EDITORIAL REVIEW

It's more of a fancy doll cottage than a castle, but I suppose no matter how compact, only a castle can pull off pointed spires, pink walls, a moving, music-playing ballroom floor, and inhabitants (Barbie and Kelly being two of them) dressed in gossamer and glitter. Inside, castle status is confirmed, as there's a lot of royal stuff to play with: a fireplace with grate, a canopied bed that doubles as a luxurious bath, a well-accessorized vanity, a fold-down mirror becomes an extravagant dining table, and lots of hidden storage compartments that can only be opened by Barbie's bluebird key. Some parental construction is required. Choking Hazard: Small parts. Not for children under 3 years. --Diane Beall ... Read more

Editorial Review

While Barbie seemed to be assimilating quite nicely into the various environments assigned to her over the years - veterinarian's office, lifeguard chair, NASA-it's in a shopping mall that Ms. B truly seems in her element. And what a sizable and comprehensive mall this is. It sports a hair salon where the fashion-conscious plastic doll can get a complete makeover or just a light touch up, a shoe store with a musical shoe stand, a clothing boutique, and numerous other shops. There's even an ATM, which makes a lot of sense given all the shopping to be done. What makes the mall really fun, however, are the zillions of tiny accessories - shoes, flowers, brushes, combs, outfits, and many more details that will make for hours of fun at the mall. Barbie and other dolls are not included with this mall, but they can't wait to get there and do some shopping. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A Great Starter for Little Minds.
I purchased this item for my neice approx. one year ago, for her birthday, and she loves it. She turned three then, and I was suprised at how often she played with it. She takes it with her everywhere. What impressed me even more, is how much she has learned and acomplished in one years time. I recomend this to any parent who wants to introduce their child to computers and learning with the joy of watching how much fun they are going to share with you while doing so.

This is extremely dissapointing
I bought this for my 5 year old daughter. She loved for the short time it worked. It is so not worth the money if Mattel makes them last for a few weeks.

It started by Barbie repeating the same thing over and over again, no matter what button she pushed, then it was humming and then finally started to make an awful noise.

We tried to fix it for her, in the end we pulled the batteries out to stop the noise. Toys R Us was not even going to listen to my complaint and Mattel could not care less. I guess Made in China should have clued me in on the quality of this product.

Pretty cool for a 4-yr. old girl
My daughter got this for her 4th birthday and she loves it. Her twin brother got a different one (obviously) and he doesn't like it as much. The B-bright is very simple and can be easily operated by pre-schoolers without help from adults. I love the menu slide on the side because my daughter can go from one activity to another without having to enter a game code. It's very cute too and entertaining. Recommended highly for kids under 6.

Very entertining for your kids
My littler girl loves this laptop. One because its Barbie and the other she has her on computer and she doest'n use my. And she has learn a lot in very littler time.

Well Worth Your Money
I bought this for my 5 year old granddaughter last Christmas.
It was the one present that she has used time and time again.
It is durable, entertaining and educational, a pretty good
package to give a child you love. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Hubby Loves It!
The only disappointment with this set is that the pieces are plastic. When we picked up the box it was quite heavy so we hoped the pieces were some sort of metal. Alas. However, they are not flimsy. Some of the weapons were a bit curved out of the box but they straightened out with a little TLC. Don't even think about getting them back into the box once you've taken them out unless you wrote down where each piece came from. The board is nothing special, just cardboard, and is a little small for the size of the pieces. If you plan on playing the game I'd suggest getting a larger board. Otherwise, it's great for display purposes. This is the nicest Star Wars chess set we've seen. Buy it, you'll love it.

Star Wars Saga Chess
For those who may be interested, here is a listing of which pieces are included in this new chess set.For the silver "good" side, the pawns are Republic Clone Troopers, kneeling and holding a rifle.The two rooks are C3P0/R2D2 (together on one piece), and Padme firing a blaster from Episode II.The knights are Han Solo in Episode IV clothing and Chewbacca with bowcaster, and the bishops are Princess Leia from Episode IV and Luke Skywalker from Episode VI.The queen is a bearded Episode III Obi-Wan, and the king is Yoda flying through the air (resting on a piece of clear plastic) with a lightsaber.On the black "evil" side, the pawns are the Episode IV era stormtroopers, kneeling with rifles.The two rooks are Count Dooku and Darth Maul (holding a double-bladed lightsaber and doing a high kick).Bishops are General Grievous (two of his four arms are holding lightsabers) and a General Grievous bodyguard with staff.Knights are Jango Fett from Episode II flying with jet pack and firing double pistols, and Boba Fett from Episode VI, presumably firing his wrist cable.The queen is Darth Vader with lightsaber, and the king is Emperor Palpatine with hands poised for sith lightning ala Episode VI.All pieces are made from molded plastic, and weapons will most likely be deformed and wilted when you remove them from the package.If your lightsabers are not all twisted and warped, be surprised and thankful.Also, getting them put back into their proper (unmarked) place in the packaging is like a difficult jigsaw puzzle.In the end, however, this is a nice set and I believe it is worth the price. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Gordon is a long, blue express locomotive who supplies water for Thomas and tows a coal tender.

