If your kids enjoy playing Activision's Skylanders video games as much as mine do or your family is interested in trying out these toy-to-life games for the first time you are going to want to swing by a Game Stop store on Saturday, January 9. There will be some great deals and savings to be had as Activision brings in the new year with a bang kicking off 2016 with an exclusive "Skylanders Day" at Game Stop.
This Saturday, January 9th participating Game Stop locations across the United States will allow Portal Masters to take advantage of some amazing Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) deals on Skylander products. Pickup the recently released Skylanders SuperChargers starter pack for only $39.99 (or the Dark Edition for $59.99) and received an additional Skylanders starter pack from a previous edition of the gaming franchise (Skylanders Swap Force, Skylanders Trap Team or Skylanders Giants) for FREE! Also Skylanders SuperChargers characters and vehicles are BOGO during this special event.
Skylanders SuperChargers is also releasing a new character, Birthday Bash Big Bubble Pop Fizz to celebrate the video game franchise's 5th birthday in 2016. Keep an eye out as this figure who sets a record for having the longest Skylander character name is just beginning to appear on store shelves.
It is customary tradition at the Skylanders Academy for all of the
Skylanders to gather around and sing the birthday song to the guest of
honor. For fun, any Skylanders that arrives late must sing the birthday
song
solo in front of the entire Academy. But rather than seeing this as an
embarrassment, Pop Fizz continues to see this as an opportunity to show
off his new Big Bubble party instruments, and so he arrives late every
time.
**A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**
If you're last minute holiday shopping for a youngster in your life, you may want to swing by your local Toys R Us to pick up a Hot Wheels Flipping Fury toy race car. This motorized race car from Toy State will thrill kids with its flipping action feature, flashing lights, engine sound effects, and playable music is also a very affordable gift with a manufacturers suggested retail price of $9.99. My kids had a lot of fun dancing to music the Flipping Fury plays at the touch of a button and racing the toy around our back deck.
The Flipping Fury is motorized so with the push of a button it races off. As the toy races along it performs a variety of stunts as it flips between its two sides. It's like having two vehicles in one as the one side is a hot red convertible and the other looks like a futuristic space ship. Play with the vehicle individually using either side as a single vehicle or use its motorized drive to have it flipping between the two as it speeds around. Throw in lights and sound effects and playing with this toy is a real blast.
The Hot Wheels Flipping Fury is recommended for ages 3 and up. It requires 4AA batteries which are included with the toy when you purchase it. Be aware that this is a motorized toy that will race around under its own power but not a remote controlled vehicle so be prepared for it to bounce off of things that may block its path.
We found it to be very durable bouncing off of furniture, walls, and cement steps it would just flip and keep on going whenever it encountered an obstacle. Plus it took a plunge off our deck racing full speed as it crashed into our yard and didn't break. The vehicle ran very well on carpet, hardwood and cement but really isn't meant to run on dirt or grass. When my kids tried to play with it in the yard it just spun its wheels and got stuck. Make sure you have plenty of space if playing with it indoors because this thing really whips around a room. I do have to say this toy took a licken' and kept on ticken'.
The motorized action of the Flipping Fury worked really well for my kids and there weren't any hang ups or hiccups with that play feature when they were monkeying around with it. Another nice aspect of the car is that the motorized action and special effects are all activated with the simple push of a button. No winding, pulling or tugging trying to activate these functions. In addition to the bottom and top of the car having their own unique image each side also has its own unique lighting, sound, and music effects. I also personally like as the car prepares to race off it makes the sound or an engine revving and tires squealing.
During the school year, my twins are invited to numerous birthday parties and it can be challenging to find presents that their friends and school mates will appreciate but won't bust our budget. This would be a great idea for a gift for those type of situations as it is a well made, durable toy that is both really cool and very affordable. Just beware that your own child will probably want one for themselves if they see it in action.
Toy State's Hot Wheels Flipping Fury gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval for being a toy that is tricked out with a lot of cool bells and whistles yet is dependable and durable enough to provide hours of quality play. The fact that it comes with batteries included is also another nice factor that puts a smile on this daddy's face.
Before there was Veronica Mars or Katniss Everdeen, the teenage detective Nancy Drew opened the door setting an example that women can be strong leading characters on their own merit. This year marks the 85th anniversary of the first Nancy Drew mystery novel, The Secret of the Old Clock, which have been since followed by numerous books, television shows, movies, and video games featuring the female sleuth. As a father who doesn't want his daughter limited in life by stereotypes, I appreciate that Nancy Drew sets an example of women being able to be the standout hero of a story without a man coming in to save the day. What was unheard of at the time the stories first came out in the 1930s, this girl drove a car, packed a gun, didn't hesitate about getting into a brawl, and most importantly relied on herself to get out of tough jams.
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories were created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer after marketing research showed his successful Hardy Boys detective stories were very popular with girl readers. He set about creating a similar series for girls featuring an amateur teen detective as the heroine. Stratemeyer himself didn't write the stories though, the very first books were authored by a woman named Mildred Wirt under the pen name Carolyn Keene. Wirt wrote 23 of the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories with numerous other ghost writers joining her in drafting stories under the Carolyn Keene name over the years resulting in 175 novels being published between 1930 and 2003.
