Mothers-in-Law, do we have the gadget for you! If you like to "white glove" your son's house, Jakks Pacific has a device that will help you see the individual specks of dust anywhere in the house!

Comedy stereotypes aside, there's a reason the EyeClops was one of the top toys this past Christmas. This device looks like an eyeball the size of a softball with a pistol-grip-style handle. Out of the handle comes a video cord that will plug into most TV's or a computer with A/V ports. In the middle of the cord sits the "Brain Case", where the 5 AA batteries are installed. This is my first complaint about this device. Most battery chargers require batteries to be charged in pairs, so with an odd number of batteries, you'll need a place to store the odd battery until you have an occasion to charge another odd battery with it. I would've preferred needing 6 to just 5. The device also offers no option for an A/C adapter, and as much use as this will potentially get, and since it has to be plugged into a TV to use anyway, and AC adapter, or at least a jack for one, would have been helpful.

Once you have it hooked up, a simple plug into your TV, use the Focusing Disk to calibrate the device, and you're ready to go. Hold the EyeClops against anything and see it magnified 200 times. Holding it against everything from skin to fabric to money reveals all kinds of secrets about the world and its composition.

The Eyeclops also includes a "Viewing Tube" (a slightly graduated cylinder) and a "Viewing Dish," which looks not coincidentally like a petri dish. In these, you (or your child, if you're willing to let go of it) can place items like liquids, insects, or anything else better kept from direct contact with the EyeClops. A base allows for hands-free use.

I've been using standard microscopes since I was a kid, so while this device intrigued me when I first heard about it, I was skeptical. My first question was, "Microscopes need backlighting for slides. How do you backlight carpeting?" But actually, you don't need backlighting--you just need lighting. The eyeclops uses 3 LED's to provide light on the surface, just enough light to get a good image without glare. My bigger concern was focus. Microscopes are notoriously difficult to focus, especially when examining 3D objects. How could a handheld microscope with no fine-tuning knob focus well enough for a clear picture, especially in the hands of a small child? Well, the I.R.I.S. lens attachment is easy to adjust by hands small and large alike. My 6-year-old had no problem focusing it and getting clear images on anything and everything she could reach with it, and she didn't need to look through a tiny lens at just the right angle to see it--she could share it with the family.

This is one of those educational toys that doesn't feel like it's educational, since nothing this fun could possibly be educational. So if you didn't get one this Christmas, you missed out. My only caveat would be that their new version, the EyeClops BioniCam, will likely be available before next Christmas, and it will have several new features like a built-in LCD screen and recording capabilities. When it becomes available, the price on this one will likely drop, but we don't know yet what the cost of the new model will be, so at least be aware of what's coming, which looks to be even better.

Just keep it away from your mother-in-law.