Category: review

July 25, 2017

My Little Pony Equestria Girls Magical Movie Night DVD Giveaway

Growing up, I loved My Little Pony – I had what felt like hundreds of the ponies to play with and my Mom has kept every single one to this date. While My Little Pony has gone through a few changes, they are still fabulous and full of adventure and magic. The Equestria Girls are back in an all new DVD, Magical Movie Night, set to release August 8th, 2017.

About My Little Pony Equestria Girls Magical Movie Night

There’s a reason these seven girls look familiar, as they step through a magical mirror, they transport from the world of My Little Pony, transforming into teenage girls at Canterlot High. Full-time students and part-time magical pony-girls, the Equestria Girls are always ready to save the day with the Magic of Friendship!

The new DVD features three mystical adventures (Dance Magic, Movie Magic and Mirror Magic) and a bonus sing along.

Dance Magic

With the Camp Everfree fundraising deadline looming, the Equestria Girls realize they need a new plan to raise more money. Rarity finds out about a music video competition, with a huge cash prize, and she’s eager to convince her friends at Canterlot High to enter the contest. However, the girls soon learn that Crystal Prep Academy is also interested in participating in the contest. The students at CPA have many more resources and are better dancers! The girls learn that sometimes coming together instead of competing is the best plan of all!

Movie Magic

The Equestria Girls have been specially invited by A.K. Yearling to go on the set of the upcoming Daring Do movie and they are overjoyed. For super-fan Rainbow Dash, watching behind the scenes as her favorite heroine comes to life is a dream come true. However, when a rare and important prop from the set goes missing, putting the movie on hold, Rainbow Dash’s dream becomes a nightmare. The Equestria Girls take it upon themselves to track down the missing prop and end up trotting into a real-life Daring Do adventure!

Mirror Magic

As the pages in her journal run out, there’s only one thing for Sunset Shimmer to do: return to Equestria as a pony to get a new journal! There, she meets new pony Starlight Glimmer and agrees to bring her back through the mirror portal to experience life as a human girl at Canterlot High. However, while Sunset Shimmer is away, a revenge‐seeking Juniper Montage finds a beautiful hand mirror enchanted with Equestrian magic. Not only can it provide a window into another land, but if you push the right button, It can also make things disappear into limbo, trapped between the two realms! Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer return to find the Mane 6 missing and Juniper Montage acting extremely suspicious. Will Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer save the girls, or are the Mane 6 lost in limbo for good?

You can now pre-order a copy of the DVD on Amazon and Shout! Kids Factory.

Do you want to win a copy of this awesome all new Equestria Girls hit?

The Giveaway

My American and Canadian readers can now enter to win their own copy from Shout! Kids. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

July 21, 2017

Bring Creativity and Imagination to Life with Stikbots

Kids love to create and design, build new worlds and create new stories. As children, we would spend hours making up plays, dressing up in costumes, using dolls for puppets and forcing our parents to watch all of our performances.

Technology has changed a lot in the last fifteen years but the desire to create and design has not changed. Children now not only have the power to create unique, exciting and adventurous stories but they can bring them to life and keep these memories with Stikbots.

Stikbots are bendable figures that children can easily move and pose into whichever position they want. Each figure also has suction cups on their hands and feet to help hold them into place once your child has planned out their scene. Stikbots began with a simple figure (that comes in roughly fifteen different colours) and has expanded into the animal kingdom with dogs, cats, monkeys and even a panda! The array of figures that your child can use really helps them to bring their story to life, we have a huge animal fan in our home and he loves watching animal documentaries so for him being able to recreate animal videos is huge!

To help your child bring their story to life, Stikbots also has the Stikbot Studio Pro Animation Set. This set includes two Stikbots, a stage (that comes in blue and green colours that is easily interchanged), tripod and two prop boxes. When you use the green stage, you can easily add in animated backgrounds (think space, disco and more) while using the Stikbot App.

