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Sesame Street Giggle & Go Ernie and Cookie Monster Vehicle Pack

by admin on December 31, 2007 in Archived Reviews

Sesame Street Giggle & Go Ernie and Cookie Monster Vehicle Pack

Overall Rating:
Recommended Age Group:	18 mths +
Country of Manufacture:	China

Description:

Fisher Price’s Giggle and Go line of toys are toys directed specifically at younger children in the toddler years. As a result of the age range towards which these toys are directed they are made more durable and less complex than other toys which are available to older age ranges by Fisher Price. The toys themselves are composed of a hard plastic without pieces that are likely to come off and be swallowed or lost. The paint on the toys is also durable enough not to scratch right off. The character base of the cars also makes them easily recognizable to children of younger ages.

Each of the two cars that come in the vehicle packs are made identically as far as the components of the cars; however each character is a different type of vehicle. Ernie is a tow truck, Cookie Monster is a car, Grover is a mail truck, Elmo is a van, Bert is a dump truck, there is another Elmo that looks like a 4-wheeler, there is yet another elmo that looks like a race car and Oscar the Grouch who is also a racecar.

The Giggle and Go line of toys are brightly colored non-motorized vehicle based toys available in a range of prices and a range of characters. Other Giggle and Go products include: Giggle ‘N Go Garage ($34.99), Giggle ‘N Go Construction Hauler (19.99), Giggle ‘N Go Fire Rescue Center ($19.99), Giggle ‘N Go Driver Elmo ($34.95), Giggle ‘N Go Garage Combo set ($36.99), Giggle ‘N Go Elmo and Grover vehicles ($5.99), Giggle ‘N Go Bert and Elmo vehicles ($5.99), and the Giggle ‘N Go Oscar and Elmo vehicles ($5.99).

Review:

I picked up the Giggle ‘N Go Ernie and Cookie Monster vehicle pack whilst shopping in Walmart namely because of the price, the double toy pack was in the clearance section of the toy aisle for $3.99; however the regular price was just as affordable at $5.99. I like to pick up the cheaper toys because most parents need to save a buck where they can, but these toys specifically looked like they were better quality toys than most of the under $10 toys I run across so I grabbed them. I am also a huge fan of Sesame Street because of the educational aspects of the show and I like that the characters are so easily recognizable.

The first thing I noticed after pulling the cars out of the pack (make sure you have two vehicles in your pack the first set I picked up in Walmart only had one vehicle! One had either fallen out or been stolen), was that even though the cars are called “Giggle ‘N Go” implicating that they make some kind of noise, they actually don’t make any noise at all…as in completely silent. I found this to be very disappointing because the packaging as well as the name of the toy indicate some type of motion or noise from the toys and while they do move when pushed they do not vibrate nor do they giggle.

The toys are durable (also launchable) which is a huge plus for the 18 month age range because they inevitably end up in the mouth. The colors and the characters make for interactive play for children who watch Sesame Street or are at least able to recognize the characters and give them the characteristics they posess on Sesame Street. The vehicles are easy to play with as the require no winding up or pulling back to cause motion, they are simply push along the floor toy cars. I found this to be disappointing because it makes for a pretty boring toy; however I don’t think that it is necessary for younger children to have too much to contend with when it comes to toys, plus it’s not as though it’s a $20 toy car, for $5 or $2.50 each I think you get your money’s worth from these toys.

The Giggle ‘N Go Vehicle packs do turn in to something a little more interactive when you include the other Giggle ‘N Go playsets like the garage or the Rescue center. With the playsets children can create situations and circumstances with the cars they have as well as learn a little more about vehicles; for example the car gets gas and gets washed at the garage. I will say that of all of the reviews i’ve read on the Giggle ‘N Go playsets none of them come highly recommended; while the cars themselves are fun for younger children it seems that the garages etc come with an extremely high level of frustration because of things like the ramp on the garage being too narrow so the cars have to be pushed down it instead of rolling down it freely. Without a review of these products I cannot give my personal opinion of them; however, from parental reviews of these sets I cannot say that I would be jumping at a chance to pay $19.99 and up for them.

