All Dad Wants For Christmas Is a Robotosaurus Rex

As I was looking through the many, many holiday toy guides (OK, two, but man they're THICK!) the other day, it dawned on me that in 2008, we as a society have an unusual amount of robotic dinosaur toys this holiday season. Even more amazing/awesome/sucky is that they aren't super cheap, play-n-break toys. At a minimum of around $130 US, you need to be sure your little one wants the thing or can at least have it in the house while you play with it without shrieking so hard the paint falls off the walls.

Let's start with my personal favorite, Mattel's D-REX Interactive Dinosaur. The smallest of the lot, he's also the one with the most, let's say, personality. Probably because he reminds me so much of Gon, to be honest. At any rate, this guy will apparently follow you around and acts kind of like a little, bald dog. The best part, however, is that you can apparently put him in "attack mode" by pressing a button on his remote control bone. My inner 10 year old is dreaming about siccing him on my little sister as I type this.

Fisher-Price Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur

Next on the list is the similarly priced Spike the Ultra Dinosaur from Fisher-Price. He'll run you from $129-150 depending on where you get him, and he's pretty massive. Like D-REX, he's remote controlled, but unlike the little guy, I'm pretty sure he's not at all autonomous. On the other hand, he's pretty honkin' big, can rear up onto his hind legs and can pick up and throw the little plastic boulders he comes with.

Lastly, we have Kota the triceratops. At anywhere from $240 to 300 a pop, this is not for the budget-minded Nerd Dad. It's overly cute, but it has to be since the main selling point of this Land Before Time-esque dino is that your kid can ride on it's back! Seriously, the little guy/gal comes with a built in handle on the back of it's neck and is apparently built like a miniature tank in order to withstand the typical abuse kids will heap on it. The entire face is animated, and it responds to touching much like a dog would, apparently. Also, and this is key for little ones, it comes with food that the kids can feed it.

Alas and alack, there is to be no dino-Christmas morn in my household this year. Not only are these all just a little too pricey for my recession-smacked budget, but The Kid™ has taken to cowering in fear whenever she sees one of these little fellas moving around. The D-REX in particular freaks her out because he likes to growl as if he's playfully ripping apart a small water fowl. Still, if these guys sell well, especially in the current economy, then I'm guessing we'll be seeing new and improved versions next year when the little one's a little older and less prone to freaking out when confronted with awesomeness.

At least, I hope so. Daddy's been needing a dino friend for at least 30 years, now.

NOTE: Gifts.com is giving away a D-Rex to one lucky winner if you enter their free drawing by December 11. Good luck!