 |
Batman Stealth Strike Gorilla Attack
by broxi3781
I purchased the Batman Stealth Strike Gorilla Attack Battle Pack primarily for the inclusion of Gorilla Grodd. For those of you unfamiliar with the DC Universe Gorilla Grodd is has been given super intelligence as well as telepathic powers from an alien who crashed into the jungle. Not being a very grateful sort - Grodd arranges the ... alien's death before setting out to take over the world. He originally appeared as nemesis to Flash, but has more recently appeared in The Justice League, Batman the brave and the Bold and the Teen Titans.
Our Gorilla Grodd is significantly lighter than the one shown - which is a pity as he is clearly black in the cartoons, but perhaps he is growing old and fading to grey. After all his first appearance was in a Flash comic back in 1959. Other than that though he is a well made toy. He is 5 1/2" tall and very solid. I can't imagine this toy breaking under normal play conditions. Sadly though, he does not have Grodd's trademark helmet and without this - he does not completely look the part. Still my son did choose this himself and was happy enough to accept this as Gorilla Grodd.
We do have one other problem with Gorilla Grodd though. The box clearly states "YOU SHAKE! HE BASHES". The Amazon UK site does not give a very detailed description but Amazon USA says "Shake Gorilla Grodd and watch him smash and bash with his arms ." By these descriptions we had assumed he had some type of smash action with his arms. He does not. The arms do move - though rather stiffly if you move them - but there is no button for smashing and if you shake him - he just shakes. You can imagine that he is bashing things - but that isn't quite what I took from the ad.
In addition to Grodd, this set also comes with Superman and Batman. We already had an identical Batman, but this one also came with some snap on weapons and a helmet/ mask. The weapons were meant to snap onto the hexagon shaped socked on Batman's arms, but they never did stay on well and my sons both decided they weren't worth the bother. They did like the helmet, but it constantly fell off as well. The sockets do look a bit strange in my opinion, and my son does have another, better detailed Batman from another set, but this is not a bad toy. It is sturdy and well made, it stands up easily - which many action figures do not - and he does look close enough to Batman from the Brave and the Bold series. At 5" tall though - he is taller than most of my sons action figures making him look just a bit out of place. He fits in perfectly with the Batman the Brave and the Bold series as he is intended to though. Personally, I believe the toy manufacturers deliberately make each line on a different scale to encourage parents to buy new instead of using figures from older sets, but he can still be used with the smaller Teen Titans and Young Justice figures. This toy is played with - it just isn't one of the most popular. This is not completely the toys fault - my son just uses the adult superheroes as supporting cast to the younger versions.
Superman was a bit more interesting and the only other Superman we have is one in black - so the evil Superman. Again he is a bit big at 5", but very well made and the sockets are a bit less noticeable on his figure. The blue parts of his costume are translucent - which I found odd - a see through Superman, but it catches the light nicely and my sons do like this. In addition, this being an unusual feature may make this a good choice for someone who collects Superman figures. The overall detailing is good - he is very comic book looking, but I believe this was intentional. Both Superman and Batman have cloth capes which can not be removed.
I do have a book which features Gorilla Grodd and Plastic Man - another of my son's favourites as well as Batman the Brave and the Bold DVD which features him, and more importantly he is in a few of the Teen Titans episodes. This made Gorilla Grodd a popular figure for us, and even without his helmet or any smashing power - he makes a good villain for my sons to play with it. I paid £12.99 for this set, using an Amazon voucher and feel that I have had good value for money. There are a few flaws, but at only £4.33 per figure I feel that this was a very good set. While these figures will never be as well loved as Beastboy or Cyborg, they are good extras that add to his ability to act out adventures and they do get a bit more use after watching the Brave and Bold cartoons.
At a price of £12.99 I would still give this 5 stars despite the issue with what I feel is a touch of false advertising on the box. However, Amazon is currently selling this for £30.99 which I feel is far too much - especially as you can buy the same set on Amazon USA for $13.12 - or about £6. If you are really interested in this set - it most likely would work out less to buy this through the Amazon USA site, which I have done in the past for phonics books that were not available here. You will be charged for postage - but not £24 worth of postage. At £30.99 I really would recommend this set only for a child who absolutely loves the Brave and the Bold series. I've found all action figures expensive and if the child really loves them - the price isn't too bad. Considering current prices and the minor flaws with this set I am giving this 4 stars.
Read the complete review |
|
|
Peppa Pig Medical Set
by xmum2threex
The set
My little girl adores role play toys so when I noticed this peppa pig case going for a few pound on play.com I had to get it. Not only would she love to play doctor, but it had her favourite character all over it. In the set you receive a number of different items including Stethoscope, Syringe, Thermometer, and ... Tweezers etc. There are a lot of pieces, and they are all the perfect size for a young child to use. I would say an age range of three years plus is sensible, as even small hands can use the pieces easily. My five year old son is also able to use it so it is not too small that it will be grown out of quickly.