Over all the vehicles seem worth the money for younger children but I don’t believe that they would keep older children entertained for very long and while they may be worth $2.50 to keep a child busy in the back of the car on the way home from the store there are other toys and books for the same price that would offer an older child more entertainment value.

Breakdown Toy Rating:

Fun Factor:
Ease of Assembly:	No Assembly Required
Price:	$5.99 ($3.99 on clearance in Walmart)
Packaging:	Open front cardboard box with the cars attached to the base of the box with twist ties and plastic disks covered with packing tape.
Packaging Opening:	Medium.
Noise Factor:	No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child
Launch Factor:	Extremely easy to launch and hard enough to hurt if hit with one; however not as likely to damage furniture or walls but the potential still exists.
Frustration Factor:
Durability:	Extremely durable and waterproof.
Educational:	Character recognition Automotive knowledge when used with other Giggle and Go Auto products.
Where I found it:	Walmart

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Kidazy.com \ Archived Reviews

Disney Princess Edition Memory Game

by admin on December 24, 2007 in Archived Reviews

Overall Rating:
Recommended Age Group:	3 years +
Country of Manufacture:	China

Description:

Milton Bradley’s Disney Princess Memory game is a remake of the classic Memory game of years ago. The game comes in a plastic wrapped cardboard box with seventy-two colorful cards printed with Disney Princess movie characters fitted in to a cardboard template. The cards easily pop out of the template and are ready for play. The box also comes with a plastic organizer to keep the matching cards in when they are not in use. Also inside the box is a sheet of instructions although the game itself is simple enough to play they may come in handy for any family who has not played any version of the Memory game before.

The aim of the Memory game is to obtain the most matched pairs of cards hereby becoming the winner. The cards are shuffled and then arranged face down (princess side down) on the floor or table. Each player takes a turn at turning over two cards in an attempt to find a matched pair, if a matched pair is not found the two cards are turned back over and the next player takes a turn. If a matched pair is found the player takes the cards out of play and holds them off to the side. Once one player has the majority of pairs in play they are declared the winner!

The Memory game is also available from Milton Bradley in the original Memory format, a Spiderman and Friends edition, a Dora the Explorer edition, a general Disney edition, a Pooh bear edition, a Backyardigans edition, and a Toy Story edition. Each edition of the game retails in stores such as ToysRUs for $9.99 each.

Review:

I have always been a huge fan of board games as a means for both education and as a means for bringing together families without the use of television and junk food. Memory has also been a favorite game of mine for as long as I can remember and one that I used to play as a child. The game was not only easy to open and “assemble” but within five minutes of opening the game it is ready for play which unfortunately is not the case with many games today. The brightly colored matching cards simply pop out of the cardboard template and are ready for use which is yet another great factor to this game. The game is easy to set up and easy to explain and does not come with rules that are difficult for younger children to understand making it a great starter game for young children.

Once the game is actually set up play time is long enough to engage children but usually not so long that they become bored with the game and frustrated with having to sit still and play for so long. While the play time is short the time is valuable learning time in which children are forced to focus and develop their recognition skills as well as their ability to remember images. While there may be a minimal amount of frustration as children struggle to remember where cards they had previously seen are located it should be frustration for most children that is easily directed and identified as frustration with not remembering and not frustration with the game itself. I find in times of frustration with this game it is helpful to remind children that this is “just a game and it’s supposed to be fun,” while this does not always diffuse frustration it does proovea helpful reminder for older children.

There are few things which I do not like about the game “Memory” but one of them is the inability to play it without a large space to spread out the cards, something which can not be helped because of the nature of the game itself. With fewer cards to play the game would not require as much room to play but it would also not proove to be as challenging. The second factor which I dislike about the Memory game is that it is not as durable as I would like. Games like Memory get very exciting when they are played which often results in quick actions which cause cards to be bent and damaged. I have yet to find a Memory game that has been able to stand up to more than a year of play and while I agree that board games should be refreshed once in a while I also believe that they should be durable enough to shelf and pull out again a year or so later for play without the pieces being in tatters.

