In celebration of our fantastic Remote Control Helicopter competition, we’ve gone on the hunt for the best RC toys around - and this one is going to take some beating. The love child of a Robot inventor and one of the Transformers‘ artists, MechRC Robot is the most interactive, programmable robot toy we can find. He features over 100 pre-installed motions and sounds, and can be easily programmed on your computer. The best part is, all of your PC interaction is with an animated film strip - it doesn’t get much easier!

You just manipulate the animated robot on the screen, save the sequence, and then have him repeat his new dance/fighting/dinner making moves later with the IR remote control. You can also upload music files to play through the speaker in MechRC’s chest.

The MechRC Robot’s 17 servos offer up to 180 degree movement, so there’s no limitations as to the moves you can get him to do! Not the cheapest RC toy we’ve looked at, but certainly one of the coolest. Available now for £399 from Iwantoneofthose.com.

It’s a far cry from Wrex, but for Biscuits the dog, that’s a good thing. This animatronic dog will make your child feel like they have a real puppy to love and care for. New from FurReal Friends this life-sized Golden Retriever pup is sure to be a best seller this Christmas

The state-of-the-art animatronics enable the playful pooch to respond to kids just like a real puppy, complete with moving head, ears and waggy tail. The interactive play includes the ability to teach your new best friend to ’sit up and beg’ and ‘give me a paw’! Feed him his bone when he does well and he’ll give it a sniff before tucking in. Show him love and he even responds to your touch.

So if your child has been begging you for a puppy - consider this a test run without the early morning walks in the rain and those costly vet bills.

Available now from thetoyshop.com

Whether you saw it on the Dragon’s Den, at last year’s toy fair or just heard about it on the online rumour mill - the I-Teddy has been big news in the toy industry this year. Now the creators are in the running to win a prestigious business award.

The Startups Awards are designed to raise awareness of the UK’s best start-up businesses. The winners of each category will be announced at the end of this month and stand to win big cash prizes along with the prestige that comes hand-in-hand with these awards.

In case you haven’t seen him before, the I-Teddy allows children to watch cartoons, play music, games more with his built in speakers and on-tummy screen! You can detach the media player so you can even use the player by itself, and he has an SD slot so you can expand the memory and hold even more goodies on this smart teddy play mate. Great for on the move, in the car, bed time or anytime.

Click here to find out more about the i-teddy.

It’s sparkly, pretty and available in pink- the quintessential girl’s toy. There’s only one difference, it’s made by the people who brought us the Roboraptor and Wrex the Dawg. Ok so it isn’t high tech, but the Flytech Robotics Butterfly flies, flutters, twirls and has an ultra light ‘high-flex’ crash resistant body (so it’s hard to break - an essential point for toys marketed at the 6year+ market). It’s easy to use too, just clip it onto the launchpad and away she goes, when she gets tired, clip her back on to recharge then let her fly again. The butterfly is safe enough for indoor or outdoor use.

Available from Hamleys, Play.com and Character-Online.

continue reading "Who says robots are for boys? Introducing Flytech Butterfly"

You’ve seen the film, now build the bot. Loveable WALL.E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) was left behind when mankind left earth and is looking for a new friend to play with. This easy to use construction toy lets you build your own version of WALL.E or mix and match the parts to make a brand new robot. All the parts connect magnetically so can be reassembled again and again, and the joints are fully articulated for those kids that would rather play than build.

Available now from Amazonfor £10.00