The Toy Box season 2: Did Noochie Golf or CLICKEYBits win?

Tonight, The Toy Box season 2 episode 2 arrived on ABC, and with that thankfully brought something more familiar to the table: Noah Ritter. Is he at times a little too over-the-top for his own good? Sure, but we would prefer a kid judge with a ton of personality!

Unfortunately, we don’t think that Noah’s presence saved The Toy Box from some of its other flaws from the premiere, especially since they can’t just refocus the show midway through the season. One of the big issues with the premiere was that there was perhaps too little of an adult perspective on the toys and that was the same here. Another one we noticed tonight was that many of the toys were hyped so much before the inventor showed them off that by the time they were actually presented, it was an inevitable letdown.

The toys featured tonight were Furry Friends (a twist on your average stuffed animal), Noochie Golf (portable mini-golf), Mad Moves (a dance game), The Bloom, Water Bugs (a fun little water game), CLICKEYBits (a twist on the average fidget toy), and Monster Dice (a new game meant to be simple and fun). Alas, what many of these inventors had to realize tonight that there are so many different definitions for what a good toy is, and not everyone — especially kids — will see what they end up seeing.

To us, the clear winner tonight was Noochie Gold given that it allowed for almost instant playability for a game everyone knows how to play already: Mini golf. Not only that, but it allowed kids to create many different combinations of mini-golf courses. It probably wasn’t the cheapest of any of the toys that we’ve seen on the show, but it was both something both simple and also familiar.

Was it creative enough? You can make an argument that it was basically a portable version of an existing game versus something entirely new, but the reality here is that all toys are derivative of something else.

Our prediction was…

Well, it was wrong. That’s fine, given that we’re not a kid and are very much aware sometimes that kids will have those different preferences. They chose CLICKEYBits, which does have a good chance of winning and selling in the future given that you’re talking about something that fits well into an established category — fidget spinners are still pretty huge. Also, this can be sold at a low price point and Toys R Us probably likes that.

One thing for all of the toy inventors to remember here is that there are several products from season 1 that ended up getting made by Mattel — with that, you can still win even if you lose on this show.

CarterMatt Verdict

A fun episode thanks to Noah’s return and some genuinely good toys. Unfortunately we do still miss the toy experts and feel the balance is off with the new version.

What did you think about The Toy Box season 2 episode 2?

Do you think that the right toy ended up winning in the end here? Sound off with some of your thoughts in the comments below!

Meanwhile, take a look at the link here if you missed our take on The Toy Box premiere or like us on Facebook to get more news on this show plus more we cover. (Photo: ABC.)