You Too Can Become a Ninja Turtle!

Back again with some new releases from the Flair Turtle's range. The Ninja Combat Gear dress up set is available in each of the Turtles' colours with respective weapons. Michael was very excited about this, and has spent a lot of time in front of the mirror with his mask on this afternoon!

You better believe my husband and I have tried it on too, we were fans the first time around! 

Our second review surprise was the Leonardo from the Sound FX figures range. The 5.5 inch figures each say a range of phrases, activated when the arms or legs are twisted. A novel factor in the design means if you hold the limb, you can stretch out the length of the audio that plays. Great for battling the baddies. Incidentally, Shredder is available in the Power Sound FX line up too. All these are available for £14.99 each on the Flair Store.

Savvy parents, there's a Turtles film currently being made, by Michael Bay, which is released in October 2014, so it might be wise to beat the rush and stock up on bits for next Christmas when Turtles will be even more popular. 

The Turtles' Pop-Up Pizza Anchovy Alley Playset for Your Little Ninja

Anticipation in the Smyth house is at fever pitch, with four days left until Christmas. This morning we played with the Turtles' Pop-up Pizza play set, which needed reviewing at just the right time. My son played with the little sewer set for literally hours. 

Now I've got to admit this, when I saw this set in the shops before, priced at £24.99, I thought that was a bit steep for what it was. However according to my son it's amazing, and the hours of non-stop play prove me totally wrong.

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Another plus point is it's totally quick and easy to set up. No fiddly building or batteries needed. It folds flat so it can come along in the car to aunty's or granny's house over Christmas time.

My husband and son both love Turtles, so they dressed up in their new Christmas onesies for the occasion (available at Asda).

We also received a Mutagen Ooze Turtle to review. I've mentioned this ooze before, it looks like a carpet ruining nightmare, but actually has a strange consistency that doesn't stain or make a mess. So I wasn't horrified to see more arriving!

These retail around £9.99 and you can buy extra pots of ooze which come with one of four tiny turtles inside. Any of these products would make a great last minute pick-up present for a kid aged 4-10, girls too- I loved Michael Angelo when I was little and had his toy figure.

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Heroes in a Half Shell They're Back!

Turtles are back. As a person born in 1980, I grew shouting, "Cowabunga, dudes!" in the playground. Santa brought me the figure of Michael-Angelo, he was my favourite because he was funny. It's a little weird to think that in 1987 or so the supermarkets didn't even stock pizza in Northern Ireland, now in 2013 you can eat like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

And in 2013 a new generation of boys & girls are getting to know the pretentiously named, reptilian foursome through a swanky CGI series broadcast on Nickelodeon. This also mean shelves of TMNT figures appearing, and if you have a husband like mine, it means some very excited Dads in the toy aisle reliving their youth. 

 Flair sent us a Pizza Flining Mikey and Mutagen Ooze Ralph to play with. Guess who was the most excited by the post that day.

The Flinger range, You load Michael-Angelo with pizzas in a post box in his backpack, and when you roll him across the floor they shoot out. Easy to load for a five year old by themselves, not fiddly like Pez or anything. Son thought it was very cool.

Daddy was allowed to play with the slightly smaller Mutagion Ooze Turtle. This one has a back pack that loads with ooze goo that comes with the figure. You can also buy tubes of replacement ooze in toy shops. My initial reaction was, oh dear, I'm going to have give the review a negative point on this, no parent wants to bring gooey mess into the house. Even when my husband was loading it into the back of the Turle my mind was already half way to the kitchen for a cloth to clean up the inevitable mess.

Weirdly however, whatever its made of, doesn't leave residue or mess. I'm saying that after cleaning it off wooden floor, carpet rug and out of a bad (or a good) shot that landed in my son's head. It kind of bond to itself and picks up like a solid. So I'm giving the ooze a thumbs up.  

Father and son have played with the Turtles all day, apart from the two hours he was at his friend's birthday party, from which he returned with his face painted as a Turtle. I think they have snared another life long fan. 

Toys available from Smyths, Tesco, Toys R Us and all other good stockists.