Editorial Review

Battleship captains plot their strategies, send out torpedoes, and as the last ship (often the smallest, two-peg patrol boat) hides in an unsuspected corner, anticipation mounts. Like many classic games, Battleship walks a fine line between strategy and luck. The goal is to conceal the location of your ships while finding and destroying your enemies' fighters. The playing arena is a notebook-size plastic board updated for '90s sensibilities: the "floor" of the board is printed with waves and the exterior vaguely resembles a laptop. The design mimics the view a submarine captain would have, complete with a glimmer of radar waves. The game is perfect entertainment to share: simple enough for children, yet gratifying enough for adults to enjoy. One design decision keeps this edition from being truly stellar: the playing boards don't lock securely, allowing the small pegs to fall out and spill from the sides if jostled. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Battle Stations, Everyone!
This is another childhood favorite that has not diminished with age. This game is as fun now as it was in grade school.

"Battleship" has a lot to do with strategy and luck. You have to strategically place your pieces on the grid so they won't get "hit" and you have to use that and a little bit of luck to do your darndest to sink your opponent's ships. It can get pretty tense when both players only have one ship left, and one wrong move (or right move depending upon your situation) can end the game.

Fun: Like I said earlier, this is a childhood favorite of mine. When it was raining outside during recess, we would always play this in the classroom. "Connect Four" tournaments and "Battleship" tournaments were the norm when I was in grade school.

Educational: "Battleship" is essentially a thinking game, although a little bit of luck plays into it, too. Both players really have to use their smarts to come out the victor in this game. Seasoned veterans know all too well how strategy can cripple a rookie opponent.

Durability: Both game pieces are like a mini-laptop in a hard plastic casing. So it is indeed very durable. The only thing that could cause a problem are the little red and white pegs with which you mark the game board. These can be a hassle to pick up if a game board is dropped and it accidently opens up, sending zillions of little pegs rolling around on the floor. These can also be a choking hazard to young people, so that needs to be taken into account as well.

If you love games that will make you think, or you are just someone looking for a fun challenge, "Battleship" is a great game to pick up. The only prerequisite: swimming lessons in case the ship you're on goes down.

Great way to stay close and communicate with our teenagers
Battleship has revived my youthful spirit! We pull out the game and play for several hours - and since all 8 of us want to participate, we have learned to team-up. We have also began to learn new strategies of the game - like let one side go five times, then the other side 5 times. Or, allowing a second turn after a "hit." It is not really a violent game either, you are just sinking a ship that someone is trying to hide from you - no people are on board. It is all about thinking about what the other guy is up to, planning how to avoid his guesses ,pin-pointing his strategy, ship-size plotting/protection, grid-calculations, and FUN! I really believe my children spending time playing this game that teaches so much math, communication, and strategy has helped teach them to work together better (chores)- and built in little more self-esteem [by showing them how much smarter their generation is :)]. Most importantly for summer time, taking "Battleship" on our vacation will definitely keep the travel "tension" levels low.

Loses it's luster after about 12 or 13
I remember playing this as a kid and it was fun then, but I don't think all in all it's got the classic pure gaming kind of thing going for it.
Too much of it is blind luck, unless you consider the ability to outguess your opponents ability to place his ships in some confusing fashion a skill. Not at all like Risk or Stratego, this isn't really a battle game at all, it's just a random guessing game.
Still, it has some enjoyment factor with the younger set and it's a good child/adult game in that it doesn't take much skill to play and the luck factor can give a kid the victory.

There is some logic in how you place your ships and some logic in how to attack, so I do give the game an average rating, it can be fun to play.

Educational tool masquerading as a fun game--great!
My 6 year-old son picked up the rules for this game in less than 5 minutes, but continues to develop his strategy every time we play. It is simultaneously easy and complex, and a great way to get kids to employ reason and logic, while having fun. At the same time, there is a good deal of luck involved, too, making it unpredictable and fun. It is a great way to get kids away from the TV so you can spend some quality time together.

I only awarded 4 stars for durability because small pieces are easily lost, as with any similar game, and the plastic casing and hinges can be broken rather easily.

