Switch & Go Dinos
© 2012 VTech Electronics North America
This combination toy transforms from a dinosaur to a vehicle. Each toy features an LCD screen for customized animation, both dinosaur and vehicle sound effects, and dinosaur facts. Toys can also be personalized by selecting the animated dinosaur eyes in dinosaur form and the driver faces in vehicle form. There are seven varieties, including Brok the Brachiosaurus, Span the Spinosaurus, Attila the Ankylosaurus, Sliver the T-Rex, T-Don the Pteranodon, Tonn the Stegosaurus, and Horns the Triceratop. Each has a different price, and they are meant to work together. For example, the largest dinosaur, called Brok the Brochiosaurus ($50) turns into a car carrier truck, which can hold some of the smaller dino/vehicles. The idea here is to merge two play patterns -- cars and dinosaurs (and fighting). While the amount of imagination involved is debatable, we can attest to the fact that there is a lot of fine motor coordination involved when making the transformation. When in dinosaur mode, the action play buttons also deliver dinosaur facts.
$16, Smart Toy
Teaches: pretend play (according to VTech), dinosaur facts, fine motor coordination