The Final TRU Review

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At the start of the Toys R Us Toyology 2011 programme, I said that I wanted to donate some of the toys we were given to review and I have done this as and where possible with appropriate toys; to playgroups, to friends, etc.

At the end of the programme, The Boy and Me (ha, see what I did) have been given the chance to donate an entire box of toys to a cause that we feel would benefit from it, and is close to our heart. The very generous companies who are involved in the Toyology programme have put together this fantastic box of toys for the children who benefit from Tŷ Hafan Hospice's respite care for children suffering from life-limiting and terminal illnesses.

 

The box includes:

 The 400+ families whose children that benefit from the care of the staff at Tŷ Hafan since 1999, live with the dreadful reality that their children with life-limiting conditions may not reach the age of 19. These precious children suffer from various conditions, such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis and Celebral Palsy. Tŷ Hafan is not part of the health service and therefore any donations, monetary or other items, are always helpful to make the children's lives better. One of the facilities that Tŷ Hafan offers is play therapy sessions and it is to one of these that we are taking the above box of toys on Saturday morning.

If you would like to donate to Tŷ Hafan, then please click this link.

PlayMobil Grande Mansion (A TRU Review)

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And so to the final Toys R Us review from us as 2011 Toyologists. I might have a little sniff once I've pressed publish!

Please excuse the length, but this is a big and expensive item worthy of a detailed review. We're very lucky to have been sent the PlayMobil Grande Mansion and the seven room sets to furnish it.

The PlayMobil Grande Mansion is designed like a French large townhouse on three levels (additional floors are available to buy). There is an exterior to the house with steps leading up to the front doors, an opening postbox, a working doorbell, balconies on each floor (I haven't attached the hanging flowers as this toy is intended for 4years+ and The Boy is 2), windows and shutters. On the inside of the house is a spiral staircase connecting the three floors together.

Constructing the house took a while: there are many different sections, plugs to join walls and floors together, similar parts and fiddly bits. However, I was making this with The Boy present who was desperate to get to grips with it. It took me two hours (eight episodes of Poppy Cat and three of Peppa Pig) to finish it, so I would recommend making this before giving it to your child!

As a child, I always wanted a playhouse, and my dad once made me a wooden Barbie house for my birthday. This is no Barbie house, this is the next generation of playhouses and being PlayMobil it is most definitely unisex. I even had a discussion on twitter (more of that later) as to whether people thought that a playhouse was exclusively a girls' toy, and the general consensus was a resounding no!

The Boy absolutely adores his house, it is without a shadow of a doubt, the one toy that he plays with every single day for a sustained period of time. For the first week, he literally played with nothing else and I have had to bribe him away at times to play with the other toys in order to review them. The learning opportunities and possibilities to develop his understanding of the world around him are extensive, and his imagination has developed no end in the last month since it arrived.

There are seven room sets which can be bought to furnish the Grande Mansion, and (nearly) all of them are excellent quality and value for money. The accessories included are really detailed and comprehensive. However, if you wanted to build up the collection of rooms slowly and when finances allowed there are one or two that you could leave out initially.

PlayMobil Kitchen (£19.99)

This room is essential and one of the best value room sets. With a fridge-freezer, cooker, dishwasher, sink and extra opening cupboards it's really detailed. There is also a 'breakfast bar', two chairs and a highchair, coffee machine, plant, crockery and  cutlery, tins and packets of food, a dog, a dog's bowl, a nana and a baby. There's even a chicken to roast in the oven! The Boy is forever acting out the grown-ups cooking tea and loading the dishwasher afterwards, although the fact that the adults only ever cook pizza is slightly telling! This is a must room-set, although it has a lot of little pieces which could get easily lost. For safety, I haven't given them to The Boy yet.

Something to note is that the cupboards don't attach to the wall and move easily. I've used double-sided tape to fix them to the walls. I can cope with them now!