Based on the award-winning PBS television series Shining Time Station by the Rev. W. Awdry, the Thomas the Tank train system is the perfect child's train set. Each wooden vehicle has a different name, character, and face. The magnetic bumpers make linking up easy. Friendly characters will engage your child in hours of imaginary play. Designed to support your child's development, the system encourages the use of new motor and cognitive skills. --Sandy Hirsch ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Gordon sure can pull a lot of coaches at once
When my sister plays express with Gordon and all the coaches she sometimes has a hard time pulling them. Then when I help her I realize how many coaches Gordon can pull. It amazes me how strong gordon really is. Like all Thomas trains the magnet is very durable and it can be used for hours of use.

Express Engines
Gordon is a big express engine who is fast. He is the same size as He is in some story stops like Gordon takes a dip and Henry and the elephant. He has a tender with the number 4 on it.

Perfect
This huge toy is loved by many; you can roll it around, make a train, play games, and lots of other stuff with it.

Also, it is very durable.

This toy is great!

Here Comes the Express!!
Gordon is the large express engine. He's bigger than the other Thomas the Tank Engine toys. His bright blue paint and smiling face make him a joy to play with. My son just recently got Gordon, and he has quickly become one of his favorites. He likes to attach all of his other cars to Gordon and have him pull them. As with other trains in this family, Gordon is strong and durable and will provide hours of fun, interactive play. Pick Gordon up today for your child; they will thank you for it.

Great toys from a wonderful set of stories.
My 2 1/2 year old son loves the Thomas and Friends trains (and all trains in general). He received a starter set for his second birthday, and since then I've added a number of track expansions, cars, buildings, and a couple of storage boxes to his set. He now has so much that we've filled a large Rubbermaid plastic storage box. His train set is easily his favorite toy; his large collection of "Little People" toys from Fisher-Price are now a distant second.

They have been very durable, surviving many accidental falls off the coffee table in our living room, (now officially the "Train Table"), suffering only a few minor dings and some chips in the paint. (I reduced my rating for durability by a star because of the tendency of the paint to chip from a fall, but we have a hardwood floor, however a vinyl floor, and certainly a carpet, may not cause this.) Even with my son's vigorous, energetic play, not one car, or piece of track has broken in almost two years now of frequent play. The only exception to this is our "Wellsworth Station", where the internal mechanism that moves the passenger and sets the stop sign finally failed, although this was due to my son's zealous pounding on the tower of the station which engages the mechanism. The tracks and buildings are solid wood, very durable, and seem like they will last for years. With the exception of this one failure, all of the parts have been exceptionally durable.

These toys have been wonderful for my son, helping his imagination and creativity, his learning to sequence and order things, the properties of objects as he puts pieces of track together, and using numbers in learning the characters and building trains for playing out his ideas. Many of the buildings have a mechanical action feature that indirectly teaches him about mechanics and physics, such as when he plays with the turntable, Cranky the Crane, or the Coal loader.

We have the new 'improved' track with rails on one side and road on the other, allowing us many options in building tracks and roads for play. We cover our table with a large piece of brown felt, and use other small pieces of different shapes and colors to add roads, fields and crops, mountains, lakes, and rivers to our scenarios. This adds a great deal of extra depth and possibilities to our play, and more opportunities for imagination, creativity, and learning. Playing out scenarios from the stories and inventing our own has provided us many, many hours of quality time together as Dad and son. I feel good knowing that I'm buying good quality toys for him that will last and provide a constructive and positive learning environment, rather than the typical lousy and cheap plastic action figures that glorify conflict and violence. I especially like it when we play out scenarios from the stories that have morals about cooperation, friendship, responsibility, and hard work, etc.

