The editors from The Best Toys Guide reviewed our HEXBUG Warriors, and we are proud to announce that they have selected Warriors as a Top Toys for Christmas pick. In their own words, they summarized their feelings on the product line by concluding, “They created a great play experience for kids, and they have multiple dimensions that keep each battle interesting. Battle items have long been popular for kids, but never before have I seen one that that provides such continuous entertainment. It’s not just a simple launch and load item that you fire at opponents, it’s not just an action figure to stage mock battles with, it’s a tiny robotic warrior that seems to have a mind of its own and it will fight to the knockout.”

Check out their website and included below is their video review of HEXBUG Warriors.

A Spectacled Owl gets acquainted with HEXBUG through a review of the HEXBUG Spider.

A Spectacled Owl HEXBUG Review

“Many times when we have been in the toy aisle at Target, my kids have noticed the HexBug’s.  I honestly had no idea what they were or why they would be considered fun.  However, we (and I say we because I played too!) had the privilege to get one of the HexBug Spiders to review.  You would have thought it was Christmas up in here!  They begged me over & over again to open it and could hardly wait for me to take the pictures I needed for this review (“Mooooom!  Are you done YET?”  “Mooooooom, can we play with it NOW?”)”

Read the full review at: A Spectacled Owl

Highly Anticipated New Line of HEXBUG Products Hit Retail Stores Worldwide and Online at HEXBUG.com/Warriors

GREENVILLE, Texas – Aug. 2, 2012 – The creator of the popular HEXBUG brand of high-tech micro robotic creatures has unleashed the newest members of the HEXBUG family: the rough and tough HEXBUG^® Warriors Battling Robots. These futuristic fighters are tiny, collectible, micro robots that use the physics of vibration, similar to the famed patented HEXBUG Nano, to propel forward and challenge competitors in sleek new customizable Battle Arenas and Stadiums.

“We’re introducing some exciting new high-tech features and competitive elements with the launch of HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots, including customizable armor, damage indicator lights, and shock sensors, that give kids new, interactive ways to engage in open-ended play with our toys,” said Chris Troyak, president of Innovation First Labs, Inc. “This is the first major extension of the HEXBUG brand that uses our successfully patented HEXBUG Nano technology, and it is just the beginning of what we have planned to roll-out for the holiday season.”

HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots come in four colors – red, yellow, blue and green – representing four dueling science academies from the year 2087, Viridia Prep, Tronikon Tech, Bionika Cyborg & Caldera Prep. Kids can outfit each Warrior with strategic combinations of mechanical weapons and armor to outmaneuver their rivals, and control the fate of their academy’s Warrior fleet.  As each HEXBUG Warrior Battling Robot is turned on and powered up, the selected weapons come to life kinetically using the patented HEXBUG Nano vibration technology. As the battles rage on, each robot’s jabs activate an onboard Shock Sensor causing the Damage Indicator Light to blink more rapidly as the Warrior’s health decreases. Ultimately, only one HEXBUG Warrior Battling Robot is left standing victorious on the Battle Arena or Stadium.

Beginning today, HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots are marching into retail stores nationwide including Walmart, Target, Toys“R”Us and RadioShack, among others. In September, they will also be available in Canada and the United Kingdom exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores. Kicking off the launch, HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots will be showcased and demoed at two highly influential mom blog events being held in New York, NY, coinciding with the BlogHer 2012 conference, on August 2 hosted by The Big Toy Book and on August 3 hosted by BSM Media.

New HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots now available include:

• HEXBUG Warriors Battling Robots – Kids can operate their HEXBUG Warriors in Training Mode, with unlimited health, for scrimmages and testing purposes. Once the Warriors are equipped and ready for battle, they can be powered into Match Mode and are set to enter into competition, where they crash, jab and jostle with their opponents until they win or lose by running out of health at which point they deactivate. Once put in Match Mode, each robot’s Shock Sensor activates its Damage Indicator Light which changes colors from green to red and blinks more rapidly as its health decreases. There are 12 assorted HEXBUG Warrior Battling Robots Single packs available for fans to collect. Each Single pack includes 1 fully-armored Warrior. MSRP is $7.99 and the product is CPSIA approved for kids ages 6 and up.
• HEXBUG Warriors Battle Arena – The battle arena is the perfect stage for HEXBUG Warriors students to hone their skills.  It comes with two HEXBUG Warriors with weapons and armor, two expandable battle arena pieces (compatible with Battle Stadium), three standoffs and extra bonus armor. There are four assorted HEXBUG Warrior Battle Arenas available for fans to collect.  Each features a different opposing pair of Warriors. MSRP is $19.99 and the product is CPSIA approved for kids ages 6 and up.
• HEXBUG Warriors Battle Stadium – The ultimate large scale battleground for all HEXBUG Warriors students comes with two fully-armored collectible HEXBUG Warriors, eight Battle Stadium Pieces (compatible with Battle Arena) and 12 standoffs. There are two assorted HEXBUG Warrior Battle Stadiums available for fans to collect. Each features a different opposing pair of Warriors. MSRP is $29.99 and the product is CPSIA approved for kids ages 6 and up.

For more information on their fierce futuristic rivalry, visit www.hexbug.com/warriors.

PR Contact:

Esther Rawlings, Cohn & Wolfe; Esther.Rawlings@cohnwolfe.com; 310-967-2953

About HEXBUG and Innovation First:

HEXBUG® is a product line developed by Innovation First Inc., and distributed and marketed by Innovation First Labs, Inc., both wholly owned subsidiaries of privately held Innovation First International, Inc.  The company was founded on the belief that innovation very early in the design process is necessary to produce simple and elegant product designs. Innovation First began developing electronics for unmanned mobile ground robots and is now an industry leader in research and development for the hobby, competition, education and toy markets.

Innovation First International’s three main subsidiaries, VEX Robotics, Inc., Innovation First Labs, Inc. (makers of HEXBUG® Micro Robotic Creatures), and RackSolutions, Inc. span the education, consumer and business-to-business markets. The VEX® Robotics Design System is the leading platform for middle school and high school education and competitive robotics. Leveraging the company’s core competency in electrical and mechanical engineering, the RackSolutions® division works closely with all major computer OEMs to provide custom mounting solutions and industry-wide rack compatibility for data installations of all sizes.

In 2009 the company added offices in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom to better serve the global marketplace. This network was expanded to Canada in 2010 with the addition of an office, warehouse and distribution center located in Toronto. With an advanced in-house metal fabrication plant, distribution center and corporate office located together in a 13-acre complex in Greenville, Texas, the company is poised to continue on a rapid growth path. Please visit www.innovationfirst.com for additional information.

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UK mom blogger and her two adorable sons share their thought on the HEXBUG Larva and HEXBUG Scarab.

Really Missing Sleep Puts HEXBUG to the Test!

Read the full review at: Really Missing Sleep.

Innovation First and Target teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind Hexapillar gift card. Innovation First Labs President, Chris Troyak, spoke with editors from the online magazine, A Bullseye View, to talk details about the joint venture. Read on to learn more!

If you have a hard time wrapping your head around exactly what is Target’s latest card-meets-toy, it’s probably because you’ve never seen anything like it before.

An impressive addition to Target’s 2,000+ gift card archive, the Hexapillar gift card is a curiously crawly robotic caterpillar that does more than just crawl—it flies. The gift card/bug is a creative collaboration between the design teams at Target and HEXBUG, which specializes in micro robotic creatures (they even won the renowned Specialty Toy of the Year award at the 2012 Toy of The Year Awards!).

Derived from the HEXBUG Nano—the tiny autonomous robotic critter that behaves like a real bug—the Hexapillar features a caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly. Two gifts in one? We’ll take it! The one-of-a-kind gift card launched in stores last week and can be found in the stationery, toys and electronics department until the end of the year.

Founded on the belief that innovation is necessary very early in the design process to produce simple and elegant product designs, the HEXBUG robot family is the brainchild of Innovation First Labs, a leader of robotic toys. To get the full scoop on the one-of-a-kind Hexapillar card, we caught up with Innovation First Labs President Chris Troyak to talk details.

