BV Leisure Novelty Toys
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BV Leisure Novelty Toy Reviews
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Gnome Bowling
by Burning_Darkness BV Leisure's Gnome Bowling set is an interesting little novelty item, combining traditional garden ornaments with that great American import- ten pin bowling (or in this case, 6-gnome bowling). The gnomes are approximately 25cm high each, and made of hollow plastic, although they still retain sufficient weight to them to ... avoid blowing over in all but the strongest of winds, whilst the bowling ball, which is bright blue and fits easily within the grasp of an adult hand, is made of thick, heavy rubber. There are holes for fingers and thumb on the ball, but these are too small to be employed, meaning that they only really serve as decoration. The gnomes are all identical but are nicely painted in bright colours, and can be left out in the garden as ornaments in their own right when not in use. The main problem with the gnome bolwing set however is the relative weights of the gnomes and the ball, as well as the gnomes shapes, and the effects these factrs have on the physics of the game. Rolling a heavy bowling ball at a group of lined up lightweight wooden pins in a bowling alley is an immensely gratifying experience, whereas rolling a small rubber ball at this group of squatter, air-filled gnomes is a clunky and unsatisfying experience, for adults at least, meaning that this is one game that might entertain the young grandkids momentarily when they call round but isnt going to keep anyone else entertained at a barbecue or garden party. This is just one more novelty item that sounds great on paper but is lacklustre and dull in reality, and isnt really worth bothering with, expecially given the unneccessarily high asking price of a little over fifteen quid. Read the complete review |
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BV Leisure Candy Grabber with Music
by i_am_joy This was a Christmas gift received by my eleven year old granddaughter, the Candy Grabber is a miniature version of the popular funfair and amusements game where you direct a metal 'grabber' to hopefully pick up the prize of your choice. I believe it cost £24.99 and is available from such online stores as Firebox and Amazon, if you ... happen to see it on the high street then you may be able to pick up a bargain as I have seen then priced as low as £14.99. This one is designed to be used with sweets, although you can put anything in there which is small enough for the grabber to grip onto. The Candy Grabber does not come with sweets included, however you are advised to use plain and simple individually wrapped boiled sweets anyway so they should be straightforward enough to source. The machine is very sturdy, made of plastic I was expecting it to be a little cheap looking or flimsy but this isn't the case whatsoever and I actually think it looks wonderful sitting on the worktop in my kitchen. The basic red and silver colour scheme makes it an attractive item which I'm sure you wouldn't be embarrassed to display in your home, personally I would much rather have this toy in a communal area at home as if kept in a child's bedroom there is the ever present danger of them not knowing when to stop grabbing and eating sweets! The grabber is activated using three levers on the front of the machine; one controls the direction left to right, the second is to propel the grabber forwards and backwards while the third will allow the grabber to descend in order to pick up a sweet and then move back up. These are very simple to use, accurate and fairly responsive - almost too responsive at times when you realise you should have moved the grabber an extra millimetre to extract your prize! I think the Candy Grabber works surprisingly well for what is, in essence, a toy - although I believe this product does have a rather large following amongst the student population and is often used during parties and other adult occasions where the average participant should have more sense than to spend hours playing with the grabber. I say more sense, but this game fast becomes addictive. The first few times my granddaughters' played with the Candy Grabber I looked on in astonishment as they continued to play long after their boredom threshold should have kicked in, however after idly inserting my own coin I found I couldn't leave it alone! It becomes a battle between the human player and the grabber itself; will it let you get the sweet this time, or do you need to resign yourself to the fact that it simply refuses to grip? It's actually more than addictive, it's downright frustrating! You may be wondering why the Candy Grabber lives in my house, when it belongs to my granddaughter. The answer is very simple, my daughter cannot abide the noise the machine makes. When you put a coin or token in a traditional fairground tune will begin playing, it carries on for two minutes and when the music ends your turn is over and you have to pay again. The grabber comes with thirty plastic tokens but you can also use real coins; you might think this means the Candy Grabber would make a good money box, but unfortunately the compartment which holds the money is very small and wouldn't hold very much money. The fairground tune is not the only noise the grabber makes, if you attempt to move the grabber too far along its tracks the machine with emit an awful grinding sound which sounds extremely unhealthy. The music doesn't irritate me as it does my daughter, however the harsh grinding noise does set my teeth on edge sometimes - particularly when my youngest granddaughter tries to use the Candy Grabber, at nearly three she doesn't quite understand about the grabber physically reaching its limits. The one and only design flaw I can see is that there isn't a way to turn off the music, I can completely understand that some people would find this jangly music rather piercing and would have thought the manufacturer would have taken this into account. My son-in law suggests snipping the wires to the speaker and at times, when the girls' are having an extended play, I have been tempted but overall I don't find the music particularly jarring. A volume button would have been nice though! Although this was a gift to my granddaughter when she was ten, I suspect it's more a novelty item than a bone fide toy. She does enjoy playing it but it certainly hasn't been the