I don't think so
Battleship deserves 2 stars but only for the idea. It's so hard to learn how to even play the game. I don't own it but have tryed it and belive me it's not the ultimate classic. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Four hippos try to eat as many marbles as they can--as fast as they can. This game is fast-paced and riotous for kids who get to take turns popping a white marble into the ring, then furiously pressing on their hippo's levered tail to catch the prize. As if that's not enough, in the advanced game, all 20 marbles are released at the same time. Utter mayhem ensues, and whoever snares the most marbles wins. If only it would get kids to clean their plates as well as those pudgy hippos do! --Lynne Sampson ... Read more

Reviews (54)

Gobble them up! Noisy and Fun!
There's something deeply satisfying about this game: Is it the allure of pounding a hippo's tail as fast as you can so that your hippo will eat more balls than its opposing hippos? I leave that to the psychologists...

This games provides a great release for toddlers and adults. Because of the intensity and noisy pounding, you may want to limit your own play to about ½ hour. Educational value? Well, the game helps with hand-eye coordination, learning how to be a good sport, and simple counting. But basically it's just a good way to get in touch with your inner hippo--let the pounding begin!

VERY DISAPPOINTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MOST DEFINATLY NOT THE GAME I GREW UP WITH!!!! THIS VERSION OF HUNGRY HIPPOS IS TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTING!!!! DON'T BUY IT!!! IT WILL NOT STAY TOGETHER FOR EVEN A FEW MINUTES OF PLAY!! THE "MARBLES" ARE CHEEP HOLLLOW PLASIC BALLS AND THE HIPPOS DISCONNECT FROM THE GAME WITH EVEN HIT. IF THEY AREN'T FALLING OFF THE GAME THEN THEY WILL STICK. WE HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO PLAY A COMPLETE GAME (NOT EVEN PART OF A GAME) WITHOUT GIVING UP IN FRUSTRATION. (...)

Very dissapointed
My son received this gift for Christmas two years ago. I was very excited as I remember playing this game as a child. I was soooo disappointed!! It is definitely NOT the sturdy game I remember from my childhood days. The hippos tend to get stuck w/the handles down. For the adults...not a problem...but very frustrating for little ones. And the "marbles" don't roll around very well. Overall...not a good buy in my opinion.

Piece of Junk
I bought this game for my 5 year old son, because I remebered how much fun I had playing it when I was 5. This is not the same game that I remebered, the marbles are cheap plastic things that aren't even completely round and the whole game would fall apart after just a few seconds of play. We tried 5 or 6 times to get it to stay together, we even tried taping it. Nothing worked, it was in the garbage after just 1 day of use. Do not buy this game!

great game
the object of this game is that there is 4 or 5 hippoes and a lot of little white balls your hippoe has to eat the most of the white balls (more than your opponent). when there are no more balls that your hippoe can eat you count how many balls you have and if you have more than eveyone else, you win. im a teenager and i still like to play this. it gets your anger out.so don't listen to the age limt. ... Read more

Editorial Review

It's "the game that ties you up in knots"! Twister has beenaround forever, and it's still as much fun as you remember. The gamebox contains a spinner, a plastic mat marked with colored circles, andthe rules, which are brief. You don't need anything else except a groupof friends. A referee spins the spinner to come up with a color andwhether a hand or a foot is to be placed in a circle of that color.It's easy at first, but after four or five spins you'll be more tangledthan a plate of spaghetti. If you fall, or if any part of you except ahand or a foot touches the mat, you're out, and the last player left isthe winner. If you're looking for something to break the ice atparties, this game is it. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

How Fun Twister Is
This game is fun for the whole family. It can teach you to take turns spinning the wheel learning colors and your body parts and even HELP YOU TELL YOUR LEFT AND RIGHT! I loved this game it was especially fun when everyone gets all mixed up and when one person falls EVERYONE comes tumbling down.

Go Milton
This is a really fun game but I've hardley played it. I guess it's because we haven't had any kids come over(yet). 3 stars for education value because it teaches motor skills.

This game gets you twisted up!
This game is so much fun! You can hardly ever stay up when you get twisted. This game is also good to play before you work out because you can stretch with it.

