THE top toy story of the year has four legs and a (battery-operated) tail.
Meet the electronic dogs – Poo-Chi, Super Poo-Chi, Rocket the Wonder Dog and Tekno, among them – who are the vanguard of this year’s holiday invasion of the high-tech toys. The computer chip-bearing canines respond to commands, perform tricks, wag their tails and do just about anything a real dog can do, minus the doo.
And while this year’s Furby, Tickle Me Elmo or Cabbage Patch Kid has yet to rear its homely head, the dogs definitely have a leg up on the competition. But the parade of robotic pooches is just the beginning. Look for miniature musical key chains, a radio-controlled car that rivals the Batmobile and an Elmo that does much more than laugh. Even preschoolers can get into the act with electronic toys designed to help them learn to read. Still, that doesn’t mean classics like Lincoln Logs and LEGOs have been consigned to the doghouse. You’ll find them, too, on toy-store shelves – alongside the dogs.
Why have so many toys gone high-tech?
“When you have a child on the computer being entertained by a CD-Rom, you can’t give them the same toy as we had 10 years ago and expect them to be entertained,” says Jim Silver, co-publisher of Toy Wishes magazine. “And for that reason, electronics have evolved more and more into all toys, starting with those for the very young.
“Even the simplest toys, like colorful ring stackers for infants, have electronics. Now they light up and make colors and noises to entertain the kids more. Because of technology, the kids are so much more sophisticated.”
After playing the field, The Post has come up with its picks to bring Christmas and Hanukkah joy to the world of kids.
* UNLEASHING A PET CRAZE
In the beginning, there was a $2,500 electronic dog from Sony. Other companies thought it a great idea, but too expensive. So they created interactive pets for kids to care for – at a reasonable price.
Here are some of the dogs on the market:
(MD+BO)Poo-Chi(MD-BO) ($25, Tiger Electronics) is the leader of the pack. Six million have been sold since its April introduction. Poo-Chi doesn’t walk, but it can sit, stand and dance with its animated head, ears, legs, mouth and tail. It’s also programmed to sing six songs – and its eyes can change to heart shapes when it’s happy. Poo-Chi, which comes with a little plastic bone, can interact with fellow Poo-Chi’s – they sing duets or even growl at each other.
The more advanced (MD+BO)Super Poo-Chi(MD-BO) ($50, Tiger Electronics) uses voice-recognition technology to respond to a half-dozen voice commands. You can also influence its “biorhythm levels,” getting more motion, speech and interaction the more you play with it.
(MD+BO)Tekno the Robotic Puppy(MD-BO) ($40, Manley Toy Quest) boasts 160 “realistic” emotions and functions, responding to voice and touch. With a gentle pet, the puppy lets out a happy bark and a wag of the tail. The pooch has an internal clock that you can program to awaken him at the same time each day. Tekno can tell when there’s a knock at the door or if the lights go on, and he’ll respond. And he can learn card tricks with the five-card hand that’s included.
(MD+BO)Rocket the Wonder Dog(MD-BO) ($100, Fisher-Price) responds only to his master’s voice. So after you program this pet, with a personal puppy trainer headset, you can keep pesky younger siblings from playing with him.
(MD+BO)Puppy Magic(MD-BO) ($30, Toy Biz) looks more like a traditional, furry stuffed dog. But it, too, is interactive – and it’s a family of dogs. With an electronic “puppy recognition system,” mom can greet each of the three puppies with a distinguishable bark just for him. And if one pup strays too far, mom lets out a whimper. The trio of pups will snore when they’re snuggled up to their mom, with their blanket.
* MEET THE TECH TOYS
It’s never too early to jump on the e-train – and Leap Frog’s LeapPad ($60) gets kids as young as 4 in on the fun. Shaped like a folding laptop computer, it comes with several books that sit on the pad. When young readers touch a stylus to any letter or word in the book, they can hear it sounded out. For older kids (7 and up), the LeapPad Pro ($80) comes with books that teach geography, science, reading comprehension – even foreign languages.
These days, Elmo can do a lot more than laugh when he’s tickled. With Fisher-Price’s Let’s Pretend Elmo ($30), youngsters can move their Sesame Street pal’s arms and legs into different positions – with varying results. Give him a scary pose with his arms stretched above his head, and Elmo says, “Aaggh, Elmo’s a monster!” He can also be an airplane, a puppy – 10 things in all.
If your kids love pop music, Tiger Electronics’ HitClips ($4-$5) has their number. These postage-stamp-size chips feature one-minute pop music samples that hook to backpacks with a key chain. They can play snippets of Britney, *NSYNC, Smash Mouth, Faith Hill and more on a tiny Micro Player ($8), 2-by-3-inch boombox ($10) or alarm clock ($15).
