Star Wars Toy Collection from Hasbro - Review

Star Wars has long been an obsession in our house, with my son loving the movies and getting most excited about the latest release. With the arrival of Episode VIII in Deecmber just gone, these toys couldn't have come at a better time.

Star Wars Forces of Destiny: Rey of Jakku and BB8 Set - £24.99

My daughter immediately bagged this doll and she absolutely loves it, especially as it comes with BB8 who is a great little character. The doll has a twist action similar to some of her Barbies which means she swipes her lightsaber just like in the movie.

She is very realistic and my daughter has been so in love with her that she came to watch The Last Jedi with us.  I love this character and it is great to have another strong female lead in a film. Princess Leia lead the way in the original trilogy and now we have Rey to carry on the torch of the Light Side. 

This figure is part of the Forces of Destiny range which accompanies a series of animated shorts showcasing heroic women from a galaxy far, far away. It's great to see these female characters from the Star Wars universe being given equal standing with their male counterparts.

Star Wars Forces of Destiny Rey of Jakku Extendable Staff – £29.95

My daughter instantly fell in love with the staff and has been wielding it just like Rey in the film, it is great she can battle against her brother with his lightsaber. The staff is sturdy to say the least, some might even say quite solid and heavy.  You would definitely know about it if you got thwacked during a energetic recreation and I've heard a few yelps to prove it.  The staff also connects with other items from the Bladebuilder range, which I also feature here.

Star Wars Bladebuilders Path Of The Force Lightsaber – £49.99

This Lightsaber switches between blue for the Light Side of the Force to red for the Dark Side, meaning you can fight for good or evil depending on what mood you’re in. I like that it converts and allows the role play to encompass all of the different elements of Star Wars.

Easily interchangeable even for the smallest of hands, it is super easy and comes with batteries already supplied so you can just start playing straight out of the box.

The lightsaber is part of the Bladebuilder system so it can be attached to the staff too to make one really huge lightsaber....um thing. 

Star Wars The Last Jedi Kylo Ren Interactech Figure - £24.99

I have to admit I am slightly disturbed by the voice on this toy, however after seeing the film it is true to the character. The removable helmet revealing Kylo Ren's scarred face is very realistic too, he is a really sturdy doll .

I love the fact then when you shake him the lightsaber glows red and makes those familiar swooshing/buzzing/humming sounds. My daughter and son have been having face offs with the two dolls, it has been great to see them playing together with all of these toys.

Star Wars The Last Jedi Force Link Starter Set – £24.99

The Force Link is described as an interactive play system, which in simple terms means it interacts with various figures vehicles and playsets within the Star Wars toy range that feature the special Forcelink technology.

The wearable wrist-mounted unit plays a variety of sounds and phrases that are triggered by the wearer's motion whilst playing with the linked figures. I can't pretend to understand how this works, but it really quite a unique feature they adds an extra dimension to creative play.

A huge thank you to the guys over at Hasbro for this selection of toys, they have really got the children excited about the new Star Wars films and have ignited their imaginations.

We were sent these toys for the purpose of this review, all words and opinions are my own.

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars - A New Hope - plus Competition

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars - A New Hope, a film that changed the world of film forever.

For me, I remember many a Christmas where we watched Star Wars together as a family. I sat watching in awe at the lightsabers and stormtroopers and thinking how amazing Princess Leia was. The love story, the action and comedy in the films is what makes them so special, with a brother and two male cousins I fondly remember playing with the Millennium Falcon that my grandparents had at their house.

Fast forward some *coughs* 30 something years and it is the turn of my son to enjoy the films as much as I did, which he does if not more. With new films having been released since my day and more set for release this year it is a great time to be alive for any Star Wars fans.

My son loves to play with his lego Star Wars, making up scenes from the film and it has been something he has enjoyed watching with his Dad, it is great that it can be passed on from generation to generation and be something all ages enjoy.

With the 40th Anniversary though comes the release of some beautiful new books from Egmont, bound in a black cover and colourful page edges, these are books to take pride of place on your book shelf, they look simple, clean and contain the stories from the films.

