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JCB Chunky Trucks Set
by rlc2281
Knowing that my son has an obsession with all things building and tools related, my brother bought these diggers for his second birthday.
- What do you get?
As described on the box, this item contains a large JCB digger and a large JCB dumper truck, each measuring approximately 22cm wide x 37cm long and 20cm tall. ... They are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Despite being relatively large, they're not designed as ride-on toys.
They are made from plastic and are very distinctive in the JCB yellow brand colour with large black wheels, and in the case of the digger, a large black scoop on the front.
They are exclusive to the Early Learning Centre and are currently selling for £12.50 as part of their sale (RRP £35). I have seen them for sale both in store and online.
They are not suitable for children under 3 years of age due to small parts, although I cannot actually see any small parts and I'm happy for my son to play with them at the age of 2.
- Are they any good?
When he had opened enough of his present to see what it was, he gleefully declared "DIGGERS!!!" in a very loud voice and unsurprisingly wanted to play with them that very second. In common with most other children's toys, getting them out of the box wasn't entirely painless as there were a few of the obligatory cable ties standing in the way of my eager 2 year old and his new favourite toys. Luckily they weren't tied in excessively and, as they are manual toys, he was playing with them within a couple of minutes of ripping off the paper.
My first impressions of the trucks is that they're quite large, and they appeared very sturdy. Despite being too big to fit in our toybox, I think that they're actually a really good size as the scoop of the digger and the container part of the dumper truck are actually big enough to put things in. and wheel them around the room. My son particularly likes scooping up his Duplo and depositing it in the dumper truck before tipping them back over the floor, and makes him feel like he's a real builder. Now that he's at an age where he really enjoys role play, loves playing with these toys and while he doesn't play for them for any great length of time at once, he keeps coming back to them to do some more transferring of the blocks, or to take them for a sping on his roadway playmat.
Although they're not ride-on toys, at first he was regularly tipping back the container on the dumper truck and riding along on it. This confirms that, although they're quite light, they are actually quite robust as he was probably weighing in at around 15kg at the time of his birthday! While I wouldn't recommend this, it does at least help to demonstrate that the toys aren't flimsy.
The Early Learning Centre website mentions that they're ideal to play with both inside and outdoors, but as my son's birthday was in November so they haven't ventured outside yet. I think that he will enjoy playing with them in his sandpit when it comes out of hibernation in the spring.
My son owns a large variety of diggers of various different shapes and sizes and these are definitely 2 of the best. Their size makes them great for actually "building" with, and their distinctive branding means that he can identify between these toy trucks and the real thing that he sees when we're out in the car.
- Would I recommend them?
In a word, yes. Although, as popular as they are in this house, I don't feel that the RRP of £35 doesn't offer very good value for money as ultimately they are just 2 plastic vehicles. I believe that they were half price when my brother purchased them which I think is much better value, and I think that the current sale price of £12.50 is a bargain.
I've given them 4 out of 5 as I think they're a great addition to every mini builder's collection, but they do seem to take up a lot of room. While I stated above that I think that's a good thing as it makes them more functional, if space is at a premium then you may not want them cluttering up your room.
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JCB My First Talking Larry Loadall
by Ann-Marie_B
Like a lot of young boys my three year old son is very interested in construction sites and machinery. He loves nothing more than to stop and watch the diggers and excavators whenever we pass by a building site. For this reason, at Christmas last year, I bought him a small selection of the JCB My 1st Talking range of toys.
As ... well as the usual diggers and tipper trucks, there is also a forklift truck within this range named Larry Loadall. In a previous job I was actually a forklift truck salesperson, the only woman in my team and although to begin with I knew very little about operating these machines, I very quickly became the most profitable sales person. I was therefore quite excited to buy him this little counterbalance truck and to explain its use and workings.
JCB have a section on their website dedicated to this range at www.jcbexplore.com/content/myfirstjcb/ Each character has a personality, voice and even accent of its own. JCB describe Larry to be:
"Larry is a very loyal and dependable construction machine with a very special set of skills. He's able to extend his arm to long reaches and carry heavy loads very high. Always chipper, Larry works particularly well with Joey and Joey regards Larry as his best friend."