Tiger also makes the e-Fortune cookie ($7.99), this millennium’s answer to the Ouiji Board or Magic 8 ball. Ask the plastic cookie about the future and crack it open to reveal the answer. (Don’t be surprised if it replies, “Whatever.”) It’s for ages 5 and up.
Futuristic for sure is Toymax’s Dragonfly Radio-Control Vehicle ($70), which looks like a fiery red Batmobile on steroids. The battery-powered car can flip and run upside down and pop wild wheelies. The radio-controlled “X-Tech” wings open and close to pilot the car through tight spaces. It’s already flying off store shelves. (Battery packs and rechargers are sold separately for $25.)
Radio DJ ($20, Wild Planet) allows you to broadcast live to any AM radio within 30 feet. Fade controls let you mix your voice with music on the air and a built-in cassette player lets you broadcast your favorite tunes. Bring it on a trip – you can even broadcast on the car radio.
There are yet more, strange little creatures to add to Pikachu and pals in Nintendo’s Pokemon Gold and Silver ($30), the newest must-have cartridges for Game Boy Color.
* TOYS TO BUILD ON
Just because LEGO started in 1949 doesn’t mean it’s stuck in the past. Today, the familiar, primary-colored building blocks boast some high-tech features. For 4- to 6-year-olds, there’s the MyBot ($50), a cockpit-shape microcomputer that kids can turn into an airplane, race car or robot by attaching “smart bricks” to it. Sound effects and an LCD screen in the cockpit add to the fun. MyBots are compatible with other Duplo and LEGO bricks.
With LEGO Championship Challenge ($50), you can not only build your very own soccer field, you can play the game, too, with spring-action players in the different positions and a pair of movable goalies. Geared for ages 7 to 16, it has 274 pieces for them (and you) to keep track of.
K’NEX has brought back Lincoln Logs with a handsomely boxed Traditional Collector’s Edition ($80), complete with wood-slat roofs, a nice change from the plastic parts of yore.
Back as well are the traditional, wooden Tinker Toys, for those who eschew the plastic version. The 140-piece Colossal Classic Construction Set sells for $40.
The toy frontier follows real-life astronauts and cosmonauts into space with K’NEX’s International Space Station ($50). It’s 2 feet wide and has more than 900 pieces, and the kids can practice for a future with NASA by putting together the model’s motorized solar panels. K’NEX also makes less expensive space-shuttle models.
* OH, YOU DOLLS
‘Tis the season to be Barbie. Mattel’s glamour gal is in newly fab form with Barbie Celebration 2000 ($35). The first collectible doll of the new millennium is all decked out in gold and ivory finery. Not to be outclassed, there’s Jewel Girl Barbie ($16), who can twist her waist, the better to let her stick-on gems glitter.
Barbie’s not alone, of course. Meet Toy Biz’s Baby I Know ($30), a talkative little thing with more than 300 programmed phrases and accessories (a locket, a hairbrush) she can recognize. This baby can play learning games, too; for ages 4 and up.
Another interactive doll, MGA’s My Dream Baby ($100), really grows on you. She actually gets taller and her vocabulary grows along with her, to more than 500 words.
Of course, what doll discourse would be complete without the Powerpuff Girls. The beauties in Trendmasters’ Powerpuff Girls MiniPlush Collection ($10 each) also talk when you squeeze them.
* BORED? TRY THESE GAMES
There’ll always be Monopoly, Candyland, and Chutes and Ladders. But along with the traditional board games are some new ones, like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Junior. ($25, Pressman Toys), which lets kids ages 8 to 12 jump on Regis Philbin’s bandwagon. It’s for 2 to 6 players.
Test your knowledge of Hogwarts, Quidditch and everything else J.K. Rowling came up with in Mattel’s Harry Potter Trivia Game ($30). Answer the questions, collect four wizards and a password, and you’re the winner. Ages 8 and up.
Or if you’d rather explore the Plaza Hotel, try Briarpatch’s Eloise Game ($20), in which players ages 5 to 8 can scamper around the hallways and behind doors for decorations and party snacks. Eloise always did know how to party.
* AND DON’T FORGET
The Fisher-Price View-Master Projector and Telescope ($20) still uses those old, round slide cards, but this version allows you to project the images on the wall and gaze at the moon (not at the same time).
If you won’t let the kids skateboard in your apartment, Mattel has what may be the next best thing: the X-V Xtreme Skatepark ($20). It comes with a motorized skateboarder and a track that can be reconfigured to showcase any of the mini-boarder’s stunts.
Last but not least, think Slinky ($3.50). since 1945, 250 million of these wire-spring toys have been sold, and for good reason. They’re cheap but fun, and perfect for stuffing a stocking or laying under the menorah.