I would not recommend these toys for a child less than 2 years of age as they require more developmental ability than even an older infant possesses, but they are perfect for toddlers. The individual toys and buildings themselves have age ratings on them, varying between 2 to 3+ years, making it easy to pick ones appropriate for your child, and allowing the toy to grow and expand as your child does. As my son has developed new skills and abilities, I've been able to increase the complexity of the layouts we build, and in the choices I make in what new items to add to his set. From my experience with my son, even a small Thomas set and a little bit of imagination will go a long way with a child, and provide hours of good wholesome fun. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Marketing goof-up from Mattel
Note the age guideline -- 14 years and up. The kids who want this doll are the same kids who watch the movie; I estimate that's 8-years and below. The doll is meant to be looked at, not played with. Why make a "collector" doll out of the character? I don't think she's THAT pretty. Goodness knows my little Barbie-loving neighbor girl is going to be disappointed.

The Enchantress Fairytopia Doll
The doll is beautiful but the wings came off very easily with gentle play.For the price of this doll, I expected much more durable and thicker wings.

IS SHE BEAUTIFUL?
The Enchantress is the Queen of Fairytopia in the new Barbie movie. She has blond hair with beautiful yellow-and-white wings and a purple-pink-and yellow gown. Buy her! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Every Fireman needs a Station
I purchased this Thomas Fire Station for my son last Christmas (age 5). He loves all his Thomas the train items and this Fire Station was icing on the cake for my little fireman. He enjoys setting up the track with his Fire Station. As his other engines/trains circle the track a fire surpisingly occurs, than here comes the Fire Engines to put out the fire. This is a must have accessory to add to your set, if you little man loves being a Fireman. At age 6 he is looking forward to Christams and adding more accessories/builings/track/engines to add to his collection. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Holds up to daily playtime!
Santa brought this set for my 3 year old son last Christmas and he has played with it everyday since. With daily use, this wooden set is holding up to his rough play. His favorite piece is Cranky the Crane. It's easy to add onto as we have added the hospital and another bridge. We purchased a Nilo table to put the train on so it will stay together. Well worth the money!

Great for 18 months and up! But expensive...
The Thomas train and train collections are durable toys. Their real value, though, is that playing with the toys allows children to act out the great Thomas and Friends children's stories they read and watch.

This is a nice layout that provides far more track than the usual figure 8 layout that gets purchased first. But it is very expensive. There is generic track available that costs far less. Our kids haven't noticed the difference. IT IS EASY TO CREATE ELEVATED TRACK AND BRIDGES USING LEGO OR DUPLO PIECES AS SUPPORTS. GENERIC CRANES ARE AVAILABLE FOR MUCH LESS.

Kids' imaginations can remarkably supply buildings and water towers and cranes, etc., so that they won't even miss what might be lacking from less expensive sets. And families can build some of these items themselves out of old boxes, etc.

Purchasing recommendation:
* Choose which type of Thomas trains you will 'standardize' on. There are three kinds: This size of wooden trains from Learning Curve; larger, plastic, battery-operated trains from Tomy; and smaller, die-cast metal trains from Ertl. The wooden trains have the most products and accessories available.

* The clickety-clack (grooved to look like real railroad) track in the Thomas series is great, but it's expensive; I recommend buying generic track. ... You can literally save hundreds of dollars by buying these kinds of sets.

* Buy the Thomas and friends engines separately--and wait for sales. The kids care about the characters, so no short-cutting (ie., Brio or generic trains) here.

* Look for trains bundled with VHS videos. You can get a video and a train (on sale) for about the same price as a train alone. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Kids who wear this fancy dress-up piece will obviously not be playing the "pauper" side of the Barbie-influenced fairy tale, "The Prince(ess) and the Pauper."With a quilted felt bodice and three layers and textures of skirt, it's a pretty, blue expression of 19th century couture. Details include pink trim around the neck, waist, and forearms and a miniature portrait at the neck. Kids up to a smallish 5 years old can wear it, and get it on and off easily thanks to Velcro closures in back.--Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (6)

My daughter loves it!
We got this for our daughter on her 2nd birthday and she loved it. Now she is almost 4 and still loves to ride on it. At first she didn't look where she was driving, but it didn't take long for her to master driving it. It's also much easier to steer than the jeep type that has the round steering wheel. It's held up fine over 2 years with lots of use even when the kids purposefully run into each other. The only negative thing I have to say is that it does go quite slow in the grass. It's not going to be a good choice if you want your child to ride around in the backyard on it. But we live on a cul-de-sac so it's easy for the kids to ride around in the road. I would recommend getting a second battery so you can always make sure one is charged since they do take awhile to charge (or you may end up with a temper tantrum on your hands).

