Today’s column isn’t quite a review…but it’s more than a product announcement. It’s someplace in between, making it very different from the usual. I’m checking out Doko’s, these little heavy discs of metal and glass. Will they become the next hot sensation? I’m sure Mammoth Brand, the folks behind them, are hoping so.

If you have any questions or comments, drop me an email at mwc@mwctoys.com or visit my site Michael’s Review of the Week. On to the revie…er…something!

Doko

Doko discs are about 1 1/2″ in diameter, and a whopping 1/4″ thick. Each disc is made up of a steel rim around an hard, solid acrylic center. There’s one of a multitude of designs in the acrylic center. They’re definitely cool looking, and I love the heft that they have.

The concept is pretty easy. You get a Doko disc, and you head over to the website to register it. By registering it under your Login, you’ll get Official Points. Each Doko disc can be traded to others up to 5 times, and each time it’s registered, both the trader and tradee get points. These points can be used toward all kinds of things, including unlocking various additional Doko World features, and stuff from partners like Toys R Us or etoys.com.

To get things started, in the spring Mammoth ‘dropped’ a million bucks worth of Doko’s around the world for people to find. They were left in major cities like New York, London, Tokyo and Sydney, for kids to find and register.

The Doko virtual world also allows traders to chat or instant message with other traders, as well as play hundreds of online games. All of that is cool, but the nicest feature is the ability to track your Doko’s as they make their way from trader to trader.

In fact, there’s a world map on the home page that allows you to view all the traders in the world by location, as well as all the Doko’s (or just yours). This feature works great, and I suspect that the Doko trade limit of five was set because of the old adage of six degrees of separation. With five trades, your Doko could theoretically end up with anyone in any part of the world!

So let’s get this party started. I have a couple Doko here that I’ve registered, and I’d like to trade them with you. Now technically, I could just send you the code and you could register it – I don’t technically have to send you the disc I suppose. But where’s the fun in that? I’d even like to see Mammoth add a feature where you can upload a photo of you holding the respective disc in some far away land.

But back to trading. Go over to Doko’s website and create yourself a user profile. Hunt me up on the map (moospiz3 – don’t ask) and request a trade through their messaging system. I’ll get back to you asking for your location, and I’ll send along a Doko! Let’s kick the tires on this thing…

I don’t know that it’s going to take off, but I like the trade tracking concept. I’m not sure if they have enough meat on the bones beyond that to bring people in and keep them, but with some additional enhancements they might just creat a virtual world that kids too old for Webkinz and too young for MySpace. Or for those that can’t stand either!

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