Ever tried to put a hat on a kid?
The struggle is real.
The look of disapproval is real.
The consequences are real.
Good luck!
Post your silly hat pics on Twitter!
#totsinhats
Friday, January 15, 2016
VTech Toot-Toots Coming...?
So, as I have already mentioned, we are pretty Toot-Toot obsessed here and I admit to being oddly fascinated with them. I don't know if it's the fact that I used to work in a toy store or the fact that I'm always on the lookout for what kiddo might find interesting but I seem to be spending quite a bit of time trying to stay in the Toot-Toot loop. Unfortunately, this has led to quite a bit of frustration on my end as VTech doesn't seem to keep us informed very well. To make matters worse, some stores get exclusivity and things release at completely different times in different countries. Either way, VTech's web site doesn't provide us with much information at all. Soooooo, in an effort to stay in the loop and help out any other parents that might be interested, I figured I'd mention them here on my blog. I have quite a few friends whose kids are also into these toys so why not?
Last year, I discovered early on that VTech was releasing a chicken coop. I found this to be very odd given that prior to that, we only had the Animal Treehouse and Zoo so this didn't seem to fit at all. Clearly, there had to be a farm on the way and with Easter not being so far away, it seemed like a logical step. I was correct about the farm and the line just kept expanding from there, though I don't quite remember if I was correct about the Easter release. Another surprise I had was discovering news about a mega Amusement Park set while watching an annual toy convention. As far as I was aware, there had been absolutely no news about this on VTech's web site so I immediately took the liberty of contacting them to inquire about it. It was this way that I found out about store exclusivity.
Why would VTech be so quiet about such an awesome playset? Look at that thing! It's awesome! We did choose to pass on that one ourselves as it is simply too huge to fit in our happy little home but still, it looks so great!
Looking at VTech's website, it is clear that there is only a limited selection of the available playsets and vehicles/animals listed there. I am not sure why there isn't a page that shows all that exists, especially since you technically pick your location when first accessing the site... I find the lack of information rather odd. If a position would ever open to start maintaining that, I'd jump at the opportunity. With the amount of Toot-Toot spoiling we do, I could use the salary. :P While on that subject, it is interesting to know that the toys will be different depending on your location. Things like colors, selection, and little details will be different. For example, I saw that the farm on Amazon US comes with a grain silo which is not included in the one from Amazon UK. A quirky, but one which I personally find to be quite interesting, detail is the fact that dutch vehicles are named as well as have the generic noun printed on them, whereas Toot-Toots from the UK only have a generic noun. More specifically, our Toot-Toot Taxi is Dutch and he is called Thijs, not just 'taxi'. The french ones are also named. In our family, we have the great advantage of buying them in Dutch, English, and French so it gives us quite a few possibilities. I am not sure why the UK ones aren't named as I would think the children enjoy this detail. I assume maybe it is because English is so international that they decided it was best to sell them the same everywhere but I am not sure if that is truly the reason. I find it a bit sad for them really... I will have to add this to my list of questions for the day I will meet a Toot-Toot rep. ;)
Aaaaanywho, onto the fun stuff! New Releases! Yes, that's what I was trying to get to. As I said, I already ordered the Puck lookalike which Amazon UK listed as being released on January 1st, 2016. Amazon contacted me yesterday to let me know that there was a delay in their reception of the stock and that they'd contact me again once they knew more. All of the new releases in that category are now being listed as 'Temporarily Out of Stock' on their site so it is a bit unknown as to when they will release but I did some digging and they seem to be available elsewhere so let's see what I've dug up so far on Amazon UK...
In the Toot-Toot Drivers series, I have spotted these 4 little guys:
 |
| The french version comes with bins, unlike the listings I have seen for the english one. This is an example of how products differ depending on location and why I spend so much time looking into what is made since we are a multilingual family and have access to several options... |
In the Animals series, we have these adorable lil guys joining the collection:
 |
| Kiddo insists this one is Puck and this little guy has been the reason we ended up with some Toot-Toot animals in the house. |
I think the biggest thing to notice is that these are all domestic animals so part of a 'pet' series which is entirely new as we've had exotic zoo/wild animals and farm animals only so far. Also, I believe it's the first time we actually have 'furry' animals. With this in mind, it was easy for me to start asking where the bunny is. I did some more digging...
