#toyologist

Toys R Us asked me to review a large version of the Dinotrux dumper truck: Ton-Ton.  As with all my reviews I am not paid for the review although I do get to keep the toy!

Unboxing the toy

The toy comes in an open cardboard box, allowing you to see the toy itself and get a feel for the materials it is made from (plastic).  As the box does not contain a clear plastic screen, you can actually touch the toy without opening the box.

The pieces are held in with string, easy to snip and plastic locks - simple to gain access to the toy.  

There is a blue plate that clips into the dumper to assemble it.  It is easy to insert.  However, we did note that it is not watertight because the dumper isn't a single moulded piece.

The tail (spade) can be inserted into the back the dumper truck to complete the dinosaur look.  Although, full confession, I didn’t realise this until after we’d had it a few days and I came to write the review.

Key features

The dumper truck is large, though not too heavy.  It seems to be quite sturdy although the plastic on the dumper itself feels a little thin.

The tail can be removed from the dumper truck to become a spade.  The handle features a roller that leaves patterns in the mud or sand.  The dumper doesn’t dump properly with the spade in, but that’s no biggie.

Thoughts on the toy As with any basic toy, it can be difficult to come up with lots of exciting new reasons why you should race out to get it.  However, that said, I like this toy a lot.  Most kids enjoy playing with dumper trucks - it’s a classic toy for outdoor play.  If you are looking for an outdoor toy for a 3 to 6 year old, a dinosaur dumper truck with a detachable spade is not a bad choice!  

Elwood thought that the yellow moulded lights at the top should have worked as lights or buttons.  However, when I said to him that it meant the toy would be able to go into mud, sand or water without fear of the electronics stopping working he was happy enough.

Aftercare I’ve not had this toy long enough to say, with certainty, how it will fair over time, but my experience of outdoor plastic toys, generally, is that they discolour and deteriorate.  A metal dumper truck could also deteriorate over time and get some rust on it, but in my opinion that still looks ‘right’, like a real dumper truck.

So, yes, plastic is acceptable, but personally I would rather it was a metal toy.

So, here we are, the final toy we have been asked to review as part of the 2012 Toys R Us Toyologist programme.

In many ways the Play & Learn Mothers & Babies game is a straightforward 'Match the Animals' game.  However, I feel that to describe it so plainly is to do it a disservice.

A toy like this is only as good as the artwork, and in the case of the Mothers and Babies game it really is good.  The drawings are old-fashioned, friendly and colourful.  There is a lot of joy to be had from just looking at the images.

The idea that only the correct combinations link together is a nice touch.  It confirms to a child that they have correctly paired the animals together.

At 18 months Elwood has a lot of fun with this game, and as parents, we have a lot of fun helping him with it.

Baba Yellow is one of the characters in the CBeebies hit television show Cloud Babies.  She (and for that matter all the main characters) have been released as colourful, friendly, talking dolls.

As Cloud Babies is a show Elwood enjoyed watching, we were excited to review Baba Yellow when Toys R Us sent us a doll as part of the Toyology programme.

The doll has a plastic face and a fabric body which is soft.  It isn't too heavy and can stand being knocked around.

The seven phrases Baba Yellow says are very much in keeping with the character on the television show.  However, if you had bought the doll not knowing it was part of a television programme you might wonder what a Fluteytoot is.

The doll is very cute.  If your child loves the show, of course, they would be drawn to the doll.

As far as my son is concerned, his interactions with it were typical of any doll or soft toy he has been given.  He'll play with it for a while but doesn't tend to go back to it regularly.  But that's just him.  He's into vehicles.

If I was to compare this to other dolls we have reviewed, I would say that it would benefit from accessories.  The Fluteytoot or the bag she wears on the show would be obvious things that could enhance the toy.

Overall though, it is a nice little doll and would make a fine addition to a Cloud Babies fan's toy box.

The Winnie the Pooh Spin 'n' Play Acorn Train is a colourful, pleasantly presented toy for toddlers aged 12 months and up.  As you would expect it features Winnie the Pooh and two of his friends.

When you pull the train, the characters spin around.  It works well.

Because the child has to do something to get it to work, it encourages active play, particularly where a child is just starting to walk.