I've noticed that there is a lot of lip service by brands about providing more hero characters in books, movies, toys and video games but much of what I've seen out there in that regard has been more contrived at getting into parents pocket books rather then really addressing the need for such things. The nice thing about Nancy Drew is that she really is genuine. In fact, Wirt whose work really established the foundation and identity for Nancy Drew stated that she wanted to create a "genuinely adventurous heroine" that would inspire girls with stories featuring someone like themselves. I wish more brands took this approach which seems so simple yet seems to confound so many in our society.
While I don't notice Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books lining the book shelves at libraries and stores like they did when I was a kid, Nancy Drew is still out there solving mysteries and inspiring new generations of boys and girls to be inquisitive and adventurous problem solvers. While the original Nancy Drew Mysteries Stories series was canceled in 2003, here are a few new adventures people can still enjoy.
Simon & Schuster is currently publishing a series of contemporary books titled Nancy Drew Diaries and penned by Carolyn Keene aimed at children 8 to 12 years old which has the young detective traveling the world and using her brain to solve brand new mysteries. Nancy and her friends Bess and George tackle everything from sabotage to kidnapping, using impressive powers of deduction and reasoning to creatively crack cases and outsmart their enemies. So far Simon & Schuster have published eight books in the series with two more set to be released in 2015 - Clue at the Black Creek Farm on May 12th and Script for Danger coming out on September 22nd.
Papercutz also publishes graphic novel adventures featuring Nancy Drew in a series also called Nancy Drew Diaries. There newest issue Nancy Drew Diaries - Volume 5 hits stores July 7, 2015. This comic book story features Nancy Drew teamed up with an eccentric scientist to find a prototype engine that can operate at 200 miles per gallon that was lost during an experiment on a tank during the final days of World War II. In addition to finding the engine there is one other problem to deal with...the engine and tank are haunted.
Additionally, Papercutz has 21 volumes of Nancy Drew stories available in an older series called Nancy Drew - Girl Detective that have more of a similarity to the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories books and three other graphic novels Nancy Drew The New Case Files that have more of a trendy supernatural vibe to them and also feature the Hardy Boys joining her in the stories. Papercutz focus is providing quality comic books for kids and if you haven't checked out their products you really should.
By Her Interactive has an iPad app that allows you to solve a mystery as Nancy Drew titled Ghost of Thornton Hall which has some good reviews on the App Store. Her Interactive's focus though has been more on PC games for Nancy Drew with several titles having been published over the last few years that have sold more than 9 million copies. Their 32nd Nancy Drew video game - titled Sea of Darkness is scheduled to be released on May 19, 2015 and will be available for Windows and Mac PC operating systems. In the game, players take on the role of Nancy Drew as they must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. These Nancy Drew games are also available through STEAM for cloud based play on your home computer.
Happy Birthday Nancy Drew! Thank you for being an inspiration for so many years and wishing you many more adventures in your future.
You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but Mickey Mouse turned 86 years old today. He made his official debut on November 18, 1928 appearing in the film "Steamboat Willie" and has been entertaining girls and boys of all ages ever since. Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse!
In recognition of Mickey's birthday, here are a few fun facts provided to A GEEK DADDY blog from our friends at the Disney PR department:
Walt initially named Mickey Mouse “Mortimer,” until Walt’s wife, Lily, suggested “Mickey” was a better choice.
The short film “Steamboat Willie” was the first short starring
Mickey Mouse released, but was actually the third created. The first
two, “Plane Crazy” and “The Gallopin’ Gaucho,” initially failed to find
distributors, but were picked up and released later.
The first Mickey Mouse Club was formed by theater owner Harry Woodin
in Los Angeles. On his own accord, Woodin devoted Saturday afternoons
in his theater to showing only Mickey Mouse shorts and led children in a
Mickey Mouse pledge. Walt later partnered with Woodin and spread the
idea of Mickey Mouse Clubs to movie theaters across the nation.
The first Mickey short in which Mickey spoke was “The Karnival Kid,”
the ninth Mickey short, which was released in July 1929. His first
words: “Hot dog!”
Walt Disney wasn’t satisfied with the first few actors chosen to
provide a voice for Mickey Mouse, so he did it, and continued to do so
through about 1947.
A Mickey Mouse comic strip, penned by Ub Iwerks, launched in January
1930, and at its height was printed in 40 newspapers in 22 countries.
The first piece of Mickey Mouse merchandise was a tablet of paper
that featured the mouse, designed for children. The first Mickey Mouse
doll was designed in 1930.
When Walt Disney was contemplating a name for his first theme park (Disneyland park), he once considered calling it “Mickey Mouse Village.”
Mickey Mouse was the first animated character to have a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, which was given on his birthday (November 18) in
1978.
Our family always enjoys expressing our #DisneySide and looks forward to enjoying many more milestones and special occasions in the future involving the world's most famous mouse. Do you have any special stories involving Mickey Mouse?
