The other day we participated in a virtual toy expo hosted by The Toy Insider. I met with industry reps through online chats learning about what hot new products brands will be having hit store shelves soon while my kids provided some live video demonstrations of some fun new games and toys from our friends at Play Monster. Sweet Suite @ Home was a fun evening for the whole family and we learned about a lot of interesting stuff that we will be sharing with you on ageekdaddy.com over the next few months.
Plus we were sent a big box of swag full of toy samples that just arrived! Time for an unboxing! Let's see what is inside:
So what were some of the favorite things my daughter found inside our Sweet Suite @ Home swag box?
BLIND BAG FIGURES
My daughter LOVESCalico Critters and was excited that one of these figures was included in our toy samples. The brand will be releasing blind bags that each contain a cute animal figurine with a camping motif this Fall. Playmobile will also be releasing a blind bag assortment of characters from Scooby Doo cartoons that are a hit with my kids! Blind bags show you the characters that could be inside on the outside of the packaging but you don't know exactly what toy is inside until it is opened up. These mystery packs have been a popular trend with the toy industry in recent years and the sense of mystery and excitement in opening up bling bags provides some extra fun in these toys for kids.
SHOULDERKINS
My daughter has been walking around the house with a sea lion on her shoulder. She thinks Shoulderkins from Aurora are adorable! These cute plush sit on kids shoulders and stay on thanks to a magnet that slips under a shirt to keep the toy attached to your body. In addition to Sammy the Sea Lion there are also a bunny, octopus, unicorn, giraffe, tiger, turtle, and flamingo to choose from in this stuffed animal collection.
POKEMON BATTLE ACADEMY
My kids were most excited about this coming in the Sweet Suite @ Home swag box. They collect Pokemon trading cards but really don't know how to play the game. Pokeman Battle Academy uses a board game to teach people how to play the card deck building game. You can just have fun with this table top game or use it as an entryway to playing the card game. Pokemon Battle Academy looks to be a fun way to spend a family game night!
Check out our YouTube unboxing video to see what else arrived in the Sweet Suite @ Home Swag box. Stay tuned for more updates as this dad blogger continues to provide updates on fun games and toys my kids, and this kid at heart, enjoy playing with.
For the last few years I've been making an annual summer trip in July to New York City to spend a day immersed in toys. The Toy Insider's Sweet Suite provides influencers with the chance to get a preview of what will be the hot toys for the upcoming holiday shopping season. This blogger bash is really like having Christmas in July when participating in Sweet Suite.
With the current pandemic it wasn't an appropriate time for people to be traveling to New York for a networking and promotional event, so its hosts made this year's soiree an online virtual toy expo instead. So last night I interacted with a number of toy brands via the Internet getting an insider's look at products that are hitting store shelves now as well as some that will be arriving for the Christmas shopping season during Sweet Suite @ Home. My kids also joined in on the fun by providing some live demonstrations for attendees of two new toys that Play Monster sent our way to try out.
My son spent a half hour building Snap Ships from Play Monster on a live video stream from our kitchen counter. He is a big fan of these toys which let you snap together battling space ships in a variety of configurations. What is great about these toys is that not only do they look cool and are easy to snap the pieces together but the completed toys are also very sturdy so they won't fall apart while being played with.
A nice touch to the packaging is that the top of the box each toy comes in can serve as a display stand that provides a decent presentation for showcasing your completed Snap Ship. Another interesting aspect of the packaging is that each box has a blind bag component to it where one of ten different accessories is randomly inserted providing a surprise factor every time you get a Snap Ship. Which bonus feature will be included with each Snap Ship is a mystery until you open up its box!
There are two sides battling it out in the Snap Ship toy universe: THE FORGE and THE KOMPLEX. Forge snap ships have a silvery "good guy" vibe to them while Komplex have a more menacing dark side to them. Both sides have a nice sci-fi look that makes them fun to both display and play with. My son is already asking for me to get him some more of these snap together science fiction themed space ship models to build!
Combine Hungry Hungry Hippo and Angry Birds then mix in a drone and you have this fun new game called Drone Home. My son and daughter competed in a live match of this game from Play Monster so attendees could check out how it works during Sweet Suite @ Home. They had a blast playing this game! Drone Home absolutely gets a Geek Daddy nod of approval for playing during a Family Game Night.
Drone Home has a simple premise yet is challenging and exciting to play. You are trying to launch your aliens one at a time into a drone situated in the middle of the game board. Once a figure lands inside the drone it automatically takes off into the air flying your alien home. The first player to get all three of their aliens flown home win the game.
Of course that is not as easy as it sounds. Up to four competitors are all trying to do the same thing as the same time. So they might knock your alien out of the drone before it can take off or hitch a ride alongside you. This fast paced game is all about knocking the other players out of the way so your aliens can fly home. Because it is suitable for all ages to play makes for a great game for the whole family to play together as well as a great activity for kids to do along with their friends.
The drone really takes off and climbs very high in the air adding a wow factor to the game. With a ten minute charge of the drone using the included usb charger you can get about a half hour of playing time. A dad blogger alert though, note batteries, which are not included, are needed to activate sensors in the launch pad of the game which determine if aliens have triggered the drone for takeoff. So make sure you pick up some batteries before unboxing this game.
We had a lot of fun with Drone Home and will absolutely be playing it over and over again. Recommended for ages 8+ this game has brought out the competitive spirit among my wife, I and our kids during some energetic bouts playing Drone Home together. An entertaining way to spend some family time together or to keep kids amused when they are sticking around the house.