It is nice that the figures are good representations of the iconic Disney characters.  This would make the toy appeal to any Winnie the Pooh fan.

This toy would make a good gift as it feels quite substantial and looks really cute.  I imagine this toy will be making a lot of toddlers happy on Christmas morning.  It is quite enchanting.

Dolls are not really my area of expertise.  They're also not my one and a half year old son's area of expertise.  Even when we describe them to him as 'baby action figures'.  I guess he's just not the target market for this product.

That said, the Baby Annabell 'action figure' is actually a very good doll.  If creating a realistic representation of a baby with lots of ways to interact with her is the goal, then this doll scores highly.

The cooing, gurgling and other baby sounds play constantly though, of course, only when the batteries are in!  However, they are pretty authentic sounding and add an element of realism to the doll.  However it isn't the sounds that are the most striking element of the doll, it's the bottle drinking action.  Baby Annabell's mouth moves as though she is sucking on the bottle, and her eyes slowly close, making it seem as though you have soothed her to sleep.  It works pretty well.

The other good thing about this doll is that you get a good few bits and bobs in addition to the doll, including both a bottle and a dummy.

I may not know a lot about dolls, but even I can tell that the Baby Annabell doll will be making lots of little girls happy this Christmas.  It really does seem like a top quality toy.

A bouncer is a great tool to have at your disposal when you have a new baby.  You can pop them into the seat and you are free to do the million and one other bits and bobs you need to also take care of.

The Animals of the World Playtime Bouncer is a great example of a bouncer, loaded with plenty of features.

The bouncer has nice graphics, bright colours and seems soft and comfy.  Being a neutral design, it means that if your family should expand (or if you wish to pass it on to friends or family) you have the most flexibility.

The packaging is slightly TARDIS-like, squeezing the bouncer into quite a compact box.  I was very happy with the size of the bouncer once unpacked and assembled.  I'd recommend assembling it away from 'helpful' toddlers.

The friendly lion and monkey on the detachable bar are a nice touch, adding a cute dimension to the bouncer.  The Elephant and Hippo which hang below are appealing and colourful.  The music, which plays in short bursts, is actually pretty good.

All in all, it's just about the best bouncer in the jungle!

It is fair to say that the Animagic Glamour Pet, Ruby, is not the type of toy that we would have bought for Elwood.  So when Toys R Us sent us one for review, I just couldn't guess how Elwood would react to it.

Elwood, in fairness, did attempt to play with it and liked activating the noises it made.  However, it didn't hold his attention for long.  i would imagine his reaction would be the same as a lot of one and a half year-old boys.  That said, for the right child, a child who loves hair-do's and animals I could see how it would appeal.

For me, the  enslaught of pink accessories was a lot to take in, but I know Animagic have other animals in the range which use a wider colour palette and, personally, I think look better.

The accessories and sounds that Ruby make, make it clear that this dog is designed for pampering and grooming.  In many ways it feels like a complete toy as you wouldn't feel that you would need to go out and buy additional accessories to get the most out of it.  In this sense I think it would make a nice gift.

So, while it clearly isn't the right toy for Elwood, I do believe there are plenty of children out there who would consider it the right one.

Raa Raa the Noisy Lion is a popular children's television character.  The design of the character, his friends and the environment that they live in is very distinctive and beautiful.  So when I saw that Raa Raa's Interactive Playset is true to the look of the show, I was pleased before I'd even taken it out of the box.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to the review but the first thing that the plastic treehouse reminded me of was a toy from my childhood:  The Weebles Treehouse!

Raa Raa's treehouse comes assembled and ready to play with.  It has a lot of good features: the hot spots which activate sounds, the leafy canopy which lifts to reveal Raa Raa's Cubby Buggy, the swing and the front door.  These features combine to make a toy which provides a platform for lots of different play scenarios.  However, to get the most out of the toy I would suggest that additional characters are something of a must.

The ladder and drums provided with the toy should be considered purely decorative as, to be honest, I would rather that an additional character had been provided rather than these.  I would have liked the inside of the treehouse to be a bit more detailed so that it looked a bit more substantial.

All in all though, it is a good toy with good ideas.  Overall, this toy does seem to be barking up the right tree!