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Mike the Knight Deluxe Glendragon Playset
by princesschickpea
Knights and castles are pretty popular among young boys, and CBeebies has clearly hopped on board with their show, Mike the Knight, which is relatively new. As the title suggests, it's about a young knight-in-training named Mike, and it's actually a lot of fun. So, when I was looking for a treat for my son after a stay in hospital and ... two surgeries, I thought what better way to reward his bravery than this castle playset featuring brave Mike the Knight! I bought it during the summer, and it had only been available for a few weeks, so I paid full price for it in Argos (£29.99) but it is currently available on Amazon for £18.00.
The set is approx. 10 inches tall and 12 inches wides. It is designed to look like Mike's bedroom in the show, and his horse, Galahad's stable underneath. The backside of the playset is disappointingly not a convincing facade of the outside of a castle, as I expected. There is brick work detail, and the Mike the Knight logo but all the visible screw heads would suggest that this set is only to be played with on one side. It didn't need much in the way of construction, with only the staircase needing clipped on. This comes off for easy storage, and, I assume, to stop it getting snapped off. Likewise, Mike's bedroom door can come off rather easily, but it simply clipped back in place. This is useful as I'd rather it came off the odd time than be snapped off beyond repair.
In the show, Mike pulls a cord on his canopy bed and it flips up, allowing him to get into his armour and slide down the slide concealed under his bed, to land on his horse's back. The playset mimics this to a certain extent. The bed is lifted up manually, but stays in the upright position well untill it is put back down. Mike doesn't actually have any armour to put on - there is a sticker on the underside of the bed depicting his armour, but you can slide the little figure down the slide and into the stable. If it is possible to land the figure on the horse, we have yet to acheive it! The figure has a small square of plastic attached to his feet to help him stand, and this is inserted into a square hole on the horse's back to give the impression that Mike is riding it. The Mike figure is made of a slightly rubbery plastic, and only his arm can move. He is in his normal clothes in this set, not his armour. (It's worth noting that we also got a Mike figure in his armour separately, though he can't use the slide as he has a lance permanently fixed to his hand.)
The set came with several accessories. Galahad the horse is fixed by his back legs to a black plastic base, and is hinged so he can rear up like he does in the show. As mentioned, he has a sizeable hole in his back, though a horse blanket accessory was included, probably to cover this up. It's made of the same rubbery plastic, and was pretty swiftly lost in our house. The set also included a treasure chest and two hay bales and a feeder to put them in. The stable area of the set has some pretty nifty features, like a swivelling trophy cabinet, a trap door hiding more treasure and a mirror. It also has four points on the base where other Mike the Knight sets can be attached to it. We bought the jousting arena set later, and it came with a piece of road that let us attach it to the castle.
Overall, the quality of this set is very good. Although the castle is made with lightweight plastic, it hasn't cracked or chipped at all. The figures and accessories are all great quality too, though the horse blanket was a bit misshapen. Everything looks very much like the TV show, especially the figures. My son loves this set, and was thrilled to get it, and he spends a fair amount fo time playing with it. At the price I paid, I felt that it wasn't particularly great value, and that I was paying extra for the Mike the Knight brand. I took one star off for this reason. There's no denying that it's great for kids who love Mike the Knight and there are other sets to add to it to create a really fun play environment. I would suggest you shop around to get the best deal (Amazon seems to be the cheapest at the moment) though if your child is more into knights and castles in general rather than this particular TV show, you can get much more for your money.
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Character Options Zhu Zhu Pizza Shop
by barbie84
As with most children these days my daughters went gogo or zhu zhu pet mad. (Same thing different names, confused, yes so was I) they have been collecting these and the various bits and pieces that go with them for around two years now, since they first came out and this is just one of many piece they have.
In this set you ... get exactly what you see above in the picture but as well as this you also get a blue pizza delivery car to go with it, but as always with these add ons there are no hamsters included.
These sets don't tend to be motorised in any way so don't normally need batteries but this one does as it needs 2 batteries to operate it which are also not included. There use is to light up the [pizza oven so that your child can pretend to be cooking the pizzas.
As with all of these sets it does have to be put together when you get it out the box which may cause a few difficulties for a young child but my older daughters, aged 8 and 9 managed easily on there own.
If you already own these hamsters you will already know that the batteries don't last long in them but for this piece you do need a hamster with a fairly good battery as it needs the hamster to be at the gate whirling away to move the pizza conveyor belt.
So to conclude, all little children like to pretend to be cooking and all like animal play sets, this combines the two in one and is a great way for your child to enjoy pretend play. As always I think they are rather over priced for what they are but my daughters love them and have endless fun so it is worth it. This set could be used with just a hamster and enjoyed by a child but it is a lot more fun with the other sets to go with it so would recommend buying a few of them.
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Character Options Doctor Who - Werewolf
by -michelle-
Character Options Doctor Who - Werewolf
After recently reviewing Doctor Who's Tardis, it has put me in the mood for reviewing another toy from my son's Doctor Who collection.
The Werewolf
First of all the Werewolf came about when the Doctor and Rose Tyler arrived in Scotland 1879. Okay that's as much ... about the programme as I am going to rattle on about. I'm here to tell you about the Werewolf figure, not the TV programme after all.
So, the Werewolf figure stands about 8 to 9 inches tall, with his head tilted in the upmost position. He's made of very tough plastic and he's very hard to the touch, if he were to be thrown, I'm sure he would break something, so it's not advisable to throw him at anyone. He is quite heavy for his size. There are lots of joints on him that can be moved into various different positions;
The parts of him that move are as follows.
His head
The top of both his arms
Both his elbows and wrists
His upper torso/chest can be tilted and twisted
Tops of both his legs
His knees, ankles and Feet
Quality
I have to admit that this toy is solid, my son's had it for a few years now and it doesn't show any signs of weakness anywhere at all. The build and quality of this Werewolf figure are excellent. Not only that but I find the attention to detail on this figure rather outstanding. I can tell just by looking at it that a lot of care over the designing has gone in to it. Its colouring is several different shades of brown; at the back of him he has a tail which is rugged and bendy although it doesn't change position like many other parts of him. I really can't praise the detail on this Werewolf figure enough. The hands are tremendous, with no detail left out at all, he has really long yellowy looking claws, the same colouring as his teeth, and because his mouth is slightly open you can see all the detail there as well, right down to the gums and the tongue. I am very impressed but then I guess you gathered that already.
Displaying or Playing
He does actually stand alone and can be positioned in many different ways. My son and I have both always been really impressed with this particular figure. Don't get me wrong, most of the Doctor Who figures you can buy are of the same detail and quality, but somehow this one just seems to be so much better than the others and I would say to anyone who collects Doctor Who merchandise, should definitely have this Werewolf as part of their collection. Also, any child would be fine to play with this figure, it's just so sturdy.
Cost
This Werewolf can be picked up from many different places either online or from a physical shop. He'll probably cost you around £9.00 for a 5 inch figure, but the figure I bought my son is bigger so would cost more, I saw it on Amazon for £29.99 but I can't remember how much it was when I bought it but whatever it cost me, it was worth it.
Overall I would recommend this Werewolf figure, without a doubt it has to be one of the best made yet.
Thank you for reading my review which may also appear on other sites.
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