In my first post-2011 NYC Toy Fair remarks regarding DaGeDar this past February I noted that the collectible racing balls would be undoubtedly marketed to boys but that girls could and would enjoy the toy as well. It’s my slant on things – can’t help it. While DaGeDar’s black, florescent green and orange color scheme screams testosterone in the world of Madison Ave. advertising, the fine folks behind the emerging, sure to be hot new product must believe what I wrote because they sent me and my girls the full set up of tracks and a handful of b&w skull, evil purple fish, and red monster face DaGeDar balls. These characters do have first-letter-capitalized proper nouns for names, and even bios, but this is what the girls took to calling them so that’s what we’re running with.
The DaGeDar Battle Jump Raceway track features a black diamond-worthy drop, a gravity-defying loop de loop, and two lanes merging into one after the big jump. The first ball to that point takes the lead and, providing it can hold the final curve, wins. It’s a ton of fun releasing the brightly-colored balls onto the track. The set is made of a thin plastic that I initially thought would not last long around my rough-n-tumble 4-year-old. But even though the material is on the flimsy side, the track pieces stay together well enough and are extremely easy to connect together after said 4-year-old trips over it again and again. Not that any of us need more plastic stuff in our lives, but the Raceway is a pretty big winner in our house.
On the flip side of that coin is the DaGeDar Rapid Fire Power Launcher which is less than stellar in it’s designed use, that of firing the balls onto the track when a stable elevated setup is not possible. That’s all fine n’ dandy in theory but the pinball-esque pullback mechanism requires muscles not commonly found in young children. The Bear could do it, barely, but it’s more energy and effort than is usually exerted when casually playing with a toy. We were able to get some use out of the pair of launchers, setting up a one-on-one battle between the Bear and I – shooting balls at each other then watching them violently spraying around the floor when they collided at full force, and also trying to sink ’em into a cup mini-golf style. That said, I’m not sure how much residual use we will get out of the launchers.
Why girls make wonderful playmates:
- While I was opening the 2-pack packages of DaGeDar balls my daughters wasted no time in using the track system, sending a variety of Playmobil children down the Battle Jump Raceway.
- When using the Rapid Fire Power Launcher to sink the DaGeDar balls into the cup the Bear and I were awarded a Littlest Pet for our accomplishments. The Mouse plays the same prize giver role during actual DaGeDar races down the track as well, awarding a tiny cat, spider or turtle to the one who rooted for the eventual winning ball. She lets our orange tabby cat Tilly play too, determining which ball she is cheering on by which one she curiously sniffs first. Mouse then lines up Tilly’s Little pet trophies alongside her as she lays in the Raceway’s midway.
Will many boys fall instantly in love with DaGeDar? Um, yeah! Duh. But the important thing from where I sit surrounded by 4 girls (including the cat) is that the little princesses around your palace are gonna dig DaGeDar’s light competition, vivid graphics, and fast-paced racing action too. And that’s awesome.
Visit the DaGeDar site to unlock codes found on each ball, register your collection, and to discover new ways to play including a printable tournament bracket.
And in case you’re wondering, yes it pained me every single time I wrote the name of this toy with a pair of capital letters inside it…including the last one below.
*OWTK received a variety of DaGeDar products for review considerations. The opinions expressed above are honest and unbiased.
