Spin Master “Holiday Toys” Gift Guide 2024 – Hatchimals, Unicorn Academy & Bitzee – Review

With the holidays right around the corner, I got the chance to try some of the recommendations that are part of the Spin Master Holiday Gift Guide 2024. The products I looked at covered Hatchimals, Unicorn Academy, and Bitzee.

Spin Master provided me with the toys reviewed in this post for free. The opinions I have shared are my own.

You can check out the complete Spin Master Gift Guide for 2024 here. Along with Hatchimals, Unicorn Academy, and Bitzee, the list also includes Batman and more franchises to cover a range of interests. But yeah, for this particular review, I’ll be focusing on three products.

So, let’s begin!

Rainbow Light-up Wildstar

A product from the animated show Unicorn Academy on Netflix, the Rainbow Light-up Wildstar is a pretty nice replica of the main horse. And as the name states, this Wildstar toy lights up. But it also features a bunch of sound effects to bring the unicorn to life.

The toy itself is packaged quite well, with the box’s clear window showcasing the beautiful toy and the sides having images from the show. The back has a little description of Wildstar’s personality and an image of the Sophia doll that can sit on Wildstar. While the Sophia doll is sold separately, other similar-sized dolls with the proper articulation should be able to easily sit on the adventurous unicorn.

The box can be opened from the side to slide out Wildstar. The unicorn is secured well. So, you will need to snip a bunch of thin plastic threads to free Wildstar. The toy itself is made of plastic, and it has long, brushable rainbow-inspired hair. The hair making-up the mane and the tail is good quality and is nice to touch. A gripe of mine would be how it doesn’t come with a brush. Having a brush would have added another level of playability to it.

Another gripe that I have is the lack of articulation. I get that this toy has wires and stuff inside to activate the lights and sound effects, but I do feel that at least one of the legs could have been articulated to give Wildstar more than one static pose. At least, the good thing is that Wildstar can stand by itself.

Coming to the features, the light-up feature paired with sound effects is fun to see. You can activate the features by moving the horn, touching Wildstar’s neck, and pulling on the reins. The sound effects do include clip-clopping sounds. So, that’s nice to have when imagining Wildstar’s moving around. Wildstar also plays two songs from the show.

Trying to figure out what action activated which sound effect was fun and added to the toy’s interactive nature. The toy also came with batteries included, and that’s always a plus in my book!

This particular figure can be yours for SRP $34.99 at Amazon, Target, and Walmart.

Hatchimals Rainbow Hatchery Playset

Moving on to the Hatchimals Rainbow Hatchery Playset, this particular offering lets you hatch 6 little Hatchimals and comes with a bunch of accessories and wings. The playset is water-activated and easy to use. All you need to do is fill up the playset (there’s a line you have to reach) and then enjoy seeing the different colors being released from under the eggs to create a swirly rainbow in the center of the playset.

As the colored water creates the rainbow swirl, the eggs will also begin to slowly hatch. I really enjoyed this part of the playset. It reminded me of the velociraptor hatching scene from Jurassic Park. But then again, that’s just me, because Jurassic Park is my favorite movie.

Once hatched, the Hatchimals are cute to look at. They have the same quality you would expect from such a popular long-running brand. The wings attached to the eggs can be pulled off and put on the back of the tiny Hatchimals. The 6 accessories (toys, food, etc.) can be placed on the figurines, too.

The playset can still create a rainbow swirl after the first hatching process until all of the color has been drained. You can also use the playset as a swimming pool for the figurines after. However, as expected, you won’t be able to redo the hatching sequence.

Available at Amazon, Target, and Walmart, the SRP is $24.99.

Bitzee Magicals

There aren’t a lot of toys that I feel give you a whole lot of engagement considering the price point, and Bitzee Magicals is one of those toys. Available for SRP $29.99 over at Amazon, this offering will keep you busy!

The concept is simple. You get a virtual pet in a portable compact plastic box. However, what’s different about the Bitzee line is that it allows you to (in a way) actually touch your virtual critters. The mechanism uses a flapping piece of thin plastic and lights to create various images. You can gently tap the top of the flapping piece of plastic and it will look like you are petting your magical animal. Moving the compact around and swiping the bar inside the compact a certain way allows you to interact with the pets to fulfill their needs or for playtime.

Opening the compact, you need to go through a short tutorial that covers the various interactions available. After that, you are free to pet and take care of your pet. The more you play, the more closer you are to unlocking other pets. You can collect 20 magical creatures from a single product. 

Interacting with the pets fills up their ‘Heart Meter’. Filling the meter completely lets you evolve the pet. Unless I missed something, each pet has two evolutions for you to achieve.

There are also minigames you can play with your pet. For example, there’s a puzzle game where you have to move around little shapes to ensure a piece of (I’m assuming) laser beam reaches the end.

Along with owning magical creatures, the Bitzee Magicals line introduces potions that let you play with your pets by having them experience fun magical scenarios or outright transform them into other objects or beings temporarily.

I’ve spent a bunch of time playing with the Bitzee Magicals. It’s highly convenient to take around and interact with while you are doing stuff around the house, watching TV, or going or coming from work. Playing with your pets for a couple of minutes during other stuff that’s happening in your life just helps bring a bit of fun to the daily schedule. There’s no dreaded timer where your creatures will die, etc., if you don’t interact with them at a particular time. No, Bitzee Magicals is about walking around with a tiny creature-containing box meant to make you relax and feel happy whenever you want such a dose.

Though I’m a fan of Bitzee Magicals, this won’t be a fair review unless I share some of my gripes. Due to the mechanism using a thin piece of plastic that flaps while the product is active, the sound made by the plastic itself can be considered loud depending on the space you are in. At least, the good news is that you can control the volume of the sound effects (the creatures make cute noises) if you want to.

Another gripe would be the placement of the instruction manual. It’s kind of hidden inside the capsule-like packaging and it took me a bit to find it. You have to tear into the base of the packaging to retrieve the instruction manual and I was this close to throwing the packaging (and the instruction manual) away if I hadn’t decided to search for it because of reviewing purposes.

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So, there you have it. I would recommend all three products from Spin Master if you are still deciding on purchasing holiday gifts for your loved ones.

Have you done all of your holiday gift shopping? Are there any last-minute purchases you need to make?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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