice. They are fully articulated and well detailed, hard wearing and offer hours of role play fun to any child that has a collection of their favourite characters.

Going slightly smaller to 6.5cm, the new Ben 10 figures to go with the Creation Chamber offer the standard role play fun with the various characters but add a new twist to the mix. They can each be dismantled into arms, legs, body and head and put back together in any number of ways by mixing bits between different aliens, to come up with unique figures. This option inspires children’s creativity and leads to plenty of quiet time for parents. These figures can also be played with in the Creation Chamber play set which comes with four figures to start children off.

The micro figures are a little bit smaller again at only 6cm but are no longer articulated. Instead they are fixed to a base plate and are more aimed at displaying as part of a Ben 10 action figures set. The reason we think they are some of the best figures is because having a variety of these characters really adds to the role play experience. Even though they are not poseable they are cheap enough to collect a few and can be used in creative and imaginary play. They are also great for parents who are looking for party bag fillers as they can be bought in bulk packs.