Love Twister
This game is so much fun. It was around when I was a little girl and now my 6 year old has it. You can spend many hours playing this game and it is so much fun. It is so much fun for the whole family.

twister
Twister is really fun. It is also easy to learn . You need aabout five people to make it fun. Somebody spins the spinner and sees what it lands on. For example, if it lands on right hand blue everyone has to put their right hand on blue. If you fall down your out. The game goes on until every body except one person is out. They win.
Me and my friends play it often. We really like it. ... Read more

Reviews (63)

A Classic!
I had this game when I was little, I'm 30 now and still love this game. The object is to collect money for every successful operation you perform. The one with the most money wins. If you can't perform the operation, then the person with the specialist card appropriate for the operation gets a chance to get even more money. My five year old really loves this game because she wants to be a doctor, but the buzzer is a little too loud and scares her, so often she is too afraid to perform an operation when she really wants to so bad! So we have to leave the batteries out. When you are really concentrating, the loud buzz can give you quite a jolt! But that is half the fun, at least for me (not for my five year old) and is good for a laugh. The game is actually very good for my daughter for her dexirity as this game forces her to take her time retrieving very small objects with a pair of tweezers. Her teacher suggested similiar exercises to help her with her printing. The down side, it can be very easy to lose the pieces, so after you are done with the game, it is probably best to put all the pieces back into their little body parts. This makes a really fun game on a rainy day or for those would be doctors in the house!

a great game
this is the best game in the whole world. it's soooo much fun how it buzzes when you touch something. i love it!!!!

Operation & Cavity Sam - The Same Today As In Yesteryear...
When I read all of the bad reviews for this Gen X classic board game, I just laughed! Especially the review about the young child that played this game and got so nervous because of the buzzer that he/she threw up! Then... I wondered about the world we live in... Who would have thought that a simple game like Hasbro's Operation could make a person question the social decline of the next generation?

Firstly, Gen Y parents... This is a game for 6 to 12 year olds. it's called "reading the front of the box before you buy".

Secondly, the pieces and the cavities that the pieces fit in are the EXACT same size, made of the EXACT same plastic, and is an EXACT duplicate of the game board I owned in the 70's, so stop your GEN Y whining!

The object of the game is to practice, have a steady hand and beat your opponent. It ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE EASY! Just like the Gen Y's offspring is being taught today - if it's too difficult, too scary, too loud, too ANYTHING, then it's just OK to throw it down and give up. What a wimpy generation we soon will have running this country in 25 to 30 years.

I had three kids, ages 6 to 12 over to our house and got out this game for them to play with. I helped the 6 year old some but all three ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! Obviously, they are the exception to the rule among the children being raised today...

Cavity Sam is the patient and you are pitted against your opponent with "doctor" cards that describe what part of the body to operate on and if successful, get paid. If your oppponent isn't successful, you get the next shot at the same body part but with a "specialist" card. Specialist, of course, get more money for operations than do doctors. If you touch the sides of the body cavity with the tweezers, Sam's nose lights up and a loud buzzer sounds. The person with the most money in completed operations wins!

This also teaches kids about body parts, reading, and to establish some great hand/eye coordination. Much more than, oh... let's say a Game Boy or an X Box would. Great family fun! Two "D" batteries not included...

Happy Playing!

Possibly the worst toy ever concieved
I bought this when my daughter was about four-and-a-half years old. And the couple of times I tried to play it with her, it made her throw up. It was impossible to get anything out without making it buzz. Somehow, Milton Bradley has found this magical resonant frequency at which the game buzzes and vibrates, to make my daughter throw up. I had to put it out of her sight, because it upset her so much. Every few months, I would point to it and ask her if she wanted to try it again, and she would get real scared and start crying hysterically, pleading with me not to get it out. Now my daughter is 6. We take the game out and make it buzz, and she doesn't throw up anymore, but she still hates it. We all hate it. It's so annoying. But it's an icon of American culture, so we keep it.

