Wicked Socker Boppers provide hilarious fun for all the family. Forget computer games it’s all about real interaction with the kids. Perfect for active play indoors and out, Wicked Socker Boppers are an easy way to engage the whole family- even Gran - in some seriously silly fun. Just slip your hands inside these inflatable gloves and sock 'n' bop away. A great way for kids to burn off all that extra energy during the holidays! Wicked Socker Boppers have a double cavity air chamber for extra cushioning meaning that they’re super safe. What’s more, they’re made of super heavy duty gauge vinyl for rugged durability...

Wicked Socker Boppers aim to get kids and parents interacting together like they used to back in the '80s, long before consoles and computers took up most of their time. They are sturdy and well made. That said, these things aren't meant for proper boxing, and obviously you should check that there are no sharp object nearby that you can accidentally pierce them on. But even if you do accidentally pop them, you get a handy repair patch. And if you pop both of them (then you're doing something wrong) I'm assuming any bicycle tyre repair patch will also work.

I was a bit disappointed by how misleading the packaging was. The box shows two boys sparing with the Socker Boppers on their their hands. It also has the text "more fun than a pillow fight!" As you only get one pair of gloves in this pack, maybe the tag line should be: "more fun than a pillow fight on your own", because you can't really do much with just one pair of gloves.

It's not obvious at all that this is a box with only one pair in it. And I can see plenty of kids being disappointed on Christmas morning when the open the box to find they can't play with them because there is only one pair instead of the anticipated two.

In fact, the only indication that you are only getting one pair of gloves is the teeny, tiny writing at the bottom left hand side of the front of the box... but just to make it a little harder to spot, only the top half of the writing is visible, with the bottom half running over onto the bottom of the box. They couldn't have made this more hard to read if they'd tried. Even though I know it's there on the box, it's still difficult to make out.

Now, I'm assuming (but can't guarantee) that this is part of a larger range where you can buy a box with 2 pairs in and then buy this edition with just the one pair of gloves - in the event that you have three or more members of your family who want to engage in inflatable fisty-cuffs.

If this is not the case, then you'll need to buy a box for each member of your family. The gloves are quite large and comfortable to wear and they cushion the blows quite well (but then I'm going to assume that older children are not really going to try and knock seven bells out of each other as this is playtime, not fight club.

Overall, these are good value for money and it's good to see that there are still some traditional toys around that allow for a little human interaction.

7

Nick Smithson