Beat The Credit Crunch. Make Your Own Money!!! Well The Choc Version Anyway!!!! (John Adams Chocolate Coin Maker)

Member Name: ickleannie

Product:	John Adams Chocolate Coin Maker
Date:	11/05/09 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fills An Hour Of Your Day

Disadvantages: Read On

My son spends a fair bit of his time watching programmes on Nickelodeon. Well lets face it Sponge Bob can be entertaining from time to time. I quite enjoy the peace and quiet actually as it gives me a chance to get a well earned cup of tea and a sit-down for a few minutes in the relative tranquillity of my kitchen. The only issue I have with this channel is that it tends to be inundated with adverts for kiddies toys most of which are a load of old rot in my opinion. We were watching this a few weeks ago and I had promised my son a new toy as he had been given an excellent school report. (I know the pressure on them starts early these days doesn't it). Anyway he was watching a glitzy advert for the John Adams Golden Coin Maker. My peace was shattered with the words "mum come and see this". Well I caught the last few seconds and I have to say I thought that it might be good fun to let him have this. We usually have 'make and do' sessions in our household where my blue peter craft making skills come to the fore as we try and make things out of old egg boxes and toilet roll tubes. What can I say these items make a mean crocodile!!!! Anyway I thought I would purchase this as it would save on the old glue and paint mess ultimately leaving my magnolia walls in a pristine condition for another day.

I shopped around for this product and was quite amazed at the variation in pricing. You can buy this item from most major toy retailers. I settled for getting mine from a private seller on Amazon which cost £12.99 including postage. Some outlets were asking £20 for the unit without postage which I thought was a little bit steep. I paid for my item which arrived literally two days later. Well I had addressed it to my son so it was waiting for him when he came back from school. There was much excitement as he opened his package which revealed his Golden Coin Maker.

The coin maker comes in a very attractive purple coloured high gloss box. It has a picture of three extremely happy children on the front and a picture of what I presumed was the coin maker and lots of gold coins and medals. There is a box in the bottom left which indicates that this toy is for children aged 6 years and above. The John Adams logo is on the top left and there is golden coloured wording which states that this is the golden coin maker with the wording underneath. Melt wrap and stamp your own chocolate coins and medals.

We took all the bits and pieces out of the box and laid them out on the kitchen table. I was actually struck by the size of the packaging compared to what was sitting in front of me on the table. A little bit excessive I thought. Anyway the items laid out consisted of a rather disappointing looking golden coin and medal factory. This was brightly coloured in red yellow and blue. It was made out of quite tough looking plastic however I was expecting something a little fancier. A chocolate coin melting unit, a collection of coin or medal moulds and rings. Moulding bases, moulding lids and moulding rings. There was also a spread and scribe tool. Ten double sided coin/medal embossing discs. Golden coin net bags and gold elastic. Gold foil sheets and milk chocolate chips. There was also an instruction leaflet which tells you how to make your delicious chocolate coins.

I have to say I was non too impressed at this point however my extremely enthusiastic six year old couldn't wait to get started. The manufacturer gives you instructions regarding what else you will need apart from the vast array of items spread out in front of you already. These include a clean work surface. A clean damp cloth an apron, a freezer, access to warm tap water and scissors. Pretty self-explanatory really however I suppose forgivable as the toy is aimed at those aged six years and above. Well we had all we needed so it was time to start making our coins.

Stage 1

As with all toys of this nature adult supervision is required at all times just in case the relatively safe components somehow manage to turn themselves into a dangerous weapon!! We placed the coin making unit on the kitchen table. It is this point that the adult helper needs to fill the melting unit with hot water. This must not be boiling water just to ensure there are no nasty accidents with your little helpers. Once done you then screw the top onto the bottle. This looks like a hot water bottle really and I suppose it fulfils the same function really. You then place this melting unit onto a flat surface (next to the chocolate coin factory would seem like a sensible suggestion at this point for easy access. You then get two moulding bases and pop them onto the melting unit, add a moulding ring to this ensuring that they fit into the grooves on the moulding base. You then place five chocolate chips into each separate base. Once they start melting you can then add a further eight more chocolate chips into each base. When the chocolate melts you can then use your spreading tool provided which will ensure a nice smooth even finish to your coin, This will also remove any lumps and bumps and air bubbles which are in your chocolate if you stir very gently. After ensuring that the chocolate has melted completely put a moulding ring on top of it pressing firmly. You then remove them from the unit completely and transfer them into the freezer so that they go suitably hard. This normally takes between ten and fifteen minutes. While this is happening you can actually make more coins as this eases the boredom. Well waiting ten minutes can feel like an eternity when you are six!!!

Stage 2

This is the stage when you finally get to use the chocolate making factory. Take a sheet of the gold foil and place a corner of it onto the cutter base. Close the lid and clamp the foil sheet into position, The lid should be held down with one hand. To cut the foil push down on the knob and turn it slowly until the cutter has gone full circle. You then lift the lid and remove the foil disc. You need to keep repeating this process and ensure that you have two discs for each single chocolate. Take the coins out of the freezer and remove them from the moulds. You then pop a foil on top of the coin maker add a chocolate coin and push the lid down firmly. Open again and the bottom of the coin will be covered in foil. Repeat the process again so that the other side is covered in foil also. You still have to stamp it with the design of your choice. For this add a moulding coin to the moulding ring and press down firmly in the coin factory. You wind the handle again and low and behold a chocolate coin will appear in the drawer. There you have it a chocolate foil covered coin. Woohoo and it only took half an hour in total to make it.

You can then continue making enough coins to add too a net bag and can tie it with the gold elastic provided. Well my son made five coins which I have to say were quite large sized and decided that that was enough as he was bored with the very repetitive process. Basically that left muggings here to tidy up the mess and do the washing up. He also decided that the chocolate wasn't very nice either so all in all although I think it filled an hour I can't see it being used again. It is now gathering dust on the bedroom shelf. A bit of a gimmick really which will go down with the other flash in the pan games which seemed like a good idea at the time!!! and will end up at the next car boot sale we do. There are refills available for your coin machine if required. There is a number provided which will tell you where to purchase these. You will get extra foil, bags and chocolate. You can also use chocolate buttons which if Cadburys would make the choc coins taste a bit nicer. Overall unfortunately a bit of an impulse buy which will not be used again.

Summary: Make Your Own Gold Coins