All in all I believe that the Memory game is one of the best games any parent can purchase for their household, it encourages educational growth as well as family togetherness but it is not a game that is too challenging for the younger members of the family. The price of this game is another reason why I recommend it for families, it is not one of those $30 board games that take hours to get through the instructions, it retails for under $10 at any store and comes in a variety of designs that are sure to appeal to any child. Even with the “con’s” of the Memory game mentioned above I cannot say that this game is one I would turn down for family game night.

Breakdown Toy Rating:

Fun Factor:	A fun game with colorful graphics
Ease of Assembly:	Easy, just punch the cards from the template.
Price:	$9.99
Packaging:	Cardboard box covered in plastic wrap. Within the box pieces are secured to a cardboard template and are easily punched out.
Packaging Opening:	Easy.
Noise Factor:	No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child
Launch Factor:	Pieces are easily thrown but extremely unlikely to hurt or cause damage upon impact.
Frustration Factor:	The game itself may be frustrating for younger children but this type of frustration is a common part of teaching children how to play games and be a “good sport”.
Durability:	The game pieces are easily bent and damaged during play, they are also easily lost and not waterproof.
Educational:	Memory skills Motor skill development Matching / sorting Good Sportsmanship
Where I found it:	ToysRUs.com

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Kidazy.com \ Archived Reviews

FurReal Newborn Farm Friends Piglet

by admin on December 17, 2007 in Archived Reviews

Overall Rating:
Recommended Age Group:	4 years +
Country of Manufacture:	China

Description:

The FurReal Newborn Farm Friends Piglet is an interactive electronic toy and just one of many different types of animals that the FurReal toys produce. The toy itself comes in a cardboard three sided box so that the toy is touchable before purchase; however, it is not really “testable” because the toy is not switched on. The toy is secured to the box with numerous twist ties that are secured at the bottom with packing tape. Inside the box there is also a feeding bottle secured with twist ties, and an adoption certificate hidden in the bottom of the box (underneath the cardboard platform that the piglet is on).

The piglet requires three “AAA” batteries which do not come with the toy when ordered directly from Hasbro; however, the piglet I ordered from Target via Amazon did come with the three “AAA” batteries in it already. The piglet is one of the “newborn” FurReal line which also consists of a leopard, a lion, a white tiger, a lamb, a chimp, a panther, a Calico kitten, a grey and white kitten, a marmalade kitten, a white kitten, a brown/tan puppy, a dalmation, a grey poodle, a boston terrier, a white lion, a honey bear, a silver white kitten, a grey/white bunny, a white bunny, a beige bunny, a black and white bunny, a white bunny, a black and white kitten, a cream kitten, a king Charles Spaniel, a tan and white puppy (bulldog), and a white poodle. The other FurReal friends products (not newborns) include Squawkers McCaw the parrot, Butterscotch the pony, S’mores the pony, a beagle, a black and white pup, a chocolate lab, a dalmation, a pug, a schnauzer, a chimp, a lion, a white tiger, a Burmese kitten, a Calico kitten, a marmalade kitten, Luv Cub baby brown bear, Luv Cub baby polar bear, Luv Cub baby grey bear, Luv Cub baby red and brown bear, and the Luv Cub baby panda bear. These toys range in price from $12.99 for the newborn friends to $19.99 for the Friends to $29.99 for specific friends and $299.99 for the FurReal friends ponies.

The FurReal friends piglet moves and squeels/oinks in response to stimuli. There is an on/off switch inside a secret Velcro pouch on the piglets stomach (also where the batteries are hidden) which activates the piglet and a sensor on the piglet’s back which causes the piglet to respond. When touched the sensor on the piglet’s back causes the piglet to grunt, wiggle his nose and squeel and when held it causes the piglet to bow down and “oink”. When you stroke down the piglet’s back his tail also wiggles.

