Planet Heroes Rule. Gowns and Crowns Don’t.

Having 3 kids and a former toy designer for a wife means a ton of toys in our house. And nothing beats the onslaught of toys that enter our household on Christmas day.

But when you bring in a bunch of toys there are sure to be huge hits and enormous failures. This year my wife and I….errr Santa….got my 2 year old son a pretty sweet toy. We also got a somewhat disappointing toy for my 5 year old daughter. Here’s my story.

THE GOOD
The Fisher-Price Planet Heroes Turbo Shuttle

If you have not heard of Planet Heroes yet, you are bound to. They are a pretty sweet next generation of the Rescue Heroes line from Fisher Price. There are characters from every planet who fight against the sinister Black Hole. There is Earth “Ace” who has a big number 3 on his chest (third rock form the sun), there is Zip from the Planet Mercury, and Gustus from the Planet Jupiter.

Now, the Turbo Shuttle is the vehicle of the Planet Heroes. It is a badass rocketship that makes some sweet laser and blast off sounds. It also has this sweet afterburner burst that appears to be flaming out the back. Actually it is an orange colored piece of plastic that spins around rapidly to look like fire.

The other cool thing is there are 2 mini pods that detach so that some of the Planet Heroes can go and bring the noise on their own. According to the site, “Two removable space pods make it three spaceships in one so they can cover their enemies from every angle.”

This is a sweet vehicle that you will enjoy as well as your kid. I highly recommend it and the entire Planet Heroes line. Check out the sweet Demo and the cool commercial for this toy. Also, if you act soon, Fisher Price has a Free Planet Heroes DVD offer.

THE BAD
Disney Princess Gowns and Crowns Dress Up Game

If you are like me, you have a young daughter that can’t get enough of princesses. odds are you got suckered into getting this horrible game. Basically, the game plays like this: You have 4 princesses who are in their underwear. Their gowns, crowns, bouquets, and handbags are in their dressing rooms. You roll a dice, move your princess around and when you land on certain cards, you get to dress the princess.

Now, typically anything involving princesses running around in their underwear may sound appealing. But this game is so bad for many many reasons. First off, the setup. It takes longer to set this game up than it does to play it. The gowns (made of a type of rubberized plastic) are hard to put on and are way too fragile to be manhandled. My daughter broke off one of Snow White’s shoulder straps in the first 5 minutes of play.

Finally, this game was not well thought out. It takes way too long to finish this game. You roll the dice and dance around the one card you need to reach. 20 minutes later, your daughter is still trying to reach that same piece and you can’t figure out how to end the damn thing.

If you want a memory game, just get the Disney Princess Memory Game. If you want a dressup thing, just get the Disney Store Princess dress up sets. They are made of similar materials but are way more durable.

So what about you guys? What were some hits and what were some misses from your kids’ Christmas stash?