This is a fun little gadget that will cause you to spend hours and hours playing with it. The Electronic Bubble Wrap is a real time waster of a gadget. It has no practical use at all, which is what makes is a real joy to own.

Be prepared to become confused as you lose track of time clicking away on the Electronic Bubble Wrap, because it’s what will happen.

£6 isn’t going to break the bank either and it would make a great stocking filler for the man of the house. I know I’m mentioning Christmas already, but it’s never to early to start stocking up on the little gifts. It helps to spread the cost. If I’m being honest with you, I start getting gifts together in January. It’s the best time to get those stocking fillers. Cards and wrapping paper are also best bought in the January sales, but I’ll write about that closer to the time.

The Electronic Bubble Wrap is one of those gadgets that will annoy the heck out of you and you won’t understand why. Which is why I love it so much.
Everyone should own one of these, it’s great for passing the time whilst travelling on the bus or train.

The weather we’re having at the moment is terrible. We should be out enjoying the sun, but its hardly to be seen.
My guess is that it will be hot in September when all the children are back at school.
So how do you keep the kids entertained when it’s too wet for them to go outside?

There are some great indoor games that they can play. I’m not talking about sitting infront of an XBOX360 or PS3 here. I mean the games that involve more than moving just your thumbs. A favourite in my household was Twister - we could play that for hours on end. Then there’s Lego. If you don’t know what Lego is let me explain. Lego are building blocks that you can piece together to create a huge number of things from houses to cars, boats to planes and even animals or spaceships. And, provided you have the right kind of block or accessory you can let your imagination run riot. I’ve spent many a rainy day playing with Lego.

Or what about a play tent? Set it up indoors, make a picnic and let your kids pretend they are camping in the safety of the house? They can even sleep in it, while you relax in the knowledge that they are safe. And when the rain eventually stops, you can take it outside and continue with the adventure.

So just because it’s raining outside doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun. There are a whole lot of things you can do, as I’ve pointed out, that don’t involve a television and control pad. So next time it rains reach for a board game, the hours will fly past.

OK so Euro 2008 may be over and all you football fans will be sad to see the back of it but don’t fear, the new Premier League season is on the way and we have the best little product to get you right in the mood for it, as long as you are an Arsenal or Manchester United fan that is. It could be the wackiest product to ever feature on the GottaHave blog but for the football fan it is an instant classic!

Believe it or not it is a Grow Your Own Pitch kit in the form of a mini little Emirates or Old Trafford. Now straight off the bat i thought “Grow your pitch? Doesn’t this make it just grass in a tin?” Well technically it is but this is no mere grass. Apparently, the grass used for top flight Premier League games is grown using special special seeds that can take up to 15 years to develop. Who knew huh? So i suppose this makes them sort of the “Magic Beans” of football. Whatever these wonder seeds are the same ones that are used by top flight teams are supplied in the Grow Your Own Pitch kit so you really will have a little piece of the Emirates or Old Trafford in your front room.

As well as coming with “Magic Beans” the Grow Your Own Pitch kit comes with soil, full instructions on how to be a miniature groundsman, plastic pitch and an image of your chosen stadium to put behind the goal. What a completely barmy but equally genius little gift!

Most of the drinking games that you see out there mostly consist of a couple of shot glasses, a piece of carboard perhaps with a little Twister-like spindle attached and a few cards with silly questions. Rarely do wee ever see a drinking game to buy in shops that comes with it’s very own table or court i suppose would be a more fun way to describe it. Let me introduce you to the drinkers take on the classic Ping Pong game…Beer Pong!

Ping Pong is already pretty daft as it is so when you add beer to the equation you can just imagine the possibilities. Although there is no official Beer Pong rulebook that i know of, the gist of the game seems to be that you are to set up your beer cups on your side of the table and try and bounce a ping pong ball into one of your opponents cups. Should you land your ball in your opponents sweet amber nectar then they are forced to guzzle down the cup contents. Whoever tanks all their cups first is the loser! Sounds better than boring old regular Ping Pong to me. College students all over will want to start up their own Beer Pong leagues. I just hope they let me play!