We loved the Stikbots and how easy they were to use and create images and videos. We downloaded the app first so that we could fully take advantage of the green stage features. The app was easy to download and even easier to use. The figures themselves are very easy to manipulate into different positions and the suction cups worked perfectly to hold them into place on the stage and props. Our youngest (6) had no problem figuring out how to place the figures and use the props to make them appear to float or jump in the air. Once they placed their Stikbots and chose their background in the app, they had the option to either take a picture or video of their creation. After they had taken the photo or video, they could edit the image by cropping, adding wording, images and more through the app.

The Giveaway!

My Canadian and American readers can now enter to win their Stikbots prize pack! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 30, 2017

Take Family Game Night to a New Level with YULU Games

Family game nights are an excellent time for families to get together, forget the hustle and bustle of life and pay attention to what really matters – each other!

I think we can all agree that sometimes the routine of game night can get boring. Let’s face it, there are only so many times you can play the same game (with the same winner to ensure the game doesn’t end in tears) before you no longer want to play the game anymore. This completely defeats the purpose of game night – you want to make it exciting, interactive and full of laughs.

YULU Toys brings you two brand new exciting and interactive games that encourage problem solving, team building and creative play. Every time you play their games, it is different. YULU’s slogan is to bring ‘More Play, More Fun!’, which is especially true for two of their name games – Break Free and Safe Breaker.

Break Free is a challenging game of skill and quick fingers as you try to pick the lock on your handcuffs! Up to four people (and a minimum of two) can play this game, which is a great fit for most families. There are three difficulty levels you can choose from before you start the race to unlock the cuffs, from easy to difficult and they are identified by colour. All participants must first start of by choosing a level and then handcuffing themselves to each other. Once you are ready to start, each participant uses the lock picker they are given to unlock themselves. This game was intense, exciting and just a bit stressful but only for me! My kids had an amazing time playing this and were able to unlock their cuffs in record time. Mom on the other hand was awful! I ended up getting a bit scared that I was going to be handcuffed to the game forever and it affected how well I was concentrating. My eldest son ended up picking my lock for me after they let me struggle for a couple of minutes each time. We had such an amazing time playing this game, even my Dad got in on the fun when heard us giggling away.

Safe Breaker is a game of skill, memory and luck. In this game, players are trying to crack a code in order to release coins from the safe. This game combines mathematical and luck elements, where participants have to listen for clues with a stethoscope, use fingerprint scanning and more in order to be the first to collect the five golden coins or two diamonds! We had a great time playing this game and each turn was so different. We had to concentrate on the clues and use problem solving skills in order to release the coins from the safe. Each one of us wanted to be the winner in this game! The kids were the better players by far in this one too and it was perfectly suited for their personalities.

Both games can be purchased at Target in the US and Toys R Us and Walmart in Canada and are suitable for children, six years of age and up and adults alike. Both games come with several small pieces so I would not recommend them for children under the age of three or four.

My Canadian and American readers can now enter to win their own YULU Games prize pack that includes the two games above! Please enter via the Rafflecopter form below – Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to follow YULU Games on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with the newest games and more!

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 5, 2017

Digimon Adventure Tri.-Reunion DVD

The monster battles and classic adventures of DIGIMON have captured a special place in the hearts of millions and continue to stand as an enduring global pop culture phenomenon since the late 1990s (hard to believe it has been that long!). On May 16th, Shout! Factory released DIGIMON’s first full length DVD since 2000. This film reunites the characters and original cast from the classic series and picks up where the beloved DIGIMON Adventure 2002 series ended.

About DIGIMON Adventure Tri.-Reunion

It’s been six years since that summer adventure when Tai (now in high school) and the rest of the “DigiDestined” crossed over to the Digital World, and nearly three years since the frenzied final battles between warring factions. With the gate to the Digital World closed, time continues to pass, until the adventure “digi-volves” once again.

