The Hexbug Strandbeast, from Innovation First, is an eight-legged gliding beast with dual-band control. Just being a Hexbug makes it cool-looking enough to catch my eye, but once I started using it, I was very impressed. The remote has four points of movement—backwards and forwards for each side of the beast. This allows the user to turn it in circles, change direction, move in reverse, or, by pressing both sides’ control in the same direction, glide straight. It’s a hypnotizing toy that’s fun to watch and control. Because the legs move in such a fixed and mechanical way, I think that the Strandbeast would be good at covering rough terrain if it had some kind of grip on its feet, but moving around on a flat surface is still plenty of fun. It also has two remote frequencies, so kids can play with two at once without interfering with each other’s frequency. The Strandbeast is available in blue, yellow, green, orange, and teal, and is designed for kids ages 8 and up.
