Manufacturer: Play Along
Price: $39.99
Buy this Toy at: Amazon

I love NASCAR and so does my son. So, when I was looking for a birthday present for him last month and saw this, I thought that it would be the perfect gift. He loves race tracks and the ones that he had were getting kind of old and most of them are made flimsily anyway, so I thought it would be a good time to replace them. On the surface, the Ultimate Speedway Set looks simply amazing.

Your child gets two cars, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with an option to buy other cars that can be raced on the set. Also included is the charger that is used on pit stops so that the cars can charge up before the run out of power. The track is about 16 feet long, so it sounds like it will be a great toy.

However, there are some problems here that I am just not comfortable with not mentioning, and these issues detract from my fully recommending this toy 100%. I am not sure if the problems, most of which are major annoyances more than anything, bother me because this Speedway costs $40 or because they are here at all. Either way, parents will want to be hesitant before purchasing this for a Christmas or any other gift. The kinks here may end up ruining the fun for whoever ends up lucky (or unlucky) enough to unwrap it.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Manufacturer: Bandai
Price: $49.99
Buy this Toy at: Amazon

LI Kids actually posted this review earlier in the year though as this would be a suitable Christmas option, we decided to dig it up and repost it. Look for our other toy reviews for some fun Christmas options for the kids!

I will admit it. I am not a huge fan of the Power Rangers brand. I think this is because when they first came out the series had the Rangers going from animation to real life people. I found that to be a little annoying and thought that some kids would have a harder time understanding that it was completely fake.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for this type of show if it’s animated, but having real people in the show just irked me. Since those days, I have put the Power Rangers behind me and hadn’t given them much of a second though. At least not until I was contacted by Bandai to do some toy reviews.

The Power Rangers Jungle Fury toys are every little boy’s dream. The Megazord spins both at the top and bottom, it transforms from one major megaman into three different animals, one of which is huge! Who doesn’t like transforming toys? The fact that it breaks into three usable toys is nice too, because then the kids can always share without having to pass the toy back and forth. When a child is alone, he can make it one big toy and with siblings or friends, he can turn it into three toys. It doesn’t get much better than that.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Manufacturer: Play Along
Price: Varies – Tony Stewart $14.95, Dale Jr. $13.99, and Jeff Gordon $16.95
Buy this Toy at: Amazon

We received the Jimmie Johnson Helmet Racer for review. As of this re-posting I am unable to find it anywhere, so I don’t know if they sell it anymore. Regardless, I doubt that too much is different between the Helmet Racers. Each of the Racers appears to be the same with exception to the name on the helmet. I thought these were going to be a fun experience despite being a small toy.

Thanks to the size and the small price this would be a great every day toy. It’s not so expensive that you need to relegate it to something only purchased on a special occasion. Instead, you can pick it up on an average day and surprise your child with it.

I was secretly hoping that the helmet we received would be Dale Jr., but receiving Jimmie Johnson wasn’t so bad either. The helmets are designed just like the cars the drivers drive, so they are a big hit with kids and NASCAR fans. On the surface, I admit they look really fun.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Literary Illusions is proud to be giving away a My Life Handheld Game Unit. To enter all you need to do is leave us a comment. Please be sure to only leave one. Comments are moderated to avoid spam, so it will not show up right away. People who leave multiple comments will be deleted from the contest altogether. If you do not see your comment within a day then by all means leave another one. Otherwise, do not worry as we accept comments several times a day.

To enter you need to be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the US. If you have won a contest within the last 30 days you are not eligible. Winners will be sent an email shortly after the end of the contest. To claim your prize all you will need to do is send us your address in a reply to the congratulation email that you will receive. If we do not receive a reply from you within three weeks, your winnings will be forfeited and your prize will be offered to another contestant.

We will begin emailing winners for this the week of October 22, 2008, which means you have until October 21, 2008 at 11:59 to enter.

From the Press Release:
With My Life Handheld, you choose and care for a pet, play fun games and go on fabulous shopping trips, all in the palm of your hand. Start by customizing your character. Choose your size, style, fashion and look, right down to the color of your eyes. Build relationships with virtual friends, family and pets. You can even add to the experience with MyStuff accessory keys and fashion keys; and expand your virtual world.

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Written by Janey - Visit Website
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Every little boy (and girl) should have their own sword. I know that I had one growing up. My sibling and I used to play He-Man and She-Ra and we had our own plastic swords so we could defend Castle Grayskull. Swords have come a long way since the days of He-Man. Now you can purchase swords that make sounds, flash, and look realistic. That’s part of the appeal of the Prince Caspian Battle Sword. I don’t care how old you are. If you’re into action and adventure you’ll think this sword is cool.

I had to assign sword time to my son (age 13) and my nephew (almost 4). The two boys didn’t want to share the sword. Both wanted to play with it at the same time. I think it was the neat sound effects that made the sword so popular. Needless to say, the Prince Caspian Battle Sword was a big hit in the Evans household and I have to make sure the boys share and get equal time with the sword as they play out their favorite Narnia (or action) inspired adventure.

Positives & Negatives:

Positives
-Inspires Creative Play
-Features Cool Sound Effects
-Sword looks realistic to Prince Caspian’s sword in the movie
-Relatively Durable

Negatives
-Expensive for a Sword
-Sound Effects aren’t always consistent

Pricing & Availability:
I had trouble finding the Prince Caspian Battle Sound Sword online and I haven’t seen this in other retail stores. I was able to find it on Amazon, but since the packaging just lists it as the Prince Caspian Battle Sword it was difficult finding exactly which Caspian sword this was on the site. I ended up finding it listed as the Prince Caspian Battle Sound Sword. There are various other swords you can purchase from the series, so if you have more than one child or you want your child to enjoy the sword with his friends you can buy the other swords, such as the King Peter Battle Sword. At Amazon, the Prince Caspian Battle Sound Sword is available for $30. While I agree the sword is nice I hardly think it is worth more than $20.

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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.

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