mySimon Toys Shopping Picks

Hey Heroes fans, did you know Mezco makes Heroes action figures? The first series includes 7" articulated versions of Hiro Nakamura, Peter Petrelli, Claire Bennett, Sylar, and Mohinder Suresh, all with plot-appropriate accessories (Claire comes with an alternate damaged head and alternate damaged arm). If the show continues to win Emmy awards, we're thinking these figures could be worth something someday. Then again, we thought the same thing about our Spice Girls action figures. Speaking of action figures, we found a site where you can have one made of yourself for just $160.

We just found out about this Barack Obama action figure. It doesn't talk, but it does have 8 points of articulation so you can "pose him presidentially." We'd like to see a companion Michelle Obama figure, so we could pose them together doing the "terrorist fist jab." (Speaking of which, check out the latest New Yorker cover.) If you're a McCain supporter, sit tight: The McCain action figure hits stores next month.

We saw this Vespa ride-on toy last weekend at the Conran store in New York. If the weight limit wasn't 75 pounds we would have ridden it around the store. The scooter looks exactly like a modern Vespa, complete with rear storage box and glove box, and it goes up to 5mph, thanks to the rechargeable 12-volt battery and foot pedal accelerator. It runs on dirt, grass, sidewalks, and maybe even wall-to-wall carpet. And if you put 2 AA batteries in it, you can turn on the headlight and hazard light and even honk the horn.

Check out the latest LeapFrog invention: The LeapFrog Tag. Designed for kids ages 4-8, the Tag is a touch-and-talk learning toy that develops kids' reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, word recognition, and other important skills. That thing that looks like a pen is part camera and part speaker. Not sure what that word is? Touch the word and the "pen" will tell you. The Tag ships next week but is available for preorder now. There will eventually be more than 20 Tag books and games to choose from.

Frankly we're more excited about this Indiana Jones Mr. Potato Head than we are about the new movie. The Taters of the Lost Ark toy comes with a jacket, whip, hat, teeth, and other accessories. Press his hat once to hear a short segment of the Indiana Jones theme song, or hold it down to hear the whole song. And when you get tired of that, watch the first 3 Indiana Jones movies on DVD.

A super dad should have a Superman stapler to remind him while working just how awesome his kids think he is. Granted, the target audience for this product is probably grade school kids, but we've got Father's Day on the brain and not a whole lot in the bank. And unlike a Superman action figure, this stapler is actually useful.

Bring the (mini) noise into your home with these 9" Public Enemy action figures by Mezco. Chuck D comes with a hat a microphone, while Flavor Flav comes with a Viking helmet, baseball hat, sunglasses, clock, and microphone. Mezco also makes some great Family Guy action figures.

Have you heard about Flocke (German for "Snowflake"), the polar bear cub at the Nuremburg zoo? We turned into piles of mush when we saw the video of her first bath. But as much as we'd love to have our own polar puppy, we realize it's not practical. The next best thing may be the Gund Orion plush polar bear. He's 42" high, super soft, and almost as cute as the real thing. More jumbo Gund stuffed animals.

Part skateboard and part snowboard, the Ripstik caster board recently won the Toy Industry Association's Outdoor Toy of the Year award. Designed for kids ages 8 and up, the board has 360-degree inclined casters and a pivoting deck, so all you have to do is twist to make it move - even uphill. The concave deck and traction plates provide increased foot control, and the ride is amazingly smooth. But you should still wear a helmet and pads for safety. See all Toy of the Year award winners.

Happy Birthday, Barbie! We hear you turned 49 over the weekend. You haven't aged a bit. The latest Barbie product to hit store shelves is Barbie Mariposa, a Barbie movie about a butterfly fairy who lives in Flutterfield, where the Queen has been poisoned by an evil fairy. It might not surprise you that there is also a new line of Barbie Mariposa toys, including the Magic Wings Mariposa doll shown here. (Mariposa is the Spanish word for butterfly.)

