When I was shopping for gifts for my grandson's 5th birthday, a Hasbro LiteBrite was high on my list. I retain fond memories of the same basic toy decades ago with my son.

The toy is still basically the same: a world of fun. The concept is simple: plug the colored peg into one of the pre-printed designs or do it free form. Press the button and marvel at your colorful creation.

Yes, it is simple. Yes, it is fun. Yes, you'll probably win up fighting with the kid for time to play with. (You as the grown-up, of course, have the opportunity to cheat: you can play with it after the kids are in bed.)

The device has a couple of small drawbacks. Hasbro doesn't tell you on the outside of the box that the battery-powered lightbulb used isn't available in stores. You have to call Hasbro for replacements. To their credit, Hasbro charges $2 per bulb and no shipping. When I called them, I was prepared to hear something outrageous like $4.95 a bulb plus shipping. Hasbro deserves praise for not gouging. Also, the storage drawer for the pegs is poorly design. The knobs on either side of the rotating drawer don't work well. You have to literally turn the drawer by hand. The knows will work for closing it. Finally, the design does not allow the unit to stand for play - it either has to be laid flat or held in the hands.

Overall, still fun after all these years.

Jerry

I had this when I was a kid and loved it - that is whenever we had the refill sheets. This new laptop version is nice and the case for the pegs would be nice if they didn't fly all over the room everytime you opened it.....needs some improvements

My daughter loves her Lite-Brite.
She used all 8 picture sheets in the first 2 days she played with it.
I have looked and looked for refil pages without much success.
I have not been able to find them in stores. The one website I found that offers them (Hasbro's) is perpetually sold out.

At 4, my daughter is better at following a pattern than creating her own. Two months after she recieved it, we are completely out of black construction paper which I have been cutting to fit the toy.

Other than that, this game is great! She really loves it and plays with it every day. I wish Hasbro would come out with a 'coloring book' filled with detachable design pages and market them along side the toy.