Noddy has the worst sense of direction!! (Golden Bear Noddy Draw and Drive)

Member Name: Rockmaiden

Product:	Golden Bear Noddy Draw and Drive
Date:	10/01/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The car plays a tune which my children liked.

Disadvantages: Dosn't work as it should, not suitable for the age it is aimed and and the black pen is just stupid

I bought this for my son as a christmas present.

I paid £20 which I thought was very reasonable seeing as the exact time toy but Thomas the Tank Engine rather then Noddy was £35. It just shows how much of the price is all too do with brand name and desirability. None the less my son is a Noddy fan and so it was the Noddy one I went for.

Included in the box is a decent sized wipe clean mat with a toy town map printed on it, a black Noddy pen complete with refills, a sponge to clean the mat with and of course Noddy and little red and yellow car.

You have to insert 3 AAA batteries and then the idea is that you draw a line on the map and Noddy follows it singing the Noddy theme as he goes. Sounds like fun.

So out it all came ready to play. The first thing that surprised me was the black marker pen. The words black marker pen just don't mix well with 4 year old and cream sofa so I decided there and then that it would be much more fun to play with it in the kitchen. Wipe clean tiles and cupboard there, phew!! The Thomas the Tank Engine version of this toy, I later found out, does not use a marker pen but a water filled one onto a special absorbant mat which sounds more more sensible considering this is a toy aimed at pre-schoolers.

My son drew the route round the map and off Noddy went .....
..... in completely the opposite direction???
A little confused by Noddy's sense of direction I pulled out the instructions to see where I had gone wrong. That's when I found out just how fussy Noddy is.

It turns out that Noddy will not follow a line that is too thin or too thick. Lines that are not solid are out of the question as are wavy lines, corner's, zig-zag's and bends. In fact the only thing he will follow is a perfectly even straight line approximately 4 mm thick according to the leaflet enclosed. Now try explaining that to a child.

So after wrestling the pen from my frustrated child I decided drawing the line was definately an adults job. 'How will Noddy get home if he can't go round corner's?' my elder daughter asked. Well considering the roads on the map are quite curved the simple answer is, he can't. So I drew a perfectly straight, reasonable thickness line and put Noddy at the start ready to be amazed at him following it, and guess what? ....

He went in completely the opposite direction!!!!

Now I must admit I did have a ruler to check the line was exactly 4 mm's thick and the line may of been slightly diagonal but this is ridiculous!!

The box clearly states he follows the line.

I phoned the manufacturer to complain and was told that I must be drawing the line wrong. Oh I'm so sorry I told them, I didn't realise there was a correct way to draw a line. Especially not to the age of children this is aimed at.

To anyone considering this product I would say give it a miss and get the Thomas one instaed, I hear it's much better.

Oh and to those that are wondering. The black marker pen as it turns out, does not wash out of clothes and take a really good scrub before you get it off hands and faces too.

Summary: A complete waste of money.