Toys Store

Cluefinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure
$19.99
I played just about every game in the ClueFinders series as a pre- and early teen. This was the last one to be released, and unfortunately, it's just not as good as the other titles. Most importantly, the activities are much weaker -- they are less engaging (I can't even remember some of them), and there is no good way to automatically set the levels in the game to the appropriate difficulty for the kid. Every time you play through the adventure, you must either manually set the levels via LapTrap or start over at level one, a serious problem for slightly older kids who will quickly get bored with the easier levels. I also remember noticing some bugs where the sound cut out at the main screen -- the other titles all played almost flawlessly.

Another point: though kids who aren't already fans of the series may not care, the actors who voiced the ClueFinders were replaced in this game (maybe the original kids were sounding too old?). The new voices are clearly supposed to be similar, but I found them noticeably different and thus very jarring.

If you love the ClueFinders, you may want to buy this game anyway -- the storyline is on par with the rest of the series. Otherwise, I suggest buying one or more of the other ClueFinders games first. (3rd Grade Adventures, which introduces the characters, is an excellent introduction to the series.)

The Toy
$9.95
Item received on time. Was rather scratched but its an old movie and the price was right.

Hello Kitty Candy Store
$19.98
Last week I saw it on clearance - the HK light up castle was there as well, for $16.50. It is quite tiny. I am sure DD will destroy it after only a coupple of uses, and the teeny little parts will become scattered to the ends of the earth. But for $7.50 I'll be fine with that,

Curious George Visits a Toy Store
$3.95
My three year old son loves Curious George and we usually pick up a new book if we don't have it. We bought this the other day and immediately read it before bed. He loved the story and pictures.

When finished, he also proceeded to complete the maze puzzle on the back cover, but couldn't. Not for the lack of ability, but the maze cannot be solved, atleast not as printed on our copy. He was disappointed, as it was the first maze he couldn't solve.

So, kuddos to the author and illustrator, but tsk-tsk on the QA folks and/or publisher for not catching this.