Ah, there he is! ;)
And then we have an entirely new line which I have not seen before. It seems to be called Splash World and clearly a line specially designed for bath time fun. These are going to work both in the water and on land so I wonder if they have any plans for integrating them into the Drivers series.
These guys have been spotted:
With the exception of the bunny, these were all listed on Amazon UK being released January 1st, 2016. Like I said, they have all had their listings revised to 'temporarily out of stock' as they were not received and I am expecting news on that soon since I have already pre-ordered the dog. I have seen the rabbit listed on sites in both the UK and the US so I imagine the 'pet' series will be available in both places soon if not already available in the US. I have seen absolutely none of these on any of the dutch sites and have no idea when they would release as we tend to get the releases quite a bit later, perhaps 6 months or so.
Aha!
Some further digging and I have found something more concrete, finally!
http://www.vtech-jouets.com/tut-tut-animo-domestiques-assortis.html
There we go, an official VTech source citing the 'pet' series as being available in February 2016. This is the french version, of course, but I expect the english one to come out sooner if not around the same time. Seeing how this is a pet series and it doesn't quite seem to fit in with the other existing playsets, I am assuming we'll also be seeing the addition of either a pet store or vet clinic. I'm not sure what the design would look like but, since they've released a hospital in their VTech Smart Friends line (not compatible with VTech Toot-Toot nor Animal series as the Friends line is bigger), I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar show up for our newest cuties. ;)
While digging for more info, I also came across this guy.
I have only seem this fun hot rod (also available in red) listed in North America. I have not come across a hot rod in Europe at all yet. I wonder if it's something that will come or if it's exclusive there...
Anywho, that's all I've got for now! I'll be keeping an eye out on the various toy conventions to see what else I might spot. Shame that VTech makes me go through so much to uncover their secrets! ;)
Have you spotted a new fun addition for your little one?
Toot-Toooot!
The Toot-Toots have taken over! They are everywhere! They are our Monkey's favorite toys and they are probably mine as well. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, I am referring to VTech's line of toys called Toot-Toot Drivers. They are also known as Go Go Smart Cars in the USA and Toet-Toets here in the Netherlands. They also have the Toot-Toot Animals/Zoef-Zoef Dieren and a yet-to-be-released Splash World line.
As for us, we started with them shortly before kiddo's 1st birthday. We had already spotted the train station and had been discussing it when a friend had her son's garage on offer so we decided to buy that off her and see how he liked it. I absolutely loved the idea of them as they are something you can constantly add to and, since they are all compatible, you don't end up with all sorts of different sets that won't work together. They have lights, sounds, melodies, are sturdy as heck, colorful, and are plenty of fun! He really seemed to enjoy the garage and tow truck that came with it so we decided to go ahead with those for his first birthday. Prior to that, he didn't actually have that many toys, nor did he play with them too much as he was simply too busy trying to run about and get into things he shouldn't get into.
Big, big hit with the kiddo!
We had gotten him the Railway Station, and family members gifted him some extra vehicles, the larger fire engine, and the construction site. It certainly didn't take long before we were out looking for an extension to be able to connect the kits together! From that point on, the Toot-Toots have been kiddo's absolute favorite toy to play with. At the age of 1, he did need us to assemble the tracks and he spent most of the time playing with the vehicles in his hand but he still loved them. By the time he was turning 2, he was driving those vehicles along the tracks and even building them himself. Creativity started taking over and assembling the tracks was just as (if not more) fun as playing on them. It didn't take long before kiddo and I got into heated debates about track designs!
