The Toys Store

The two-sided kitchen offers lots of opportunities for interaction. View larger.

Keep play money in the cash register's working drawer. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Interactive restaurant counter with lots of accessories The Bad: Sound effects could grow tiresome In a Nutshell: Fun features inspire hours of imaginative play At a Glance Ages: 18 months to 4 years Requires: 3 AA batteries

Open for Business
Before kids start helping Elmo run this restaurant, a parent will need to snap the legs and arch onto the main unit and check the batteries. The pieces fit together easily and securely. Since these parts make use of one-time snaps, the unit cannot be broken down once it is assembled. Batteries for demonstration purposes are included, but these may need to be replaced with three new AA batteries, which requires use of a Philips head screwdriver.

Once this is done, simply make sure the switch, located inside the oven, is in the "on" position and watch as children explore the restaurant and delight in prerecorded messages from their Sesame Street friends.

Detailed, Interactive Construction
With the idea of a restaurant as their starting point, kids will quickly begin role playing and inviting their friends to enjoy a piece of pizza pie or a bunch of broccoli--once they've paid with some Duck Bills or Trash Cash, of course.

Kids will love the surprise of discovering what makes their favorite characters speak. They'll hear an effect right away when play begins with taking the spatula from Elmo or picking up the menu from its resting place in Grover's hand. Opening and closing the oven prompts the hungry Cookie Monster to speak, and knobs picturing Bert and Ernie let kids know whether they are cranking up the heat or turning it down. The smart stove makes a sizzling noise when the frying pan is set on its burner. There's even a bell to ring that inspires a yell of "order's up," just like in a real kitchen. The cash register offers a drawer for stashing bills, and it includes a working microphone so that kids can hear themselves talk with the same speaker that plays all the restaurant's fun sound effects.

Room for Imaginative Play to Flourish
With a side for cooking and a side for serving, this set is perfect for inspiring cooperative play between friends and siblings, or keeping a single child with an active imagination engaged for hours. Since the restaurant only comes with one set of utensils, kids will need to get creative if there are lots of diners.

Parents will love the way all the accessories that come with this set can be neatly stored inside the oven and refrigerator. Of course, getting kids to remember to clean-up may be tough when they're having so much fun. Coming from Fisher-Price, a brand know for fun, durable toys that inspire learning, Elmo's kitchen is well-suited for the demands of active play. Parents will love the sturdy construction and the way accessories can be neatly stored inside the oven and refrigerator.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Detailed gunship is ready for intragalactic battles The Bad: Nothing In a Nutshell: This Star Wars inspired building set is sure to keep imaginative kids busy for days At a Glance Ages: 9 to 14

This detailed ship is ready for battle. View larger.

Lightsabers make hand-to-hand combat exciting. View Larger.

Confront the Separatist Crisis
Drawing from the wealth of Star Wars lore, the Clone Wars are part of a back-story of intragalactic unrest that set the stage for the original trilogy. They are portrayed in a new animated movie, TV series, and video game, which help fill in gaps that appear between the other movies. With this set, you can be part of the action. Take up the battle against the Separatists using the Republic Attack Gunship, a heavily armed and armored Clone Wars troop carrier that's ready to invade even the most hostile terrain.

Included Lego figures represent the well-known characters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Asajj Ventress, and Commander Cody. Of course, there's Clone Trooper mini-figures as well. There's a cool speeder bike that deploys from the back, and multiple decals to create different gunships for your army. Arm your favorite figure with a lightsaber in Jedi blue-green or Sith red, and let the intragalactic battles begin. There's even a healing chamber that helps your characters recharge after a tough battle.

Preparing Your Gunship for Battle
With 1,034 pieces in 18 bags and two instruction booklets, the Republic Attack Gunship took our eight-year-old tester just under eight hours to build. He broke the construction up into three shorter sessions to make it more enjoyable and had only one slight difficulty. While Lego instructions are known for being colorful and accurate, there were a handful of pieces in our booklet that appeared clear when they were in fact yellow. This didn't do anything to diminish our appreciation for this model. Our tester struggled to find anything negative to say, and he gave this ship a fun factor score of one million, based on a scale of one to 10!

Cockpits in unexpected locations on the wings, unique sliding doors, the zoomer buggy, and an emergency capsule for sick and injured characters ranked high on the list of cool features. That's not all though. There's also a front side compartment that opens so you can remove the command station, eight positionable flick-fire missiles on top, two rotating missiles in front, and a top compartment which opens to provide access to the spy droids.

When asked if there was a downside to this gunship, our tester could only reply, "It's the best ever! I just like the whole set." Soon after completing construction, he had a big battle with all the ships in his collection and commented on how this set includes updated pieces that he's never seen before.

Even though there's plenty of features on just the Republic Attack Gunship to hold a child's interest for a long time, we can imagine how much fun the set would be with a whole group of friends and siblings plus all their Star Wars ships. We also appreciate the way that Lego systems never limit imaginative play. All the cool hardware that makes up the Republic Attack Gunship can be used to build any structure or vehicle your child dreams up.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Detailed robot moves, makes authentic movie sounds, and holds your beverage The Bad: R2-D2 occasionally has trouble deciphering voice commands In a Nutshell: Star Wars collectors are sure to enjoy this cool, interactive droid At a Glance Ages: 8 and up Requires: 4 "AA" batteries and 4 "D" batteries

The realistic details of R2-D2 will please collectors young and old. View larger.

Bring Home Your Own Astromech Droid
Celebrate Star Wars 30th Anniversary by inviting this movie-accurate droid into your life. Once the loyal companion to Queen Amdala, this utility droid is programmed to be your devoted helper and friend. Help him get ready to serve you by snapping his steering legs into place and attaching the projector piece to his domed top. You'll need to use a Phillips screwdriver to insert four "AA" batteries and four "D" cell batteries in his side.

More than 15-inches tall, this sophisticated R2-D2 model boasts a secret cargo compartment, a unique swing-down utility arm that's also a beverage holder, a removable sensor scope, a working light beam, sound-processing microphones, and an adaptable droid mood-status indicator. Sonar navigational technology and infrared location sensors help make him one the most advanced droids around.

Take Advantage of Three Interactive Modes
Intergalactic missions will be more fun with a reliable droid at your side. In companion mode, R2-D2 responds to commands like "Go on patrol," "Light Beam," and "Play Message." Star Wars fans are sure to appreciate the accuracy of the messages, which are culled from famous missions he remembers.

You can even ask R2 about friends including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Darth Vader, and Jabba the Hutt. He has a different reaction to each name based on his "feelings" for the characters. And if you hit R2 on the head, he'll make irritated beeping sounds and try to move away from you. As you get to know your droid, you'll realize that the noises and motions he makes correspond to his "mood."

In game mode, R2 responds to more complicated commands. He'll act as a sentry to protect your important stuff, dance to cantina music, spin around, or play light tag. The third mode is the most complex. This command mode lets you give pointed directions that control R2's movements. Tell him to turn left and right or go forward whenever you want, or set a preprogrammed course for him to follow.

While R2 responded to simple commands with no problems, we had difficulty getting him to respond reliably to more complex requests. We trust that, like with any voice-operated electronic system, over time it will get easier to produce a wider range of commands that R2 consistently responds to. Until then, his movie-accurate look, the way he responds to simple commands, and the convenient beverage holder make him a fun comrade.

Meet Nancy, who believes that more is ALWAYS better when it comes to being fancy. From the top of her tiara down to her sparkly studded shoes, Nancy is determined to teach her family a thing or two about being fancy.

How Nancy transforms her parents and little sister for one enchanted evening makes for a story that is funny and warm -- with or without the frills.