Our family is a goofy, care-free bunch. We’re addicted to popular culture and wacky toys that exercise the imagination. The toys in our home with the highest replay value are usually action figures and die-cast cars. Things we can make go boom. Such is the case with Monster 500!
For the purposes of this review, we were sent the Monster 500 Zoom Zombie (perfect for our family’s zombie obsession), the Monster 500 Toxic Terror Trap and Monster 500 Graveyard Gauntlet.
First Impressions
The boys and I were familiar with the Monster 500 brand of toys before this review. We visit toy websites frequently and started drooling over the ghoulishly delightful toys at Monster500.com. The kids are currently addicted to the well-done (and free) iOS game. The toy line is modeled after characters from the game, bringing their favorite drivers to life and adding a hands-on experience to their monster playtime.
Assembly of the two playsets was quick and simple. Accented with green slime and grotesque purples, the Monster 500 Toxic Terror Trap is pretty awesome to gaze upon. The Monster 500 Graveyard Gauntlet is really cool too, but what I thought was even better, was that the tracks are interchangeable/extendable with our existing toy tracks.
Playtime Observations
The Monster 500 Toxic Terror Trap requires a few AA-batteries to power up the rotating trap and freaky septic sound effects. In no time, the boys were sending Crocpot and Evil Clownevil (included) down the looping track and toward their fate, for at the bottom awaits a fiendish toxic monster. Would the drivers break free or end up as supper? Keep in mind, there isn’t much in the form of educational gameplay, this is strictly fun and imaginative play.
Surprisingly, the Monster 500 Graveyard Gauntlet received the most attention from my kids. The playset is much simpler than its bigger brother. The Graveyard Gauntlet is best described as a dragway for the Monster 500 racers, one in which invites multiple kids to play. The Gauntlet uses gravity to send monsters (Drac Attack is included) down the raceway and toward an intimidating pendulum poised to exercise its demons. If the cars make it through the gauntlet, speed is their only friend as they race toward the finish line. No batteries required, the Monster 500 Graveyard Gauntlet is worth its weight in bones!
Final Opinion
Download the free app for your iPhone or Android and see for yourself, these are well-concieved characters that have transferred over perfectly into the real world. Monster 500 has gone so far as to create a collectors trading-card element which contain codes that import new drivers into the game. This is the future of playtime, marrying the real world toy landscape with virtual applications. Monster 500 is already out of the starting gate and setting the pace.
