By Daddy Clay May 24th, 2013

“How many can I have?” G asked.

When throwing a successful party for teenaged boys, it’s important to be able to answer this question with, “As many as you want.” That’s tip one. Imagine what you’d need to feed grownups, double it.

G walked away carrying a mountain of cheeseburger, smiling.
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Tags: boys, food, fun, grilling, hockey, NHL, party, playoffs, teens, tv, watching
Posted in Sports, activities

By Daddy Clay May 23rd, 2013

Having teens makes you lazy. On the weekends, you don’t have to play with your teens. You don’t have to come up with activities, plan playdates, do crafts, engage in tickle fights. Although it’s fun to suggest that and watch them go pale.

You have to drive them places. Hang out sometimes. Help them with homework when asked. The other stuff, not so much.

Problem is, not all my kids are teens. I am sometimes reminded that I have a third child, a nine-year-old, and while he has the contact cool of a kid with teen sibs, he’s still a third grader and plenty interested in dad activities.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve been pretty content to let the XBOX do most of the activity planning for him lately, but the buzz around Mike Adamick’s Dads Book of Awesome Projects snapped me out of it. Or guilted me out of it.
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Tags: activities, boys, daughters, diy, fathers, girls, grade school, hovercraft, kit, science, sons
Posted in Toys, activities

By Daddy Clay May 16th, 2013

Some things just work as advertised. One of those things is the Quixx Repair System Headlight Restorer.

Let’s start with this: I’m a minivan guy. Not only that, I’m an old minivan guy.

Wait.

What I mean to say is that I’m a guy with an old minivan. Okay, I’m old, too. But the point here is that I have always loved and appreciated minivans — the practicality of a vehicle that’s low to the ground with sliding doors. To this day, I fail to see how a slightly more boxy vehicle riding slightly higher off the ground makes me slightly more of a man.

So, a real man is one that falls for image marketing that leads him away from his own self-interest? A real man is easily duped?

But I’ll leave the “aesthetics vs being actually good” debate for another time.
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Tags: cars, clear, foggy, hazy, Headlight, lights, minivan, Quixx, repair, Restore, Restorer
Posted in cars

By concretin_nik May 15th, 2013

I still haven’t seen the movie, but I know I’m gonna dig it. Because Robert Downey, Jr. IS Tony Stark. Perfectly cast. And the idea of Iron Man? It’s just fantastic. Bruce Wayne money coupled with engineering genius, wrapped in “full tilt diva.”

So, when asked if I wanted to review some new Iron Man 3 toys from Hasbro, do you really think I hesitated, even for a second? I did not. For TheBoy’s sake, of course.

First up, the iconic mask. The ARC FX Mission Mask is made for kids, but it fits my skull perfectly. (Of course I checked. As if you wouldn’t.) TheBoy being built like he is, did not at all look like a bobble head, which is often the case with masks like this. There are 4 missiles that shoot out, 2  at a time, from each temple, but we didn’t mess with those too much, knowing they are destined to end up in an a/c grate or under the fridge. They will shoot across the room, and yea, they do pose a bit of an eye threat if you have a lil’ bugger that won’t listen when you say, “Don’t shoot these at anyone.” TheBoy was more enamored with the eyes and targeting lights that come on at the touch of the missile launch buttons. I know we’ll be setting up some paper cups for target practice in the not so distant future. The red targeting light shows cross hairs on the wall (if it’s dark enough). I thought that was a nice detail. And even if it didn’t light up, or talk, or make missile shooting sounds, it simply LOOKS cool. Stark would be proud.

The perfect companion to the mask, is the Motorized ARC FX Gauntlet. This forearm gauntlet shoots lil’ foam discs with the squeeze of a fist trigger. We(okay, I) played with this one a lot! The discs are very soft. You’re not gonna put an eye out with them, and only the smallest of knick knacks are in any danger of a wayward shot. Also, you can load five at a time, so when shooting at targets (Perhaps an AngryBirdsStarWars AT-AT?), you don’t have to reload after only 2 shots like the mask. The ‘glove’ comes with 10 discs, and yes, these too are destined to disappear under the couch. But I do have a complaint, the same complaint I’ve read from other reviews… The whir of the motor is LOUD. Not ear piercing, I wouldn’t even say intolerable, but you won’t be sneaking up on any bad guys, that’s for sure. It’s not clear to me what the motor is even for, because I know I’ve seen disc shooters without one. Again, the sound is not a deal breaker for playing with this thing. Fun, fun, fun.

Last, we have what served as our(my) victim of the above mentioned target practice more than the Angry Birds. The ARC Strike Iron Man action figure. This was actually a disappointment and I use the term action figure loosely here. It’s 10″, or Barbie doll size, though it’s not a doll (HUSH! It’s ALL plastic and it’s IRON MAN dammit!), but action figure IS generally reserved for 4″ figures. With a push of a hip button, Iron Man lights up, in all the appropriate places. This actually looks REALLY rad. He also speaks several battle appropriate statements, Jarvis even chimes in. (But without the correct voices from the movie actors, they both sound weird.) When you tilt him horizontal, for flight, his head tilts just right and “take off” sounds are automatic. And when brought back to a standing position, there’s that familiar metal *clank* of an Iron Man arrival. His wrists do twist, so you can see the Arc palm pulsars (sorry, I don’t know the proper term, I only speak a lil’ bit of geek), and you can raise his arms up and down at the shoulders. Unfortunately, that is all the articulation this guy can muster. And there in lies the big disappointment. No elbow movement, no waist twist, no knee or foot bending. Hell, he can’t even turn his head. The only ‘personality’ I could get out of him is the “‘Sup” head nod. This makes the “action” part of action figure a bit of a stretch. But hey, kids ARE supposed to use their imaginations during play, right? Right.

I’d rather see a lot more moveable joints and zero talking. But the lights are great. And even with all of the let down of such little articulation and wrong voices, I still dig it. (And TheBoy doesn’t seem to mind at all.) I just can’t help it. It just LOOKS so freakin’ cool! Especially lit up. IF this ARC Strike Iron Man lives through TheBoy, I absolutely see it having a new life as a lamp fixture on my desk, in my yet to be constructed Cretin Cave. And a kickass lamp(and cave) it shall be.

Micro Bonus: Hasbro also threw in a couple of the Micro Muggs. Itty bitty Iron Man figures. TheBoy loves these as well. And see, told ya the lights were cool!

Disclosure: DadLabs was not compensated for this post, but I did receive the toys to review free of charge. These are MY opinions. Your mileage may vary. Thank you Hasbro!

Tags: concretin nik, Hasbro, Iron Man 3, review, Toys
Posted in Fatherhood