Barbie Trailrider
We purchased this Barbie quad for our 4 yr. old daugher and were very unhappy with the performance. With a 6 volt battery it hardly pulled her through the grass (she is an average 40lb. 4 year old). Our two year old son was the perfect size for this toy. It had enough power to pull our daughter on the driveway, but anymore than 25-30lbs. is too much for the voltage of this particular ride-on. If you're looking for a ride-on for a child over 3yrs. of age I strongly recommend spending the extra money to get one with a 12-volt battery. It makes all the difference!!
Ours was ridden (mostly by our son) for only one summer and it will hopefully be sold in a garage sale soon. Live and learn!!!

Way underpowered
The barbie quad is way underpowered even for my 3 year old. If you want to use this off any hard surface, forget about it. It will bearly go. You're better off buying the 12 volt Kawasaki Ninja quad instead. I'm not sure why they made the girls Barbie quad 6 volt and the boys Ninja 12.

This is an excelent ride!!!!
My little girls is know 5 years, but when she was 3 Santa brought her a Power Wheels Barbie, like I said she's 5 and she still rids it I think she can use it 2 years more, she rides her brother 3 year old, this is a very good present!!!!!

she loves it............
My daugthers uncle bought this for her first birthday we did not assemble it until she was 14 months and the first time she rode it she had so much fun, I was even able to ride behind her with my legsin the air. We opted for this one because the smaller ones are such a waste of money. You just need to supervise, but it's worthevery bit of the money. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Simply put the Move ‘n Groove Dance Mat on the floor and let your child dance the day away. The keyboard makes six different notes, the instrument icons play various tunes, and when the picture of Barney is stepped on, he will issue instructions to step on the blue footprint, step on the red footprint, etc., and even congratulate the child when she steps on the correct spot. The furry, inflatable Barney figure spins around when music plays, an effect that would be better if he didn't tilt weirdly to one side. Nonetheless, Barney is still a nice bonus with this mat since, being removable, he is a fun toy in his own right. True, the combinations of things you can do may be limited, but the physical and interactive qualities of this toy are a big plus. --David Stoesz ... Read more

Reviews (22)

wow im 25 and i still like this
this thing is so much fun it teaches people to dance move n groove barney is off the fisle fashisle dawg. so buy this thing for yourself and experiance the fun and joy of barney. barneys fun fun fun

Barney Dance Mat, not so Super Duper
The Barney doll is a blow-up doll and does not stand up properly on the stand even when it is at filled at capacity with air. It just turned out to be a big noise-making mat that our toddler dances on.

Fun, but Barney Deflates
We may have purchased a defective one then because Barney will either deflate while trying to spin or he will come out the base (I even tried to double-tape the bottom of his feet to the base, but that didn't work either). My 2 year old loved this toy, but since Barney doesn't stay put (or deflated), it made her upset, so we ended up throwing it out. I didn't realize that not everyone had this problem (from the other reviews I have read). Maybe, we just purchased a "bad" one or something.

Great toy for a two year old who likes to dance!
My 18 mnth old loves this toy. She loves to dance with him even though she can't understand the steps yet. She especially loves to pick Barney up and run off with him! It's one of her favorite toys and my 6 mos old laughs when he hears Barney talk. He thinks it's really cool that Barney is in our house. (:

Don't understand all the bad reviews!
My 2 year old just received this toy yesterday and she and my 3 year old can't stop fighting over it!! They both just love it. The people who complained about blowing it up must have never blown up a beach ball before!!! It took me maybe 5 or 6 breaths to inflate it. And after hours of play.........Barney's still standing. This is the first toy review I've written and the only reason I wrote it is because I strongly disagree with all the poor reviews. It may not be the most educational toy but it's great exercise for the kids!!! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Kindhearted but noisy, Harold the Helicopter likes to drop in on the Island of Sodor to visit his railway friends. This 4-inch sturdy wood helicopter is white with a sleek red racing stripe above his name. With a rotating propeller and plastic landing pontoons, Harold is ready for action. Based on the popular Thomas the Tank Engine series by Reverend W. Awdry and the PBS television show Shining Time Station, this flying fellow is part of the much-loved wooden railway system, which is compatible with other magnetic train sets. You can reenact all the exciting stories in the series or make up new ones. Thomas fans won't want to miss out on any of these fun, well-built railway characters. --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Lots of fun, but easily broken
My 3 year old son did chores around the house to buy this toy himself. We were very disappointed when one of the rotors broke off within a month. I was with him when it broke. He was not doing anything rough with it. He didn't even drop it. We did not realize there was a guarantee. We've glued it back together at least 10 times. I don't know if that voids the guarantee or not.

