LEGO

For more than 50 years, LEGO toys  have captured the hearts and minds of six year olds and sixty year olds alike. From the simplest LEGO blocks  to something as complex as Mindstorms NXT robots,  LEGO never fails to give its fans something to inspire creativity and fun. To give you an idea of the vast collection of toys and playsets that make up the LEGO brand, this guide will take you step by step through the maze of products that are built on the simple LEGO concept.

Award Winning Toys

The Mindstorms  collection by LEGO has grabbed everyone's attention and is expected to be one of the hottest toys for holiday 2006. The collection includes: NXT (shown): A humanoid robot named Alpha Rex  who can walk, talk, see, hear and feel. Spike  the Scorpion that can see, hear and attack with his "venomous" tail. RoboArm  T-56 is a machine that can lift, grasp, see colors and feel objects. The TriBot  vehicle hears, sees and drives. Each kit takes around 30 minutes to build and you have a real robot! Not only is it fun for boys and girls aged 10 and up, but adults will love it too. It gets two thumbs up for being educational, original and at the fore-front of toy technology. Kids will be amazed and proud for what they can create with their bare hands. The only catch is that it'll cost you $250 for the NXT. For full details, see the Web site.

Babies and Toddlers

Shape Sorter House	LEGO QUATRO Bag of Bricks	Duplo Playsets	LEGO Play Train

Preschool

LEGO Classic House Building	Scrambler and Dizzy at Bob's Workshop	LEGO DUPLO Zoo	LEGO Little Farm

Ages 5 to 7

Fun with Building Tub	DUPLO Pirate Ship	LEGO The Mermaid Castle

Ages 8 to 16

Bionicle

Bionicles have been around for about five years and seem to have found a permanent niche with young boys aged 5 to 11. Lego has created a world of toys, books, movies and video games full of heroic individuals and mythic villains. For parents Bionicle toys  create problems that kids love to solve -- how to assemble and disassemble fascinating machines and creatures. While there is some mild violence associated with Bionicles, parents don't have to worry about anything that isn't age-appropriate. The books and toys tie together well creating hours of enjoyment and hours away from the TV![ edit ]

Getting Started with Bionicle

A good place to start is with the Bionicle Adventures book series,  numbered from 1 to 10. The first 4 books  are sold as a boxed set from scholastic. These adventures detail the struggle of the Toa Metru against the Morbuzahk and the false Turaga. If you have no idea what I'm talking about here's a couple of hints: The Toa Metru are the mighty heroes. The Morbuzahk is a villanous plant that is terrorizing the Matoran, ordinary Bionicle citizens, of Metru Nui (The Bionicle home city). A Turaga is a wise elder Bionicle. As you can see there is a very rich story line within the world of Bionicles.

No doubt your child will immediately want the toys that are in the books. You'll want to eventually pickup all six Toa Metru figures, including Vakama,  Nokama,  Matau,  Onewa,  Whenuwa  and Nuju.  Below are some of the other Bionicle figurines, including some from the newest lines of Tartans and Toa Inikas.

Vezon and Fenrakk	Brutaka	Axonn	Toa Inika	Piraka Outpost

Visorak Roporak	Nidhiki	Velika	Irnakk	Keetongu

Exo-Force

The Exo-Force line of toys by LEGO is relatively new and is based on a combination of anime and manga. The story behind the toys is one that kids today will have no trouble elaborating on and using for inspiration in their playtime. The premise of the story is that humans created robots. Robots revolt and in response the humans try to destroy the robots. However, the robots, far too strong for the humans, begin to fight back and form their own coalition. The Exo-Force pilots are the only ones capable of defeating the evil robots. As you can imagine, the Exo-Force story can provide hours of fantasy for little boys. Below are the newest toys from the saga.

Mobile Defense Tank	Striking Venom	Sentai Fortress	Grand Titan	Exo-Force Supernova

Star Wars

The Star Wars saga never seems to tire children -- or adults for that matter -- and the Star Wars toys by LEGO are no exception. Here are the newest toys to be released. You might also want to see the Guide on Lego Star Wars, the Video Game.'

ARC-170 Starfighter	Imperial AT-ST	Imperial Star Destroyer	Jabba's Sail Barge	Y-wing Attack Starfighter

Other Themes

The Batmobile Ultimate Collectors' Edition	Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon	Build-A-Bob	Rogue Knight Battleship	Avatar Air Temple

Ferrari F1 Racer 1:8	Mythical Creatures	Boeing 787 Dreamliner LEGO	Vikings Chess Set	Grand Soccer Stadium