This Toy Story three wheeled scooter is something we bought for our son last December with a view to it being part of his third birthday gifts. We had seen it on offer in Wilkinson's at half price for £12.50 and given this was something we had thought to buy it seemed too good a bargain to pass up. It laid gathering dust in the garage till his birthday when we got it out for him. I hadn't looked at the scooter in the box prior to this so thought it was coming ready assembled but it didn't. It instead came in several pieces to be built.

Assembly
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I have to say was surprisingly easy to out together the scooter the instructions included in the pack were very clear and easy to follow. There was a small spanner type of gadget included but I found this to be inadequate for the job really as it didn't seem to grip properly so I just used one we have and this worked a treat. As we assembled the pieces we found that two parts were missing one was a cap to hold the rear wheels in place and the other was the plaque that sits at the front of the scooter on the handles. As I didn't have the receipt from Wilkinson's I decided to contact HTI the company that imports the scooters and was listed on the instruction leaflet to contact for customer services. When I phoned up I left message with my name and details of the enquiry I was contacted back the same day by a lovely lady who arranged for the items to be sent to me with no fuss at all and I have to say I was impressed with this level of customer service. Once these final bits arrived our scooter was good to go and our son couldn't wait to get going.

In use
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As my son is a massive Toy Story fan he couldn't wait to get going on his Buzz scooter as he called it. The foot plate is a yellow green colour with images of Buzz Woody slinky and others down the sides. My son spent some time initially admiring all the Toy Story images on the scooter, these ones on the foot plate seemed to capture his imagination a lot as did the plaque at the front. This is a plastic plaque that is a squished kite shape I think the best way to describe it. On the front of the plaque there is Woody, Buzz, the pig and Slinky and the little green aliens, these aliens are also in a shadow detail on the front. The plaque clips easily on to the front of the scooter and can be detached. My son seems to like these images and though he doesn't stand and admire them now in the same way as he did a few months ago he does point them out to people if they come round and they have seen his scooter before. The Toy Story branding seems to work well as it is referred to as his Buzz and Woody scooter by him.

The foot plate does appear to be wider than standard two wheel scooters and it has some raised bumps on it to aid with gripping. As it is wider it does seem to make it easier for my son to put his feet on to it and remain balanced. What it also allows is when he has some speed up to put both feet onto the foot plate comfortably. The foot plate at times has looked a little grubby if he has had muddy feet but it always has washed down very easily and hasn't discoloured to date or being badly scuffed or broken. The scooter and foot plate seem to be able to take a reasonable amount of weight as it has been used by visiting children up to 6 years old and my husband who is the wrong side of 12 stone has also had a go and it has taken his weight without buckling or breaking. Given that the weight recommendation is 20KG I think this is very good and shows it as a quality product.

The handle is height adjustable and we don't have this on the lowest setting for my three year old but there is still plenty of growing room in it. When you are assembling the scooter this is when you sort the height of the handle bars out and it was easy to do. I am confident that there is enough height left in the handle bars for the scooter to last another couple of years.

The handles on the handle bar are marketed as easy grip; they are quite chunky in design and have a nice feel to them. As they are chunky my son's hands don't go all the way round the handles but the grip on them and how he holds them appears to be good as he never has lost his grip on his scooter even when going fairly fast.

The wheels to this scooter are red with clear outer this does mean that the outer parts can attract dirt and look grubby very quickly. I was worried that because the outer part is clear that this would get scratched easily and look grubby but that doesn't appear to be the case though there are a few scratch marks they still remain overall very smooth and there has been no lumps or chips in the wheels. Even with a few minor scratches the wheels still run very well.

As this scooter has three wheels it is very stable which I personally think is great as at 3 my son still is learning about balance and co ordination on scooter, bikes and the like. He has taken the occasional tumble though off the scooter this has generally being in relation to him crashing into things rather than him tipping over due to lack of balance after the first day when he a few falls as he got used to how to worked. The scooter itself is really stable and with it having three wheels this remains upright when not in use. The scooter is also sturdy without being overly heavy and its light enough for my son to lift it into position ready for him to get going on it but it is light enough that if I have to carry it back from the park if he wants to walk rather than ride it home that I don't end up crippled carrying it.

In regards to the fun factor of this scooter it definitely appeals to my son and he uses it in the garden every-time we go out to play and it seems to appeal to other children too as when he has friends round we have to make sure everyone takes turns nicely which I think is a sign of a fun and popular toy.

The scooter has alternated between living in the garden and the garage on the times it has been left out over night we have noticed no damage to the stickers and Toy Story designs on the scooter which I am pleased about

Overall and recommendation
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This is a great scooter for young children 3 and above and I would definitely recommend it for the following reasons. It is well made and sturdy in design and it is easy to assemble and if bits are missing I found the company to be helpful in sending them to me without any quibbles. The 3 wheel design allows young children to gain confidence in scooters whilst reducing the risk of falls. As a chunky 3 wheel version this one isn't really suitable for older children who like to do tricks but my son enjoys using it and can get a reasonable speed on it. The Toy Story design of it is popular with my son and he likes showing the design off to friends. It is still available from some on line retailers such as Very Amazon and Tesco but the price at present is £25.