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Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Backpack & Doll
by kayleighmcharris
I purchased this product many years ago as a treat to my little sister on her birthday. The toy is based on the items and characters from the children's TV show 'Dora the explorer', including the main character herself, Dora, as a doll. The current retail price for this play set is £25-£35 depending on the store you purchase it from, as ... thr release of this toy was many years ago it can sometimes be hard to get your hands on, hence the variation in pricing.
The set includes backpack which is designed to carry the plastic camera, magnifying glass, bracelet and binoculars along side a paper map and a fabric backpack for the smaller Dora doll which is also included. The purpose or the plastic toys is just to play dress up and to help realise the dreams of young children becoming an explorer like Dora. The minimal functions of these additional accessories is slightly disappointing due to the price of the product. However the backpack and Dora doll does compensate quite a bit.
When the lips or eyes are pressed, the backpack quotes some of the common phrases that he says in the show and the sound quality is surprisingly clear and good for a children's toy. The doll is an exact replica of Dora, however I found that some aspects such as the clothing was cheaply made and did show signs of wear quite quickly. On the upside to that at least it meant she was being loved and used! Proof that fans of the show will love this product.
Overall I'd say this product is average, only a fan of the show will cherish this product with no complaints. I personally think that it is cheaply made with only a few functions for the price paid. I'd give this product 4/5 if the price was a bit lower, however at the current retail and the price I paid I can only give 3/4, for that price I'd at least expect to be able to see through the binoculars!
Average, but will make any Dora fan's day.
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Fisher Price Piggy Bank
by sympatic
This is quite a heavy and very robust toy which can make it a bit awkward for small hands to grapple with however my daughter has loved playing with it since last easter when she was given it as a present instead of getting a chocolate egg from her grandfather as we are trying to keep her away from sweets which is quite a ... struggle
She loves the bright colours of this piggy bank which has a lovely smiley face on the front, it is a very jolly expression indeed with a large red nose, pink body and a red tail. The nose can be depressed with a relatively light touch, ideal for a youngster, and it emits four different sounds, an oink naturally enough as well as a sneeze, laugh and a song. The tail is also interactive as it can be spun around like the pig is very happy. The power source is provided by 3 AAA batteries and it does appear to be reasonably demanding on the batteries then again maybe that is just because my daughter played with it an awful lot when she first got it and the batteries did not seem to last that long. Usuing a better quality duracell battery has seen some improvement to the logevity of the battery life combined with the novelty wearing off a bit after a while.
The pig comes with ten different coloured coins, in the learning mode then the pig counts as the coins are dropped in the slot so it is helpful when learning to count to ten. There is also a music mode which plays a few notes whenever a coin is dropped in the slot. The coins are different colours and have animal pictures on them which helps give it an extra educational dimension.
The batteries are easy to insert and there is a volume control as well on the pigs belly as the limited melodies and song do get a bit repetitive on the ear. By daughter was aboy 15 months old when she got this and she found operating the nose and inserting the coins no problem at all. She seemed to pay little attention to the tail after a few initial turns.
Ideally aimed at the 12-14 month age range, unfortunately as it was a gift I have no idea of cost but I would guess it is around the £10 price range. It is well made and a relatively safe toy however because of the coins you do need to supervise a child when they are playing with this.
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Fisher Price Piggy Bank
by northernlovely
For my little girl's first birthday, amongst other things my husband and I chose her the Fisher Price Piggy Bank. She absolutely loves to count, loves coins (though obviously we can't give her real coins or play money as they get popped straight into the mouth!) and loves pigs, so this was ideal!
We purchased the Fisher Price ... Piggy Bank for £16 on offer at Boots, and the average price seems to be £15 - £18 so that was very fair (and we got Advantage points!). It's still available in Boots, in Argos, all major toy shops and at online retailers including Amazon. The second hand price for it on eBay looks to be about £5 plus P&P but often these are missing a few coins, which can go astray!
So, what do you get? You get the Piggy, which is already fitted with batteries, and you get 10 large plastic 'coins', two red, two yellow, two green, two blue and two orange.
The Piggy is a nice vibrant but not neon pink colour and is styled in smooth plastic. It has a big red nose, little 'mound' of a tail with a curly effect etched into it, big happy eyes, a big red-rimmed coin slot in the top and a clear pull down door which is decorated with green numbers. This door opens up to the inside of the Piggy so you can take out the coins (or store them in there in between uses - all 10 fit in there at once.
The Fisher Price Piggy Bank has a three way green switch on it's rear, counting mode, which counts the coins as you put them in, the middle is off mode, and then song mode, which sings catchy little ditties and plays tunes as you put the coins in. As you put the coins in a switch inside the slot is pressed and it counts up the coins you're putting in, brilliant for my daughter who at 22 months now still plays with it and counts to ten! We also use the coin colours to learn the colour names which is an added learning bonus.
Not only does the Fisher Price Piggy Bank sing when you put coins in, it also sings when you press it's nose! (But not always - sometimes it sneezes and says 'atishoo! Excuse me!' which is so sweet and now when my daughter sneezes she says 'excooos meeee!'
So, the songs, from memory (and you know you've heard them a lot...) we have..
'Put some coins right in my slot, oink oink oink, hear them drop! Open up the doors and then, play again!'
'Oh, I'm a piggy bank with some coins big and small, with lots of colours you can learn them all, we have red and yellow we have orange and blue, what's your favourite colour, we have green ones too! Let's count the coins, from one to ten, when we're all done, we'll count them again! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7...8 9 10!'
They're very catchy, sung in a British English accent by a female voice (same as the voice of the Piggy) and not annoying at all (and trust me, some songs are SO annoying on some toys!!)
I think the Fisher Price Piggy Bank is a great little toy - my daughter has played with hers lots and it's been a great way of learning colours and numbers with her. I prefer learning type toys, and the Fisher Price Piggy Bank is part of the Fisher Price 'Laugh and Learn' range. For the money and the entertainment value along with the learning potential, I think the Fisher Price Piggy Bank is a great gift for any 1 - 2 year old.
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