PlayMobil Dining Room (£9.99)

The dining room is one of the rooms that you could come to last, if at all. To be perfectly honest I'm not entirely sure what it adds that isn't covered by the kitchen. There is a table and four chairs (the kitchen set has a breakfast bar and two chairs), four ice-cream sundaes and spoons (food is provided in the kitchen set), a plant (?!), a jug and four mugs, and a male adult figure. The space allocated for it in the house isn't huge and is also right at the bottom of the staircase, so it's a little crowded. It's difficult for The Boy to sit the figures on the chairs and tuck them under without him knocking off the other people, and the food bits are too small for him to play with at the moment.

PlayMobil Living Room (£17.99)

This is essential to have in the house, and is good value for money. The set comes with a three-seater sofa, an armchair, a television, a tv stand with opening cupboards, a dvd player, cd player and video (which I've fixed into place with double-sided tape), two plants, a vase of flowers, a coffee table, a fire which glows when the button is pressed (also fixed to the wall), a cat and basket, a grandad (looks just like The Boy's grandad), a caraffe and a glass. At the moment, The Boy is too young to be able to handle the caraffe, glass, vase of flowers and small plant, so I've put them away. A really good set which I'd recommend.

PlayMobil Parents' Bedroom (£15.99)

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking there's not much in this room set considering the price, but the two bedside lights light up and that makes it completely worth the money! There's also a wardrobe with opening doors and a drawer, a vanity table with a turning mirror and chair, an alarm clock, and a mummy (that look a bit like me, although I'd love her eyelashes!). The Boy is captivated with the working LED lights and puts the mummy and daddy to bed at night. A perfect set, although mildly annoying that the mummy can't lay flat on her back due to her ponytail sticking out.

PlayMobil Children's Room (£19.99)

An essential room to buy but full of tiny pieces that are fiddly and unsuitable for under the recommended four years of age due to chocking hazards. You can't fault this room for value for money though as there is so much in it. The two children's beds can be kept separate as twin beds or stacked on top of each other as bunk beds, which is what I've done. Even better is that there are dips in the mattresses for the two provided children to lie down properly. There is a wall shelf, a high drawer unit, a table and chair, an underbed box, a guinea pig cage with two guinea pigs, a farm set with tiny figures, a boat, a fortress, musical instruments and a teddy. There is so much in this room, you can't not get it. Be warned though, the farm pieces are incredibly small and I see them getting lost very easily.

Playmobil Nursery (£11.99)

This is one of those rooms that you could come to towards the end of building the room sets up. In the set is a cot with canopy (pink, how sexist! I've removed the canopy), a changing table with opening doors, a mobile to fit on the change table (although I've put it above the cot), a dad, a baby, a plant (they're obsessed with flora), various bottles and potions to 'help' with changing the baby's bottom, a few toys and a potty. The potty is the smallest piece which I'm happy to have out (although we've temporarily misplaced it) and The Boy loves it because of his potty training journey in the Summer. Unfortunately, the baby provided is also another girl baby (like the one in the kitchen), so I've had to buy a boy baby in order to have a The Boy in the house.

PlayMobil Bathroom (£17.99)

This one's brilliant! I'd highly recommend this one's bought because of the value for money. Provided in the set is a toilet with moving lid, a bath with overhead shower (which detaches), an opening wall cupboard with mirror, a sink with an opening cupboard underneath, a chair, a plant (another one!), a towel, a female figure with underwear on and a plastic wrap around towel, and various tiny toiletry bits. The Boy is constantly giving the figures a bath and then drying them with the towel, or sitting them on the toilet and pretending to use the toilet paper. A definite must!

Taking into account the price of the house (£99.99) and the cost of the room-sets, all in all this amounts to what seems like an expensive toy. However it is worth it. It's aimed at 4-10year olds and I can see The Boy playing with this for years to come. Already it is his favourite toy and he has played with it every day for the past five weeks. Break that down into cost per day over the years it is used, and all of a sudden it is an investment for the future.

Would I recommend this?

Without a moment's hesitation.

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We were provided with these toys for the purpose of the review. Our opinion is honest and unbiased. Now where's the tissues? 