Review:

The FurReal Newborn Farm Friends piglet was high on my list of toys to review because the entire line of FurReal friends is rapidly growing and topping many Christmas lists this year. The interactivity of the FurReal friends also intrigued me since there are few toys with the claimed level of interactivity that FurReal friend’s did for the price they are sold for. I picked the piglet because out of all of the toys the piglet was the cutest one and other than that the other FurReal newborn figures in the same price range all seemed to do the same thing…which now that I have had a chance to review the toy, really isn’t that much.

The toy itself is recommended for ages four and up, and while I feel that the toy would prove entertaining enough for children of four to six I feel that it would not prove to be entertaining enough for children over the age of six (possibly seven). While the toys could be collected by children over the age of six, I really don’t feel that this line, at least the FurReal friends excluding the pony’s and Squawkers McCaw the parrot, would be much fun to a child over six. The reason I came to this conclusion was that although the toys are fun to play with for the first few minutes it soon becomes apparent that they do very little other than make a noise and bow down. The piglet, for example, does not respond to it’s bottle with suckeling it simply stands there unless the back sensor is touched and then it responds with a nose wiggle and a grunt; however, at no point does it’s mouth open to receive the bottle.

While the piglet is a cute toy and can serve as simply a “cute toy on a shelf” I found that the “interactivity” of the toy wasn’t as much as it was hyped to be. The piglet responded only to touch on it’s back sensor and there is nothing in particular that you can do to elicit certain actions from the piglet other than holding the sensor to make the piglet bow and touching it briefly to make it grunt, oink or wiggle it’s nose or tail. There isn’t a specific “do a to get b” “do c to get d” type of structure to the toy. The lack of response to any stimuli other than touch is also frustrating, the toy comes with a feeding bottle so I expected the piglet to actually respond to the bottle either by opening it’s mouth or suckeling, it did neither.

The FurReal Friend’s piglet is worth the money for a younger child in the recommended age range; however, I do not recommend it for older children in that age range unless they specifically want to collect “cute toys.” The FurReal friends initially reminded me of the Furby frenzy a number of years ago; however the fact that they do not mature in their responses and simply come with a pre-programmed set of actions that are minimal at best proved to be frustrating and while it may be enough to entertain a younger child, it will most certainly annoy an older child.

Breakdown Toy Rating:

Fun Factor:	This is an electronic interactive toy making for more fun than less interactive toys; however it is not breathtaking either.
Ease of Assembly:	No assembly required
Price:	$12.99
Packaging:	Cardboard packaging with twist ties and packing tape to hold product inside the packaging.
Packaging Opening:	Hard.
Noise Factor:	The piglet makes grunting and squeeling noises but not so loud that they become extremely irritating.
Launch Factor:	Very easily thrown and will most definitely cause pain when hit. This toy is likely to dent walls if thrown hard enough; however, should not cause paint damage because of the soft covering on the toy.
Frustration Factor:	The piglet doesn’t open it’s mouth for the bottle and sometimes reacts to non-existant stimuli.
Durability:	Although hard to tell at this point because the toy has not been played with for weeks and months on end from other parental reviews of the toy it seems to be a pretty durable toy which withstands throwing, dropping and excessive playing.
Educational:	Cause and Effect Animal care / responsibility Sensory Stimulation
Where I found it:	Amazon.com through Target as a seller

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Kidazy.com \ Archived Reviews

Lego Tiny Turbos 8130 Terrain Crusher

by admin on December 10, 2007 in Archived Reviews

Overall Rating:
Recommended Age Group:	6 years +
Country of Manufacture:	China

Description:

The Lego Terrain Crusher Tiny Turbos car kit comes in a re-usable plastic casing shaped like a tire with a large sticker wrapped around it. The packaging itself is enticing to any child, not just a Lego lover; however, be warned that the packaging and the actual product itself looks MUCH bigger in online stores than it actually is. The complete toy, including packaging is about the size of the average adult woman’s hand. The top of the tire shaped case just pops off after breaking the seal of the wrap around sticker and the Lego pieces are inside a plastic bag for “safe keeping.” The Lego set comes with a sheet of stickers, just enough pieces to construct the car itself (so make sure you don’t lose any pieces!) and a sheet of instructions.

