We see a lot of toys come in for evaluation here in The Rock Father’s State-of-the-Art Toy Testing Facility (our house), and while many get the Rock Father Seal of Approval, it’s a rare occasion when a toy gets a unanimous approval rating straight across the board, with not only myself and The Rock Daughters on-board, but my wife as well. The all-new Zoomer Dino by Spin Master is one such toy, easily securing it’s place as an early entry to my 2014 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out our hands-on, in-action video below!
Recommended for Ages 5+, the Zoomer Dino is the next evolution in the popular Zoomer Pups line, and his AI (that’s “Artificial Intelligence”) personality brings to mind another Dino from years past… the dinosaur pup from THE FLINTSTONES.
The I/R interaction (not radio controlled “RC” but infrared controlled I/R) has a little bit of a learning curve, but one made easy with the included instructions. The Zoomer Dino emotes and begins to interact with it’s human counterparts almost instantly, through sensory options including gestures and sound, or it can be controlled by an included control pod for a more hands-on approach. With all I/R devices, it’s important to remember that the controller should be pointed at the toy for optimum results.
My girls and I prefer the controller-less approach, having fun with Zoomer while thoroughly confusing our living, breathing dogs. My wife thinks Zoomer has a sort of Raptor-eque personality (she’s watched JURASSIC PARK more than a few times), while the kids relate to him being more akin to the cute and intelligent characters on DINOSAUR TRAIN.
There’s an emotional connection with the kids, and that’s interesting to see as Zoomer moves from curious to playful, cautious to angry – each emotion indicated by the changing color of his (or hers, if you prefer) LED eyes. The kids talk to Zoomer while laughing and showing signs of affection and concern.
Zoomer Dino is available at retailers everywhere this Fall.
Check out the official website for more, and if you have any pre-purchase questions, feel free to fire away in the comments section below, as I’d be happy to assist as I can!
This is a sponsored conversation written by THE ROCK FATHER on behalf of Zoomer. All opinions and text are that of James Zahn with input from his family.