Orchard Toys: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (A TRU Review)

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I'll make no bones about it, I adore Orchard Toys games, there is not a single one I don't think highly of. We've built up a sizeable collection of different games this year and they are played, and loved, regularly. Our penultimate review as a Toyologist family is for the Orchard Toys Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes game.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes is a simple turn-taking game suitable for 3years+. The Boy is two and a half years old and coped with the basic principle of the game with no problem at all.

Of course the best bit about any Orchard Toys game is the popping out of the pieces to start with!

1) There are 32 body parts cards which have to be placed figure side down and coloured circle side up.

2) Assemble the jigged game boards. There are four in total, and they show the eight different body parts that are mentioned in the song.

3) Spin the coloured spinner to land on one of the four colours.

4) Pick up one of the coloured cards matching that colour.

5) If you haven't got that body part card, lay it down on your board. If you have, return it to the pile, and miss your turn.

6) The winner is the person who has all the body parts covered first.

Afterwards, the winner must sing the song of the game:

The rules supplied by Orchard Toys suggest additional rules which can make this more challenging for older children. In addition there are also four 'wild' cards which show all body parts on the card. When these are picked up then they can cover any body part on your board. I didn't use these because I felt the concept was too hard for him to understand at the moment.

One of the best things about Orchard Toys games are the educational guides that are on the back of each box. This is no exception:

  • Develops colour matching skills (pre-Maths skills)
  • Reinforces rhyming skills (Oracy development)
  • Reinforces naming and recognition of body parts (Scientific development)
  • Encourages memory and turn-taking (Logical development)

The pieces are, as always, sturdy and attractive, and the spinner moves easily (always a bonus). As with many Orchard Toys games, the rules are adaptable for the needs of the child. It's a fun game which can be played in a short amount of time or in more detail. This is a complete and utter winner with us!

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We were sent this for the purpose of the review. Our opinion is honest and unbiased. Oh and I had to bribe The Boy with chocolate to sing the song for the video.

Chuggington Interactive Puffer Pete Steam Around Set

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The Boy loves Chuggington at the moment and he gets very excited about whether or not the episode that is on is a 'normal' episode (the morning one) or a 'special' episode (the 'badge quest' one on at teatime). Therefore when I opened up the Toys R Us box last month, I was excited to see the Chuggington Interactive Puffer Pete Steam Around Set.

Designed using Smark Talk technology, this train set features engines which recognise and talk to other engines, as well as being picked up by specific buildings and accessories with sensors and the same technology in it. That in itself is a massive bonus and draw to this set. Having tested the more traditional wooden style railway with normal engines, to hear Puffer Pete declaring that he loves being back in the Ol' Town when he gets to the station, was a novel and quite attractive feature.

The other selling point (from the manufacturer) of this train set is that it features 'real' steam from the water tank and chimney in the station. Water was involved in this process, but it's not a hot steam so it's quite safe and won't burn little ones. The other reason that it won't burn your child is because the amount that comes out is so minute that there's no danger (look at the video to see what I mean). Bearing in mind the packaging shows a bucket-load of steam billowing forth, this is misleading and a bit pointless in all honesty.

On this set, as opposed to the Under and Over, the track pieces are plastic and not interchangeable with the wooden set. I personally think this is a shame because it limits the play possibilities with it. The pieces don't have any electrics hidden in them so there's no reason for them not to be compatible.

As The Boy has had a lot of new toys recently to play with, and will be having even more in a week's time, we decided to test this ourselves and donate this to Ty Hafan, Children's Hospice. My husband was told to unleash his inner child and have fun with it. An hour later I popped my head in through the dining room doorway to check on him; he was still setting it up having had difficulty getting it out the box and fasten the track pieces together. This is a 36 year old man. My son is two years and I don't hold out much hope of him constructing the track himself (unlike the wooden set). The track pieces click together and once joined are fairly sturdy which is a bonus, especially on the raised sections.

One of the additional features of this set is the turn table so that Puffer Pete can go one of two ways around the track. It isn't stiff, it's really easy to turn and works well. It could do with being bigger though as Puffer Pete has a hopper wagon joined on the back but the pair of them can't fit on it together.