Read the full post at A Bullseye View

Mom with a dot com had the chance to test and review the HEXBUG Nano Glows in the Dark Habitat Set.  Here are her thoughts:

Hexbugs are such a great item! My family is very much into innovation, electronics, physics and just how things work. These miniature robotic bugs were such a hit with all of us (yes, even us adults). They have such an assortment to choose from: crabs, inchworms, ants, nanos, spiders, larva and the scarab. They also offer habitats for these little robotic creatures to play around in.

Read the full review at Mom with a dot com.

Parent Palace recently posted a great review of the HEXBUG Spider and Scarab on their Web site.

I will shamefully admit I’m late to the HEXBUG craze. I heard about them around Christmas time but they sounded kind of creepy for someone like me (creeped out by anything with more than 4 legs.) I wasn’t sure what they were or what the hype was about so recently I decided it may be time to introduce my son to them…We are really loving our HEXBUG and trying to decide on which ones to get next. I’m so glad we finally hopped on the HEXBUG train and will definitely keep you posted on the others we try out.

Read the full review at Parent Palace.

Written by Julia, senior editor for BestToysGuide.com

Every day our team works with some of the best toys of the month, the year, and of all time. We’re driven by the passion that the people in the toy industry have (ours included.) Children’s toys embody creativity. People pour their ingenuity, passion, and inspiration into the toys they create. It’s a really neat thing to see.

Once in a while we have a toy come along that really jumps out at us. Recently, it was Moshi Monsters Bobble Bots. We were at the annual New York City Toy Fair when we first saw them, and we were hooked-they stood out as one of the best toys of 2012 by a long shot so far. Since then we’ve been driven to write many a review on them, do tons of research on their world, and of course, embark upon a journey to create videos that capture the extraordinary character behind their products.

We have a little “office gang” at our workplace which consists of three ferrets, named respectively from oldest to youngest, Arwyn, Frodo, and Gus. They’re pretty strange and entertaining little fellows, and when we got our first set of Bobble Bots to review, it didn’t take too long to put two and two together.

There were the ‘Bots, buzzing around their gardens and Gross-ery store, vibrating all over the place and blissfully enjoying their replica of Monstro City, and there was Frodo, trying to grab one and drag it off and stash it away (I think it might have been Bobble Bots Moshling #57, Honey). It clicked, and our first video “Bobble Bots versus Ferrets” was born.

Each Bobble Bot has its own name, personality, and little quirks, so it’s easy to dream up endless possibilities for them. There are a million stories yet to be told about them, and it wasn’t long after the ferret video that we got an opportunity to tap into their world once again. D.J. Quack (Bobble Bot Moshling #13) had arrived to stir up Monstro City with his rad tunes, and we were to have the honor of filming the Bobble Bots Bash.

The way the ‘Bots move make it really easy to envision them dancing around (I should mention they’re really good at breakdancing in particular) and it was once again the character and personality behind each Moshling that inspired us to make the video as we did- lively, loud and engaging.

We see so many toys pass through our office that when one stands out like the Moshi Monsters Bobble Bots it’s kind of a big deal. We’re still just scratching the surface on how neat they really are-the ‘Bots have all the components of an epic toy. The passionate creativity behind them is as obvious when you look at one as the number printed on its side.

The Best Toys 2012 awarded Bobble Bots Moshi Monsters are having a bash featuring the illustrious DJ Quack, and now you can have a peek at the party.

There’s breakdancing, awkward moments, bright lights and rad tunes-pretty much everything that’s needed to have a good time.

More information on Bobble Bots is available at BobbleBots.com

The HEXBUG Nano was recently featured on Pocketfuls’ blog:

Before you think I’ve lost my mind, I should clarify that I’m now talking about HEXBUG Nano, small robotic toy creatures that behave in some ways like real insects.  The habitat I’m referring to was built by Noah and Will for their  HEXUG Nanos (which are the smallest of the HEXBUG family), and I wanted to share it with you because I think it’s a fantastic toy.

Read the full post at Pocketfuls.