Santa gets kids what they want - Legos, Zhu Zhu Pets - but stiffs Daddy again

Merry Christmas from Tech-media-tainment.
It was a good Christmas for the kids in our house this year.
Christopher, 6, got three Nintendo Wii video games (including the hard to find “Mario Kart Wii”) and a Wii remote stand and battery charger. He also got a Nerf gun and some Star Wars Legos.
Aerin, 4, got this year’s must-have toy a Zhu Zhu Pets hamster, a chattering, scattering robotic hamster from Cepia LLC of St. Louis, Mo. She also received a bunch of Disney princess toys.
Santa was good to the kids, but he let me down again. Hey, Nick, I’m putting in my request early for Christmas 2010. I’m attaching a photo of what I want below.
Happy holidays.

Photos:
Top: Star Wars Legos set and Zhu Zhu Pets hamster
Bottom: Model with sexy Christmas wear by Costume Alibi

Nerf: Training tomorrow’s soldiers

Toy weapons are filling children’s TV commercials and toy store newspaper ads this holiday season.
Hasbro’s Nerf division is leading the assault with ads showing kids firing automatic weapons that shoot spongy projectiles. These kids look like they’re getting ready for combat in Afghanistan or Iraq. Just trade the foam Nerf bullets for the real thing.
Also, McDonald’s is giving out Nerf weapons in its Happy Meals now.
Toys R Us has its own line of foam dart guns, including the Air Zone Punisher Gatling Blaster.
Is this part of some covert plot to train our kids for military service?
Of course not. Toy makers simply are filling a need young boys have to play army or cops and robbers.
The pendulum has swung away from the days when parents refused to give their kids toy guns. Those parents didn’t want to glamorize guns or desensitize their children to them.
It’s only a matter of time before parents get up in arms again about the proliferation of toy guns. Kids will complain then. But the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn’t give kids the right to bear toy arms.

Photos, from top to bottom:
Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6
Nerf N-Strike Longshot CS-5
Air Zone Punisher Gatling Blaster from Toys R Us. (Check out the grin on the kid gripping that toy Gatling gun!)

Nerf: From sports to military training tools

Toys have changed a lot since I was a kid growing up in the ’70s. Back then Nerf toys were soft foam basketballs and footballs designed for safe, indoor play.
Today, Nerf is about weaponry – guns that shoot foam bullets and darts. Some look like guns Arnold Schwarzenegger might have used in one of his testosterone-fueled action movies.
Take the Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25, which has a list price of $43. Toy maker Hasbro describes it as “the ultimate in battery-powered blasting.” Fully automatic, the Nerf gun holds up to 25 darts and can fire up to three darts per second. You can buy extra 25-dart ammo belts so you don’t run out of ammunition to shoot at your friends.
Hasbro carpet-bombed the newspaper circulars with ads for its Nerf weaponry, which runs from handguns to missile launchers. Sure, they only fire spongy projectiles, but I can’t help but think that we could be training the next generation of soldiers with these toys, designed for ages 6 and up.
The tech toys for kids today also are pretty cool. I especially like the spy gear.
With the EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles, kids can reenact the climactic scene from “The Silence of the Lambs.” On second thought, that’s a bad idea.
With the night vision goggles from Jakks Pacific, kids can see up to 50 feet in complete darkness. The product lists for $79.99, but was selling for $59.99 at Toys “R” Us on Christmas Eve.