A great board game for adults and children.

A simple map building board game that has turned out to be a good favourite of our kids aged 12 and 14. The scoring can become a little complex at times, but the simple basis of picking terrain cards and placing them to gain most points is an easy and always different game each time. We have not yet delved into the expansion packs, but expect that these will add additional spice to the possible game strategies and permatations. Highly recommended for young and teenage familys.

I'll give you a Grain and a Sheep for an Ore...

I felt I just had to mention the whole bartering part of the game; it's great fun.
Like the previous reviewer, I love the new board and it's a lovely, snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug fit. I've introduced the game to a few friends, some of whom are not normally into games, and they all love it. If learning the game seems a bit too much effort they have their own dedicated website to teach you how to play!
If you're not sure about whether this game is for you, check it out and you'll see what it's all about.

Doctor Who - 2.5" RC K9 & Figure

Our Dr Who mad son was given this for his 9th birthday and still can't thank us enough!!It's speed and handling is great, especially considering it's size, and when we ask our son a question we frequently get"affirmative master (or mistress)" from K9!! Great fun and very sturdy for such a small r/c toy

Best Christmas toy

This kept my 2 1/2 year old amused for the whole of Christmas day. A really good idea to buy the full team of characters to go with it too...

I wouldn't keep MY memories in it, it would break!

From about five feet away the watch looks quite good, the detailing on the front is well moulded and it generally looks quite real and solid, indeed from five feet the watch looks as it does in the photograph above; don't be fooled this is the best it will ever look.

When you get close enough to actually touch it and pick it up, the cheap slightly shiny grey plastic creaks in your hand, belying the flimsy construction.

The front of the watch is opened with a difficult to reach, loose fitting plastic stud on the top of the adjustment dial, which itself is moulded into the main body and does nothing, revealing the face of the watch, which conspires to be shadowy and difficult to read. The door itself is thin and the hinge worryingly flimsy to the extent that it feels as if the force of the spring could break it off on opening.

By far the worst thing about this watch however it the"light and sound effects", which feature a few red and yellow flashing LEDs, and a minute or so long clip from the second episode of 'Human Nature' with the young lad saying something along the lines of"..Some times I remember having two hearts and being a Time Lord, not only that but the last of the Time Lords..." and so on. Not only is this a fantastically annoying sound for the watch to make, but it is the sort of thing which seriously hampers the creation of a childhood fantasy world when your toys start whittering on at you; I know this I remember it happening.

In short AVOID! Wait for someone to bring a better, metal version out.

"Scan the planet Artoo - we're going in!"

Lego kick off their 2008 Star Wars series with their first ever set from the new Clone Wars CGI animated series with kit #7669: Anakin's Jedi Starfighter.
The yellow enhanced Delta-7 starfighter is based loosely around the frame of 2002's Jedi Starfighter with a slightly larger hull and more detailing. It features moveable wings, positionable landing gear, 2 forward mounted blue flick missiles, removable cockpit and best of all, a neat little ejection mechanism for R2.
There is a connected lever that runs from the aft through the hull and when you push it in, a small bolt pushes up and ejects R2 upwards. The new flick missiles are much better than previous issues with a new piece design that stay clipped in the frame until you apply pressure the thin tail at the back of it.
You get two figures with the kit, R2-D2 and a new version of Anakin Skywalker. Unlike previous issues, this figure has more detailing on the facial feature making it look much better than the standard ones. Anakin's trademark blue lightsabre finishes the set.
The kit is composed of 142 pieces, not including the figures, missiles and weapons and measures 26cm long, 14cm wide and 8cm high - without landing gear deployed.
It takes about 15 minutes to build, there are 6 decals to apply and it's ready to go. A very nice starfighter and hopefully the first in a new wave for Star Wars Lego.

The Master Reborn! In plastic!

A nice idea for a giftset, but I'd save your money if I were you. Unlike the rest of Character Options Doctor Who figures, the Yana and Master figures are very cheap looking. The plastic used for the heads and hands is poor, giving the figures a jaundiced and slightly opaque look. The attention to detail on the Yana/ Master figures is also quite poor.A thin strip of paint is all that represents the fob watch chain, and there's no pocket detail on the figures' waistcoats.There has also clearly been some trouble getting the actors' permission to use their likenesses,as Yana in particular looks more like Patrick Troughton than Derek Jacobi!This wouldn't be such a problem,but packed in with the superior Doctor and Martha figures, the differences are more pronounced.Another niggle would be creating yet another set with the Tenth Doctor, as I'm sure most children and collectors will have at least two Tenth Doctor figures already.There's no sonic or laser screwdrivers included either, which is a disappointment.I do hope this doesn't represent a shift in Characters' production standards - after years of substandard Dapol figures, its been great to have some real care put into the toyline.I'll put this down to being a rush release for the Christmas market, but come on boys - this is the Doctor's nemesis! He deserves better than this!Perhaps a regeneration 2 pack as was done with the Ninth Doctor, or a Paradox Machine playset..?

"Begin landing your troops."

Lego kick off their 2008 Star Wars series with a set from the Expanded Universe range with kit #7667: Imperial Dropship.
After the success of last years Clone Trooper and Battle Droid battle packs it's nice to see Lego continuing with more troop building box sets.
The Imperial Dropship is a small planet skimming craft with a cockpit for a pilot, wing mounted cannons and a deployable troop platform to the rear. The cockpit hinges open and closed and the rear tail and thruster assembly pivots up to allow the troop platform to detach.
You get one Shadow Trooper pilot (previously only available in 2007's TIE Crawler) and 3 Stormtroopers. Two blaster rifles and 2 heavy assault rifles finish the set.
The kit is composed of 60 pieces, not including the figures and weapons and measures 11cm long, 6cm wide and 7.5cm high at rear.
It takes about 5 minutes to build, there are 3 decals to apply and it's ready to go. A nice little kit and definitely one for all those army builders out there.