Best Toys of Toy Fair 2018

The Best Toys of Toy Fair 2018

The raddest new toys coming this year

POPULAR MECHANICS

By The Popular Mechanics Editors

Februrary is here and that means it's time for Toy Fair. Here are some of the highlights that show what cool toys you can expect to see in 2018.

The brand new Milennium Falcon in Lego

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Who knows if Solo: A Star Wars Story will be any good when it comes out later this year, but the new Kessel Run Millennium Falcon Lego set will be a blockbuster either way. With over 1,400 pieces, panels that flip up to let you access the inside, and a handful of minifigs including Han and Lando, this (pricey) playset will be a great addition to any shelf when it comes out in April for $170.

An electric skateboard you can actually afford.

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Boosted Boards made a huge splash when they first debuted a few years ago, but there’s a reason you don’t see everyone riding one: At $1,000 and up, they’re as expensive as they are cool. For those of us with less money to throw around, Razor is offering an electric skateboard for under $200. Two in fact, a smaller “cruiser” model and a bigger longboard model that you can find for about $150 each. In addition to these models, first introduced last year, there's a new version with an in-wheel motor debuting later in 2018 that will offer added power and less noise.

The triumphant return of an age-old brand

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Before injection molding made plastic Legos possible, we had metal Erector sets. Now, over 100 years since their invention, they're back. Technically, for the past few decades they've just been hiding out under a different moniker, Meccano, but along with the new—er, old—name comes a return to form. Erector is getting back to basics with builds from John Deere tractors to Ducati motorcycles and models that mix both metal and plastic for versatility and heft. It's just like the good old days, but even better than you remember it.

A water gun that fills up in a second

The worst part of any water gun fight is waiting in line at the hose, but maybe not much longer. The new One Gun blaster lets you fill up the tank in about one second, so long as there’s some standing water at hand. Using a special valve in the front and an air release in the back, the reservoir fills as you dunk the gun in water, barrel first. All you need is a split second, a kiddie pool and you’ll be back to blasting.

A card game with cars that explode into robots.

Turning Mecard cars are neither your typical cars or you typical card game. To play, you and your opponent place a series of cards on the table. Then, you simply roll these explosive little transformers over cards you've placed, at which point they explode into action. Whether or not you get into the collectable card game, these flashy transformers are a pleasure to watch all on their own.

Rocket League, but in real life

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Rocket League took the video game world by storm in 2015, but now thanks to a partnership with Hot Wheels, it's moved into the material plane. Complete with a ball, two goals, two Hot Wheels-styled remote control cars and an entire stadium, the real-life Rocket League kit will run for a considerable $180 when it's released later this year. Cool as it is, it'd be a lot cheaper to keep playing the digital version.

A Nerf blaster that practically loads itself

Firing a Nerf gun is a blast, but after you're done there's the chore of loading it up again. There's still no such thing as a blaster with infinite darts, but Nerf's new N-Strike Elite Infinus does at least make loading less of a drag. Instead of popping out a magazine or drum and cramming the darts in, you can load the Infinus via a little port that can suck up darts one at a time and shunt them right into a 30-round drum. You'll still have to bend over to pick them up, though.

A card game based on "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books

DARREN ORF

With a nearly 20-year-long printing run, Choose Your Own Adventure books became a fixture for many kids growing up in the 80s and 90s. Now you can play these stories as a game, with you and a group of friends choosing your own path as each chapter presents a co-operative challenge that you must overcome.

The games design, though only a prototype was shown at Toy Fair, copies the books' cover design and gives the cardstock the added vintage feel, making it believable that this game has been around almost as long as the books.

Hopefully, this series, due for release sometime this summer, is just the first in a long line of expansions. But if you can't wait to play, you could always give the original book a read.