There is nothing particular interactive with this set. They are just pieces of plastic but this does not bother my daughter as it means she can use her imagination more. The blood pressure monitor does need to be pumped while in use, so there is something for little one to do. My daughter loved all of the pieces in the set as they are the better known doctor's items. Especially as I was pregnant at the time of her receiving the set, so she was excited she could give me checkups too. She asked about the different pieces and what they do so she really was getting to learn about things as she went on.
I was a little worried when we first opened this pack as the parts all looked like they were made of really cheap plastic. I was sure that some were going to be broken within a few hours. I checked there were no loose pieces and found all was ok. This set has really surprised me durability wise. We had owned the set since Christmas 2010. Now we do not have all the pieces as some have become lost along the way, but half the set is remaining and each piece is still perfect. With the amount of use from three children this is really some test. There are scratches and creases on the set, but that is only cosmetic and it does not make it look scruffy at all.
The case is perfect for storing the pieces away for this set, but my daughter does find it hard to put all the items back in to the box. As time has gone she has lost a few pieces, so it fits better now but at first it all needed to be put in carefully. This ended up being half the fun for my daughter taking the pieces out and arranging them neatly back into the case. The case has lasted very well too. I was surprised after the amount of times it was dropped by the doctor it was still in full working order. The mouth mirror was a nice addition to the set. My son recently had to have a wobbly tooth taken out at the dentist, and he was happy for them to do it as it was just like in this set. Amazing how a toy can have such an effect on a child.
This toy is perfect for pushing the imagination. My little girl loves that she can play doctor, and she always checks we are all ok. She uses this with other toys to build doctors surgery and just generally play doctor. The pieces are all made from bright colours so are very attractive to any child. We had ours in purple and pink colour, but this did not stop my sons from playing with it. They love this set nearly as much as my little girl so it does receive a huge amount of use. There are enough pieces to hold little ones interest, and really is great fun to use.
Summary
I would recommend this set to anyone. We have found it has been well loved, and it has only received reduced use since Christmas as my little girl received a doc Mcstuffin's doctor's kit. After 2 years use it has received hours of play, and despite my first impressions has lasted amazingly well. I was lucky to find mine on sale for around £4, but they are available on Amazon for around £10. There is also a newer version available which looks interesting and more colour neutral. If your child likes role play toys, then they will love this. It helps to be a peppa pig fan but that is not a necessity.
Read the complete review |
 |
Schleich Tigress
by mikeb2102
I started to get my 3 year old daughter into animals last year, when I purchased an el-cheapo set from Toys R Us. While in T.R.U I noticed the Schleich animals, and how detailed they were, however, they were a little bit expensive for one animal and I thought if I just bought her one animal it would be pretty boring, that's why I opted ... for the cheaper set. I decided for her Xmas I would buy her some of the Schleich animals and use them as stocking fillers (how expensive did that idea turn out to be). A few months before Xmas, I bought my daughter 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea' (If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it for your child), and I decided to buy her a Schleich tiger for a little accompaniment to the book, you can't just have daddy tiger though, so I bought her the tiger cub and this beautiful product, the tigress.
== The Product ==
The Schleich tigress is a moulded plastic figure that is hand painted, so every Schleich animal is unique in design, especially when it comes to the stripes, as no two tigers in the wild have the same markings. The first thing I noticed about it, compared to the slightly larger tiger, was how feminine and petite it actually looks, so there is no mistaking this for the male. Another distinguishing feature is the detail, which includes the teats on the underside and the pads on the soles of its feet (the tigress has narrower paw pads compared to the male, this is the same as in the wild, so the research has been done when creating this figure). The tiger is displayed with its mouth slightly open, showing its sharp canines and its yellow eyes have a realistic shine to them that they look so life like. The tigress is approximately 2 and a half inches in length from nose to tail and 2 inches in height from base to the top of the head. The only thing I don't like about my daughters model is that the nose isn't painted very well, but I don't think Lily has noticed this.
== Price ==
I purchased this from amazon.co.uk for £3.15 + £2.78 delivery, I have since seen it on a site called toysandlearning.co.uk for under £5 including delivery. These prices may seem a tad expensive for a single toy animal, but it depends what you would like your child to get out of playing with them. I prefer Schleich to cheaper models, as they are so detailed and realistic. As well as doing imaginative role play, my daughter uses them as a learning tool alongside her books and nature programmes on the television.
== Verdict ==
This is a must have, especially if building up sets of animals, along with the el-cheapo set I initially bought the little one, she also received another el-cheapo set as a Christmas present and they look so out of place amongst the detailed Schleich models. I think she knows which ones look more realistic, as she doesn't really play with the el-cheapo models. She plays with the tiger family a lot more than the other animals in her collection, I think it's because they are bigger than her other cat families, true to scale. All in all this has been a fantastic purchase and once again Schleich has failed to let me down on the quality and value for money. Incidentally, the photo that is shown above is actually the male tiger and not the tigress.
Read the complete review |