The sheet of instructions is readable enough to create a car but as an adult woman it took me a couple of tries to get the car completed as per the instructions. Since the instructions show groups of pieces as steps instead of piece by piece instructions it is a little more difficult than one might think to contruct the actual car featured on the packaging; however, it is possible after a little extra frustration of extra pieces and starting over a couple of times. Once the car is completed as per instructions the sticker sheet provided gives your child the opportunity to decorated their very own Terrain Crusher to look just like the one on the packaging or to their own specifications.

Lego Tiny Turbos has a few models of vehicles available including the 8130 Terrain Crusher, the 8131 Raceway Rider, the 8132 Night Driver, the 8133 Rally Runner, the 8134 Night Crusher, the 8135 Bridge Chase, the 8147 Bullet Run, and the 8681 Tuner Garage. These are the Tiny Turbo vehicles and vehicle sets available but there are also other classifications of Lego vehicle sets available including the Power Racers and the Ferrari sets.

Review:

The Lego Terrain Crusher Tiny Turbos vehicle set was mildly dissapointing but not so much so that I wouldn’t recommend it to friends. The primary disappointment of the set was the size, although I realize that Lego are small building bricks, from the size of the set featured on KB Toys website I expected a much larger set. The actual set (the size of my hand) contains just enough bricks to complete the car on the packaging and no more which was also mildly disappointing but again not largely so.

After taking the pieces of lego from the packaging and arranging them so I could see which pieces were which I realized that the actual construction of the car featured on the packaging was not going to be as easy as I assumed it should be. I mean honestly, how hard can it be to contruct a car out of Lego? I pull out the instructions provided and realize that the instructions themselves consist of groups of pieces. For example the first step includes building the base of the car, it does not show exactly which pieces to use but you are left to guess which pieces look right and your confirmation only comes when the final result of your step one looks identical to the final result of the instructions step one. Although this is a slight inconvenience it is not hard enough to make the toy one that I would not recommend.

Lego have always been a huge favorite of mine when it comes to children’s toys, I had Lego growing up as did my younger brothers and as will my own children when the day comes. Lego are the perfect toy for any child because they encourage learning and socializing as well as imaginative play which is ALWAYS a plus with any toy. I not only love the educational and imaginative factors of Lego though, I love that it is a toy that you can build on. Lego is a toy that can be collected and built upon for years as well as passed down from generation to generation and they continue to still be compatible with each other even as the years pass.

As for the Terrain Crusher Lego set, while I don’t highly recommend it as a Lego playset you could do a lot worse for yourself as far as toy choices go. I have seen other Lego sets that I would be more apt to purchase by personal choice, such as the themed playsets or the movie inspired sets (think Star Wars,) but if your child has his or her heart set on the Tiny Turbos vehicle sets, for the price I wouldn’t fight it. The cost is justifiable for a durable toy which offers hours of entertainment and can also be broken down to individual pieces that are compatible with other Lego sets and collections.

Breakdown Toy Rating:

Fun Factor:	Fun for any Lego lover but also slightly frustrating to construct.
Ease of Assembly:	Medium – Difficult, even with instructions
Price:	$9.99 ($5.99 on sale at KBToys.com)
Packaging:	A plastic tire shaped re-usable case with a large sticker around it.
Packaging Opening:	Easy.
Noise Factor:	Little potential for noise other than the imagination of your child and the rattling of bricks against each other.
Launch Factor:	Very easily thrown and may or may not cause pain when hit depending on the size of pieces thrown, not as likely to damage walls etc. unless thrown in one huge block.
Frustration Factor:	Directions could be simpler, consequently the figure is slightly difficult to recreate.
Durability:	Lego is and has always been a durable toy with the exception of pieces being lost, as a result Lego does not make a good travel toy.
Educational:	Motor Skill Development and Coordination Cognitive Development
Where I found it:	KBToys.com

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Kidazy.com \ Archived Reviews

Transformers Movie Legends Bumblebee

by admin on December 3, 2007 in Archived Reviews

Overall Rating:
Recommended Age Group:	5 years +
Country of Manufacture:	China

Description:

