I may have mentioned in a number of my reviews, that my twin boys get a "little something" very regularly from relatives in particular from my parents. A large number of these toys come from ELC and those that are included in the "money off" section seem to be a popular choice. One of the toys which is in our toy box which comes under the "little something" category is the ELC Fly and Go Jumbo.


***ELC Fly and Go Jumbo***
The ELC Fly and Go Jumbo consists of a white smooth plastic plane which is about 30cm long and 20cm wide (from wing to wing). It comes with three figures to place inside of the plane. The underside and inside of the plane is made from blue plastic making it a bright and attractive toy for toddlers. At the front of the plane there is an open section with space for the pilot figure to sit in. When the figure is pressed down into the front section this makes a sound (when the toy is turned on). The main section of the plane has a large cut out section with space for the two remaining passenger figures, with space for both figures to securely fit inside of the plane. The two passenger figures are wearing brightly coloured clothing and have a very distinctive "holidaymaker" look to them. On each side of the plane are two circular windows. There is also a pull down section to store the two small moulded suitcases which come with the figures. On the bottom of the plane are four wheels which allow the plane to be pushed along. On the wings there are two red engines which when the plane is pushed along flash.

The plane has a red on off button on the bottom of the plane. This is similar to the on off function for many ELC toys where there is the off position and two on positions, one with the option of full volume and the other with half volume.

The Fly and Go Jumbo is available from ELC and Mothercare stores and it is also available online at www.elc.co.uk and www.mothercare.co.uk. The RRP for the toy is £16.00 which is averagely priced if you compare it to other vehicle toys from ELC. The toy often has a money off offer on it. My mum purchased this for my boys for £12.00 which I think makes this quite an attractive value for money toy.


***Playing with it***
Like many other ELC toys the Fly and Go Jumbo has excessive packaging and as a parent is a challenge in itself to remove from the packaging due to the number of ties holding the figures and pieces in the packaging. It is advisable to remove from packaging away from your children as it takes around 10 minutes to remove.

The plane is great for young toddler to play with. It is large enough to easily play with and put the figures in and out of the plane for uncoordinated hands but it is also not too large and heavy so toddlers can still pick it up and swoop it around and push along the floor. The plane moves easily on carpet and laminate flooring when pushed along. The figures are also very bright and attractive and my boys love to hold these and place them in and out of the plane. As a toy for imaginative play this is a great toy. When my boys first starting playing with this toy at 12 months old they simply just liked to explore the various parts and functions of the plane. At 17months they are starting to push the plane along and chatter. When my friend's older toddlers come to play and pick this toy up they really seem to take pleasure in pretending they are flying a plane and taking the passengers on holiday.

The toy has the usual on/off switch that most ELC toys have. There is the middle off button and two on settings; one on half volume and another on full volume. Personally I always set the button to half volume because as a parent the sound is loud enough for your child to hear it but not so loud that it makes excessive noise. On full volume the sounds made by the Fly and Go Jumbo get very annoying!

The plane has two main noises. When you press down a figure in the front section of the plane (or just press the button where the figure slots into) it makes the sound in a clear English accent of "this is your captain speaking, please fasten your seatbelts for take-off" which is very realistic. The second noise is the main issue for me. If you tilt the plane back it makes a take-off engine noise. This is fine if your child only tilts the plane back for a short time. However what often happens is my boys knock the plane over then crawl off to play with something else. This leaves the plane in "take off" mode meaning the engine noise is constantly sounding and does not go back until it is placed flat on the floor.

Aside from the noises and "take off" function" the plane in my opinion has two disadvantages. The first being that the hatch at the back of the plane where the suitcases go is difficult to open for young a toddler which causes some frustration for my boys. You need to put your finger under a small ridge in order to pull the hatch open. This takes some skill for an adult so for a child under 2 almost impossible. This in our case has resulted in the two suitcases that come with the toy being lost in our vast collection of toys. This does not have an impact on the function of the toy but a minor annoyance as I like to keep the parts of various toys together.

The plane and figures are extremely durable. My boys play rough and the figures have been constantly chewed for the last 5 months and there are no teeth marks on the figures. The plane has been dropped from the sofa onto wooden flooring and no damage was suffered, and the plane is still intact and fully functional noise wise. The plane is very easy to keep clean and you can wipe it over with a damp cloth. Because of the sections within the inside of the plane dirt can get trapped inside of the plane.

The plane takes 2 AA batteries which come supplied with the plane. After 5 months we have not yet had to replace these batteries even though it is played with daily. I think this is impressive as a number of our ELC toys require the batteries changing after around 3 months.


***Overall***
I would not say this is the best ELC toy in our vast collection, however I would say the Fly and Go Jumbo is one of the better examples. It is well made and designed for younger and older toddlers to play with. It is large enough to make it easy for small hands to put the figures it comes with, in and out of the plane seats but not too large that a young toddler could not pick up. The sounds and features of the toy makes it a great vehicle for imaginative play and my boys at 17 months old love to place the figures in and out of the plane. Although the passenger figures no longer have plastic suitcases. Because the suitcases these two figures come with are so small they are very easy to lose, but not so small that they present a choking hazard to young children.

For parents (and other adults) the on/off switch is a saviour when it comes to this toy as it does get VERY annoying when the take-off sound gets stuck on. As much as my boys love playing with this toy, the whirring sound of the jumbo "taking off" does get pretty annoying and is probably the main disadvantage of the toy!