We all love our kids but those times when we need them to pipe down and behave the most, are the times when all they want to do is run around causing havoc. For example. Sitting at the Airport when you are going on your family holiday for the summer. Trying to keep children who are excited about their holiday amused inside a boring Airport Terminal is no easy feat and can be pretty stressful at times. What if i told you that their suitcase could save the day and provide them with endless Airport amusement? You’d think i was barking but with Trunki yours kids won’t be barking, they will be moo’ing their way around the Terminal.

Trunki is a ride-on suitcase for kids that is colourful, fun and very stable. It features wheels, steering ‘horn’ grips and a contoured saddle for your childs comfort and safety. Although Trunki is extremely fun that doesn’t mean that child safety has been comprimised. The award-winning case features secure catches, soft rubber rims to prevent fingers getting chopped off and a sturdy towing starp for you to hold onto just incase they try to make a quick getaway on their Trunki. The 18L capacity also means that there is plenty of room for toys, books or whatever your kid’s choice of goodies are plus it is hand luggage approved so their is no need to check it with the rest of your luggage.

Have you ever wanted to feel like your watching TV in your very own living room while out in public? Or perhaps you want to feel like you are a part of all that virtual reality stuff that you thought you could only ever dream of. Well with a pair of Vuzix iWear shades you can feel both and still have a little bit of your mind left to be blown away. The Vuzix iWear with all the optical illusions that they are capable of will replicate the effect of watching a monster screen from a safe viewing distance, ranging from a 44″ screen viewed from 9ft to a 62″ screen viewed from 9ft. They come with built-in but removable headphones and are 3D enabled for automatic 2D/3D control.

With four different models for you to choose from it doesn’t matter if you are into video games, DVD’s or movies on your iPod there is one that will float your boat.

The IP230 model is the most basic of the four devices which works solely with iPods and it is the cheapest, priced at £99.95. It has been designed with 5th generation iPods in mind. The IP230 will connect to and draw power from your player’s bottom dock connector which means there is no need for any extra attachments, cables or any other unnecessary junk. Once you have slipped on your cool futuristic specs you will be wowed with a virtual display the equivalent to a 44″ screen viewed from 9ft.

The next model up is the AV230 version and it will work with DVD players, gaming systems and 5th generation iPods. It will also display the equivalent of a 44″ screen viewed from 9ft but it will also come with a rechargeable battery built into the cable which will provide up to 5 hours extra view time.

The AV920 model is basically the same as the AV230 only it will replicate a massive 62″ screen viewed from 9ft instead of a 44″. These will work with pretty much any video device.

The VR920 model is the most high tech of the four and is the most high priced at £249.95. It is built for the online gaming gang and will bring those pixellated online worlds into a whole new light. As well as boasting a virtual 62″ screen, the incredible specs will allow you to enter online worlds and communicate with your online chums as if you were really right in there with them. An integrated 3 Degree of Freedom (DOF) head-movement tracker and built-in microphone deliver the ultimate interactive online experience.

We love RC micro choppers and planes here at GottaHave and have seen more than a fair share of different whirlybird gimmicks in the past but here we have one that is new to us. It is the TandemZ-1 Micro Chopper and resembling a courageous Sea Knight Rescue Chopper, this one is not for the average RC pilot. At only 17cm long, the TandemZ-1 is too small to rescue any real soldiers but you’ll still feel quite the saviour guiding this little baby through all the dangers of the average household.

Due to the Tandem’s twin rotors it will take a lot of thumb twiddling and unnecessary arm twisting to save it from a head on wall collision. The Tandem has three channels for up, down, forward and backward movement and a dual trim system for pitch and twisting actions. It also boasts a sophisticated gyroscopic mechanism and unique tilting rotors for additional control, so small fish beware, you have to be a real shark to keep this in the air. No need to worry though the Tandem comes with a pair of transparent blades that act as training aids to help you along the learning curve. Just think of them in the same way as you would with stabilizers on a bike.

The same as its single rotor friends, the TandemZ-1 is charged using a dual purpose infra red transmitter and will give you about 10 minutes of fly time from a 25 minute charge. It comes in three different colours, blue, orange and red and is priced at £39.95. Get your order in now and start transporting those green little plastic soldiers across the dining room.

