It’s long been known among the web savvy shoppers that you can make real savings if you buy online, as opposed to buying your products in stores. Websites that don’t have real world shops, like Play.com and Amazon tend to be much cheaper than their high street counterparts such as HMV and GAME.

What is surprising though is that even shops that exist in the high street offer their products on their websites for cheaper prices, so it’s better to visit the HMV website than it is to trek into town to visit the store. Of course, they won’t tell you this in the shop because each store manager still has his targets to hit, but you’ll usually find the web prices are a few quid lower than the high street prices for things like DVDs and video games.

Then of course you can make even further savings when you buy online if you search for promotional vouchers for a product. When you get to the checkout on my websites you’ll be asked if you have a promo code or promotional voucher. These could be bought or given away free by other websites. Always do a Google search for the name of the website and the term ‘promo codes’ or ‘promotional vouchers’ before you complete your purchase, you could save yourself even more money then.

We all love, or at least have loved, toys at some point in our lives. There has always been expensive toys and, in contrast, cheaper toys. The one thing that has remained prominent throughout it all however, is promotional gifts and offers.

Every toy has a time where it goes on offer. For some it is right from the get go, incentives to jump straight in and start buying a new toy. For others the offer is a last ditch measure to raise some sales for a dying brand or product.

All we know is having constant deals and offers for promotional gifts is great for the consumer. With toy selling retailers constantly struggling to compete with one another, the buyer reaps the rewards.

Offers like “buy two get one free” or even ‘BOGOFs’ (buy one get one free) are a common sight. Sometimes even deals as simple as a percentage off are the best. But one of the greatest types of deal is the “free promotional gift” deal. If you buy something during this time, you may get a limited edition product chucked in for free. This is better than a simple BOGOF, as you are getting something unique and special. Something very few other people will have.

It may be Christmas, but not everyone is running around like headless chickens looking for last minute Christmas presents to please their families. Some people are more interested in the impending new arrivals to their home, newborn babies. A baby brings with it a host of problems, both physical and financial, but the rewards far outweigh any inconvenience suffered as a result.

The impending birth of babies represents a new and exciting time, and it’s one for celebration. The traditional way of celebrating the arrival of a baby is with a baby shower, where the expectant mother and her friends and family gather together to drink (non alcoholic of course) exchange presents, have a good laugh and play baby shower games.

It seems almost a shame that the part occurs before the baby is born, as the little one would surely enjoy the excitement, but there’ll be plenty of time for that once they are born. The baby shower is meant as a party to celebrate the mother’s pregnancy, before she has to deal with stretch marks, swollen ankles and backache.

There are plenty of games to play at a baby shower, games that don’t involve drinking or frantic exercise, so they’re a lot of fun for everyone involved.

As Christmas draws ever nearer, parents tend to begin the pre-Christmas panic where they run around the shops looking for those toys that they really should have bought months ago, such as the ‘sure to sell out’ Nintendo Wii and other related items that you’ll never get this late in the day.

It could all have been avoided though if parents had thought ahead and ordered early online, from a website that (unlike Woolworths) was able to beat the recession, like GAME (who own pretty much every games retailer in the UK) or Amazon, who are the biggest retailer on the Internet.

Most haven’t though, and the race to find the best presents available will begin in earnest as the panic sets in.
One thing parents can do to lessen the blow of not quite getting the present the kids want by throwing a party for them and their friends (nothing excites kids more than having a party, and children’s Christmas party is no exception). It can all be done quite cheap, with cake, balloons and ice cream; even childrens party bags. The event doesn’t have cost much, and it’ll go a long way to make up for the lack of the ideal (and expensive) Christmas present.

As we’re in the full swing of the British summer (well, there’s a glimmer of sun poking through some clouds at least) it seems only natural that we turn our attention to Christmas. There’s not long to go now you know, just 174 shopping days left!!!

With that in mind Woolies has made its predictions for the top selling toys this Christmas, and they’ve plucked for some fairly obvious choices, going for the licensed products and movie tie-ins.

