Discover the universe or maybe a new planet (sorry, Pluto) with a brand new telescope. Today’s telescopes come with automated guidance systems and some include LCD screens.
Pickup a new telescope at Dick’s Sporting Goods where you can enjoy 10% off select telescopes, many of which are already discounted. This offer is good through the end of the year so don’t forget that telescopes can make great holiday gifts.
As the calendar moves from October to November, Walmart is expected to begin accepting pre-orders of Nintendo Wii (according to information provided to us by Walmart). Once released (scheduled for 11/19/06), the Wii will be one of the most desirable holiday gifts and will serve as a great alternative to the more expensive PS3 and XBox game consoles.
Update: Nothing up as of Midnight (EST); We’ll keep monitoring
Update 2: It’s there. $533 for console, controllers, and 4 games for delivery on or after 11/20.
Update 3: Sold out
Update 4: Keep checking because they reopened pre-orders several times during the day
One of the hottest gifts for this holiday season is a puppy. Not a real puppy who needs to be fed and walked, but rather a robotic one which lives on 4 AA batteries and can be turned off. The Tekno Robotic Puppy is an expressive robot who can walk around, wag his tail, and react by lighting up his eyes and shaking his ears. His sensors allow him to respond to your voice, walk towards and play with objects, make sounds, avoid obstacles, and just enjoy being scratched. Like a real dog, Tekno learns and develops new moves and sounds as you spend more time with him. Before you know it, you’ll grow attached to this little robotic mutt and you too will light up in joy when he pulls off a new move.
Recommended for kids and adults ages 3 and up, Tekno is a great holiday gift to have around the home or even the office. Tekno comes with a plastic bone, a ball, and trick cards and is available in several colors: Silver, Black, and Pearl White. A Dalmatian version is available exclusively at Toys R Us.
WalMart has TMX Elmo Hispanic Version in stock right now. It’s been in stock for several hours and we’re not sure when they’ll run out so you may want to jump at this opportunity.
As we’ve covered extensively, TMX Elmo is the must have gift of this holiday shopping season. Unfortunately, the high demand means that it is sold out everywhere. But, on several occasions over the past 48 hours, WalMart had TMX Elmo Hispanic Version in stock for $40 until it sold out. Since they may have more and may release another batch soon we recommend you bookmark the following link (you can right-click and choose to bookmark) which will bring you to the right page on WalMart should Elmo reappear:
There are obvious language differences as Elmo speaks Spanish, not English, but you still get the great TMX Elmo experience. Here is a video if you want to see it in action:
Shopperism (the concept, not this website) has taken over our world and no where is that more evident than the new Monopoly Here and Now. The latest reissue of the classic Parker Brothers board game has been redesigned to what Hasbro considers “a representation of America in the 21st Century”. The game boasts five new tokens including a Toyota Prius Hybrid, New Balance running shoe, McDonald’s French Fries, a cup of Starbucks coffee, and a Motorola RAZR. The remaining three tokens are not branded and they include a Jet, a Labradoodle, and a laptop (couldn’t get Apple or Dell branding on this one?). It’s interesting that these products, representing the best and worst of mainstream American commercialism, were chosen. Despite their denials, I still suspect it has more to do with deals cut by the Hasbro team than anything else. Also, unlike the other products, Toyota is not an American company but they are the largest car company on the planet and if you look at the roads today, you’ll see that they are as American as Soccer and Gelato (meaning we’ve adopted them as our own).
Continuing the modernization of the game, which was based on Atlantic City real estate in the Great Depression, the new properties represent expensive real estate across the country. Boardwalk is now Times Square while Park Place was dropped for Fenway Park. How will kids ever know about Ventnor Avenue or Marvin Gardens? The four railroads were replaced by the four busiest airports in the country: Atlanta’s Hartsfield, Chicago’s O’Hare, LA’s LAX, and New York’s JFK. Also, inflation hurts, so dollar amounts are higher (pass “Go” get $2 million).
Monopoly Here and Now is available for around $30 from several online merchants including, Amazon, eToys and WalMart. Expect to see a significant advertising campaign in the near future. Those of you still craving for the original Monopoly (as designed in 1935) can continue to purchase the classic version and the many custom versions out there.