They Are Missing A Piece
I have to say, I was disapointed with this game.
With a name like "operation" and the goal to take out peoples organs, I thought this was a pretty safe Gore-fest.
Unfortunately, this is a very cleaned up and sanitized version of the real thing. For one thing, you don't get to perform on an actual person, a huge dispointment to me and my kids.
And rather than at least include something live (like maybe a rat with a bad liver or something) they instead give you a goofy looking picture of a person with a bunch of holes in it.
Also coming with this game is a buzzer capable of creating the most annoying noise known to mankind.
After the first use, it became painful obvious that clearly, the only thing you need to play this game is a sledgehammer, which is the only thing that gave us any satisfaction at all with this piece of garbage. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Build a better mousetrap? We dare you. Naturally, the object is to trap mice in the mousetrap, while avoiding getting trapped. By rolling the die, you proceed around the game board, collecting cheese pieces and building a mousetrap bit by bit. Once complete, you set the wheels in motion, as it were, to try to capture the opposition's mice. But this is no ordinary trap. With this contraption you start by turning the crank, that rotates the gears, that push the lever, that moves the shoe, that kicks the bucket, that sends the ball down the stairs and into the gutter, that leads to the rod that releases a second ball, that falls through the bathtub and onto the springboard, that catapults the diver into the washtub, that causes the cage to fall and--whew!--hopefully, capture a mouse. The last "mouse" left uncaptured wins --Alison Golder ... Read more

Reviews (61)

mouse trap
mouse trap is a durable, fun, and the ratings are always high for our mouse trap.

this fun colorful bord game is fun for all ages. personally i think that the rating should go up to 1000 stars.......... litterally!!!!!!!!

love from :)
becky a mouse trap fan

Fun for little ones, a pain for parents.
My daughter received this game as a gift this year. She was so excited and wanted to play right away. I found the directions confusing and difficult to follow at times. Once we started putting the trap together, it all came together nicely, until we began playing. We are still having difficulty getting the trap to run smoothly. Either the boot won't reach the bucket or the marble won't set off the helping hands part of the trap. I recommend saving your money on this game.

What has happened to patience these days?
It's amazing how many reviewers of this game are complaining about this game requiring too much patience, or about the trap not working properly. Since when is it a bad thing to need patience for something? Are we so bent on instant gratification that we can't take some time to play a game with our kids that may require a little effort? As far as the trap not working, that's part of the game. Even the instructions mention that every time you turn the crank there is a chance you won't capture an opponent, and the trap will need to be reset before continuing play. This is a great game, and most kids love it. If you want to play a good constructive game with your kids, this is a great one.

OK Game....
The game is OK...The object of game is to trap the opponents mouse. But here is the catch...you have to go around the board and bulid the trap first. The pieces, although very colorful..are not color coded...so this can be a bit confusing. For each piece of the trap that you build...you get a piece of cheese...throughout play you can steal cheese from your opponent, or pay pieces of cheese to set your opponent up to get trapped! Cute game...they say to get rid of all bags that the game pieces come in...there are a lot...but my advice is to replace those bags with Ziplocks and do it quickly!! Must have patience when playing this game...especially when putting it together!!!!

It's All Relative!
This was a favorite 'family' game my siblings remember playing with our parents. It always did and still does take a while to get the hang of building it and keeping it together during play. This is not a bad thing; my siblings and I learned a lot about 'patience', and remember all the parts and pieces to the game quite foundly -- Although none of us remember the objective of or rules to the game. Adults who don't have time won't like this, but remember it's all relative -- think like a kid. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This classic game has been around for nearly half a century and is just as fun as ever. The bugs' faces are a bit goofier than before, but the object remains the same: to be the first to create your own Cootie. Just arrange the bug parts on the fold-out board and roll the die to win the parts you need. (Roll a 1 and pick a body, roll a 2 and select a head, roll a 3, etc.) Body parts are made of hard plastic and come in various mix-and-match colors. Small pieces are a danger to young children, so supervision is recommended. Instructions in English and Spanish. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A Classic - remade cheaply as is all to common these days
My kids 4 & 6 got this for Christmas. It is a classic game, but the parts, box and board are all much cheaper & flimsy than they used to be. The bugs are hard to get to stand up. It was somewhat frustrating for the kids if you followed the rules and had to roll a 1 and then a 2 with the dice to get started building the bug. When the 4 of us played it, some had their bug practically built and others were still waiting to even start and had not rolled the first required number. It doesn't always seem "fair" to the younger ones to see others so far ahead, strictly based on luck & roll of the die. There is no real skill or learning here in succeeding in playing the game and winning.

