It has been said that many toys imitates real life. This reviewer just hopes that he is not involved in any imitation with regards to one aspect of this next product which is the Zero Gravity Micro racing car. While I am not a great fan of speed, it is other features of this car, as will become obvious a little later, is responsible for my point of view.

I'll start by mentioning the price, which I usually leave until the end, which is around about . Now you can either consider this as a very expensive toy as a cheap way of satisfying your childs desire for a pet without the cost of a tin of catfood each day, vets bills and a responsibility for your pet long after your child has moved on to other delights. You can see what Pleo looks like from the pictures - a small happy dinosaur.

Those over a certain age must remember the Rubik Cube; after all over 350 million units have been sold since its introduction in the 1980s, well now we have a follow up product entitled the Revo.  At first glance this cube shaped device with coloured sides could easily be mistaken for a slightly larger, shimmering version of the original Rubik Cube.

Flight has always held a fascination for many children so it's no surprise that inexpensive radio controlled flying toys have been somewhat of a hit over the last few years. Traditionally an expensive pastime, the miniaturisation of electronics, motors and lightweight construction materials has enabled this new generation of device. There have been problems though.

It is up to 43cm long and around 8cm across at the receiving end. There is a (detachable) tripod whose legs stray to 30cm. This can lift the telescope up to 45cm above whatever you are resting it on. The eyepiece has four positions twisting through 180 degrees. There are three others lens that can be attached. I would assume this comes in a box (mine only came in the case) and no doubt the box has all the instructions.

For some, the defining memory of the Eighties could well be that of the fiendishly clever, or perhaps you prefer the description of annoying, puzzle – namely the Rubik Cube. I have to confess to being one of the many who fell under the spell of this contraption and spent many hours in attempting to solve this puzzle developed by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian Professor of Architecture and Design.

I didn't have to go the Build A Bear workshop specially to do a review as my kids have already been several times.  If you have kids under 10 it's a very special experience.  And in fact whenever we've been there we've seen quite a few girls in their 20s putting their heart into their bear too. Build-A-Bear is a truly lovely concept.  There are Build A Bear workshops (stores) all over the country now.

I must start with a warning these products are extremely difficult to remove from the packaging. If you are giving this as a gift I suggest that it is extracted from the packaging first as by the time you have done it the child will be bored. I found six ties that go right through the packaging and need to be fed out to allow Wall.e to look as if he can be extracted.

Having mastered an air guitar you might feel the need to move on to the next level.  This is where Guitar RockStar from Tomy could enter the picture.  Guitar RockStar is constructed of plastic and consists of the head of a guitar and two and a bit frets overlaid by various controls.  Power is provided by two AAA batteries (not included) which fit into a compartment on the back of the guitar’s neck.  Also located on the back of the guitar is the speaker grill; 3.

Leapfrog make reading interactive with the use of a Tag pen to help read the book and play games. Your child can hold the pen and touch a symbol on the page to read the story to them by the characters in the book, with a signalling sound to tell them when to turn the page. Alternatively they can touch another symbol to have just that page read to them.

Recently we were sent the - I was really impressed - as you'll see in my of the iCoaster. When researching the background we saw that the iCoaster had won the in the "SMart Play" category. On that list we also noticed the it's parent product the MagNext (winning "SMart Build" category) - so we had to give MagNext a go! MagNext is a deceptively simple construction toy with lots of play value.

Here we have a standalone games console which operates on its own batteries and with no need for a television or hand held controllers. The Swinxs is modelled around good old fashioned party games such as Hide and Seek and Tag. Swinxs has a central console and comes with four wristbands which are worn by the players. The wristbands are individually recognised, so Swinxs knows who is winning at any point in time. Swinxs comes preloaded with seven games.

You can tell it's the run up to Christmas when more toys start arriving at Gadgetspeak. We were pleased this week to try out the new Magnext iCoaster. If you have kids that enjoyed marble runs when they were younger, this could be the next step up - a roller-coaster marble run with magnetic technology. There are 17 pieces of track and 10 towers of 3 different heights which can be configured in at least 10 different ways to make an exciting ride for the marbles.

My skill, or perhaps lack of skill would be a more appropriate description, as a helicopter pilot is renowned in my family circle.  Amusement is rife as I make valiant attempts to perform even the most basic manoeuvres of flight with various remote control flying machines.  In my defence I do try to claim that I am testing the crash capabilities (of which I am an expert) of the current device but this feeble attempt at justification rarely succeeds.

With different types of footwear gaining fashion icon status, you may perhaps wonder what the next stage (or should that be step) will be in the development of this particular item of clothing.  While logos are already an established part of what we wear (especially the fashion conscious who dress to be noticed rather than for comfort), maybe the possibility of some personalised advertising in the form of a message might appeal.

It is described as for '8 & up' but at least one six year old can fly it successfully. As with all these type of products the heaviest thing by far is the controller unit. From the tip of the rotor blade to the back of the unit is 29cm and it is 18cm across the blade, it stands 12cm tall. Mine was black with a clear Perspex cover for the cockpit. No polystyrene is sight unlike most of the lightweight offerings around.

Subbuteo Dream Team Stadium It was certainly a long time ago when I played Subbuteo - I seem to rember that my older brother always thrashed me - but that was the prerogative of an older brother. While the green playing surface is the same not much else is. The players used to be cardboard now they are high quality plastic (three to a card) and with the 'Dream Team' they come from different teams.

Marvin's Magic Freaky Body Illusions This is a set of illusions with the required props to make them work. Unless you are lot more adept than myself you will also need a DVD player to watch how the illusions are achieved. It mentions the DVD in several places on the box but no where does it actually say it's required. However I doubt you would get very far without it.

This review takes a look at the latest in the DS line of hand-held game consoles. The Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) arguably saw the turn around in Nintendo's fortunes and a continuation of the strategy that brought the DS to market led directly to the new Wii phenomenon. Put bluntly - Nintendo had the foresight to put the user, rather than technology, first.

'With its Zoomshot product, Digital Blue has combined the functionality of a pair of binoculars with a digital camera, Right from the start it should be made clear that, despite the claim on the box that this product is for those aged from 7 to adult, the kit is really only suitable for the lower age group, The binoculars are so small, with a distance of 75mm between the left and right view-finders, that I was reduced to using the kit in telescope mode - using just one