The Transformers movie legends action figures come in a plastic shell packaging on a cardboard backing. The back of the packaging includes “transforming” instructions for the figure as well as statistics for each individual transformer with vitals such as “strength” and “skill” which enables different movie legends Transformers to be pitted against each other in play. The packaging is easy to open and the toy runs around $3.99. There are a variety of the movie legends figures available currently including: Jazz, Ratchet, Barricade, Blackout, Bumblebee, Megatron, and Starscream. All of these figures run at the same price; however, as they become harder to find in stores and online you will notice that certain stores (both reputable and not so reputable stores) will bump up the price on certain figures and not others. The original Habro website; however, always charges the same price for all of their figures but they do frequently run out of stock and seem to be running at a constant backlog.

The Movie Legends Transformers are one of the most readily available of the Transformers action figures as opposed to the Movie Deluxe figures which are not as easily found. The Movie Legends figures are also one of the cheapest Transformer toys on the market at a cost under $5 each, which aids children in completing a collection with their own pocket money or aids in parents who are seeking complete collections for their children. The actual figures are approximately as long as the average woman’s middle finger (excuse the reference, but it is easier to put things in perspective.) The figures are also extremely lightweight and plastic as opposed to various diecast Transformers figures on the market. Each figure available transforms from one vehicle to one Transformer robot figure.

Review:

The toy packaging was simple enough to open and the toy itself easy enough to extricate from the twist ties holding it inside the packaging but honestly that was the most fun part of the Movie Legends Transformer figure. The plastic figure not only feels cheap but it is so cheaply made that it literally fell apart in the first 4 minutes and 4 seconds of me “transforming” it. While the movie legends toys do offer a cheap alternative for parents who can’t afford the full blown Transformers figures for their kids this Christmas, I don’t recommend spending the $3.99 on them.

The toy fits the bill as far as looking like a Transformer, the colors are perfect and as long as your child doesn’t actually want to transform the figure you should be safe; however, once the transforming action starts you stand a pretty high chance of your Transformer of choice losing a limb or two. Pieces come off easily and while they can be replaced on to the figure the replacing of limbs is frustrating and a little harder than it was to accidentally remove the limb in the first place. Not only is the transformation factor a risky one when it comes to limb loss, but it is a frustrating one as well. Instead of a slide and lock system that completes smoothly the transformation process consists more of a cracking, snapping frustrating sequence of curse words and pinched fingers. The pieces fit together loosely and don’t stick in place creating a slumped mess of semi-Transformer.

I am sad to say that aside from the visual of the toy when it is untouched, the Transformers Movie Legends toy falls so far from my expectations of such a popular toy that it left me speechless. As a childhood fan of the old school Transformers action figures I had such high expectations for the newly released figures and while the newer released larger scaled action figures may meet or exceed those expectations these small scale Movie Legends figures do not. I could not recommend these figures to anyone other than a collector who will leave them in the boxes, as for your children? Move on and try another action figure with more to give and don’t waste your money on these.

Breakdown Toy Rating:

Fun Factor:	A frustrating toy that falls far from the mark.
Ease of Assembly:	No assembly required
Price:	$3.99
Packaging:	A plastic shell on a cardboard backing and twist ties holding the toy inside the packaging.
Packaging Opening:	Easy.
Noise Factor:	No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child
Launch Factor:	Easily thrown and just hard enough to cause pain when hit, not as likely to damage walls etc.
Frustration Factor:	An extremely frustrating toy, likely to break apart and difficult to “transform” and maintain in a “transformed” state.
Durability:	Durable in that it is made of a hard plastic; however, pieces break off easily so while the pieces of this toy may be durable, the toy itself is not.
Educational:	Motor Skill Development and Coordination Cognitive Development
Where I found it:	ToysRUs

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Page 2 of 4

Archived Reviews

Sesame Street Giggle & Go Ernie and Cookie Monster Vehicle Pack

Disney Princess Edition Memory Game

FurReal Newborn Farm Friends Piglet

Lego Tiny Turbos 8130 Terrain Crusher

Transformers Movie Legends Bumblebee

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