Otherwise, it is a great toy. My son carries it all over the place. He says it is his favorite.

I guess the older propellers work better
I've noticed a bunch of complaints regarding the proplellers on Harold the Helicopter. My Harold is over eight years old and it still has his propellers in fine working order. My problem with Harold is the fact that there's not much to do with him. The new hospital track gives him a place to land but he gets boring quickly. Still a good buy though.

love it!
My son has this toy. He loves it. The plastic rotors keep breaking off,(we are on our 3rd Harold and have to get a 4th now.) I have had a hard time trying to find out who to contact for replacement now that the company has switched hands.

Harold's propellers break easily
I have a normal active three year old boy, who loves his Harold. However, the propellers are made of a hard plastic that snap if they are stepped on or smacked around - hard to avoid with a 3 yr old boy! Thank goodness for the lifetime replacement guarantee - that's why I continue to buy this brand. Harold has been replaced twice - my son thinks he goes to the repair shop! Overall the Thomas wooden train system is incredible, but like any brand, it does have it's glitches.

Great toy but breaks easily
My kids have several Thomas toys from Imaginarium and they LOVE them. This one is the least durable of the bunch. 2 blades have broken off of Harold, so his flying is a little lopsided these days. I think they need to try another approach for the blades. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Wants educational toys
My 5 year old daughter received this for Christmas last year and LOVES it. She takes it in the car on trips or anywhere else we go. She will sit in her room for hours playing on her "computer. I love the fact that it has taught her the basics to start kindergarten this fall. But I have noticed that it has a place that you can add discs to it, but I can't seem to find out what kind of discs go to it. Overall, I would recommend this.

Should be seriously updated with today's technology!
This computer was not durable at all. My 5 year old(was 4 at the time) got it for Christmas, had it for about 2 months before breaking it, and trust me she is not hard on stuff. The mouse worked sporadically and like a real mouse (i.e. it gets dirty very easily). The LCD Screen is very very hard to see, and the volume/sound is of poor quality.. my little sisters had better Vu-Tech computers for kids 10 years ago!!! I expected a lot more from this. We ended up just throwing ours away! I would also not recommend this for younger children (toddlers/3 years old), it's somewhat too advanced for them.

I will probably find another computer/laptop for her, but until I see one I really like, I'm just sticking on Leap Pad books and Hooked on Phonics for now! :) Hope this helped!

barbie think pink is bad
This looks like a real computer but it stinks. the mouse doesnt work , either does the directional cursors. Even if you follow the instructions word for word it still doesn't work. I only had it for maybe a 1/2 hour and my mother said she would return it. Not worth the price at all.

Mind challenging
I purchased the b-book with only 50 activities. The 60 activity version came out the next month. My 5 year old received this for her birthday. While most of the activities are still a little advanced. The initial ones in each catergory, provided challenging questions for her. She calls it her "Kindegarten laptop". I am glad that it a toy where she can continue learning, not just Kindergarten level items. It's probably better suited for a 5-1/2 yr old and up. I also have a Leap Pad and she plays both with equal challenges. I wish I had waited for the 60 activity version. It included Spanish!

The Barbie B-Book Laptop Is AMAZING (5 stars)
The Barbie Think Pink B-Book Learning Laptop is amazing. My 5-year old sister got it for Christmas and she loves it. She plays with it almost everyday and she really enjoys it. this is the first toy that she enjoys this much.
It has 43 eduactional games divided into 8 useful catetgories. it also has 4 games and 10 spanish games. The eduactional games are deived into the categories of Vocabulary(5 games), Logic(5 games), Music(5 games), Spelling(5), Math(9), Grammar(4), Memory(6), and Keyboarding Skills(4). the ;aptoppp also has 3 tools. The tools are a calculator, a screen saver, and a Animation Center. The laptop also comes with batteries and comes with a mouse and mouse pad. ...If you have a 5-7 year old in the family, this is a great, fun, and educational gift. ... Read more