Guitar Hero is tons of fun, but it won't actually teach you how to play guitar. For that you'll need lessons, or a Power Tour electric guitar. Designed for kids ages 10 and up (way up), the Power Tour is a small electric guitar toy that has sensors instead of strings. When the sensors light up, you strum along, learning "Wild Thing," "Smoke on the Water," and other rock classics almost in spite of yourself. You can connect the guitar to your MP3 player and play along to your own music, adjusting a tone knob for a metal, punk, rock, or indie sound. The guitar comes with a strap, cable, and instructional DVD.

Happy Birthday to the LEGO brick, which turns 50 years old this month. The word "Lego" comes from the Danish "leg godt," which means "play well." It's the company's name and also its motto. We're happy to hear LEGOs are still selling well, despite the popularity of electronic and virtual toys. With LEGOs you can create almost anything. We particularly love the LEGO videos that act out Eddie Izzard skits.

New Year's Resolution #56: Save money. This money jar will help. Unlike that glass jar overflowing with pennies in the corner of your bedroom, this money jar tells you how much money it's holding. It recognizes the value of each (American) coin you put in, and provides a running total on its LCD display, thus encouraging kids (and adults) to save money. One happy user says "I bought this for myself, and I love it. You don't have to be a kid to save some spare change here and there." More piggy banks.

We think this year's Holiday Barbie looks like a young Miss Claus going to the Oscars. Standing 13.25" tall, Barbie's wearing a voluminous red velvet gown with black lace and white faux fur trim, opera length gloves, and a more feminine version of Santa's belt. A perfect gift for girls ages 6 and up. Speaking of Barbie, they just came out with Titanic Rose Barbie. We hope that means they're also making a Barbie Cruise Ship bathtub toy. More Barbie shopping.

Get campy this Christmas with a stocking that looks like the lamp that looks like a woman's leg, as seen in the classic movie A Christmas Story. Measuring 18" long, 9" across at the top, and 3" at the skinniest part of the leg, the stocking has a fun fishnet and patent shoe design, with the Christmas Story logo at the top. We've also got leg-shaped lamps based on the movie.

The Rubik's Cube has gone super high-tech in the Rubik's Revolution, and it's won more awards than we can count. The electronic cube (it runs on the included 3 AAA batteries) has 6 addictive, fast-paced games, complete with lights and sound effects. The "Light Speed" game challenges you to turn cube lights off by quickly tapping them. "Pattern Panic" has you memorize and repeat a sequence of lights. There's even a "Multiplayer Madness" game where you pass the cube back and forth between your friends and turn the lights off faster and faster as they speed up.

Keep your favorite Star Wars fanatic busy for hours this holiday with LEGO's Motorized Walking AT-AT. Once the 1,137 pieces are put together (and 6 AA batteries are inserted), this toy walks forward and backward and moves its head up and down. There's even a cockpit that opens and rotating laser cannons. The AT-AT stands over a foot tall, and comes with a pilot, General Veers, Snowtrooper, and Luke Skywalker with a grappling line and lightsaber. More motorized LEGO toys.

If you like sniffing Sharpies (and really, who doesn't?) maybe you should switch to Smencils. They're regular #2 pencils that are made out of recycled newspapers (instead of wood), and smell like watermelon, cherry, grape, orange, root beer, bubble gum, and even popcorn. And unlike the chemicals in your whiteboard markers (admit it, you've sniffed those too), Smencils' gourmet scents come from environmentally-friendly fragrance liquids and last up to 2 years. More great gifts for kids.

We confess we're a little weirded out by Pleo. He's not just a toy that looks like a 1 week-old Camarasaurus (from the Jurassic period, of course). No, Pleo is "an authentic Life Form." He can see, hear, touch, learn, react to his environment, and feel emotions. He stretches when he wakes up in the morning (yes, he actually sleeps when he's tired). But wait, there's more. Two or more Pleos will recognize each other, but you have to be careful because they can transmit colds to each other. Yes, Pleo sneezes too. Brought to you by the guy behind the (quite low-tech in comparison) Furby, Pleo will be in stores soon.