Months before Christmas, we spotted the newest release of a Toot-Toot RC Racetrack coming and knew that was perfect as kiddo's Christmas gift. Now what 2 year old doesn't love radio-controlled cars? To top it off, VTech released a Toot-Toot Advent calendar and we ended up getting him that as well. Toot-toots were added to his wishlist and the collection just grew and grew. Now, kiddo has always been much more drawn to the Drivers line than the Animals one despite my best attempts. However, while browsing, I accidentally came across some new releases (more about that in a separate post) that were being advertised as being released on January 1st of this year. Actually, it's kiddo that spotted it when he spotted a dog that he insists is Puck. He kept pointing at it saying "Puck!" and then spotted the cats as well and happened to spot the black one that reminds him of Baloo. Now, this is how my logic works... I had no problem getting him the Puck lookalike, but where would he go? I couldn't quite pass him off as a fire dog, could I? I found the idea of a stray quite sad, we certainly didn't need stray cats and dogs running amok! I didn't quite like the idea of getting into the zoo/safari line as kiddo didn't seem to connect with those animals but I understood kiddo's desire to have the ones that he could relate to... I spotted another new release: a doggy playhouse. That sure seemed cute and a 'house' could work into his preexisting collection but then it came with a brown dog and he definitely wanted the one that looks like Puck. His grandparents had sent him some money to get a Christmas gift and I spotted the farm in Amazon's Lightning Deals and it was just perfect. I mean, a dog and cat certainly can live on a farm and a farm worked just fine with the collection he already had... I looked at it carefully and realized that it came with a really cute cow. Cute yes, but the farm had some great stables that just seemed empty. Seemed a bit of a shame not to buy the gorgeous Mama Horse and foal... ;) Of course, a bunny would be a great addition since there are carrots and so would a chicken since there is a lovely tree swing but I had to control myself. ;) It would come later in January but it just meant he'd have another surprise.
Kiddo opened his RC Raceway on Christmas Day. Oh boy was he ever excited! We also received a second RC Racer so kiddo could actually have someone (me, me, me!) race him. It was too late for kiddo to play with it so it had to wait until the next day.
The next day, the Mr. and I got the Raceway all assembled and ready for kiddo while he impatiently hung around, waiting for us to be done so he could finally play. Wow, it's simply awesome! That is a great piece of kit to have added to his collection. We raced, he raced his Papa, raced his Oma... Oh yes, it was great. The only downer was that we had expected the RC racers to work on his entire track but this was not the case :( Unfortunately, the sides are a little lower on the regular track. While driving straight is perfectly fine, taking corners means your racer will veer off track and go off roading. I have contacted VTech about this and am hoping to hear back.
.
Kiddo discovering his RC Raceway track. It's great and we love how the RC controls everything, even the stunts!
Yesterday, I was surprised by the postman delivering our Amazon order. I had only expected it to come today so that was a fun surprise. When I had put the order in, I had decided to accept the challenge of creating one enormous fully-connected track with everything he has. In fact, I think it's partly the reason why we took down the Christmas decorations so quickly, just so we could have the space to do this! I knew kiddo would get a major kick out of it and I just loved the challenge as it's just like a puzzle. It can be really frustrating sometimes, especially if you are slightly OCD like me and insist on not mixing up the tracks and try to get something 'logical' so you don't end up with vehicles crashing into each other or end up with dead ends. My kid, on the other hand, really gets a kick out of building things as curvy and as loopy as he can. His dutch blood already has him building bloody roundabouts! Anyway, because of our road design disagreements, I decided it would be much more pleasant if I attempted the mega track on my own without having my 'boss' looking over my shoulder to 'correct' my design. I rearranged the furniture in the living room, brought up the boxes of decorations and put the lil monkey in his room for his 'quiet time' (we don't call it 'nap time' here anymore unless we want a tantrum on our hands!) and set to work. First, I had to group up all the kits so that I knew exactly what I had to work with for each section. Plus, there's always something missing so best to work section by section. Next, I had to decide what made 'sense' in terms of what should go where. I didn't think the animals would appreciate living right next to the race track so I ended up putting the farm a bit away from the railway since that seemed to be more 'logical'. Yeah, I know, I'm special that way. I like to call it 'quirky'. ;) Anyway, it took me bloody hours to build it and I'm not kidding. Each section needed to be just right and then I had to open them up properly to extend them into the next, etc. I tried to improvise the railway design but quickly realized I would be there all night so I Googled some VTech designs and picked the most suitable (after getting it wrong another 2 times first, of course) one which would allow me to continue. I got it all done just as kiddo woke and I used all our pieces with the exception of 2 so yeah, one mega track. I was satisfied that I had completed the challenge and admired the large track in front of me. I knew kiddo would get a major kick out of it and I couldn't wait to get playing. Yeah, yeah, I know...! To add to the fun of it all, kiddo had no idea he had gotten the farm at all. I simply assembled it (don't attempt to put the stickers on it around your sticker-happy child), put the new horses in the stable and the cow in the pasture and left it at that. I placed the rest of the vehicles where they seemed to make sense and went upstairs to get kiddo.
