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The Tech Lodge Pac Man Stress Ball
by chrisandmark
Although I've never seen the attraction myself, my partner is totally obsessed with Pac Man - a hark back to his youth (seemingly spent in the chip shop, which was the only place he could play this irritatingly noisy game back in the 70s) when Pac Man was the height of entertainment and the most exciting game available for the average ... lad on the street.
Problem is he's never really grown out of it. He has a PS game which he plays regularly (much to the disgust of my COD loving older daughters) and even wears a Pac Man emblazoned t-shirt sometimes, although I try to hide this in the bottom of the laundry basket if I get an inkling he's going to wear it while out with me. This minor addiction does make buying stocking fillers pretty easy though, especially considering the fact that Pac Man seems to be having a bit of a resurgence in popularity at the moment - I bought him this Pac Man Stress Ball from one of the card shops (Clintons perhaps) last Christmas, along with one of the 'ghosts' which are also available in stress ball format.
This is an average size stress ball, the only thing that sets it apart from any other being the wedge that's cut out of the front for Pac Man's mouth - it has a foam interior and the bulk of the ball (apart from the wedge) is covered in a squeezable yellow plastic which protects the foam, as well as making the ball feel nicer to squeeze and abuse in times of stress. Size-wise it's not quite as large as a tennis ball and is actually the perfect fit for Mark's (large blokey) hand, I have quite small hands and can handle it with no problems (if I ever get the urge, which I rarely do) so I have to say it's a one-size-fits-all type product. I find the cut out wedge really irritating as it's tricky to hold the ball without at least one finger slipping into the gap, this means I can't really put adequate pressure on the ball to squeeze it (and thereby relieve my stress) and sometimes if I squeeze hard enough the wedge will actually close around one of my fingers and that feels REALLY strange. You can get around it by holding the stress ball the other way I suppose but if you're the type of person who *needs* a stress ball (which me and Mark don't) I imagine you'd want to pick it up and start squeezing immediately, rather than having to get it into the correct position first!
The stress ball has just the right amount of resistance for squeezing, it will mould out of its ball shape but pops back very quickly after you put it down - I had an 'atlas' illustrated stress ball once which after a couple of months of irregular use decided it was never going to be globe shaped again, which completely ruined it! I'm glad to say this is still Pac Man shaped even after almost eleven months of squeezing by Mark and more generalised playing when the kids get hold of it - it does have a few teeth marks in it now as our son managed to get it down off the high shelf a couple of months ago (I have absolutely no idea how), but to it's credit David didn't manage to bite off any chunks of foam even though he had a bloody good go! Actually, the ball is still in superb condition (teeth marks notwithstanding) with the yellow remaining bright and cheerful and Pac Man's eyes not having rubbed off or faded in any way - this is reasonably impressive as it's needed washing several times thanks to Mark's grubby work hands, something which is surprisingly easily done in the sink with some simple washing up liquid and a tiny bit of elbow grease.
I remember paying £5 for this stress ball, which is a good price in my opinion for a fun item designed around an iconic character such as Pac Man. I'm involved in a couple of Secret Santa's this year and think this would make an ideal gift if you have the usual £5 budget - obviously your recipient would need to be a fan of Pac Man to appreciate the present, but I've realised recently that a lot of people are (it kinda passed me by) so it may be something worth thinking about as a change from socks and stationery sets.
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Hasbro Playskool Mr. Potato Head Silly Suitcase
by louisechackett
I think it is so important for children to have lots of different opportunities to play when they are growing up and so I made sure that my son didn't just have electronic toys to play with as I wanted him to learn to use his imagination. One present that he received from one of my friends as a Christmas present when he was two and a ... half was the Mr Potato Head silly suitcase and this product is being sold and still going strong now and so I thought that I would review it.
The Mr Potato Head silly suitcase comes in a plastic case which is made from a clear plastic so you can see the contents inside straight away. It has a carry handle too and so you can carry it around like a little suitcase really easily which was something my son used to like to do but I think the fact that it keeps the toy so self contained also makes it ideal for taking out to peoples houses and such like where you know there are going to be limited opportunities for play for your child.
My son was familiar with Mr Potato Head because of the Toy Story films and so I would imagine most children will be aware of who he is but even for those who aren't familiar this is still a really good toy to own in my opinion.
Inside the case you actually get a tough Mr Potato Head "head" which is your basic thing that you need to use this toy. He comes assembled as the familiar looking Mr Potato Head that many of us will be familiar with but also inside the case there are forty different accessories which can be used to create different looks for Mr Potato Head. Inside the case you get 2 pairs of eyes, 3 noses, 6 arms, 6 ears,2 hats, 4 moustaches, 4 mouths, 2 tongues, 1 pair of pants with shoes, 2 pairs of eyeglasses, 1 earring, and 1 microphone and so there is plenty of scope for creating different looks for Mr Potato Head.
What struck me with this set was just how well made the pieces included were. They are made from plastic which is brightly coloured and so appealing to a young child. Many of the pieces feel quite flexible yet they are incredibly tough too. We had no issue with any of the pieces breaking in the three years that we owned this toy and my son or friend's children played with this. My only slight niggle with this set was that it could be tricky to fit all of the pieces back in the case and then clasp it shut and so sometimes the clasp on the case would come open whilst in my son's toy box and all of the accessories would fall out to the bottom of the toy box making it a bit of an annoying task to find them all again before playing with it.
My son used to love sitting and playing with this set and creating different looks for Mr Potato Head and because he had some other Toy Story character toys he was able to integrate Mr Potato Head in to his games when he played with them too. My son was probably four when he stopped playing with this but we did keep it for another twelve months or so because some of my friends have younger children and they were able to play with it but after that we passed it on to my friends daughter who also spent time enjoying this toy.
This toy costs around £15 on amazon and I think it is probably worth this amount for a child who is around two to three years as they will get a good couple of years play out of it and then it will be fit to be passed on to someone else or even listed on ebay afterwards.
Thank you for reading my review!
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