According to Woolies, your kids will be asking for toys such as Ben 10, High School Musical, Indiana Jones and of course the perennial Christmas favourite, Star Wars.

Specifically Woolies think that Star Wars Lego will be a big seller, and backed up by two successful brands, and a video game series, who’s to argue?

Also there’s replica whip from Indiana Jones, which I must admit has me wanting it right now.

High School Musical has been big for a while now, and looks likely to remain popular this Christmas, with the Sing Together Dolls leading the sales.

Retro fans need not fret as there’s something for them too in the shape of the Rubiks Cube… why did that have to come back? I still haven’t done the first one, at least without taking the stickers off and reapplying them.

It sounds too… well I was going to say too good to be true, but let’s face it it’s more too scary to be true. SEGA Toys have announced a robot girlfriend, targeting those lonely, game playing nerds. Yes, all of them.

Her name’s EMA (Eternal Maiden Actualization) and she’s just 38cm tall, which I’m guessing isn’t a problem for most of her suitors. She even has a setting called ‘love mode’, which according to her creators means she’ll kiss anyone who wanders by (bit like a Stoke lass then). She’s up for ‘grabs’ in September in Japan and will retail for just £90.

Minako Sakanoue of SEGA toys stated:

Strong, tough and battle-ready are some of the words often associated with robots, but we wanted to break that stereotype and provide a robot that’s sweet and interactive. She’s very lovable and though she’s not a human, she can act like a real girlfriend.

She’s quite a looker ain’t she?

Don’t you wish you could go back in time and buy Star Wars toys like these? Most of the toys in this advert cost less than a pound each when they were released, but are worth a small fortune now. I’d never even heard of the Radio Controlled R2D2 that’s in this ad either.

I love the part where Han and Chewi appear from behind the plant, in the plant pot. All of my old figures used to hide in plants with their guns sticking out when I was younger.

Actually, come to think of it, they still do now.

As the summer approaches it’s time to get outside and play rather than staying in playing with Video Games and other such couch potato-esque activities. With younger children, rather than let them play out on their own you’ll probably have a local park or play area close by that you could take them to.

Most councils have these areas with soft, kid friendly, flooring so when they inevitably fall from the top of a climbing frame or dive off of the swing they won’t hurt themselves too much.

The areas also tend to have climbing systems like the one pictured below, that are made from metal using laser cutting and are brightly coloured to stimulate the child’s imagination and interest.

Sadly many of these climbing frames get vandalised by teenagers who congregate around them and just use them as social hangouts. It’s a shame because the work and effort that goes into the design and creation of the play areas, just for children, is quite considerable.

According to the latest figures, 99% of toys tested that were made in China are safe. This news comes after much publicised problems with Chinese manufactured toys causing many toys to have be returned just before Christmas.

The recent tests involved eight different areas, such as the lead content, the quality of the stuffing and their flammability. There were 182 different types of products tested, from 176 different manufacturers. However the only toys tested were toys that were made for China, not for export to the US and the UK; which is still alarming.

Of the toys tested, there were still some major faults that didn’t register as part of the tests however, such as sharp edges that would be dangerous to children.

Having used a webcam missile launcher in the past to torment, bully and humiliate a colleague at work (hey, he was ginger, he had it coming) I’m mightily impressed with the look of this beast of foam firing technology.

This new USB powered instrument of destruction is a step up from the one I have as it comes equipped with a camera for remote carnage. The camera is actually mounted on the barrel of the gun, how cool is that? You can line up your victim from anywhere in the world, and shoot them in the face.

Then of course you’ll have to ask them nicely via MSN to reload for you, so you can shoot them in the face again.

In fact, this thing is so cool that it connects to MSN and allows anyone on your MSN contacts list to control it. Hmm, that sounds potentially irritating. You could buy it as a present I guess.

You can buy this awsome looking monster here from I want one of those dot com, and I do… oh yes.