Character toys seem to prove extremely popular with children, even, as we've noticed, if they've never seen the programme to which the character relates. In our house this is particularly the case for a certain tank-engine and the very friendly Postman Pat (together with his black and white cat, Jess). The Postman Pat friction van is a good example of where form takes precedence over function - in my eyes it's a deeply deficient toy; in my son's it's just great! The van is made from bright red moulded plastic, and is about 17cm long and 12cm tall. It's designed to be a good replica of the van that is used on the TV show and bears the number plate "PAT ...  Read the complete review

My son was a big fan of Postman Pat a while ago and so we purchased some of the friction vehicles in the Postman Pat range for his Birthday. The one he took to the most was his Postman Pat Van vehicle. As with the others in the range, this one is friction controlled so no batteries are needed which saves on the cost of it. This is quite a simple toy really. It is a bright red van with Postman Pat figure and Jess the Cat figure included. The doors of the van open so Pat can drive it and Jess can fit in alongside him in the van, but that's about all this does really. The van is of a good size so is therefore easy to grip for a young child. ...  Read the complete review

My 3 year old nephew is a huge Postman Pat fan and is always watching it on TV. When I asked my brother what he'd like for Christmas last year it came as little surprise that he wanted something Postman Pat. I managed to find a Postman Pat friction van in the Boots catalogue for £10. As it was an 'order in' product not held in stock, I arranged for 2 vans (including one for my little boy) to be delivered to my local store. This was before the new SDS Postman Pat show had started so it was much harder to find Pat toys in the shops. Since getting the vans I've spotted them in several shops (including Toys R Us) ready to buy straight off the shelf. The red van is ...  Read the complete review

About three years ago my husband had been away somewhere and on his return he bought our daughter the Born to Play Postman Pat Friction Van. Our daughter was about two at the time and loved Postman Pat. The van is made of hard red plastic and has nice chunky solid black wheels. The front doors open but the back doors don't and as it is a friction vehicle you can whizz it along the floor. With the van you get two characters from the TV show namely Postman Pat and his black and white cat Jess. Both these characters are made of plastic and are quite squashy. They are very true to the characters depicted in the television programme and instantly ...  Read the complete review

Postman pat friction van. History behind Postman Pat Like all young children my little boy loves postman pat (or postman pat special delivery as it is now known). Having its first screening on BBC 1 back in 1981 it has been a firm favourite for A couple of generations I do confess to being a big postman pat fan as a young girl. Postman pat is aimed at pre school children where postman pat embarks on a number of adventures within the fictional village of Greendale; unknown to me this village is actually inspired by a real valley of Longdleddlae in Cumbria. Each episode follows the adventures of a friendly village postman and his black ...  Read the complete review