PicoZ are no strangers to making remote controlled mini-copters and have rolled out a few over the last couple of years, you may remember their best-selling PicoZ Micro Helicopter and their insane laser battling PicoZ Sky Challenger Battle Pack. Well, even if you can’t remember them, their latest mini-copter you are going to find a lot harder to forget that’s for sure. The latest remote controlled helicopter from PicoZ is called the Insecta, a menacing-looking half insect, half helicopter, transformer-like flight gizmo that is guaranteed to keep you amused for hours.

The Insecta Helicopter is essentially the same as the PicoZ Micro Helicopter in terms of how it works and size but its freaky robotic bug image makes it a far more interesting little gizmo. With its big glowing eyes, LED strobe light, blindingly bright shell and membrane resembling rotors, the Insecta will definitely turn a few heads and as an added bonus, these sinister looks might just come in handy for scaring the kids when they won’t pipe down or fending off the wife when she won’t get off your back.

The Insecta is controlled by a twin channel, wide-beam infra-red transmitter that will also serve as a charger for its lightweight lithium battery and it is made from robust polypropylene foam, making it surprisingly durable. Whether you are an insect fan or a helicopter gizmo fan you will find it hard not to love this highly addictive little whirlybird, just don’t mistake it for a giganta-bug, put the newspaper down!

Robot toys have come a long way in the last few years, they now come in all shapes and sizes and resemble all kinds of different species, from pandas to dragonflies to cats and then dogs. The robot stereotype is no longer R2D2 or Tin-Man-like although the robots are still very, well, robotic! That may be the whole point but what if you wanted a more life-like robot pal, one that didn’t come with red bleeping eyes and didn’t talk like a Kraftwerk record. Well, ironically the most life-like robot of them all has come in the form of a dinosaur. Yes that’s right, a robotic dinosaur. Pleo is his name and he is more of a pet than a robot. He needs nurturing and looking after and of course, he has to be fed!

Pleo starts off his life as a newly hatched Camarasaurus which means that you have to look after him through his younger years, just as you would with a kitten, puppy or child, after all you wouldn’t want him to suffer would you? Pleo can go through four different emotions, Happy and curious, Playful and lively, Scared and surprised and Sad and vexed, each triggered by however you treat him but don’t be a rotter, treat him nice!

Pleo feels hunger and fatigue, he can graze, nap, dilly-dally around on his own and he can change his mind and go through mood swings whenever he feels like it. You can interact with Pleo or rather, he can interact with you using his touch, sight and hearing sensors. He will let you know when he’s hungry, wants to play or just being a needy little dinosaur and wants a cuddle. He comes with his own training leaf that you can feed him with or tease him with depending on how cruel you are but watch out, he might go for your house plants! As Pleo gets older and goes through the evolution process he will be capable of a lot more on his own and will always be looking to learn new things.

If you are fed up with replacing dead goldfish or bored with that lazy rabbit that sleeps in its hutch all day long, go for a different type of pet, go for a robotic pet, go for a Pleo and spend the rest of your days loving this adorable little creature.

Go on admit it! If you were into Lego as a kid the chances are you are still into it as an adult. Okay sure, it may take a bit of excuse to actually go out and buy it but with Christmas coming up you may indeed have that perfect excuse. So repeat after me - “It’s for the little one”

Okay cool now we have that out of the way you are decide on what you are going to buy yourself for the little one. When I was younger my favourite was a Lego airport complete with buildings, runway and a couple of planes. These days however it seems the Lego kits have gotten ever more complex and detailed, which given that most of the joy for me with Lego was the creation itself, means that the entertainment value has come a long way.  If your into your Star Wars then you may be interested to know there is a whole range of Star Wars associated Lego products. How about the classic Imperial AT-ST, or take it up a notch with the Fully Motorised AT-AT, complete with a little Lego Skywalker figure -  WOW !

Moving away from Star Wars, but keeping on the space theme you may also want to consider the ETX Alien Mothership, which includes 2 astronauts and 5 glow-in-the-dark alien mini-figures. Or how about this Lego Firestation, complete with extendable ladder, 4 fire fighters ready for duty, along with 2 trucks.

And yes just for me they still do a Lego Airport. Unfortunately I don’t have the excuse that I’m buying it for the little one so for now I think I need work on another excuse why a 32 year old man is playing with it.  Perhaps I’ll have to make do with the Lego StarWars games, available for a host of consoles.