Marital Aid Test Kitchen: Bzzz Buddies “Frisky”

Did any of you ever have one of those Hello Kitty vibrators? Well, "Frisky," from New Sensations' line Bzzz Buddies, is a little like the Hello Kitty vibrator on amphetamines. By which I mean it's pink, loud, and terrifyingly adorable.

Let's talk marketing, shall we? The vibrator comes with four plastic tips and a black satin bag, all in a clear plastic package which I really liked; too often the packaging is way too complicated or opaque, like we should be ashamed of wanting to get off. The package is covered in splashy pink and turquoise artwork, and is very easily opened. It's fun, cute, and youthful.

There are a variety of Bzzz Buddies, including the "Pandy," "Shivers" the polar bear, "Paws," and "Bubbles," who looks like a cracked-out Nemo. The characters look like Pokemon or Neopets (middle school throwback, anyone?) and come with slightly cute, slightly disturbing "story" blurbs. Frisky, for example, "is a curious little kitty cat. Everything in the world seems so new and exciting to her!" Etc., etc. I don't particularly like to think of my vibrator as animate, but okay.

"Frisky" is plastic, waterproof, and lube-friendly. She takes one AA battery, which was a relief after my last couple vibrators, which took weird batteries or needed a number of them. I often find that vibrators have way too many intensities and patterns, so I liked that Bzzz Buddies only have one setting, which is plenty strong. The body of the vibe twists to three settings: one "on," one "off," and one "open" to get into the battery compartment. This is good in theory, since it's super simple, but I kept accidentally twisting it toward "open" and having to pause and start over. Maybe I'm just not good at the "twist" motion when I'm masturbating, but I found that distracting.

The tips range from perfectly smooth to increasingly fine-point bumps. I didn't think there was much of a discernible difference between the somewhat pointy and the very pointy tips, but I appreciated the variety, and how easy it was to change them. Despite the frustration of the twist mechanism, I found this toy overall really basic and fun, and although I was a bit freaked out by the manga eyes staring up at me from my crotch, it was certainly a different toy than I have already. I would absolutely buy this (although maybe not Frisky, since the kitty thing is a little on-the-nose) for a fun addition to my collection.

·Frisky (bzzzbuddies.com)