Once ready, I let him walk into the living room and he just stood in awe as he looked at the track. The last time we had connected it like that was before the new additions so it was only about half the size. It really was impressive now! He quickly spotted the new farm and found the animals and simply kept saying "What is this now?!" Haha, silly monkey! Once he had a good look at the animals, he ran off to his racers and handed me a control so we raced for a few. Once he was satisfied that he had beaten me enough, he ran off to play with the rest but that was not so easy as he did not know where to start! It was great. Of course, once kiddo got involved, terrible things started happening. Somehow the poor cow ended up getting run over by the train, Santa and his sleigh had flipped over in the construction area and the quad and cement truck figured the stable provided a great parking spot while the tow truck took a snooze in the barn. I won't even tell you where the plane ended up! Kids! :P
Kiddo really enjoys the slide part.
The Mr. came home and kiddo quickly grabbed him and started showing him the animals and playing with him. I had been concerned that kiddo wouldn't like the animals as much but after seeing the cow and foal join us for dinner and then the horses join kiddo in bed, I think it is fair to say that the Toot-Toot Animals are also a success. Doggy will join us later as there has been a delay in his arrival but I think kiddo's got his hands full at the moment anyway.
So yeah, we're pretty Toot-Toot obsessed in our family. Can you blame us? ;)
 |
| Toot-Toot vehicles and little extras. There are 2 intruders in the photo but kiddo insists that they are honorary Toot-Toots and are to be treated as such. He now has a cow, a horse, a foal to add to his collection. |
Big, big hit with the kiddo!
We had gotten him the Railway Station, and family members gifted him some extra vehicles, the larger fire engine, and the construction site. It certainly didn't take long before we were out looking for an extension to be able to connect the kits together! From that point on, the Toot-Toots have been kiddo's absolute favorite toy to play with. At the age of 1, he did need us to assemble the tracks and he spent most of the time playing with the vehicles in his hand but he still loved them. By the time he was turning 2, he was driving those vehicles along the tracks and even building them himself. Creativity started taking over and assembling the tracks was just as (if not more) fun as playing on them. It didn't take long before kiddo and I got into heated debates about track designs!
Months before Christmas, we spotted the newest release of a Toot-Toot RC Racetrack coming and knew that was perfect as kiddo's Christmas gift. Now what 2 year old doesn't love radio-controlled cars? To top it off, VTech released a Toot-Toot Advent calendar and we ended up getting him that as well. Toot-toots were added to his wishlist and the collection just grew and grew. Now, kiddo has always been much more drawn to the Drivers line than the Animals one despite my best attempts. However, while browsing, I accidentally came across some new releases (more about that in a separate post) that were being advertised as being released on January 1st of this year. Actually, it's kiddo that spotted it when he spotted a dog that he insists is Puck. He kept pointing at it saying "Puck!" and then spotted the cats as well and happened to spot the black one that reminds him of Baloo. Now, this is how my logic works... I had no problem getting him the Puck lookalike, but where would he go? I couldn't quite pass him off as a fire dog, could I? I found the idea of a stray quite sad, we certainly didn't need stray cats and dogs running amok! I didn't quite like the idea of getting into the zoo/safari line as kiddo didn't seem to connect with those animals but I understood kiddo's desire to have the ones that he could relate to... I spotted another new release: a doggy playhouse. That sure seemed cute and a 'house' could work into his preexisting collection but then it came with a brown dog and he definitely wanted the one that looks like Puck. His grandparents had sent him some money to get a Christmas gift and I spotted the farm in Amazon's Lightning Deals and it was just perfect. I mean, a dog and cat certainly can live on a farm and a farm worked just fine with the collection he already had... I looked at it carefully and realized that it came with a really cute cow. Cute yes, but the farm had some great stables that just seemed empty. Seemed a bit of a shame not to buy the gorgeous Mama Horse and foal... ;) Of course, a bunny would be a great addition since there are carrots and so would a chicken since there is a lovely tree swing but I had to control myself. ;) It would come later in January but it just meant he'd have another surprise.
