Friday, November 11, 2011
Xia-Xia
NB: All products discussed in this review were provided to me free of charge via MomSelect... but they did NOT put any words in my mouth.
Xia-Xia (pronounced Shah-Shah) are a new line of hermit crab toys that run around under battery power (they're NOT windups like you'd expect for a small toy of this type). Here's their official website that will be open in a few days:
http://www.xia-xiapets.com/
Here's what Toys 'r' Us has, which at least shows most of the stuff they've got:
http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=12167538
There are 4 different crabs: Bimini, Trinidad, Turks and Tobago. I think they're all pretty cute, but my daughter immediately divided them up into girls (the pink and purple) and boys (the orange and blue) and played them like Barbies... the boys mainly get sent off to Home Depot, lol, unless a boy is playing them with her and then he gets those.
You do something with their claws to make then run around; we can't quite get the hang of it (we're not too coordinated), but eventually they get going and are fun for the little ones to mess with. Their shells are interchangeable, and there are extra shells you can get too; my daughter switched from shell to shell to shell, but ended up with the original ones back in place and lost interest. Each shell comes with a "Little Friend" that's a little plastic something or other; my daughter calls them bugs and keeps trying to throw them out, so I've confiscated them until she's older and can appreciate them.
We were generously sent all 3 playsets: Confetti Cottage, Copacabana, and Rio de Trio Village. We can't quite figure out what to do with them; with the first 2 it seems like all you can do is set the crabs in a couple of bare spots and then take them back out, so my daughter just uses them for storage and display. For the 3rd set, because it's bigger you can actually get them moving and they can move through it if you aim them right... but it's a little too challenging and frustrating for my girl (heck, it's hard for ME), so I'll pack that one up with the "Little Friends" for now.
They sent a list of questions to ask my daughter... questions clearly written by someone with no experience with kids, lol. I didn't get anything useful in reply, but I want to give 'em all they asked for, so here's what I got:
"What do you like best about the Xia-Xia? What? The crabs!! Oh, they're funny. Which one's your favorite? The pink one. Why? 'Cause it's pink!! What's your favorite playset? That one. (points to Copacabana) Why? It's funny. Where do you like playing with the crabs? The hallway. Would your friends like them? I don't know. If you could change one thing about them, what would it be? Make them all pink. Which shell is your favorite? The glitter one. Why? Because it's glitter. Do you like the Little Friends? NO!! Do you like the story about the crabs? No."
Out of all the grandeur we were sent, my daughter basically just wants to play with the pink one; because of the way they run around, it's a little chaotic to try to use more than one at a time, and the playsets don't really do anything or allow the Xia-Xia to do anything different.
I think that these are cute toys, but I think they aren't for kids down to age 4 like they suggest; I'd say 6 at the youngest, and really 8 or more to be able to really use all the parts the way they've supposed to be used. That's just my opinion... but that's what they wanted.
If you want your child to try a Xia-Xia, send me an email telling me why your little angel deserves a free toy and the best one will get it!! I'll post a winner at the end of the weekend.
Xia-Xia (pronounced Shah-Shah) are a new line of hermit crab toys that run around under battery power (they're NOT windups like you'd expect for a small toy of this type). Here's their official website that will be open in a few days:
http://www.xia-xiapets.com/
Here's what Toys 'r' Us has, which at least shows most of the stuff they've got:
http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=12167538
There are 4 different crabs: Bimini, Trinidad, Turks and Tobago. I think they're all pretty cute, but my daughter immediately divided them up into girls (the pink and purple) and boys (the orange and blue) and played them like Barbies... the boys mainly get sent off to Home Depot, lol, unless a boy is playing them with her and then he gets those.
You do something with their claws to make then run around; we can't quite get the hang of it (we're not too coordinated), but eventually they get going and are fun for the little ones to mess with. Their shells are interchangeable, and there are extra shells you can get too; my daughter switched from shell to shell to shell, but ended up with the original ones back in place and lost interest. Each shell comes with a "Little Friend" that's a little plastic something or other; my daughter calls them bugs and keeps trying to throw them out, so I've confiscated them until she's older and can appreciate them.
We were generously sent all 3 playsets: Confetti Cottage, Copacabana, and Rio de Trio Village. We can't quite figure out what to do with them; with the first 2 it seems like all you can do is set the crabs in a couple of bare spots and then take them back out, so my daughter just uses them for storage and display. For the 3rd set, because it's bigger you can actually get them moving and they can move through it if you aim them right... but it's a little too challenging and frustrating for my girl (heck, it's hard for ME), so I'll pack that one up with the "Little Friends" for now.
They sent a list of questions to ask my daughter... questions clearly written by someone with no experience with kids, lol. I didn't get anything useful in reply, but I want to give 'em all they asked for, so here's what I got:
"What do you like best about the Xia-Xia? What? The crabs!! Oh, they're funny. Which one's your favorite? The pink one. Why? 'Cause it's pink!! What's your favorite playset? That one. (points to Copacabana) Why? It's funny. Where do you like playing with the crabs? The hallway. Would your friends like them? I don't know. If you could change one thing about them, what would it be? Make them all pink. Which shell is your favorite? The glitter one. Why? Because it's glitter. Do you like the Little Friends? NO!! Do you like the story about the crabs? No."
Out of all the grandeur we were sent, my daughter basically just wants to play with the pink one; because of the way they run around, it's a little chaotic to try to use more than one at a time, and the playsets don't really do anything or allow the Xia-Xia to do anything different.
I think that these are cute toys, but I think they aren't for kids down to age 4 like they suggest; I'd say 6 at the youngest, and really 8 or more to be able to really use all the parts the way they've supposed to be used. That's just my opinion... but that's what they wanted.
If you want your child to try a Xia-Xia, send me an email telling me why your little angel deserves a free toy and the best one will get it!! I'll post a winner at the end of the weekend.
