Techno toys

If you think stuffed toys are still the choicest playthings for children, you are definitely not going to be voted Gift-giver of the Year. There is a lot happening in the cool world of kids who are past the teddy years and before the PlayStation stage. Interactive toys — F1 cars to spygear — target those between the ages of four and 12.

“There has been a 25-30 per cent growth in electronic toy purchases in the last two years. And the market is steadily growing. People do not stop spending on kids because of the downturn. Maybe people will postpone the purchases of luxury goods but kid’s toys are usually impulse buys,” says Sandeep Marwaha, regional head, Future Group.

In fact, the tech rage has even prompted good old board games to get a makeover. “The Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition is available in an electronic version to match the techno savvy world,” says R. Jeswant, general manager, sales and marketing, Funskool India Ltd. Monopoly enthusiasts can not only deal in millions of dollars with their own Monopoly credit cards, they can also track their balance with a digital-banking device.

Vroom, vroom...

What if you can’t hit 360 km/h on Kolkata’s streets? At least you have total radio control over your Fashion F1 racer with its full-function-controller! Forget the Nano, this one looks like a Ferrari. The detailed poly-carbonate body shell is the car’s USP. The car has a stunt power of 40 mhz and has a max-speed action of 14 miles per hour. The car has a sturdy monocoque frame and front and rear double suspension system. This hot racer comes for a price of Rs 2,499 and has a 10-metre range.

If you are a fanatic for detail then go for a radio-controlled racing car in yellow, black, blue with fully fashioned interiors with steering, brakes, accelerator, stereo, headlights and back-lights. “My eight-year-old son will never buy puzzles but he will keep buying cars. At this point he has about 40-50 cars, both broken and unbroken, and is slowly moving on to video games,” says Sandeep.

Fying machine

The Dragonfly is a radio-controlled flying insect with choice of two-skill levels, beginner and expert. The ultra-light dual design and crash resistant structure make the dragonfly safe to fly both indoors and outdoors. The Dragonfly flaps its 16-inch wings and takes off from any smooth surface. It can soar, dive, hover and glide for soft landings. The remote, which also doubles as a charging base, controls wing speed and tail rotator speed. The remote also controls the magnetic perch, directional toggle, LED indicator, expert and beginner mode as well as power toggle. Flying up to 7 ft above the ground, this easy-to-fly aeronautical device looks like a genetic hybrid with dual wings, LED eyes and tail rotator. Priced at Rs 3,250, it comes with a pair of spare wings, detachable antenna, a tail ribbon and a controller. Its cheaper cousin the Dragon Fighter costs Rs 1,999.

Robotics

Robosquad is much more than any other robot — “it is the first true robotic arthropod”. Thanks to its deep infra-red scanner the Robosquad is able to spot movement up to 6 ft away. The rotating multi-jointed legs make it exceptionally agile and capable of universal directional motion. It can also search for and navigate doorways and detect changes in the environment. Leave it in autonomous mode to explore the environment or use the remote to programme him directly with a sequence of up to 40 commands. It will react to your presence based on the awareness activity or aggression states that can be set to low, medium or high. The Robosquad also has light sensors so if the lights go out this robot will keep going with LEDs flashing multicoloured lights and make techno sound effects. Suitable for those above eight years and priced at Rs 4,950, this robot has variations like the more advanced Robosapien that comes with 100 pre-programmed functions and a multitude of different modes.

Bakugun Battle Brawlers

The Japanese animation rage has taken over the toy world. “With kids, everything is about fancy. My son Vaibhav is into Bakuguns these days. He already has six or seven of them and wants one every day. For every exam he does well I have to bribe him with a Bakugun. And since they are not too expensive, I don’t mind them too much,” says Angela, mother of a six-year-old. The game is fairly simple. The target is a magnetic card. When a Bakugun hits the target gate card it pops open, instantly revealing Luminoz, Aqua, Nova, Julie, Zephyros, Lucifer or Centipede within. Priced at Rs 399 for a set of three, it is affordable and you can collect as many as you like.

Spy gear

Ever played secret agent with your pals and wished you had the right gizmo backup? Worry no more. The market is swamped with possibilities at prices ranging from Rs 700 to Rs 6,499. Spy video cars, spy voice trap, micro listeners, spy watches, spy walkie talkie and laser tripwire are just some of the available options. The spy video car is definitely the showstopper. With its camera’s direct feed to the headset screen, live action video feed was never easier to view. You can drive the car into spying position within a range of 75 m. The car’s in-built camera is adjustable to night and day vision and its ultra tread tyres can bear a lot of roughing. Bond beware!

t2