My son who is 9 has thoroughly enjoyed reading them, his words are 'they are really good Mummy, just like the films only I can read them when I am in bed'

The books in the series are:
Star Wars: A New Hope Junior Novel
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Junior Novel
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Junior Novel
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Junior Novel

and the beautifully illustrated Galactic Atlas

The Galactic Atlas has been a particular favourite, allowing my son to sit and look at the pictures with his sister and hopefully encourage her to like Star Wars the same way, which she does a bit because it has a princess in it.

My son has started the series from the beginning, reading A New Hope which is one of his favourite films. An introduction to this intergalactic world and to the wonderful characters, my son has loved reading this book the most and I think that is purely because it is where it all starts, he loved reading some to his little sister who I am sure one day will be as in to reading them as he has been.

The Empire Strikes Back follows on from A New Hope in the same way the films do, obviously this is a bit darker than the first but still, it has been written in a way that makes it easy for younger readers without being too scary.

Return of the Jedi is my favourite story of all, mainly because of the Ewoks but I think ultimately because at the time it was the final chapter in a story that we had all grown to love. The book tells the story in the same way with the same familiar feeling on it ending. Since then we have The Force Awakens, I have only seen this film once and then I was making dinner, so I am not really that sure whether it follows the same story, but I have been informed by my son that it does.

They are all wonderfully adapted stories which make them great for younger readers, with some of the more difficult to understand elements of the story altered. The prologues set the scene and the beginning of each story cleverly offers up information about what is happening, as if you were actually watching the film.

These books would make absolutely wonderful gifts to any Star Wars fan, especially since it is the 40th Anniversary of A New Hope this year.

And if you fancy having a read yourself then I have a competition to win the four new junior novels, all you need to do is enter via the Rafflecopter form below, T&Cs apply.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Egmont UK

Fun Family Games from Tomy - Review

We love a good games night and with the evenings getting darker even earlier now, there is no better time to shut the curtains, grab some snacks and setup camp in the living room playing board games.

We have a good selection already but you can never have too many, so when we were asked to try out some new games from Tomy we of course said yes.

We were sent Pop-up Darth Vader and Greedy Granny, both perfect games for younger children and also if you just fancy a quick few games before bedtime.

Pop-up Darth Vader is based on the classic Pop-up Pirate, a game I loved playing as a child but with a new twist of one of my sons favourite film characters. The mini Darth Vader sits inside the barrel and you place tiny little light sabres in slits around the sides, eventually one of the light sabres makes Darth Vader pop up, sending squeals of laughter and slight heart palpitations through the three of us.


It even has its sound effects including the Star Wars theme, light sabre sounds and Darth breathing, it is lots of fun and great for any Star Wars fans out there. It is a great twist on a game loved by generations and is something children of today can relate to, I love it and so do the kids. It is one of those games that doesn’t take long to set up and can be played just a few times as a boredom buster.

Unlike the original Pop-up Pirate this version is only for three players, although this is perfect for us it may not be for everyone, it also requires an AA battery (not included) to play the sound affects.

Greedy Granny works in a similar way, you balance Granny’s biscuits on her tray and you have to spin a spinner with a number on it, you take a biscuit and then press a button next to Granny’s chair the number of times on the spinner, if you are lucky she stays asleep if you’re not she wakes up, throwing her biscuits everywhere and in a rather comical fashion her false teeth. The winner is the one to collect one of each biscuit without waking Granny up.

Greedy Granny is a really funny game with the same heart stopping finale of Pop-up Darth, you don’t know when she is going to pop but once she does it makes you jump out of your skin.

These games would make great additional presents for Christmas, the perfect something extra to play on Christmas Day and beyond.

Pop-up Darth retails at about £14.99 which is more than the Pop-up Pirate version but if you have a Star Wars fan then that little extra is worth it, Greedy Granny is £19.99, this is a little more than I would normally pay for a game, however, if you can find her on offer somewhere then she is a fab fun game which will have the family laughing out loud.

We were sent these items to form this review, all words, opinions and pictures are my own.