If your children are a bit too at ease with insects, grabbing ants or putting ladybugs into their tiny chocolate-ringed mouths as they are wont to do, introduce your little ones to bugs’ terrifying, too-fast-to-keep-track-of nature with HexBug Nano Newtons . We’re not unfamiliar with HexBug’s line of robotic creepy crawlies, including crabs , ants , worms and more—but the new Nano Newton might be the creepiest of the bunch. Whereas the other ones are big enough in size that they are discernible as harmless plastic imitations of the real thing, the Newtons—now coming in collectible test tube packages with various different genetic “mutations” (read: colors)—are so tiny that at first glance they could just as well be radioactive cockroaches. And they act like it. The Nano Newtons doesn’t so much move as they freak the fuck out, skidding around on their miniature rubber feet and bumping into things like real cockroaches would—if you gave them each a human-sized cup of coffee. They can even flip themselves over if they end up on their backs

If your children are a bit too at ease with insects, grabbing ants or putting ladybugs into their tiny chocolate-ringed mouths as they are wont to do, introduce your little ones to bugs’ terrifying, too-fast-to-keep-track-of nature with HexBug Nano Newtons . We’re not unfamiliar with HexBug’s line of robotic creepy crawlies, including crabs , ants , worms and more—but the new Nano Newton might be the creepiest of the bunch. Whereas the other ones are big enough in size that they are discernible as harmless plastic imitations of the real thing, the Newtons are so tiny that at first glance they could just as well be radioactive cockroaches. And they act like it. The Nano Newtons doesn’t so much move as they freak the fuck out, skidding around on their miniature rubber feet and bumping into things like real cockroaches would—if you gave them each a human-sized cup of coffee. They can even flip themselves over if they end up on their backs.

The flagship toy in Jakks Pacific’s new SpyNet line is the Secret Mission Video Watch , a piece of wearable tech that lets spies-in-training covertly record video and audio and upload those sensitive materials to a secure website for further analysis. For my generation, Macaulay Culkin’s use of the Talkboy in Home Alone 2 was the single most glorious realization of usable spy technology that we had ever seen. Following in its lineage, the chunky SpyNet watch—no, I don’t have baby hands—actually gives kids real spying capabilities: the ability to shoot up to 30 minutes of video, 2 hours of audio, or 2000 pictures with a built-in camera for playback on the watch’s color screen. OK, it’s not going to be HD-quality, “enhance, enhance ” type stuff, but from the demo I saw, the recorded footage is definitely good enough for some low-stakes familial blackmail.

With the era of the tablet upon us, eBook readers were the gadget du jour in a technological moment that is about to pass, if it hasn’t already. But your kids don’t know that, now do they? The VTech FLiP, an eBook Reader geared towards preschoolers, is definitely a worthy gadget for a budding bookworm and might just pack enough bells and whistles to engage a text-ambivalent tot. The Flip looks just like Mommy and Daddy’s eBook Readers but with a see-thru flip cover and a grabbable bubbly border. There are two colorways—a blue and a pink—and each has a matching backpack accessory that can be purchased separately

Hasbro’s flagship Transformer this year is a giant bi-polar Bumblebee, with two modes—Battle and Guardian—that have different personalities. Fair enough. But can somebody explain the samurai Transformer that turns into a tank? HASBRO’S TRANSFORMERS BRAND EXPANDS “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” UNIVERSE IN 2010 WITH NEW TOYS THAT CAPTURE THE EXCITEMENT AND EXPAND THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE ICONIC PROPERTY New BATTLE OPS BUMBLEBEE Action Figure and POWER CORE COMBINER Expression Lead New Introductions For The Innovative And Popular Toy Line PAWTUCKET, R.I. (February 12, 2010) - On the heels of launching 2009’s largest grossing movie and in anticipation of the next installment in 2011, the TRANSFORMERS brand from Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) ramps up the play in 2010 with new offerings that build on the energy and excitement from the brand’s history and blockbuster film franchise

“See this lightsaber? Yeah that’s right. Dog here has my back too.” Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

Unlike Robert Downey Jr.’s take on Iron Man , this version, remote controlled by a wrist-mounted repulsor gauntlet, apparently does not like cameras. It shot me. It moves pretty quick across obstacle-free surfaces, but it’s a bit too clunky for a real roller derby. It’s $50, which is pricey, but it does shoot missiles at people. Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys

This hat is how we roll. And we beat down any fools wearing this Optimus Punkass cap: Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

I’m not one of those people who ever figured out the secrets of the original Rubik’s Cube, so it was with some trepidation that I tried out the Rubik’s Slide, the newest take on the classic toy. It was hard. Instead of a cube, the Techno Source Rubik’s Slide is a thick slab with only one face. You’d think that reducing the number of blocks to keep track of from 54 to 9 would make things easier, but the slide provides its own unique challenges: the top of the slab can be slid up, down, left, or right to nudge the colored blocks in that direction or it can be twisted to rotate the blocks into a new orientation.

The Star Wars universe is basically infinite, but out of thousands of stories, the original trilogy is still the heart. So I’m really excited Hasbro’s 2010 toys focus on Empire for its 30th anniversary, down to vintage figure packaging. HASBRO STAR WARS’™ 2010 TOY LINE CAPTURES THE EXCITEMENT AND ADVENTURE OF POPULAR STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS ANIMATED SERIES Hasbro Also Celebrates 30th Anniversary of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 
 with Dramatic Re-Imagining of Iconic AT-AT Vehicle PAWTUCKET, R.I. (February 12, 2010) - The FORCE remains strong at Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) which continues to bring all the action, battles and fantasy of STAR WARS to life with a full array of toys and games.