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Thanks for the heads up on this, I would pay that price with tax and no game here, so this is a good deal. Not sure (for me at least) if its worth the trouble to find this on BF... But then again I could use some Hip Checking practice...

Yes now I can stop hitting myself with the cord while boxing... sheesh that cord IS annoying

May I also make a suggestion of items to go with the laptop and games. As most of these games are FPS ("first person shooter", basicly the game is from the point of view from the acting player on screen) a laptop can handle new games great, but using the touch pad can be a bit rough. May I suggest getting a decent mouse, and head phones (so you don't have to listen and he gets better sound.) Just a thought :)

Hobbies? I know I would kill that $150 at my favorite bicycle shop in a heartbeat. Paintball, hiking, are you a car guy, what do you do to unwind other then TV and computers? :) But then again owning your own buisness might not lead you to have enough hobby time... Then I think it's time to get one

This is a tough one, my wife wanted to get an Amazing Amanda last year for my daughter, we went back and forth on it. Amazing Amanda had flooded the market with TV commercials and my daughter kept asking for it (of course). After doing some reviewing and seeing opinions of "Amazing A" we decided to look else where and settled on Baby Annabel. Amazing Amanda was blasted on every other site with voice recognition issues. We have never used or seen Amazing Amanda but, since my daughter got Annabel we have never heard her ask for the other doll again... My suggestion is to see which doll got a better "parent response" for the child, the last thing you want to see 2 days after Christmas is a Doll STILL sitting under the tree...

We got this for my daughter when she turned 2 as well "Parents Magazine - Bee Bop Band" It has a bit of everything in it, I did "lose" the drum sticks for the drums every now and then. Overall it was a great hit with her. http://www.amazon.com/Parents-Magazine-Bee-Bop-Band/dp/B000H28FKS/sr=11-1/qid=1162494065/ref=sr_11_1/002-6997417-1532808

LOL to old for toys at 12, get him some boxers and socks, that'll be the last time he says that savings bonds and gift cards then

Was there a price range? This is the stuff I liked at 12 :) Models Radio controled cars Legos Hot wheels

Baby Born is a higher end doll and has more bells and whistles. One thing that freaks a few people out about Baby Annabel is she sleeps with her eys open, we didn't have an issue with it. Plus Baby Born was a bit more pricey. One of the big negative we discovered in our research was that the life like skin gets "dirty" quickly. Now this has been about a year since I did research on this so things may have changed (it looks like she can do a lot more now) http://www.zapf-creation.com/com/english/brands/overview/babyborn/index.php I didn't see your location til now :0 so yes it would be a difficult call. But you can check websites some will tell if it's in stock at the store online. Good luck

Wal-Mart was hit and miss, last year they had some but sold out quick, (we did try and they said they had them for a while) as for KB I do not know, I suggest calling the stores ahead. We ended up at Toys R Us, they had a good selection at a decent price. Good luck, I hope it works out :)

I have read some reviews that really hurt Baby Amanda, especially when it comes to interaction, also it says 5+ You may want to look through a few of these reviews and see what you think. http://www.amazon.com/MPA-Sales-98161-Amazing-Amanda/dp/B0007UB5YS/sr=8-1/qid=1161886708/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-6997417-1532808?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games We almost got Amanda but went to Baby Annabel instead, not as many bells and whistles but still fun. My daughter (now 4) has gotten rather attached http://www.amazon.com/Zapf-Creation-Baby-Annabell-Function/dp/B0007Y149K/sr=1-8/qid=1161887089/ref=sr_1_8/002-6997417-1532808?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games