Larry Loadall is just the right size for a toddler to push around, he fits neatly across the palm of my hand. His main body is orange and black, a recognisable colour for JCB products.
There do not appear to be any loose parts on this toy, unfortunately on others in the range I have noticed that where parts are joined on they tend to be a little rickety.
Larry has a mast to one side which lifts up and extends out a little. When pushing this back down however it is a little stiff. The forks at the end of the mast are on a hinge and rotate round. Unfortunately this really hinders any efforts to lift anything with the forks as they simply drop down.
At the top of his cab Larry has a red flashing beacon and a button which activates five phrases. Larry says:
"I can lift the highest"
"I'm Larry Loadall"
"Let's have some fun"
"No job is too big"
"I'm here to help"
Larry also laughs and emits engine sounds. When pushed along his wheels make a clicking sound.
At the bottom of the toy there is a small switch to turn it off and a battery compartment. The toy takes two AAA batteries which are included.
Larry Loadall is available from Amazon at £9.99 with free delivery. The recommended age for this toy is 12 months plus.
My son adores this toy, as well as other character that he has from this range. He groups them together on the rug to make his own construction site. They are therefore a wonderful toy to encourage role play as well as the educational benefits when explaining how and where they are used.
In summary this is a lovely addition to the My First JCB range. There is just one minor fault which could be improved and that would be to make the forks rigid rather than rotating!
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JCB My 1st Talking Marty Mixer
by Ann-Marie_B
My 1st Talking Marty Mixer is part of a range of toys from JCB. Each JCB machine is a unique character in itself with a name, a voice and its very own catch phrases.
I bought Marty, the cement mixer, as a gift for my son for Christmas last year along with some other characters within the range. Marty is one which is quite ... easily obtainable, though others can be a little difficult to find in stock. This one is currently in stock and available from Amazon, priced at £9.99 with free delivery. These characters are now very popular in many stores and you may find them in large supermarket chains such as Asda or Tesco as well as many online stores like Play.com and indeed Amazon.
Marty Mixer is a rather cheerful character, described at www.jcbexplore.com as:
"Marty Mixer is a real joker in the pack, he loves to stir things up amongst the team and can be really cheeky at times. This gets him into trouble sometimes but more often than not he finds a clever way out! Marty performs a very special mixing and pouring job for the team, but he does get anxious especially when he's in a rush to make a delivery of his mix."
Marty has five different catch phrases, activated by a button at the top of his cabin. He says:
"I'm Marty Mixer"
"I love to whistle while I work"
"You load it, I'll mix it"
"It's time to mix things up"
"More cement anyone?"
In addition to those catchphrases he also whistles cheerfully.
This toy is of a good size, fitting nicely across the palm of your hand. It has a slightly heavy feel to it, although it does not feel as sturdy as some toys. My opinion is that is feels a little too plastic and even a little rickety in places. Some parts do move a little, in particular the yellow plastic pieces to either side which depict the JCB logo and the base of the cement mixer where itjoins the chassis. It is therefore not entirely sturdy and I do wonder how durable it will be after a longer length of time.
Marty has the unmistakeable colours of the JCB brand. He is predominantly yellow with the JCB logos in black. At the front of his cabin he has two eyes, his grill depicts his nose and his front bumper has a mouth as though whistling.
At the top of his cab is a flashing beacon which flashes bright orange when the button behind it is pressed and the catch phrases are heard.
The actual cement mixer us orange with silver detail. This turns around when the vehicle is pushed along and is controlled by the front wheels only.
At the base is the power switch and the battery compartment. Batteries are already included and there is no assembly required.
The manufacturer's recommended age range for this entire range is from 12 months onward.
My three year old son has had a lot of enjoyment from this toy since Christmas. He gathers all of his characters together and using role play he creates his very own construction site. My one year old daughter will often join in too and she particularly loves to press the buttons.
In summary these are truly lovely toys and a fabulous idea. I do however feel that they could have been made using thicker, more durable plastic and assembled in a way that would make them a little less wobbly and a little more sturdy.
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