KRE-O Transformers from Hasbro

Christmas is just over three weeks away … say it with me … ACK!  I’m actually not in terrible shape though.  Christmas cards ordered, stuffed, and sealed as of weeks ago.  Nick put the Christmas tree up by himself, and completely decorated it.  I’m done with shopping for my nieces, Mystic’s daughter, and a few odds and ends for my sister and the kids.  Not an overwhelming to-do list, but ask me in a week or two and see if the answer changes.  Or if I’ve made any progress on that list.

Now for the favorite topic these days … gifts.  When the folks at Hasbro asked if I wanted to check their KRE-O set, I was intrigued.  It looked an awful lot like legos, and we’ve never been a legos household.  Oh there was a brief spurt, but it didn’t take hold.  As I hear about legos taking over my friends’ homes, and them stepping on the little pieces in the middle of the night, I’m actually ok with that.  But the set they wanted me to look at was a Transformers set.  And, of course, not legos.  Just similar.  You can build either a truck or a robot from the same set.  The same 90 piece set.  I swear when I see “90 pieces,” my eyes glaze over and I want to push it aside.  But this time, we dug in.

I also hate reading directions.  Just ask Mystic.  The first note in the booklet suggested separating the pieces into colors to make it easier to find what you needed.  That made sense, and totally made a world of difference.  Nick is more of a visual learner, as opposed to reading scads of paragraphs, so the largely picture-based directions were perfect for him, and his non-direction-following mother.  Robots do nothing for me, so  I convinced him that we should do the truck first.  And so we did.

The pros:

• The KRE-O pieces work with legos
• Hasbro has small and larger kits, so your kids can start small and work their way up (think stocking stuffers)
• Reasonably priced – this particular kit is eight bucks
• Love the 2-in-1 flexibility of the kit
• Good way to teach kids problem solving while they learn how to put the figure together

Cons:

• All those pesky little pieces all over your house
• The completed figure does not convert on its own

I think the name “transformers” is a bit of a misnomer because it doesn’t really “transform” without you doing it yourself.  But name aside, it makes a fun stocking stuffer, or a little activity to keep the kiddos busy while you cook dinner, or a perfect gift for that neighbor down the street.  Want one for your very own?  Available on Amazon, or your favorite local toy shop that carries Hasbro.

And that concludes the toy review portion of our evening.  I had planned to tell you about the newest creative endeavor that I’m doing with my free time, but that had to shift to tomorrow.  Which means the new natural butter product review will be coming on Saturday just to keep me on schedule.  Actually to keep me from getting further behind that I already am.  Insert that ack right here >____.

Until tomorrow…

xoxo

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program. The opinions expressed are totally mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.