Not as fun as other similar games
It gets frustrating for my 3 year old to roll the dice and not be able to add to his bug. He prefers to play with it as a bug building toy and not as the game itself.

My son likes bugs.
My son who is 4 years loves this game, he likes to count all the pieces that come with the cooties and always likes to make them look different.

Ick! I gave my neice Cooties!
Okay, perhaps this game too, like Don't Break The Ice (another favourite of ours), is a metaphor for life.

How many of us, when we were children, regardless of which side of the Atlantic we were on, were terrified, mystified, or even mildly interested in (in a purely scientific frame of mind, of course) in the phenomenon known as Cooties? Girls had them, of course, unless one was a girl, then, boys had them. It was not a pleasant prospect to rub up against a member of this plague-carrying monster and thus become infected oneself! Of course, no one I knew ever knew what the symptoms and consequences were of catching Cooties. We just knew to be afraid, be very afraid.

Until adolescence, that is. But that is another story.

Of course, most of the 7-8-9-year-olds who are so worried about cooties rarely remember the game of their toddler stage, with the same name, Cooties. I very vaguely remember having one of the big colourful bugs myself as a very small child, and I am certain that I lost most of the pieces to it over time, as I tended to do with everything until I reached the Lego stage (at which time I became a miserly hoarder that would have put Scrooge to shame).

When searching for a gift for my 3-year-old niece which fit within the strict parameters (commandments, with dire consequences for disobedience attached) my sister set forth -- no noise, no batteries, no marking capability, etc. -- I came across very little in the toy aisle that would have fit this description.

Happily, however, the toys and games of my toddler- and childhood are in some cases still being manufactured, and, remembering the good times I had with them, and believing these to be better stimulants of the imagination than higher-technology toys which 'do everything' for the child, I purchased for my niece a Cootie.

She loved the Cootie. She played with it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Taking the colourful bug apart and reassembling in various ways made her giggle and squeal with delight when praised for her ingenuity and originality.

The game was functioning properly. It was teaching manual dexterity as well as creative innovation.

So much for such a low-tech, non-beeping, non-moving toy. And how in keeping with those toys which have proven to be classic. When the power went out at my sister's house, by candle light and flashlight my nieces were able to play with Cootie and Don't Break the Ice!. Of course, the video games, CD players, and various other things would not work.

Kudos for this game! May we all be infected with Cooties for many generations to come. May we never develop an immunity.

Cootie - favorite when I was little
basically it is a game where you have to put all of the body parts on to the bug. It is a great game for little kids. Encourages counting and creativity. It was one of my favorites when I was little. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Especially appealing to energetic little critters, the classic toddler game Ants in the Pants requires no reading or waiting for turns. It's "One--two--three--Go!" and everyone is racing to pop all four of their bugs into Fido's bloomers. It's that simple. Plastic "ants" are big enough (2.5 inches) that even little fingers find it easy to perform feats of insect trajectory. A hilarious hit with the shorter set. --Julie Ubben ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Fun toy for young children
I had this game when I was a kid and I loved playing with it.
The pieces are charming, even though it tend to be pretty difficult operating if the muscle coordination is not good. I would not recommend this game to toddlers if they want to chew on the game pieces.

Ants have lost their jump
This is a classic game that still has concept appeal, however cheap materials is ruining the effect. We played this game as kids and had loads of fun. Bought it for my 4yr old, and found the game more trying due to the cheap plastic of the ants. The olden day ants were made of a harder plastic yet still flexible to pop in. Today's ants are thinner plastic and bend more easily, making them get out of shape with normal pressure and then they don't pop up , so the game is trying. You have to exert just the right amount of pressure to pop the ant and not squash him. We have tried on several occasions and with different individuals, with the same results. However, the appeal is still there, so when my daughter(4 yrs) who has a lighter hand and makes a score when no one else does, it's immediate delight. But even her lighter touch is not sufficient to get all the ants in without the ants becoming distorted. I would say to the toymakers use a little more umph in the plastic on the ants and you'll easily revive a classic game. The other downfall is the dog's suspenders do not fix into the box while assembled. So setup and takedown is required with each game.

