Wii Play with Wii Remote

Brand: Nintendo

Product: Wii Play with Wii Remote

Summary: Several short games designed to hone your skill with the Wii remote; for one or two players; you essentially pay for a $40 remote and a $10 game; worth every dollar.

Price: About $50.

Obviously: Requires a Nintendo Wii, a TV with A/V inputs, electricity...

Parts from: China

Wii

Brand: Nintendo

Product: Wii

Summary: Fun, exercise-equivalent play for the ENTIRE FAMILY right out of the box; includes five Wii Sports games; backward-compatible with Nintendo GameCube games; Wii console shipments picking up in November; buy one ASAP to avoid the holiday rush!

Price: $250+ (depending on seller and Wii console bundle).

Obviously: Requires a television set with A/V inputs.

Dwarves' Mine

Brand: LEGO®

Product: Dwarves' Mine (also known as LEGO® Castle Dwarf's Mining)

Summary: Four dwarves defend their mine against two goblins and one large troll; so very (unofficially) J.R.R. Tolkien- in a LEGO® set.

Price: About $50.

Parts from: Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, China, and the Czech Republic.

Curious George - Zoo Night & Other Animal Stories DVD

Brand: PBS Kids

Product: Curious George - Zoo Night & Other Animal Stories

Summary: Learning through trial, error, more error, and a budding sense of logic, follow Curious George through eight episodes from the PBS Kids show. We learn that George likes pandas and other animals, too!

Price: About $15, or $1.88 per episode.

Obviously: Requires a DVD player connected to a television to watch.

Crossbow Attack

Brand: LEGO®

Product: Crossbow Attack

Summary: Using an oversized, functional crossbow cart, two of the King's soldiers battle a Skeleton knight riding a Skeleton horse! The crossbow cart actually fires LEGO® missiles, so be aware of the possible danger of flying projectiles.

Price: About $6; if you divide the five major elements (crossbow cart, soldier, soldier, skeleton, and horse skeleton) equally, each element will come out to $1.20 each.

Parts from: Denmark, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Eiffel Tower 1:300

Brand: LEGO®

Product: Eiffel Tower 1:300

Summary: Gigantic model; not quite minifigure scale, but the little LEGO® men and women would still feel like they're in Paris, France!

Price: About $200.

Parts from: Denmark, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

LEGO® Castle Chess Set

Brand: LEGO®

Product: LEGO® Castle Chess Set

Summary: 12 good guy minifigures vs. 12 bad guy minifigures; comes with a King, a Princess, an evil Wizard, and a scary Skeleton Queen; hours of strategy playing chess; hours of sword-slashing fun playing with two fantasy-themed armies.

Price: About $50; if you're in it just for the 24 minifigures, then each would cost $1.79, and you get to consider the rooks, knight pieces, checkerboard baseplate (made of smaller LEGO® plates unfortunately glued onto a green baseplate), and deluxe carrying case as bonuses.

Parts from: Denmark and China; LEGO® parts made in Denmark; deluxe carrying case with leather straps likely from China. There have been no recalls for this product.