We have owned this toy for a good few months now, having purchased it on a whim really. I was browsing the Argos website to see if there were any good deals on toys that would suit my son having grown bored of his collection (he had outgrown quite a few of them too). I didn't really have a specific sort of toy in mind I just knew I wanted something for 18 months plus (the next milestone age he would reach) and something that perhaps he would 'grow in to'. This Pop to the Rescue toy by Tomy caught my eye as it was £7.99 with free delivery online - a sizeable discount on the RRP of £14.99 (it is currently retailing at this in Tesco and on Amazon).

The toy is effectively a garage that houses three cars, each has a separate section. On top of each section, there is a hole that houses one of the three balls. With the set comes a plastic hammer that can be used to hit the balls through the holes and in to the cars below, shooting them forward. This sets off a siren (each section has it's own) and a flashing red light on the front of the unit.

The balls in the set are weighted so quite heavy - this is so that their weight in the car propels it forward. Each ball had a friendly face painted on and a coloured 'hat' - red, blue and green. These correspond to the colour on the roof of the three parts of the garage, and the colour of the three cars. Therefore the child can match the red ball to the red garage and the red car. On the back of each car there is a white tab that needs to be pushed in when the car is placed in the garage. When the ball falls into the car, this pops out to give the car extra 'umph' in rolling forwards. In actual fact, this won't happen without this part (my son has tried many times with the car in the wrong way round)

We first let my son play with this at around 16 months of age. At this time he didn't really understand how to use the hammer, so he would just push the ball through with his hand. He managed this quite easily as there is not much resistance to this action. He loved the motion of the cars shooting forward and the noise of the sirens. Now, at 20 months he can use the hammer and loves to hit the balls through the holes using this. He is also learning his colours well and loves to match all the parts up in their colours. He does get frustrated with the cars as he is yet to learn that the tab at the back needs to be pushed in so that the cars sit neatly in their garage (and, actually this is quite stiff so, even if he realised I am not sure he would manage this). He also knocks the garage quite hard when he hits a ball with the hammer and this can knock the cars from the garage, again causing him frustration.

The toy has generally worn well. Some of the faces painted on to the balls have scratched off partially and the flap at the bottom of the garage which is used as a ramp for the cars to shoot down does come off from time to time. My main issue with the toy is how heavy the balls are. I understand why they are made that way to allow the cars to move forward but, with a toddler who loves balls (and throwing them) this is not ideal. It is hard to tell a toddler not to throw these when they are usually encouraged to throw and kick balls. It is a nice toy though and it has had plenty of use in our house. Very pleased with my bargain purchase.