AIR BOOM BOX

AIR BOOM BOX
(Room Gear, $14.99)
Rating: 10
Kids loved the music in this inflatable radio (that's right, you blow it up). Nobody had any complaints about this cool toy.
V MIX CORDLESS TELEPHONE
(Vtech, $69.95)
Rating: 9.8
What's not to like? It can ring to the tune of six different songs (from "We Will Rock You" to "Lady Marmalade"). It has a built-in answering machine. It can flash a cool light as well as ring. And you can change the look of the phone by changing the faceplates.
COLOR PIXTER
(Fisher Price, $79.99)
Rating: 9.8
Kids loved all the things you could do with this electronic toy that looks like a kid version of a Palm Pilot. "Lots of games. You can draw. It's easy to carry. You can erase," wrote one tester.
JELL-O FROZEN PUDDING MAKER
(Wham-O, $19.99)
Rating: 9.7
It's hard to find fault with a toy that gives you pudding ("really good pudding") after you've played with it. Some kids noted that it was messy and that you do have to wait a bit for the pudding to freeze.
ELLO CREATION SYSTEM
(Mattel, $19.99 to $34.99)
Rating: 9
This is part play set, part craft project. You can build fairy lands or jungles or ocean scenes, as well as create jewelry and other crafts. "We can build things and use our imagination," one tester said. "You'd never get bored with this," another said. But other testers pointed out that there are small pieces that can be lost easily. "It's a girl toy because it comes in a pink bag," another said.
PUNK ROCK SNOWMAN KIT
(Wham-O, $13.99)
Rating: 7.5
This toy (pictured above, in headline) gives you the pieces to build a snowman that looks NOTHING like Frosty. Kids thought that was very cool. Of course, we haven't had any snow; our testers decorated styrofoam balls.
DARE YA!
(Girl Tech, $19.99)
Rating: 9.7
A high-tech version of the old game of "Truth or Dare." One tester said the best thing was "You got to dare people." The worst thing: "You have to do other people's dares." That's pretty much how it works.
TWISTER MOVES
(Hasbro, $19.99)
Rating: 9.6
An updated version of the old Twister game your parents probably played. This one includes CDs so that you can put "Right Hand Red" to the beat of music. Kids loved that this was a toy that got them moving but admitted that some of the moves got really hard. Just like old Twister.
VERTIGO
(Tyco, $59.99)
Rating: 9.5
This year's must-have radio-control toy. It spins, it does tricks, it changes colors when it spins. Some kids said that the controls were a little tricky, but all 11 kids who tested it said they would still be playing with this toy six months from now.
RAPTOR BLAST
(Hot Wheels, $19.99)
Rating: 9.3
Hot Wheels keeps coming up with new ways to race cars around those orange tracks. This time there is a two-headed dinosaur that you're suppose to have your car avoid (or not!). Kids thought this was fun but said (and we bet your folks will agree) that it was hard to put together.
TUMBLIN' MONKEYS
(Mattel, $9.99)
Rating: 9.8
This game is part Barrel of Monkeys and part Kerplunk, but testers loved it. The best part: "When the monkeys fell in the sand." One kid did warn that it was tricky to put together.
UNDERCOVER GIRL MINI SPY GADGETS
(Wild Planet, $21.99)
Rating: 8.5
There are a bunch of spy-gear toys out (again) this year, and this was the best of the bunch according to our toy testers. The three gadgets in this pack let you hear conversations from 30 feet away, record a few seconds of a conversation and see in the dark. Our toy testers liked it because "you get to spy on people."
UNDERCOVER GIRLACTION TRACKER SYSTEM
(Wild Planet, $19.99)
Rating: 7.9
This spy toy lets you track the movements of people. (Harry Potter fans might think of it as a kind of high-tech Marauder's Map.) Kids thought it was cool once they could use it, but setting it up was a hassle, and the directions weren't clear.
SPY GEAR SPY VISION GOGGLES
(Wild Planet, $12.99)
Rating: 7.9
Did we mention there were a lot of spy toys? Put on these goggles and you can see in the dark for up to 25 feet. (Sounds perfect for sleepovers.) Many of our testers said this was a toy that boys would enjoy more than girls. Several very high-tech testers said that the goggles should use microchips and not batteries. (Those kids should definitely get a trip to the International Spy Museum as a present.)