TOY REVIEW: JOHNNY LIGHTNING'S BATTLE WHEELS!

I see a lot of toys, tons of them every year. To say it's hard to be impressed with some of the products we see is an understatement. But, some things really are a blast, and that goes for the Battle Wheels. My son and I have been derbying these around for the past several days and man are they fun! Combining jousting, demolition derby, robots and radio control, these babies have it all.

All the characters are on different frequencies so it allows you to play with six 'bots at a time! This allows you to fight in groups or sock each other in a wild free for all.

The Battle Wheels characters are molded in bright colors, so it's never hard to pick your guy out in a crowd, and each comes with character specific weaponry. (But the pieces are all transferreable, so you can make your assembled bots into custom warriors.

Each figure comes with a shield, a weapon, wheel spokes and shoulder pads. The heads come off when the blue button on the figures' chest gets hit, and that guy is the loser. The carnage and fallen pieces of armor are left on the battlefield and add to the difficulty in fighting, and could cause your bot to be up-ended.

Battle Wheels have two motor, with wheels on either side of the fully articulated figures, with smaller balance wheels on front and back. The controller moves each motor forward or revense, so if you want to move forward, push both control switches up and both down for reverse. When you push one controller up and the other down the bot goes into what we like to call the Whirling Dervish! Very cool when he's holding the mace and he can slug an opposing player.

They seem to work best on hard, smooth floors, but we used them on a rug and they still fought well!

Characters VUL “The Savage Protector of Venus”



Born of fire and untamed like the flames of Venus, he decimates his opponents with his lightning sword and chain mace

TYR “The Cold arm of Pluto’s Justice”



Cold and calculated, Tyr is heavily armored with a shield that staves off any opponent and a relentlessness that will stop nothing short of victory

BASHAMON “The silent enforcer of Saturn’s law”



Lurking in the misty shadows of Saturn’s ring, Bashamon is ready to deliver a quick end to his unsuspecting foes wielding a sneaky cat-o-nines and powerful mallet

KAGU-TSUCHI “The fury of Mercury’s fire”



Explosive rage like the molten springs of Mercury, Kagu-Tsuchi’s combat skills are a testament to his furious battle rage and crushing blow at intense speeds

These are on the shelves now, from Johnny Lightning. A pair of these would be a very cool present for your favorite kid to find under a Christmas Tree, parents, should get one too, as I've seen as many adults playing with these as kids.

Rating: * * * * * =More fun than a sack of monkeys!

Price and Availability $29.99
Available fall 2007