Dragonoid Colossus

Children's toys these days are something else.

For a long time I did not pay much attention to the things that are scattered around the floor of my son's room. My husband, very much a boy at heart, buys the toys. I pick them up from the floor. Today is the day when I finally woke up to the idea that children these days might be living in a toy paradise. What I mean is that the toys are way, way better than when we were growing up in the seventies and the eighties.

My son has just turned eight and his thoughtful dad presented him with four things from the two of us. Three, in particular, stand out:

Dragonoid Colossus from the Bakugan Gundalian invaders series, Moon In My Room, and Glow Crazy distance doodler.

By some kids' accounts, Bakugan is already passe, but my son still really enjoys playing with this toy and trading card game based on the Japanese anime show of the same name. 

According to eHow's Catherine Chant, the show is about six friends who fight to save the Earth from evil forces that had previously attempted to destroy the Bakugan world Vestroia. The Bakugan appear on Earth in a form of marbles to aid the humans in defending their planet and restoring order in both worlds.

When dropped on a special metal "gate card", these colorful plastic marbles the size of a walnut burst open to reveal the fantasy creature inside. They are great to touch and I literally get goose bumps every time I see one spring open. There are no electronic chips - they work on magnets.

Fold the marble back into its walnut shape and repeat ad nauseam.

And then there is the Dragonoid Colossus. It's a 3 inch tall, 9 inch long dragon, beautifully crafted from red and golden-yellow plastic parts. When you drop a character marble on its back, bam!, it springs open with a characteristic dragon-appropriate clatter, throwing out wings and a tail, becoming 14 inches long in the process. If this is not magic, then I don't know what is.

I don't remember anything remotely so exciting when I was a kid. Neither can my husband, who was born and raised in Canada.

Moon In My Room is an authentically detailed plastic moon that hangs on your wall and shines just like the real moon. It follows the 12 lunar phases on automatic or manual function. In other words, you can let it follow the actual lunar calendar or you can have a full or a crescent moon every day. For my lucky child's convenience, it comes with the remote control and an educational CD. 

Another thing he can do right from the comfort of his bed is to doodle with  the Glow Crazy distance doodler - a light wand that allows you to draw and write with light.

When I was in film school, we would occasionally amuse ourselves by creating special effects like angel wings, which we would "draw on" to a person in a dark room with a flash light while taking a really long exposure photograph. That exercise compares to Glow Crazy like climbing uphill with your skis in your hands does to riding on the skilift.

This kit and kaboodle of instant gratification costs no more than CAD100. And the joys are completely unisex - my 5 year old niece, for example, loves the Bakugan. Except instead the battle cry "Bakugan Brawl!", she shouts "Bakugan, roll!" as she throws the marbles hard against the floor.

Same difference.