Lots of things will be changing for Monkey this year. He’ll start full time school in September and I’m under no illusion that peer pressure will become more apparent. I’m sure his tastes in the programmes he likes to watch and the characters he loves will start to evolve. My little boy is growing up and recently I’ve watched as Monkey has fun with Bandai.
Our delivery from the team at Bandai contained the Ultra Morphin Blue Ranger from the Power Rangers Megaforce, the Digimon Battle Figure Shoutmon and the Digimon Digi-Fusion Loader. All are aimed at children of 4 years and over, so perfect for a 4 year old Monkey.
I can remember when Power Rangers were first launched and the sensation that followed. I have to be honest, Monkey hasn’t been introduced to them or the Digimon (Digital Monsters for us oldies) before, so I was really interested to see what he’d make of them. I’m sure by his birthday in December, and a term at school, he will know all the names by heart!
Ultra Morphin Blue Ranger comes with a playing card that can be used with the Power Rangers Morpher and Power Rangers Card Scanner App which is available on Google Player and iTunes.
The Power Ranger himself has a button on his back, press it to see him light up and watch a Zorb appear in his chest. He is 16cms tall, so a great size for Monkey to have lots of imaginative play fun with.
Monkey needed no assistance to figure out how the transformation worked, he got it straight away, and loved the glowing lights – wow Mummy, LOOK!
I’m certainly going to have a Power Rangers Megaforce fan in this house, I can see it now! These figures are priced at £14.99 and there are a number to collect in the range. It seems fairly robust and is still intact after nearly a month of play time. That’s a good test with Monkey and plastic toys!
Then it was time to watch as Monkey has fun with Bandai and Digimon Fusion.
Bandai have launched a new range of Digimon Fusion interactive toys to coincide within the launch of the new CiTV series which started at the end of last month at 7.15am during the week. The range is aimed at children between the ages of 4-7 years.
I was quite taken with our little Digimon Battle Figure – Shoutmon. He’s about 6cms tall and made of a more rubbery type plastic than the Power Ranger. He has moveable arms and comes with a Digimon Mic and playing card, which works with the Digimon Digi-Fusion Loader. He is a collectable figure from the series. At the moment, monkey hasn’t been that taken with Shoutmon, but I’m sure that children who already know the concept and series will love collecting him and the other battle characters. He’s very robust too. The Battle Figures are priced between £4.99-£8.99.
The Digimon Digi-Fusion Loader comes with 3 x AAA batteries, and 5 playing cards featuring different Digimon characters. Our pack contained Shoutmon (a different card to the one that came with our battle figure), Ballistamon, Dorulumon, Mail Birdramon and Greymon.
Monkey, again got the hang of this without any intervention from me. You slide the card into the loader, you zig zag across the numbers shown on the picture and then press the Digi-Fusion button to enable the interactive sounds and voices. You can also play without the cards directly with the loader. For those already familiar with the show, you can also use digi-codes to unlock different sounds.
My only niggle with the Digi-Fusion Loader is the instruction leaflet. I know I’m an oldie, and I wear contact lens, but even so, the text is minute, I just can’t read it without using Monkey’s magnifying glass. Don’t laugh! In my opinion, they’d have been better off using both sides of the leaflet and providing more legible text and diagrams, especially for the younger users.
That aside, any fan of Digimon Fusion is going to love this toy. Monkey has no idea what the series is about at the moment, so I’ll be interested to see how his play develops as he comes to know the characters and concept of the range as a whole. The Digi-Fusion Loader is priced at £19.99.
All of the items mentioned are available to buy through retailers such as Amazon, Toys R Us, The Entertainer, Smyths Toys Superstores, Toymaster and Sainsbury’s.
disclaimer: we were sent the items mentioned in exchange for an honest review.
I was pleased to see these toys at Toy Fair and impressed with their quality too. I’m sure Bud is going to love these too.
Yes, they seem really robust, which is a must with plastic toys here!
Oh wow, the first thing I thought when I saw those toys is ‘They’re proper big boy toys!’ – How can your monkey be playing with big boy toys?! And school?! Wow. Flying by! x
I know!! Me too, my baby is growing up way too fast 🙁
Lol – time for a visit to the optician :p
Digimon has been around a long while now, I have been here before. Just be thankful you don’t have to learn how to play Pokemon! 😀
I’m sure that will come Jenny, or something worse!
Digimon figures look interesting and a bit different, and a great price as a party gift.
Ooh these do seem grown up for Monkey but I guess he is getting older now. The power ranger figure looks like a typical boys toy figure that I’m sure all boys will love playing with.
They are for 4 years plus so sadly he is just right for them! Growing up too fast
These look like great fun. I always think it is a bit sad when they start moving away from the younger toys and start enjoying these kind of action figures. There is plenty of choice available though isn’t there.
It’s a little scary to realise that much loved toys will soon be forgotten as he grows up this year. Not sure I’m ready for that!