And so finally to the carriages. I like the fact that Puffer Pete has a bank of sayings and that he can interact with the buildings and accessories. There is a small light on his top which flashes when he's picked up the signal, or there's a button on the top too to make him speak or 'choo-choo'. This is clever and I'm impressed with it. I was disappointed that there was only one carriage included in the pack as the product description says: "Destinations recognise and interact with interactive engines. This magical open ended play system includes over 300+ sounds and phrases (when used with other Chuggington interactive products)…" However, each of the other engines are £9.97 so it's quite pricey to see the 300+ sounds!

All-in-all it's a good set. It usually retails for £49.99 but Toys R Us have it on sale for £34.99 at the moment which I think is a far more realistic price for the products that you get.

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We were provided with this for the purpose of this review. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.

To Infinity, and Beyond! (TRU Review)

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Mr. TheBoyandMe and I love Toy Story. Absolutely adore it! I've tried to get The Boy to watch it but he won't go for it at the moment (secretly I don't think Woody is a very nice toy, he's a bit naughty at times! Also the neighbour is really nasty! EVIL!) and so Woody and co. are stuck at the back of the DVD cupboard for a year or two.

Therefore when Toys R Us delivered a Buzz Lightyear to be reviewed I wasn't quite sure what would happen. I needn't have worried; The Boy adores Buzz. Absolutely and completely and utterly! Buzz is his new best friend.

Ok, so for the technical bit. We were sent a Toy Story Andy's Collection Buzz Lightyear. Apparently there are a couple of different types which I wasn't aware of until my extremely jealous five year old nephew clapped eyes on the Space Ranger. This one is better than his because he says a lot more and his fingers move apparently. Buzz's helmet can open and close, his legs and arms are jointed (although a little stiff, some lubrication wouldn't go a miss), he has an opening panel on his arm so he can talk to Star Command, and the best bit is that his wings pop open and flash! In addition, he has sensors so that he knows whether he's flying or standing and therefore makes appropriate noises for that action.

That's not the only way he can interact with the 'child' playing with him. I was chasing The Boy with him earlier and being a little vocal: Buzz told me off for shouting because he could hear me and I needed to quieten down. Chastised by a toy! After a little while of not being played with, Buzz calls out asking if anyone is there. He'll repeat this a few times more and then declare he's going into hypersleep mode, or standby as us humans call it.

On his chest are three coloured buttons. The red activates his 'toy' mode (a bit boring), the blue his 'space ranger' mode, and the green is the interactive mic feature. The space ranger mode is the one where most fun can be had as he seems to come alive and reprimands you for opening his helmet without his permission. Buzz also has a moving head; it is motorised so he can look around and talk to you.

He really is amazing and I won't have a word said against him: he's a real hero!

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We were sent this item for the purpose of this review. Our adoration of Buzz is genuine and unbiased.

Chuggington Wooden Over & Under Starter Set (A TRU Review)

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Recently The Boy has become obsessed with train sets. He knows all the characters in Thomas the Tank Engine, has a vast selection of wooden train track and makes me set them out in a variety of different styles. He honestly makes me. Ok, you've forced it out of me, I enjoy seeing if I can get as many different combinations down as possible. He stands there looking at me bemused.

However, when we opened our last box from Toys R Us to discover that there was a Chuggington train set inside, I'm not sure who was more excited! He adores Wilson and Koko, and Chuggington is his 'poison' of choice at the moment, watching it religiously every morning. I was ecstatic because there was a funky tunnel and hill set included in the 22-piece set.

The set is designed to be put together in a figure of eight-ish layout with a bridge section which also creates a tunnel for the track to go back through. The bridge is actually a clocktower and the top of this can be taken off and placed elsewhere to become another tunnel (this is best because it falls off anyway). Each of the wooden track pieces is made of good quality wood, finished well with no rough edges and are also embossed with joins and bolts to make them look more authentic. A rarity with these sets, but in the Chuggington set even the straight pieces have the grooves for the trains to travel along. The clocktower is made of tough plastic and is good quality. Sensibly the piece of track that uses this bridge is glued firmly into position.

