Play out your favorite STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS scenes with Hasbro's Micro Machines

** A Geek Daddy received the featured products for free**

Our family is counting down the days and can't wait until we can watch STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS again after it is officially released on April 1, 2016 for DigitalHD and April 5th on Blu-ray & DVD.  While we've been waiting to add the newest movie in the Star Wars saga to our home video library, my kids have been having fun playing out their favorite scenes from Episode VII and imagining new adventures involving the characters and vehicles from the film with Hasbro's Micro Machine toys.

My son has been racing around the house the last few days with the Finalizer, a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer used by the First Order as Kylo Ren's command ship in the movie, while my daughter has pursued him around the house with Poe Dameron's dark hulled T-70 X-wing fighter.  Hasbro's Star Wars Micro Machines have brought the battle between The First Order and The Resistance into our family's living and dining room as my kids have been racing around imagining being engaged in a variety of space faring exploits.

This Star Destroyer isn't just a model though it opens up to be used as a playset.  Recreate the scene from THE FORCE AWAKENS where FN-2187 and Poe Dameron attempt to escape from the grasp of The First Order or create your own scenarios featuring the hanger bay of the Finalizer.  In addition to moving Star Wars Micro Machine vehicles and figures around the playset, there is also a simulated flight feature that allows kids to fly a TIE Fighter or X-wing across the playset and shoot a plastic missile which represents a laser bolt being shot from one of these starfighters.

These Star Wars: Micro Machine toys are recommend for children 4 years old and up. A few nice features about the miniaturized toys is that your kids can have some epic battles with a bunch of them without messing up your house and Micro Machines are easy to store and put away because of their compact size.  They are also very portable to take along with you to keep kids amused when you are out and about for example during a long car trip, an extended wait at the doctor's office or a visit to an elderly relative.



In addition to the STAR WARS: Micro Machines First Order Destroyer Playset there are also 3-Pack Vehicle Assortments and Deluxe Vehicle Assortments that can be purchased separately to build up your First Order and Resistance armies.  Each 3-pack assortment contains vehicles from throughout the Star Wars saga ranging from classics like the TANTIVE IV and AT-AT to new additions from THE FORCE AWAKENS such as Rey's Speeder and Kylo Ren's Shuttle.  The Deluxe Assortment allows kids to build an entire fleet of starfighters that can fit in the palm of their hand.  Each assortment includes five vehicles and two microfigures.  The Deluxe Vehicle Assortment Hasbro generously sent our family to play with, along with a Star Wars: Micro Machine First Order Star Destroyer Playset and a 3-Pack Vehicle Assortment, included 2 X-Wings, 2 TIE Fighters, a snow speeder, a Poe Dameron micro figure and a TIE pilot micro figure.

Another option for building a Star Wars: Micro Machines fleet of ships is to pick up Blind Bags.  Each of these contains one ship and you won't know what you get until opening up the bag.  There are 36 different vehicles that you can obtain through the Star Wars: Micro Machines Blind Bag assortments.  In buying ten of these you could end up with one of  10 different vehicles or with 10 Y-wing fighters...it is all blind luck what you might pick.  There is a bit of excitement though opening up a pack not knowing what to expect. My son grabbed an Inquisitor TIE fighter from the Star Wars: Rebels TV show in this blind bag and was thrilled!

CLICK HERE for more information about Hasbro's Star Wars: Micro Machines collection.

#StarWars #TheForceAwakens

LEGO SHATTERS THE BUILDING BLOCK CEILING

LEGO SCIENTIST PLAYSET SHOWS GIRLS CAN HAVE CAREERS TOO

My children are twins, one is a girl and one is a boy (no they are not identical...wow I can't believe the number of times people ask me if they are identical twins but that is for a post on another day) which puts me in a unique position to see them playing together a lot.  One of their favorite toys is LEGOs and I've noticed that while many of the things that kids can construct could be construed gender neutral most of the playsets that we have in our house tend to include the little yellow action figures that come with them as guys.  My daughter has asked me a few times where all the gals are for the LEGOs and could we buy some more sets with girl characters in them.  The ones we've found tend to be Disney Princess themed or with characters recreating the movie Clueless under the label LEGO Friends.  While I don't mind my daughter being a little girl and enjoying things like princesses, ponies, and dolls, I also don't want her feeling limited to those things being what she feels she is supposed to be playing with.  So I was impressed when LEGO recently came out with a science themed playset that featured a cast of women as the assortment of action figures that came along with it.  I must not have been alone because the toys sold out on the LEGO website in 1 day!

As a father, I want to see my daughter be happy and successful in life at whatever path she wants to pursue whether that be a princess working at a Disney World theme park, an astronaut conducting experiments on the International Space Station, a future Justice of the United States Supreme Court, or a stay at home mother.  I don't want to see her choices limited or biased against her and unfortunately I've witnessed struggles that my wife has had working her way up the management ladder in her career that have demonstrated to me how women often have additional hurdles thrown in front of them. So maybe by confronting stereotypes at younger ages showing that girls aren't all about pink and frilly things it will positively impact both men and women who play with these toys as children when they are adults.  On a more realistic note though these are just toys and they aren't going to change the world, but if they can just subtly show girls that there shouldn't be a gender bias when it comes to professional and scientific careers than it could have a profound impact on some individuals.  Studies have shown that if parents engage in gender stereotypes it creates a lack of confidence for women to pursue an interest in science, technology, engineering and math. So as a dad who would love to see his daughter become an Astronaut, Doctor, Scientist, or did I say U.S. Supreme Court Justice, I want to thank LEGO for breaking the building block ceiling.  Now my little girl is also asking you add a few more female super hero figures to your collection to go along with her Wonder Woman (or as she calls her "Lasso Girl") little yellow action figures.

The new Research Institute playset has everything boys and girls need to explore the world below, around, and above us.  It was created by real-life geoscientist Ellen Kooijman and selected to be brought into production based upon its submission through LEGO Ideas which allows fans of the toys to have a say into future products.  This set of building blocks includes a paleontologist, astronomer, and a chemist minifigures:

Help the paleontologist study the dinosaur fossil with a magnifying glass

Map the skies with the astronomer through her telescope

Assist the chemist in carrying out experiments in her lab

Hopefully one day a toy set like this can be a mix of male and female scientists working together as equals, instead of a concerted effort to make a point about women in the workplace.  This is a nice start to getting there.  I know my son would love playing with this just as much as my daughter making a positive impression on both of them that anybody can do anything if they put their mind to it and apply themselves.

CLICK HERE to visit the product page on the LEGO website for the Research Institute playset.  While it is currently sold out, I'm sure that based on its popularity, and the fact they haven't taken the page selling it offline, that more will be available sooner or later both online and optimistically on store shelves too.  The toy retails for $19.99 which isn't a bad price as anyone who has bought LEGO building blocks knows they can have astronomical price tags.  I was thinking of getting the LEGO Death Star for my kids ... and me ... to build until I saw the $400 price tag - wow!  The Research Institute in addition to the three scientist figures has 165 pieces and is suggested for children 10 years old and older.