Easy to play, but difficult for young children to master
Considering how few multi-player games exist for very young children, "Ants in the Pants" is a boon for parents. Unfortunately, it may be more fun for parents than for the youngest kids.

Making the plastic ants jump into the pants is fun, but my three year old son found it frustrating, getting no ants in after many minutes of trying. But he was dogged after I encouraged him to practice more. (It's difficult to assist kids in learning how to apply just the right pressure to control the jump of the ant.) After a while he got one in, but by that time he was mentally fried. Since then he has shown little interest in the game.

I personally find the game fun, so it's disappointing that my son doesn't. Obviously, you're mileage will vary. My advice is that it might be a better game for kids four and a half and older.

The game is fairly well made and the ants virtually indestructable. Other than the fact that you can lose the small ants, the game should last a while.

Considering the inexpensive price, it's worth a try. If all else fails and the kids bail, you and the Mrs. can play.

3 year old son loves it.
I bought this toy at a garage sale and my some really likes it. He has no trouble getting the ants in the pants - for the most part. He loves trying to flick them in. It's been great for teaching him about taking turns. Sometimes, he even plays with it by himself.

grandchildren fun
We have a ants in the pants game sans a few of the ants but
when the kids come to visit we have a grand time playing this
game and they always ask for it. so we rate it a fun game and
also a teaching tool. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A polar bear is happily skating across the ice. He's gesturing thumbs up. A big smile stretches his face. Uh-oh. What's that tapping sound? A block of ice just disappeared from his pond. And there goes another one. The polar bear is running out of room to skate. In Don't Break the Ice, two to four players take turns wielding plastic mallets and tapping out ice blocks. The goal is to keep the polar bear skating for as long as possible. But as the game progresses, ice blocks start falling faster and faster. And then, there goes the bear! Luckily, these ice blocks don't melt. The game can quickly be reassembled and soon the polar bear is skating again. This bear might lose his footing, but he's always got his smile. --Wendy Slotboom ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A great game
I still remember playing Don't Break The Ice when I was a kid, it was always one of my favorite games. I don't have any kids of my own yet, but I have a niece and me and her played this game for a few hours straight one day. She probably has even more fun playing it than I used to. It's a game that any adult can play with their kid, niece, etc. and have a good time with them. My niece especially gets a kick out of it when I break the wrong piece of ice and I lose. Don't Break The Ice can teach them some strategy skills if nothing else.

If you have any kids around, I recommend getting Don't Break The Ice, they'll have a lot of fun with it.

A Classic - though, of course not, "made like they used to"
My kids 4 & 6 got this for Christmas and they both love it, though my 4 yr old loves it more. This is a game that is short enough that they can play it together over and over again and it keeps their attention. It takes my 6 yr old to "build" the ice into the tray though. The box that this comes in is very cheap (like most of them nowdays), you may want to get a plastic bin with lid to keep the pieces in. Also, nearly impossible to fit everything back into the original box (especially for little kids). I was surprised at first how much they played it over and over again, but then remembered how much my sister and I loved to play it when we were kids :).

This one is a classic
I loved this game as a child. We still have the one I played with 16 years ago.

Break the Ice is a simple game anybody can play. There is a man sitting on a big piece of ice. You want to knock out the pieces around him, but not knock out piece that will send him falling. It's simple enough but it does take some stratedgy.

We have a lot of kids that come through my house for different reasons, and I've never met one that didn't get a kick out of this game. It's a fun family game and a must for a small child.