hit I imagined it would be, however the adults who have visited have played with the Candy Grabber as though they've never owned a toy in their lives before! It would go down a storm at any party I think and long term I think a group of people will gain far more enjoyment from the grabber than just two children playing with it here and there, in fact I know it's a fun diversion at parties as we put it in the living room at my granddaughter's birthday party a couple of weeks ago and it was a big hit with most of the children - and a few of their dads! Morally I do have a slight problem with the Candy Grabber, in an age where children are becoming fatter than adults I think perhaps a toy which encourages you to win and eat as many sweets as possible is not the very best thing to introduce. If children are supervised then fine, but a huge sweet selection such as this would surely prove too much for the willpower of any child. I would recommend you fill the machine only halfway up for the simple reason that if you have the sweets piled too high the grabber will not work properly. However, even half filled the Candy Grabber holds an awful lot of sweets and I imagine it would prove an expensive toy over time if it were used more regularly than it is here. I have tried alternatives to boiled sweets with varying success; I thought I was onto a winner with my daughter's ancient rubber Smurf collection, the grabber found it very easy to grip them and it would literally have been a prize each time if only they hadn't stuck to the chute after the grabber released them. Last month I was given a carrier bag full of Mini Creme Eggs and those are fantastic, fairly simple to pick up with the grabber and a nice sweet to 'earn' - the problem with using these will undoubtedly be the cost, however, as any of these mini eggs are generally expensive. At the moment we are using coloured decorative glass pebbles, this is rather hit and miss as the smooth surface makes them awkward for the grabber - but they do look extremely pretty inside the perspex case. The Candy Grabber requires 3 x C batteries, which are not included. I use batteries purchased in Poundland and this powers the unit for a reasonable length of time, I certainly don't think it eats batteries as many modern toys do and I have actually been rather surprised at how long these very cheap batteries last. Read the complete review |
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BV Leisure Candy Grabber with Music
by jenjade My daughter received one of these sweet grabber for Christmas she has wanted one since playing on her stepbrothers. The candy grabber was bought from Argos for £19.98 it is red and silver. The sweet grabber came in a very attractive box it is brightly coloured with red and orange strips it shows a photo of the sweet grabber ... filled with sweets. The machine fits nicely into the box. The sweet grabber has several functions firstly you get two minutes to use your skill to pick up the article from within the machine and as time goes by the music gets faster and faster. Which is very annoying but it piles on the pressure! Some sweet grabbers do not have that function some make no noise and others do not give you a period to get a sweet. The machine is very similar it the once you find in the arcades however this sweet grabber is great as you can actually win sweets where as in the arcade you always drop them before they get to the hole. I find the music very loud and annoying. I wish this machine had a switch to stop the music as it drives me insane! The grabber goes have a button underneath which switches it off all together. The controls on the sweet grabber are three knobs, which control the grabber to make it go forwards, backwards, up, down, left and right. The grabber moves very slowly but it can be controlled very easily. The grabber itself is 3 pieces of metal that come together when the grabber is lowered to grab the sweets this seems to work very well on sweets the some extra wrapping but on solid sweets they are hard to grab also heavy sweets can make it very difficult. The machine takes both really money (5p's I think) and it comes with pretend money, which we are using. The money is inserted in the slot then you have 2 minutes to get a sweet before you time runs out. If you manage to win, a sweet when it drops out the hole in the machine there is a sensor, which stops the music ends you go, and a clapping and cheering noise will start because you have won. The is a hole in the top of the machine which has a slide on lid this is where the sweet can be put into the machine. The machine requires three C batteries, which were not supplied when we bought it. The batteries have lasted well unlike the chocolate, which we not supplied but were eaten quickly. It is important to keep the machine out of direct sunlight and away from heat, while the sweets are in there as if they get sticky and melt it will be impossible to clean it inside! The machine is very strong and robust which was surprising considering the price. It has been knocked and dropped a few times but is holding well with no damage. Overall, this machine has proven very popular with me and my 6-year-old daughter the main downfall for me is that the music cannot be switched off or tuned down. The sweet grabber is not too hard either. I am impressed by the level of skill needed it is not easy to get a sweet but it is not so hard that there is no point trying! The sweet grabber is suitable for all ages and so far, it has been enjoyed but all ages to. I would recommend getting one of these but I will soon have to think of something different to put inside as the Christmas chocolates are running low! Read the complete review |
BV Leisure Novelty Toy |
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1 review Manufacturer: BV Leisure Ltd / Novelty Toy / Includes 6 gnomes and 2 bowling balls. - For gnome haters and garden parties - gnome bowling! |
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3 reviews Novelty Toy / Brand: BV Leisure - Experience the fun of the fair in the comfort of your own home! Grab your favourite piece of candy or a small toy, using skill, dexterity and lots of patience! Plays music at while you attempt to grab your sweet. This is the small version of the candy grabber! |
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| BV Leisure Novelty Toy Recommendations 1 | ||
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