Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors - Toy Review

"Remember, with great power. comes great responsibility." - Uncle Ben, Spider-Man

   Spider-Man is one of those superheroes that is fun, adventurous, and if you're not looking, can teach you to be a better human being. The lessons learned in my youth about an average boy given immense power who chooses to use it for good made in impact on me. As an iconic hero of the Marvel world, Hasbro has teamed up to offer some downright awesome toys. Upon the reveal, BOTH my 5YO boy and 9YO girl were all over the gear listed below. Here's The Cheeky Review:

Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors Web Slingers RACER
(Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $14.99) 
Can the enemies of justice keep up with the Web Warriors? Not when they’re at the wheel of their web-launching vehicles! You can launch two webs from its vehicle racer. Choose from characters from the hit animated series Marvel’s ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: WEB WARRIORS like SPIDER-MAN with ATV, AGENT VENOM with Motorcycle and more! Each figure vehicle sold separately. *The Quad is a sweet vehicle. Agent Venom is a cool take on the character. You kind of get a two for one. After we got done with target practice, we rolled the quad with Agent Venom across the tile floor. Both were a good time.

Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors Web Slingers BLASTERS
(Ages 5 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $14.99) 
Send webs flying into action! Load a web onto your Web Slingers blaster, then pull back and launch it at the included target! Hone your web-slinging abilities and help the Web Warriors defeat their enemies. The Spider-Man Web Slingers Blaster lets you get in the action with your own Spider-Man gear! Choose from characters from the hit animated series Marvel’s ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: WEB WARRIORS like SPIDER-MAN , IRON SPIDER and SPIDER-MAN 2099.Each sold separately. Requires 2 AAA batteries. Demo batteries included. * While it took time to learn how to aim, this item was played with last, so we had three targets in total to aim at. I could see the excitement in my 5YO's eyes as he was envisioning himself as the webbed hero. The Cheeky Daddy was having a hard time not taking it over for himself!!!

Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors Web Slingers TRICKSHOT SHOWDOWN Playset
(Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $24.99/Available: Spring 2015)
Now kids can join the Web Warriors in web-launching action with the Trickshot Showdown playset! This web-blasting arena includes a 6-inch scale Spider-Man figure, 2 stretchy webs, and 5 targets to blast! The Spider-Man figure can attach to the spinning crane and go crashing through the doors to attack the villains. Targets include a spinning Venom and collapsing Green Goblin. * While the wearable and individual action figures are a load of fun, a decent sized playset seems to unleash the imagination the best. It helps to put the child (and parent?) into the world. We had fun shooting at the 6 or so targets and did some fun hero role playing. Thumbs up for this one.

   Each of the toys listed above were fun to get into. The Web Slinger function of the rubber "ammunition" does take a bit of time to get good at, but was a good time with my 5YO boy. There was a fair amount of smack talk verses the bad guys we were up against! Good times ahead,.....my Spider-Sense is tingling!!!

J.

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Hasbro, practically another member of the Cheeky family with how long they've been in our home. Toys were provided for review. All opinions are that of The Cheeky Daddy, Jason Swann.

The Friday Flush #17

The Friday Flush #17

   Oh, it's Friday, in the biggest way. With sick kids draining the last ounce of energy and patience from mom and dad, I peruse the internet for something cool. I know I've really only scratched the surface, and who knows, maybe in a few years I'll have amassed a nice collection of awesome links. For now, you end the week with Google Maps image stitching, someone taking over Google's old archive projects, and choosing your digital devices.

HyperLabs
   I remember the day when Google Earth debuted. I was blown away when I could see my truck parked in my mother's driveway, like I was a target in Will Smith's Enemy of the State. Things have taken another leap with Hyperlabs, that stitches the street view images from Google Maps into video. I took a peek at the example video and was immediately impressed. Of course, picking a great stretch of road and putting it to moving music takes a good eye, but the end result should be pleasing, no matter the skill level. At the least, it seems like a great way to capture some fun vacation memories of drives from the past.


The Internet Archive
   There was a time when we all heard that Google was going to basically digitize the world. Every book was going to be available digitally and they were going to be the ones to do it. A lofty goal, but it seemed like Google was the behemoth to do it. Alas, time and money, (and profit) all get in the way, and projects get abandoned. There is, however, a group that has vowed to take over the task. The Internet Archive is a group committed to taking over the task.  The original article on medium.com detailed the chain of events leading up to the "change of the guard". Some of the achievments: 6 million public domain books, 1.9 million videos, 6,000 ephemeral films, including vintage advertising, educational and industrial footage, 2.3 million audio recordings, 137,000 concert recordings,, 10,000 audiobooks from LibriVox and more, the largest collection of historical software in the world, and so on. It's worth checking out. 

Product Chart
   When it comes to our electronics, we Americans love choice. One of the biggest problems I have had over the years, is the issue of too many choices. I hit this wall of indecision when we looked for a new digital camera, laptop, tablet, and smartphone. The people at Product Chart have a beta version of a tool that can help with that. The comparison chart features an interactive way to search, compare, and choose a product covering smartphones, laptops, MP3 players, solid state drives, and flash drives. It's fun to play with and helps with that lingering problem of choice. 

    So happy Friday, and take it easy. We've looked at the world stitched together, the world digitized for consumption, and a way to choose a device to consume that world. Have fun!

J.