ARCADE FUN AT HOME

There was a video game arcade midway on the walk between my home and middle school. Every day after school you knew where all the kids in the neighborhood were. We'd all rush to be the first to get a spot in front of an arcade cabinet because in the late 80s you didn't play video games on your phone or television set. You played video games at an arcade! 

My twelve year old self dreamed of one day building a video arcade in my home. Fast forward to today and filling up space in your house with full-sized video game arcade cabinets may not seem as glamorous in the 21st Century as it did back then. Wow saying "21st Century" still seems so "futuristic" to me.  

That doesn't mean childish fantasies still can't come true. There are a variety of retro-style miniature arcade models available now that can let you imagine having your dream game room. From Super Impulse video games that let you hold an entire old school arcade in the palm of your hand to New Wave Toys carefully crafted sixth scale recreations of classic cabinets you can have lots of fun at home without taking up too much space or having you lose all your quarters.

Super Impulse TINY ARCADE are playable even though their cabinets are only 4x2 inches with a screen size less than 1.5 inches. Yet they provide complete gameplay with full color high res imagery and authentic game sounds within a back-lit arcade style cabinet. Choose from Burger Time, Q*Bert and Frogger among other hit arcade games of the '80s.

Plus they have tabletop versions too of games including Pac Man, Space Invaders and Galaga. Plus they have some newer arcade hits like Dance Dance Dance Revolution that you can show off your smooth moves with your fingers instead of feet. For those of us who moved on from arcades by playing an Atari game console at home Super Impulse has even recreated a tiny version of the 2600 that plays 10 games including Pac Man on a mini television set. How cool is that?!

Basic Fun! has a collection of Retro Mini Arcade Games ranging from Asteroids to Q*Bert that my kid have had a blast playing with. They especially had a good time during a family movie night where we played Fix it Felix before watching Ralph Breaks the Internet. My son used to take that handheld game with him and play it while waiting for his swimming lessons to begin. He was the envy of all the children around the pool at Goldfish Swim School.

Fix it Felix is a Walmart exclusive along with Rampage and Mortal Kombat. You can find others like Dig Dug, Frogger , Ms. Pac-Man and Space Invaders at Amazon, Target and Kohls. My kids really did have a mini arcade in their playroom as they were growing up with Pac-Man, Tetris, Frogger, Q*Bert and Fix it Felix Basic Fun! video games. While they still play them from time to time now they are twelve themselves they tend to spend more time on Animal Crossing and Fortnite. Things are so much different now from when I was twelve years old!

If you are looking for something that is both fun to play and looks good to display, check out the limited edition Replicades from New Wave Toys. These collectible sixth scale replicas of classic arcade cabinets are crafted so as that it seems you have a miniature of the original video games that can be shown off on a table or shelf. Not only do these look great but they duplicate the game play experience even though they are in a much smaller format.

I picked up Dragon's Lair and highlight it on a bookshelf in my home office. I probably spent as much in quarters playing this game at arcades during my youth as it cost me to buy the New Wave Toys Replicade version of Dragon's Lair. To be honest I sucked at the game when playing it at the arcade and am finally getting the hang of being decent at it now that I don't have to stick fifty cents into it every few minutes. 

Enjoying my Dragon's Lair Replicade, I'm adding another arcade game to my collection with 1943. I ordered this World War II fighter plane game awhile back and from recent reports it is now on a cargo ship crossing the Pacific Ocean to get to me. I spent hour after hour playing this game in arcades during my tween age years and am geeked to add it to my New Wave Toys collection. Maybe I will have that dream arcade in my home after all!

Other recent releases from New Wave Toys include 1942, Q*Bert and Missile Command. I'm hoping they come out with Golden Tee, Popeye and Out Run plus some realistic pinball miniatures in the future. If you see a Replicade release you are interested in, I highly recommend placing a preorder when you can because these sell out quick when they hit retail. They also have a USB charger device that you can plug your arcade games into, or other devices, to keep them powered up that looks like an arcade change making device and a neon carpet that glows when exposed to black light to give your Replicade display a retro vibe. 

Have yourself some great arcade fun at home with these miniature video games from Basic Fun, Super Impulse and New Wave Toys!

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World's Smallest Stretch Armstrong

** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

Stretch Armstrong was a BIG hit with all my friends as a kid growing up in the late 1970's and early '80's.  This muscle bound character in a speedo could be contorted and stretched in all sorts of manners but the toy would always return to its original shape.  Stretch Armstrong hit store shelves just as professional wrestling was seeing a boom in popularity adding to the appeal of the toy.  The character had the appearance of someone who would be jumping in the ring to take on the likes of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, or Ricky Steamboat and kids could have fun imagining some great bouts that resulted in Stretch Armstrong being tied up in knots.  It really was a lot of fun to see how far you could stretch the toy out (our neighborhood record was five feet) or bend the figure into different shapes without breaking it.

Now Super Impulse Toys is bringing back Stretch Armstrong to entertain a new generation of kids.  Super Impulse has made a reputation for taking classic toys that were big hits and reproducing them in miniature form with their World's Smallest toy line.  While the World's Smallest Stretch Armstrong is reduced in size from the original toy, small enough to hold in the palm of your hand actually, it still has the flexibility to be wrapped up like a giant pretzel or have its limbs tugged really far apart.  Just like the original, once you are done stretching the toy it amazingly returns to its normal size and shape.

My son and daughter have really enjoyed tugging Stretch Armstrong in a variety of shapes and directions.  It really kept their attention for awhile when we first gave it to them and they've brought it back out several times to play with.  My son thought the toy was so cool that he snuck it to school one day and said all the boys were in a frenzy to take a turn with it on the playground at recess.