In the set comes two carriages (Wilson and Koko) and Vee, the tannoy system. While Vee is cute, it really is just for decoration and doesn't have a function. Wilson and Koko are very good quality carriages and of a standard size: a bit longer than a crayon. They also have their names printed on the bottom of their quality wooden carriage, the finish is excellent.

This is a brilliant set, but I have one issue with it: the carriages fall off the track when they come down the bridge.

Trust me, we did extensive scientific research into this:

Our conclusion was that based on the size and weight of the carriages they're too big and top-heavy to stay on the track to be able to go around the curve on the suggested layout. In addition the angle of the incline is steeper than in the standard Brio set which means that the carriages are travelling slightly faster. It's a minor thing, but this basic flaw in the engineering has really irritated me. For the price, it should be perfect.

This is a good starter set which is made of high quality materials with an excellent finish. The carriages are chunky and robust, the track pieces realistic. The fact that it is branded with Chuggington has inflated the price to £39.99 and in all honesty I'm not sure I'd pay that much.

Chuggington Wooden Over and Under Starter Set is available for £39.99 from Toys R Us.

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We received this set for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

TRU Review: Elefun Poppin' Park

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When we opened up the box this month and I saw this toy aimed at tiddlers from 9 months old, I spent a while trying to think of any babies that we knew who would like it. I failed because, just like The Boy, they've grown up and are now all two years plus. In the end, I decided to get it out of the box and let him try it out.

This is where the first negative of this toy comes into effect. But let me reassure you, there are only two; one is over the minute you get it out the box, the other isn't that big an issue.

Getting the Elefun Poppin' Park out of the box is easier said than done. I wouldn't normally comment on something so mundane, but I think you need to know this or you are going to lose valuable time on Christmas (or a birthday) morning, getting irritated and having a baby who will quite possibly cry with desperation to play with it. There is a ridiculous amount of ties and sellotape holding the Elefun into the even more ridiculous amount of carboard. It took a full fifteen minutes to just get it out of the box. Then there was the small amount of assembly; click the steps on the base on (easy enough) and push the ears into place. Ha! Both Mr. TheBoyandMe and I struggled with this, but eventually (just before I was going to throw it out of the window in exasperation) it decided to relent and allow us.

And so to the toy. It's simple enough, but very effective. There are five plastic balls which you put into the Elefun's solid ear. Once you press the red button on his 'hand' (paw, hoof?) and the air flow starts, they get sucked up into his head and shoot out of his trunk.

Once the balls come out of the trunk there are a couple of different options of where they go based on the direction that the trunk is pointing in; they can either shoot out randomly into the room which would be good for encouraging crawling babies to get moving, or down through the ear with a hole in it to the pouch in the Elefun's tummy, or into the other ear and back up through the trunk creating a continuous loop.

In watching the video, hopefully you'll see my only other negative with this toy: the noise. If you've followed my reviews, you'll know that I've got a low noise-threshold (how, with my son, I'll never know!) and therefore something like this is a little irritating. It sounds like a hairdryer on constantly, and almost drowns out the music which is played. However, after a while you learn to live with it.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this toy, because The Boy adores it and is still playing with it on a daily basis months later. I think it appeals to different ages and abilities on many levels: sitting-up babies, crawlers, cruisers and toddlers. Oh and five year old boy-cousin quite likes it too!

A winner, and at £24.99 I think the Elefun Poppin' Park is a well priced toy to provide hours of fun for babies for quite a long time!

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We were provided with this item for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest, and unbiased.

TRU Review: Fast Wheels RC

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My initial reaction for the Fast Wheels RC was positive. Then I started to undo the packaging which was a nightmare in itself and my opinion was tainted. There is no need for the packaging to be that difficult to remove from a toy, especially one aimed at six year olds and over who might be attempting to free their 'snazzy' car from its confines.