The Cast

Toei Animation has revamped this wildly popular anime movie for North American audiences by bringing onboard a stellar English voice cast. Joshua Seth, who voiced the main character Tai Kamiya in the original series, returns to the role for this feature film, alongside an exciting team of voice talent and DIGIMON luminaries, including Tom Fahn (Digimon: Digital Monsters), Kyle Hebert (Dragon Ball Super), Vic Mignogna (Star Trek Continues), Kirk Thornton (Sonic Boom), Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Toy Story 3), Cherami Leigh (Sailor Moon Crystal), Melodee Spevack (Digimon: Digital Monsters), Mona Marshall (South Park), Jeff Nimoy (Digimon Data Squad), Philece Sampler (The Legend of Korra), Anna Garduno (Digimon: Digital Monsters), Mari Devon (Digimon: Digital Monsters), Robbie Daymond (Transformers: Rescue Bots), Bob Klein (Digimon: Digital Monsters), Johnny Young Bosch (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Laura Summer (Digimon: Digital Monsters), David Mallow (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Tara Sands (Sailor Moon Crystal), Kate Higgins (Naruto), Cristina Vee (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug) and Doug Erholz (Digimon: Digital Monsters).

The Japanese language version boasts an exceptional Japanese voice cast of Natsuki Hanae, Suzuko Mimori, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Mutsumi Tamura, Hitomi Yoshida, Junya Enoki, Junya Ikeda, Mao Ichimichi (M.A.O), Chika Sakamoto, Atori Shigematsu, Mayumi Yamaguchi, Takahiro Sakurai, Kinoko Yamada, Miwa Matsumoto, Junko Takeuchi and Yuka Tokumitsu.

Trailer

Our Thoughts

Our kids couldn’t wait to pop this DVD in when it came in and they were not even born when the Digimon craze began but fell in love with the characters and battles.

The Digimon Tri Reunion DVD was everything we expected and more. The animation was amazing and the story line even more so. Our characters have grown up and are maturing, they can connect easily with both a younger audience and a teen audience. We see them begin to take responsibility for their actions and even begin to question good and evil and battles. They had grown apart but they are once again reconnected in order to save the world.

The graphics are amazing and really help to draw you into the battles and story. The graphics are bright and bold which aids in the telling of the story. Our youngest fell in love with the characters, which were all new to him.

New and old fans alike will fall in love with this new addition to the Digimon DVD family. You can now pick up your own DVD in stores at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon and iTunes.

Disclosure: I received a DVD copy in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

May 29, 2017

Get On The Move with Go! Go! Smart Wheels from VTech

Little ones have a fascination with cars and wheels. Both of my boys loved to play hours on end with anything that had wheels that they could zip around the floor and the walls (especially the walls!). They were in even more awe when those same cars lit up and made noises.

Knowing that little children are fascinated with the movement, noises and lights of cars, VTech designed the Go! Go! Smart Wheels collection that helps children learn about the world around them while feeding their desire to play with cars that move and make noise. The collection of vehicles sing songs and can even zoom off on their own with the touch of the button.

The Go! Go! Smart Wheels Press and Race Fire Truck helps your child explore the world of fire safety and emergency response. Many children want to learn more about these trucks and the heroes that are aboard, and what better way to introduce them to their heroes than through play. Children can learn about firefighting, the letter ‘F’ and even perform their own rescues with their own fire truck. With the press of a button, their fire truck is quickly off to the rescue and your little one becomes the hero in an important rescue mission.

The fire truck fits perfectly into your child’s hand and is geared to children aged 1 to 5. The fire truck will also respond to Smart Point locations on Go! Go! Smart Wheels playsets and Go! Go! Animals tracks, which is a definite win-win in my mind.

The Go! Go! Smart Wheels Press and Race Race Car introduces your child to life in the fast lane – in a fun way! This tiny but powerful race car lights up, sings songs and helps your child learn about the letter ‘R’ – you can even add in fun sound effects. Press, hold and let go and your race car is off to win the championship! This race car is the perfect gift for the child in your life that loves to be on the move and make cars zoom fast. Like the Fire Truck, the Race Car also responds to Smart Points on Go! Go! Smart Wheels playsets and Go! Go! Animals tracks.

The Go! Go! Smart Wheels collection also includes a dump truck, runway airplane and a trot and travel royal carriage. All of these VTech products can be purchased at Toys R Us or Walmart.

Make sure to follow VTech on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with all the latest news and products for your little one.

Disclosure: I received the above products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.