I recently got very lucky and managed to get a Skylanders toothbrush set for a measly £1.75. The set has a toothbrush with Gil Grunt on one and Spyro on the other and is an absolute win for parents who have kids that are Skylanders fans. This is one game that has gone absolutely stratospheric.

So, how do you review these, I hear you ask me? Well, we have used one of these toothbrushes for over a month now and so far it has proven to be very robust. It has withstood my daughter’s tendency to chew on the bristles while brushing her teeth without getting too damaged, and it hasn’t developed a serious case of sticky-outy-mad-bristle-syndrome either.

These Skylanders toothbrushes also feature a grip in the middle of the brush with easy hold rubber for little hands.  The one has a bright orange easy hold area and the other has a black one. Both toothbrushes also feature coloured bristles for extra colour fun. They don’t do fancy colour changing features to let you know your toothbrush is about to die, they are way too cheap for that.

I bought my set at Game where they are currently having quite a big sale on cool Skylanders merchandise, but this is not showing online. You can also find them for £1 at some Poundland* stores or you can get them at Amazon* for just over £3.

The only thing that I find wrong with these Skylanders toothbrushes is that they are assuming all Skylanders fans are boys. Both the characters are male and there are absolutely no toothbrushes with female Skylander characters on them. This, I think, is a huge shame and drops the product points down substantially. It is time that manufacturers stopped marketing to boys exclusively when it comes to games. The score was 8/10 but now it is only 5.

We don't own a games console, yet my son is still nuts about Skylanders. Is it peer pressure? Or just because the figures look so cool? I'd say it was a little from column A and a little from column B. This Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Character Pack (Hex) is on offer at Play.com for £5.49, including delivery. I've seen it elsewhere for as low as £6, but most places seem to sell it for aroud £7 to £8, and with other retailers you have to factor in delivery.

• Click here for you Skylanders Character Pack at Play.com*

For generations, the Skylanders have used their magical powers and weapons to protect Skylands. But now, an evil tyrant has frozen them and banished them to Earth. Only you can put them on the Portal Of Power and bring them to life to save Skylands forever.

Build the ultimate army of Skylanders - 30+ Skylanders to collect! Each Skylander has their own unique powers and abilities to enhance your game play experience and save Skylands.

Skylanders Character Packs, Triple Character Packs and Adventure Packs are compatible with all console and handheld versions of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure - Character Pack includes:

• 1 Skylanders Character Interaction Figure
• 1 Trading Card
• 1 Sticker Sheet
• 1 Web Code

Thanks to gpar11 at HUKD!

No doubt your child has already dropped plenty of hints for whatever their main present will be. In our house Lego Star Wars is a definite winner.

But what about those few smaller presents, and the stocking fillers (if you do them)? Last year we all got some great bargains through the sales. My favourite was a magic set I picked up in a flash sale for £5. Another PlayPennies parent managed to grab the entire set of Diary of a Wimpy Kid for a fraction of its normal cost.

But don't worry you haven't necessarily missed out. There are still Christmas bargains available. Unfortunately many of the bargains that people have found were sold out. But not all of them. Here we've gathered the best of what's still out there. I've looked through our posts here on the blog, and asked our PlayPennies parents. And here's our top ten.

It depends on what Skylanders characters you might be after, but if it is one of the  that are left in stock at Toys R Us this could work out quite well. Toys R Us are offering 3 Skylanders toys for the price of 2 at the moment (you get the cheapest one deducted, naturally).

• Click here for your Skylanders toys at Toys R Us

Now none of the ones I was after were already discounted, but some of the character packs are and on the same offer for Moshi Characters, it worked with sale items included too.

Skylanders are hugely popular right now (says she watching her son run around in his Skylanders t-shirt). The toys that are still available on the site are:

• Legendary Trigger Happy Single Character Pack
• Character Pack Wave 2 - Ignitor
• Character Pack Wave 2 - Flameslinger
• Character Pack Wave 2 - Whirlwind
• Character Pack Wave 2 - Double Trouble

Handy for birthday presents, present drawer or Christmas. All of these were priced at £7.99, although the Trigger Happy pack was reduced by £1 to £7.99. I bought three of them and was told I also qualified for free standard UK delivery.

Thanks to dude24 at HUKD!

The summer holidays are nearly here, honest. I know there's not exactly been anything in the way of summer yet, but if your school hasn't already broken up (and in England and Wales many did last week) then they'll be doing so this week.

My rainy day activities don't extended to six weeks worth! So throwing in a few extras at this point is a really good idea. Like an engrossing video game suitable for young children. Skylanders is one such game.

The premise behind it is this. For generations, the Skylanders have used their magical powers and weapons to protect Skylands. But now, an evil tyrant named KAOS has frozen and banished them to Earth. Only you can put them on the Portal of Power and bring them back to life in their world to save Skylands forever.

The game is available at numerous outlets (including Amazon where it sells for £17.97, with free delivery using UK super saver delivery). Here's how we got on with the game. Skylanders is available for Windows XP, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.