Kiddo opened his RC Raceway on Christmas Day. Oh boy was he ever excited! We also received a second RC Racer so kiddo could actually have someone (me, me, me!) race him. It was too late for kiddo to play with it so it had to wait until the next day.
 |
| Gasp! What is this?! |
The next day, the Mr. and I got the Raceway all assembled and ready for kiddo while he impatiently hung around, waiting for us to be done so he could finally play. Wow, it's simply awesome! That is a great piece of kit to have added to his collection. We raced, he raced his Papa, raced his Oma... Oh yes, it was great. The only downer was that we had expected the RC racers to work on his entire track but this was not the case :( Unfortunately, the sides are a little lower on the regular track. While driving straight is perfectly fine, taking corners means your racer will veer off track and go off roading. I have contacted VTech about this and am hoping to hear back.
.
Kiddo discovering his RC Raceway track. It's great and we love how the RC controls everything, even the stunts!
Yesterday, I was surprised by the postman delivering our Amazon order. I had only expected it to come today so that was a fun surprise. When I had put the order in, I had decided to accept the challenge of creating one enormous fully-connected track with everything he has. In fact, I think it's partly the reason why we took down the Christmas decorations so quickly, just so we could have the space to do this! I knew kiddo would get a major kick out of it and I just loved the challenge as it's just like a puzzle. It can be really frustrating sometimes, especially if you are slightly OCD like me and insist on not mixing up the tracks and try to get something 'logical' so you don't end up with vehicles crashing into each other or end up with dead ends. My kid, on the other hand, really gets a kick out of building things as curvy and as loopy as he can. His dutch blood already has him building bloody roundabouts! Anyway, because of our road design disagreements, I decided it would be much more pleasant if I attempted the mega track on my own without having my 'boss' looking over my shoulder to 'correct' my design. I rearranged the furniture in the living room, brought up the boxes of decorations and put the lil monkey in his room for his 'quiet time' (we don't call it 'nap time' here anymore unless we want a tantrum on our hands!) and set to work. First, I had to group up all the kits so that I knew exactly what I had to work with for each section. Plus, there's always something missing so best to work section by section. Next, I had to decide what made 'sense' in terms of what should go where. I didn't think the animals would appreciate living right next to the race track so I ended up putting the farm a bit away from the railway since that seemed to be more 'logical'. Yeah, I know, I'm special that way. I like to call it 'quirky'. ;) Anyway, it took me bloody hours to build it and I'm not kidding. Each section needed to be just right and then I had to open them up properly to extend them into the next, etc. I tried to improvise the railway design but quickly realized I would be there all night so I Googled some VTech designs and picked the most suitable (after getting it wrong another 2 times first, of course) one which would allow me to continue. I got it all done just as kiddo woke and I used all our pieces with the exception of 2 so yeah, one mega track. I was satisfied that I had completed the challenge and admired the large track in front of me. I knew kiddo would get a major kick out of it and I couldn't wait to get playing. Yeah, yeah, I know...! To add to the fun of it all, kiddo had no idea he had gotten the farm at all. I simply assembled it (don't attempt to put the stickers on it around your sticker-happy child), put the new horses in the stable and the cow in the pasture and left it at that. I placed the rest of the vehicles where they seemed to make sense and went upstairs to get kiddo.
 |
| The track before kiddo saw it. |
Once ready, I let him walk into the living room and he just stood in awe as he looked at the track. The last time we had connected it like that was before the new additions so it was only about half the size. It really was impressive now! He quickly spotted the new farm and found the animals and simply kept saying "What is this now?!" Haha, silly monkey! Once he had a good look at the animals, he ran off to his racers and handed me a control so we raced for a few. Once he was satisfied that he had beaten me enough, he ran off to play with the rest but that was not so easy as he did not know where to start! It was great. Of course, once kiddo got involved, terrible things started happening. Somehow the poor cow ended up getting run over by the train, Santa and his sleigh had flipped over in the construction area and the quad and cement truck figured the stable provided a great parking spot while the tow truck took a snooze in the barn. I won't even tell you where the plane ended up! Kids! :P
 |
| Seeing him there gives you a better idea of the size of this thing! |
 |
| The adorable farm which will eventually house all sorts of cute critters. |
Kiddo really enjoys the slide part.
The Mr. came home and kiddo quickly grabbed him and started showing him the animals and playing with him. I had been concerned that kiddo wouldn't like the animals as much but after seeing the cow and foal join us for dinner and then the horses join kiddo in bed, I think it is fair to say that the Toot-Toot Animals are also a success. Doggy will join us later as there has been a delay in his arrival but I think kiddo's got his hands full at the moment anyway.
So yeah, we're pretty Toot-Toot obsessed in our family. Can you blame us? ;)
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