While digital offerings have become the norm for kids and this becomes more true every year, physical toys are still unbeatable in many ways and we have spent the last year with a lot of great plastic entertainment that kids and adults will both enjoy and love to receive this holiday season.
Below check out a selection of toys that we had hands on time with this year that left an impression on us.
Even if you’ve already picked up the Christmas present, the below are also great for something to keep the kids busy during the school holidays that stretch into 2024.
Need more gift ideas for toys? Check out our guide from 2022.
EG RX-78-2 Gundam | R319
Gunpla is the model building hobby centred around the Gundam franchise that is immensely popular in Japan. Kits have been sparsely available locally but that changed recently with the launch of the GUNPLA South Africa shop.
A wide range of kits are now available across every single price point but the one we’ve chosen here is the perfect entry into the hobby.
For those unaware: Gunplay kits need to be assembled as the pieces all come still attached to their sprue. Simply cut the pieces out with a side cutter (or even a pair of scissors) and then assemble them with pressure connections. No glue is required and it is fairly similar to LEGO. You also don’t need any paint and some sets do come with stickers, furthering the similarities to LEGO.
This specific kit is made to be super easy to do even for those completely unfamiliar with Gunpla. The finished model makes a decent display piece for the shelf but, with its articulation and included weapons, it can be used for play too.
For those who are interested in model building but don’t have any fondness for Gundam, check out the rest of the GUNPLA South Africa as they have model kits from several other franchises. We recommend the Pokémon selection which is quite extensive.
Buy here: GUNPLA South Africa.
Mega Construx Motion Pikachu | R1 385
If you want a Pokémon toy that can not only be built but also moves, this is the one to get. This Mega Construx set has you assembling 1 095 pieces to build a rather large version of Pikachu (22.61 centimetres from head to tail) that moves thanks to an internal mechanism. Simply turn the small crank and see Pikachu run in this unique buildable kinetic sculpture.
This is the most expensive option on our list, but if you want cheaper Mega Construx Pokémon products, see our previous article on the subject. It may also be worth waiting on a sale as Mega Construx items are regularly discounted in South Africa.
Buy here: Takealot | Lilliputs.
Gel Shot Blaster | R799
Overseas gel blasters have slowly taken over the entire market of toy blasters that actually fire projectiles. For those who haven’t heard of them before, gel blasters shoot out polymer water beads instead of the standard foam missiles or water streams of more standard toy blasters such as those from Hasbro. if you’re familiar with Orbeez from a few years ago, these are very similar.
Gel blasters fire these balls much faster and more accurately than you may be expecting, and can be compared to airsoft, albeit safer, using projectiles that harmlessly splatter on contact. The gel blaster “guns” themselves also simply run on batteries, the gel balls themselves are extremely cheap and only need water to be used, and the entire package seems to be the best of all worlds of toy blasters.
We do want to give a stern warning, however, that all purchasers carefully study and read up on any gel materials they buy. Each company sells gel balls that have different levels of toxicity and safety regarding children, pets and other living things such as the plants and grass in your garden. Enquire into the safety of each before purchasing. Eye protection is another area you will need to pay close attention to, given the high velocity of gel balls.
We had a try at the Blaster offered by Gel Shot at Comic Con Africa 2023 and we were simply shocked at the amount of force – and the amount of fun – we had with this thing. We simply don’t see how other, older toy guns can compete with offerings like the Gel Shot Blaster, which is likely why we see companies like Nerf offering their own take on this idea.
Right now it seems to be the wild west for gel blasters so we can only offer a recommendation on the blaster we directly used, albeit for a short time. In researching this article we saw a frankly ridiculous amount of variety of gel blasters for sale here in South Africa. We’d be lying if we said we weren’t tempted by this crazy robot arm that shoots gel balls on Takealot… Maybe wait for some reviews and / or a steep discount on that.
As for the Gel Shot Blaster it’s available in the links below for what we feel is a fair price for the fun these toys offer, and the blaster comes in multiple colour options. Ammo refills are crazy cheap too selling for R99 per ten thousand balls. Yes really, ten thousand. Given the incredibly high fire rate of these blasters these cheap price for more shots makes sense, but that is an insane price per ball.
LEGO 71453 : DREAMZzz Izzie and Bunchu the Bunny | R419
With South Africans thankfully having access to most of the LEGO catalogue, it can be difficult to pin down one recommendation. With sets available for the cost of some pocket money, all the way up to more than a month’s salary of most adults, the choices can be crippling.
We’ve gone with this unique DREAMZzz set, which is a new property directly from LEGO. The biggest name in the building block business has been criticised for overreliance on external brands, so we’re always happy to see some wholly original toys from the company.
DREAMZzz sets all share a gimmick where, at a certain point in the build, you can choose to build the set in a different way. For this set you can choose between building your mecha Bunny into either a flying jetpack mode or a rocket rollerblader.
Aside from giving you additional choice (and thus more building and play time), this set is also very neutral and should be a great gift for anyone regardless of gender or age. Who doesn’t want a huge robot bunny that is also a mech and also can fly or rollerblade around with rockets?
For even more choices visit one of the official LEGO stores as there are five spread out across South Africa. The staff there are really well versed in LEGO and will help you nail down a present for the budget and wants of your recipient.
Buy here: Great Yellow Brick.
Transformers Armada Starscream | R699
In the 2022 Gift Guide we complained about the availability and buying experiance of Transformers in South Africa, and very little has chained in a year. While numerically more Transformers are on shelves thanks to the Rise of the Beasts movie, the range has a whole is still extremely shallow with most of the toys being the cheaper mainline movie offerings.
To prove out point just look at Legacy. Legacy is a subtheme of Transformers that offers new toys from the history of the brand. Recently Legacy has been focusing on Armada, the groundbreaking show from 2002 that reinvented Transformers for the new millennium. Many Armada toys are available overseas (with more promised in 2024) but in South Africa we get just one – Starscream.
Even worse is that, at the time of writing, you can’t even buy him online. We had to go to a physical Toy Kingdom store to pick one up and we suggest any Armada fans do the same before they sell out and no restocks arrive.
But we realise that Armada is more aimed for older fans, so let’s talk about the aforementioned Rise of the Beasts movie and EarthSpark, the latest animated TV show.
From Rise of the Beasts we’re recommending the Beast Alliance Optimus Prime, which has a unique eight-wheeled armoured transport alt mode instead of the regular truck. For the price it is a decent 4.5 inch toy that does something slightly different with Optimus Prime even though it has some shortcomings, such as the fact that four of those eight wheels are solid plastic that don’t turn.
Buy here: Takealot.
Offerings for EarthSpark are also very limited but we have heard from other fans that the 1-Step Flip Changer of Bumblebee is a unique toy that younger kids (and even adults) may have with the steps of transforming these toys. See a short video below showing off the transformation process, which is a blink and you’ll miss it affair.
Buy here: Takealot.
Despite Rise of the Beasts and EarthSpark being the main drivers of Transformers for the mass market this year, both lines offered in South Africa are significantly pruned. Hopefully we see more soon, and even a bit more from Legacy if we’re lucky.
