Best Electronic Toys of 2008

Electronic Toys for all ages

The EyeClops Night Vision Goggles from Jakks Pacific is the perfect answer to all your espionage dreams. With awesome looks and real night-vision technology, this cool toy will transport you right into your ultimate spy fantasy. The EyeClops Night Vision Goggles let you see up to 50 feet in completely dark environments. The invisible infrared illumination means that you can see your enemies, but they can't see you. The EyeClops Goggles features comfortable padding and a breakaway safety power cord. These EyeClops Night Vision Goggles live upto expectations, thereby justifying the price tag.

The recommended age for this toy is 6 and up.

Spike the Dinosaur is ultra cool indeed. Spike the Dinosaur walks, blinks, roars, snores, growls and even stands on his hind legs almost like a real pet. The fantastic design and bright spikes will definitely attract kids but, wait, Spike the Dinosaur doesn't come cheap. Spike the Dinosaur's equally large price of $140 may ward off parents. If one overlooks the hefty cost, the awesome features in this one of a kind Spike the Ultra Dinosaur toy will make it a worthwhile buy.

This toy is recommended for ages 3 and up.

I've not had this much fun in a long, long while. U-Dance is a fantastic product from Tiger Electronics and it soared right to the top of this Electronic Toys list. The concept is great, as dance is something that mostly everyone loves. The best part about this toy is that there are no irritating wires to trip over, or even dance mats to bother about. It works via motion sensors which you slip over your shoes. You can work your way through the menus and select your favorite song to groove to. You can then jump around, cross your feet, go crazy, but all along following the virtual feet which are displayed on the screen. If you want something extra, try the games that come along with U-Dance too!

This toy is recommended for ages 5 to 12.

The I-Dog Dance is a cute little pooch indeed. He's just like the previous I-Dog except for the new added dancing capabilities included. It's great fun to watch the I-Dog dance, move his ears and even lift himself up on his hind legs as soon as the music begins. The I-Dog Dance also has a touch sensitive face, which means that you can touch his face to see it light up and make him do other cool stuff like tap his foot, move his head etc. As always, I loved the sound quality from the I-Dog's speakers. The I-Dog Dance makes an affordable holiday gift.

The I-Dog Dance is recommended for ages 8 and up.

The WowWee Alive Panda Bear Cub is the closest you can come to having a pet without the bother of feeding it or caring for it. The very lifelike plush animal is equipped with motion sensors which are activated when you pet the toy. The panda cub moves, opens and closes his eyes and mouth and makes realistic baby sounds. It's a great experience for your kids to have.

IToys' Me2 is a handheld game with a twist. This particular game works on the basis of how physically active you are - it actually counts the number of steps you have taken. You can play offline or online - connect your game to the computer and play in a 3D world. The number of points you gather increases proportionally to the the number of steps you take. Me2 can be used as a clock, an alarm and a reminder service as well.

The Me2 is recommended for ages 8 and up.

WowWee's newest addition to their line of robots is the Tribot, the robot with three wheels. He's an interesting character, to say the least, with really cool dance moves. I liked the Tribot much better than the Robosapien. The Tribot is a cheery fellow who jokes and makes sounds. There's also a remote control which is pretty handy to control this little guy.

The recommended age for the Tribot is 8 and up.

I'm a big fan of most of VTech's products. I find them entertaining and educational at the same time. That's a big step above some of the other electronic products out there for kids which just encourage mindless gaming without any educational element in them. That said, VTech's Cyber Pocket System is a nicely sized system which can be played at home or even at grandma's. There's the ability to connect it to the TV in case you want to view stuff on the big screen (better for the eyes). There's a smaller flip up screen when you want to play with it on the go. There's a stylus, a writing pad, a joystick and even a mic. So, you can play along with your favorite characters, learn math and science and even sing.

The recommended age is 5 and up.

The new and improved ATC3K all terrain camera is a great gadget to pick up if you're the sporty type. You can attach it to your bike or car and shoot on the go. You can even go underwater upto 10 feet with this camera, which I haven't tried as yet. The picture quality is pretty decent, but I had some trouble with the sound not being so clear. However, you can capture some interesting moments from a totally different perspective with the ATC3K camera.