Mom to a 4yr old
The is a classic game, whose appeal has not been lost. NO batteries or flashing lights etc... My little girl at 3 loved this game. It was one of the first games she could play, that the adults(aunts, uncles etc) and older kids (8&9 yr old neighbors, cousins) were willing to play with her and not be bored themselves. So consequently she got to play again and again. The downfall is it does take an older child or adult for setup. So if you need a game to draw your toddler into the mix at family get togethers, this is it. We have not had problems with durability like the other reviewers.

An inexpensive classic
Games for small children are notoriously hard to come by. "Don't Break the Ice" is one of the few available and a classic in its own right.

My young son loves this game and we play all sorts of variations including moving the main ice piece that holds the bear to different places so we can experiment with the "physics" of the game. (So there is a true educational element.) We also try to put the ice pieces back in the frame using different patterns of insertion. This helps kill the time factor in getting the game pieces ready to play.

With its minimum of rules anyone can pick this game up in a minute. It's fun and can be played by "kids" of all ages. Given its low price, it's a no miss. Even if little children get more fun out of making the bear fall than not, so what? Think of it as a more versatile "hammer & peg bench" toy.

There are some durability issues. If one of the tabs that hold the ice breaks, you are out of luck. The frame consists of two pieces that slide together and the connection is prone to breakage. Still, at this price point it's a lot easier to replace than many of the fragile toys that cost far more. In fact you could buy every toy in the Milton Bradley "Cootie" line and still be under the cost of just one other plastic toy.

A good bet for a good price. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Movie star, master of disguise, starchy tuber extraordinaire: is there anything Mr. Potato Head can't do? This specimen comes with 25 different features to mix and match, including glasses, ears, mustache, lips, arms, eyes, and hat. There's even a sticking-out tongue, in case he's feeling especially silly. All the pieces tuck inside his body for storage, and the whole shebang packs up into a plastic suitcase for face-making fun on the go. --Mary Park ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Great piece storage
There are quite a few pieces that comes with this version. The suitcase holds everything! This makes clean-up very easy for my kids. The pieces aren't like the traditional pieces that come with the regular Mr. Potato Head. They are funny & brightly colored. Like the traditional version, kids still like to make funny faces and put parts in the wrong place. You can't go wrong with this toy or any other Mr. Potato Head. He is a classic!

Excellent, entertaining, educational toy
I have to agree with the other reviewers that this toy is a toddler pleaser. My daughter got the Mr and Mrs Potato head version of this at age 18 months and she just loves it. (the Mr and Mrs version has one head but "lady" parts like earrings, fancy shoes, bow lips...) She learned the names of all of the parts, including shoes, glasses etc, and quickly is learning the correct place for each part. She carries around the head like a doll and loves to put the pieces into the case and dump them out and so on for what seems like forever. The suitcase comes apart sometimes, but is easy to click back together, is very durable, and a great way to keep the pieces all together. I highly recommend this classic, which (unlike many revamped classic toys) has stayed true to its original concept with the improvement of a storage feature and durable parts. Did the original have a compartment inside the head to store pieces? I can't remember, but this one does, so if we feel like just taking along the head with a few parts we can leave the suitcase at home and still keep the pieces all together. We've had this toy for several months and haven't lost a piece yet, even though it's visited every house in the neighborhood.

Vintage- You could never go wrong
An excellent toy; it promotes motor and gross skills as well as creative thinking; the children are not only proud of their creation but you could determine thier understanding quite a bit. it holds their interest because it provides versatility. Excellent choice.

A great toy revived!
My oldest had to have Mr Potato Head when Toy Story came out. Of course the cardboard box didn't last long & the pieces were scattered & lost but with this set the container is plastic & it is easier to keep the pieces together & hold their attention longer. It is now being played with by child # 3, so I would say it is definitely worth the money. My only complaint would be the container could be a little bigger to allow little hands to put the accessories away easier. But all in all, it is a great toy.

Switch to the suitcase, puh-lease!!!!!!!!
This is very different (and much more fun) from the basic Mr. Potato Head in that the basic version only contained one, non-mix-and-matchable outfit (2 eyes, 2 ears, 1 nose,1 mouth, 1 hat, 1 pair of shoes). This one has 2 -you heard me- 2 mix-and-matchable outfits, just like the Romper Room version we had as kids. ... Read more