Because of its small size, the World's Smallest Stretch Armstrong makes for a great item to amuse children while traveling on a family vacation.  It is also just the right size for an Easter basket gift or stocking stuffer at Christmas.  It can also be a fun gift for an adult who likes to keep a few toys at the office as it is just to right size to tuck away in a desk drawer.  While Super Impulse's Stretch Armstrong may be small there is no limitations to the fun you can have with it!

Other retro toys that Super Impulse has made tiny working versions of include Hot Wheels, Etch-a-Sketch, Silly Putty and Rubik's Cube.  For more information, visit superimpulse.com/our-brands/worlds-smallest

Precision RBS -- The Evolution of the Rubber Band Launcher

 ** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

Being able to be the most accurate at flicking a rubber band the longest distance with the hardest impact at each other and various targets around the class room was an ongoing challenge among my friends when I was a kid in school.  Back in those days launching a rubber band was all about the various styles of flinging it from your hand.  The rubber band launcher has evolved for a new generation with the Precision RBS [Rubber Band System] from Super Impulse.  The Precision RBS allows today's kids to launch rubber bands further and with more precision than you could ever do with your hand.

We put the Precision RBS to the test with a target shooting competition between my son, daughter and I in the backyard.  Taking aim from 12 feet away at the cardboard targets that came with the HYPERION Precision Rubber Band Systems, that Super Impulse sent our family to try out, we challenged each other to see who could tally the highest score.  The pressure was on this dad not to get usurped by his kids in this rubber band launching competition.



I started out with a strong score, but the ease of aiming and using the Precision RBS allowed my twins to provide some fierce competition.  Nocking the launcher is a simple process and the mechanics of the Precision RBS combined with its ammunition of rubber bands that are sized just the right length to provide plenty of umpf! allow the HYPERION to hit targets from as far away as 50 feet.  The HYPERION comes with rubber bands manufactured specifically for use with Precision RBS products that also include the mid-range CHIRON and the short range TALOS launcher.  We found the HYPERION had more than enough Precision RBS ammo included with it for plenty of fun, but the long-range purple rubber bands, medium-range orange ones, and a yellow short-range variety can also be purchased separately if you do need to restock.

A nice feature of the HYPERION is that it allows for multiple rubber bands to be nocked at the same time and released one by one with a rapid action trigger so loading the launcher doesn't become tedious.  Either six long-range rubber bands or eight mid-range ones can be loaded at one time.  Plus there are ammo storage cleats to hold rubber bands conveniently located on the frame of the HYPERION to allow the Precision RBS to be quickly reloaded. There is also a burst feature that allows for 14 short-ranged rubber bands to be loaded and spray out all at once.  The flexibility of the HYPERION also includes the ability to separate the launcher to create a smaller TALOS Precision RBS launcher which can be held in one hand providing its own variety of play options.  All the nice features on the HYPERION Precision RBS make it a real dandy of a toy to have fun playing with.

I discovered the Precision RBS toys while at the 2016 Blogger Bash event in New York City and had the chance to meet its twenty-something inventor Benjamin Stack.  He had been making rubber band launchers as a hobby since middle school and during college designed the Precision RBS for a thesis project while pursuing a degree in Industrial Design at Philadelphia University.  His hand-made prototypes won the university's prestigious senior design competition catching the attention of school alumnus Alan Dorfman who as the president of Super Impulse worked with Benjamin to bring the product to toy store shelves.  A Geek Daddy asked Benjamin a few questions about his invention during our conversation at Blogger Bash:

Do rubber bands have any advantages compared to foam darts and other projectile toys?

Rubber bands are safe because they aren't rigid, so they collpase and distribute their energy along their entire length. Rubber bands are plentiful because of how easy they are to make and versatile they are in application. And finally, most importantly, rubber bands can use the Lariat and Magnus effects of physics to both float with a flat trajectory, and have far more accuracy than foam darts or ball shaped projectiles. Precision RBS is precisely optimized for the most accuracy and range you can possibly get from a rubber band.

Any special tips or tricks you can share on how to use the Precision RBS?

Precision RBS launchers are jam packed with lots of hidden features and to get the best performance, I recommend watching our tutorial videos. There is a special technique for launching bands with the MOST accuracy that everyone should learn! All our tips and tricks can be found at Precisionrbs.com and on our YouTube channel as well.

What advice would you give to aspiring inventors like yourself on how to turn their ideas into real products like you did with the Precision RBS?

The most important thing is showing your passion. People generally want to be excited, and your genuine passion for your ideas is your greatest asset. For critics, you always need your short list of reasons your product is not just better, but how it fits into the market. Make sure you anticipate every possible way your project can fail and have an answer for every one of them.

What is one thing you would like everybody to know about the Precision RBS?

Precision RBS was designed to be the safest, most accurate, highest performance, and affordable toy projectile launcher. After a lifetime of play and research, we've finally made it real!

So now you know a bit more about the Precision RBS, I'm sure you're still wondering who won our backyard target shooting competition.  After a bit of practice, the twins became quite adept with the Precision RBS and were knocking down targets here and there. I was beginning to fear they might actually show up good old dad and beat me in this contest.  Can you imagine the grief I'd get from them teasing me about their victory if that occurred?!  While I was impressed by watching them knock down targets a bit of sweat emerged on my brow for every one they knocked down.



In the end, A Geek Daddy emerged victorious winning by 300 points as I'd knocked down a few more of the higher point markers than they did.  It was a slim margin of victory though and I'm going to have to watch Benjamin's online tutorials and get some practice in before the rematch my twins are demanding.  In all seriousness though,we've had a very enjoyable time playing with the HYPERION  Precision RBS and it has provided hours of fun.  If you are looking for a unique toy that will maintain a child or teen's interest and promote outdoor play, pick up one of the three models of Precision RBS launchers from Super Impulse.