I'm not one to stick to age limits on toys, which is why this morning The Boy has been playing with a toy aimed at nine month olds, alternated with the iPod Touch. I genuinely thought he could have handled this; push the levers and the car moves. However, when I saw my 36 year old husband having difficulties getting to grips with it, I decided against letting The Boy play with it. Instead I gave it to my nearly six year old nephew.

It's a tricky car to navigate. Usually on remote-control cars, there are two joysticks to control forward/backward and left/right. The Fast Wheels RC has two joysticks which each control one of the wheels and go forward/backward only. Therefore to get the extremely plasticky car to move forward, you have to move both levers forward. If you want it to turn, then one gets pushed forward more than the other. It's difficult to figure out.

Generally the quality of the product does not justify the pricetag of £19.99. I would have hoped for a metal die-cast car at least for that price, and certainly a better manufactured remote-control. If you have a limited budget and spend half of it on this toy, you'll have wasted your money. I personally think this looks and handles like something that you'd buy from a market-stall. I'm not impressed, but then I'm not a six year old little boy.

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We were provided this free of charge to review. My opinion is, as always, honest.

TRU Review: Rainbow Scraper Fun

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When I was a child I used to love those scratchy pictures. You know the ones, they were all the rage at the time: a black board and you scratch off the coating to reveal a copper or silver base making a pretty picture. They had a scraper in the shape of an old-style fountain pen with a metal nib. If you were a klutz like me, then you may have cut yourself on it.

However, twenty years later, they've been improved and are far more user-friendly, mainly because they've got a plastic scraper now which is far more safe. We received some Rainbow Scraper Fun sets to review from Toys R Us, and quite frankly while The Boy was busy with his Sing-a-ma-jigs, I got busy making a pretty picture!

What do you think so far? I haven't finished of course, the rest of the silver areas need scratching off.

The Reeves Rainbow Scraper Fun setscome with a practise board and a picture to uncover, along with the safe scraper (no accidents for me this time!). It really is as simple as it seems and does what it says on the packet. The colours are vibrant and pretty, although possibly a little random. For example the rainbow effect looks brilliant for the parrot but odd for the cloud. But then I'm 34 and not 6 or 7!

The kits are aimed at 4yrs+, and I'll be honest that I think this is too young. I can't honestly see a child younger than 6 years being able to manage to scrape the foil covering off. It requires quite precise movements, and even I (with my tender years) managed to veer off the track.

Generally a great buy for a little girl, especially at Christmas. It would definitely make a change from the chaos to sit down and enjoy this for an hour or two.

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We were provided this free of charge to review. My opinion is, as always, honest.

TRU Review: Sing-a-ma-jigs

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The Boy is currently playing Hide and Seek. He usually plays it with Mr. TheBoyandMe, but he's found some new friends to play it with. Thing is, they're almost as rubbish as him at it, because just when he's looking for them, one of them chirrups "bye-bye!" and gives the game away.

Trust inanimate objects to not know how to play properly!

Before I introduce his new friends to you, let me explain that I hate noisy toys. Hate and detest. And so when I heard that TRU were sending me three such toys, I almost wept. And then I reached for a very strong coffee.

What are they?

They are The Sing-a-ma-jigs.

Weird looking things aren't they?

However, they are one of the hottest toys for Christmas and within thirty seconds of getting them out of the box I completely understood why, and all three of us have fallen in love with them. Yes, even Mr. TheBoyandMe. And I don't know if it was some coincidence that TRU sent us three, but it's just as well because we have one each. Mine's the one on the right.

The Sing-a-ma-jigs are soft toys about eight inches high. When you press their tummies, they change the shape of their mouths and 'sing'. And they really do appear to sing a range of musical notes, each Sing-a-ma-jig is at a different pitch. There are three functions (which are changeable by pressing their left hand); singing a song, chatter (jibber-jabber) and harmonising with each other. I don't know how that one works, but it does appear to!

We love them and even though I hate noisy toys, I love these. After all, they're not noisy; they're musical!

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We were provided this free of charge to review. My opinion is, as always, honest.

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