Reviews (4)

An education in frustration
A 5 yr old's life is frustrating enough. Waiting not so patiently for papa to get done with his chores so he can go watch the kids skate. The time has finally come. Every 30 seconds ... papa, the straps are loose again. Thank goodness they aren't to the point of skating down our somewhat steep street. They would break their neck with these straps coming undone.

I bought two sets for my two 5 yr olds and the straps keep coming undone on both sets. The tensioning clasp just doesn't stay snapped shut. I looked high and low for a good pair of skates with features that I wanted, an inline with training wheels. These looked like the ticket, and I ignored the reviews as I couldn't fine others with these features. That's what I get for ignoring the reviews.

... Overall the skates look like a good design but are rendered useless with the always opening clasps. ... A locking strap clasp would be an easy modification. ..

4 year old loves it!
I bought this for my 4 year olds birthday in April and they have been great. I haven't had any problems with the closures holding, they appear to be pretty strong. I wasn't thrilled with how bulky they look but my son thinks they are pretty cool. I think the skates are a good way to start learning to in-line skate.

Faulty closures!! Do not recommend.
These skates do not allow much fun because every time my son gets going they come undone. The buckles(closures)do not stay shut. He cannot wear them at all because of this, I am constantly closing the buckles. I was so excited about getting these for him for christmas, and I turned out getting him a pair of the fisher price my first skates. I recommend if your childs foot will still fit in the fisher price my first skates to get those because these are not worth it. I was very disappointed in these because I like the look a lot more, than the fisher price my first skates, but oh well, the fisher price work better, and I have to go with that.I hope this helps.

Don't waste your money
I bought these skates for my 3 yr old and the strap keeps coming undone. I'm going to return them. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Very disappointed
We bought these skates for our 5 year old. She could barely skate in them. They are too big and bulky for children just learning to skate. We returned them and have yet to find another pair.

Not good skates!
We bought these for our 4 yr old and were disappointed with them. Too big and hard to handle, however, we picked up a pair of the basic plastic pair that her shoe can also fit in and she did great! After they get the hang of those, the Barbie adjustable inline skates are great! They are $ and well worth it! Stay away from the "learn to inline skates" though! Luckily the store took those back!

poor quality
I took my niece skating last night with these skates. They were forever coming unstrapped - and actually fell off her foot once. They look nice - but not safe at all. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

It's a great toy!
My son Logan (7) says:
Its a great toy. It has a place for the pirates to sleep, shelter, etc. I use it with my other Imaignext sets for battles. It stays set up in my room for days! I recommend this toy!

We had to buy TWO!!!!
The kids went CRAZY over this one! First the hole in the sand! HOW cool!! All the animals fit, the guys, treasure, or even just the swords and stuff! A great idea! We also like the Tiki hut roof and the log walls, sand floors are really cool and the palm tree rocks!

Our creative kids created two sand islands with the sets (Pirate ship added for more walls and floors, and the Nautical 'shipwreck' feel) and then made a big tree with the Lost Fortress... Know what they played? SURVIVOR!!! The tree is Tribal Council, "the tribe has spoken." LOL! Tooo fun!

Worthy of the price and lots of things to change this one into! Great idea!!!

Lots of fuel for the imagination
My 3 year old loves his pirate island. There is a place for buried treasure, working canons (which are made not to cause injuries), fallen trees and lots of little accessories. Although he is not old enough, the island has the capability to be arranged and built in many different ways. Plenty of potential to grow into it for many years.

kids love these, especially the "fantasy" types
My son has played with these toys since he was 4 --- he has acquired about seven different sets from the Imaginext line -(pirates, lost fortress, castles) -- yea relatives! as well as various extra guys (available at Wal-mart) and he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down on play with them (he's 6) -- he has other toys, natch, but plays with these daily. The other kids love them as well, especially as they tie into the child's love of knights, pirates, lord of the tings, and robin hood. EXCELLENT for creative play, as the sets can mix and match and be configured in unique constructions. Durable (NOTHING broken yet), loaded with little extras, great value -- buy them all for a truly thrilled and absorbed child.

Imaginext building system is great!!
I don't know why the previous reviewer submitted a review---he doesn't own the toy, has never seen it, yet he submits a review?!! Amazon...you should remove that review since it doesn't accurately reflect the toy's value.
We, on the other hand, DO own this toy and my 4 year old son absolutely loves it!!! He often combines it with the other Imaginext products and creates a different toy each time. The wonderful thing about Imaginext is the freedom it provides to create an endless possibility of ideas. One day he might construct each system according to the "plan" provided. Another day he might combine the construction pieces with the castle and forest pieces, creating large fortresses and towers. His imagination soars when he plays with these toys and he seems to never tire of them. I would highly recommend Imaginext toys for any child. I only wish they would produce a line that was geared toward girls---maybe a fairytale castle or enchanted forest? ... Read more

Editorial Review

Avast, me hearties! Captain Bones of the Phantom Pirates dares you to try finding his stolen loot buried deep within the eerily glowing Phantom Island. But beware! Sinister traps await! This cleverly designed game consists of interlocking snap-together pieces that allow players to create any number of arrangements for the island. However it’s built, there are traps around every corner, from the fingerbone skeleton cages to the spiked pendulum to--most bloodcurdling of all--the secret idol-activated erupting volcano! More experienced players can treat this game as a building toy as well as a play set, while younger kids will be thrilled just to keep trying to sneak up on those scurvy bilge rats! Includes two pirates, boat, accessories, and glow-in-the-dark-embellished island (with secret treasure cave), all made of durable hard plastic. Arrr! --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A break-out wall!!!
We are really excited about this addition to the set - the castle itself has some nice design points like the stairs to the trap door, the claw on the string to grab people (Use your imagination heavily with this, it doesn't wind to pull back), the codor/eagle that shoots, and the BREAK OUT DOOR! Our two older kids, 10 & 11, had to 'discuss' who would get the important door feature, really a favorite for our archtects. Our toddler likes using the bird to fire at stacks of the guys like target practice and the 2nd grader likes to put the leftovers with other pieces to make different looking castles. The blue stonework for the new stuff is a really nice touch.

We are medievil fans and LOVE this stuff - HUZZAH!! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Dragons WHOOOO HOOOO!
All right!! My family LOVES this part of the set - we have almost the entire collection (Glow in the dark Pirate stuff we haven't found yet) and this is one of our favorite additions.

We have girls (3) and boys (3) aged from 3 to 37 years. (Mom and Dad play too!) Our toddler loves the dragon, our 2nd grader loves the stone dragon, our 'tweens' love the pieces that add more details (nice rock formations), and Mom & Dad love that everybody can play.

This stuff is sturdy, can be taken apart and made again or combined with the other castle pieces to make a bigger castle or in our case four different battle stations! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Resembling a beefed-up Hummer, this all-terrain cruiser for Rescue Heroes figures sports a massive green body, jumbo studded tires, and working sirens and lights mounted to the top. A working tow wench rests on the orange front bumper, which is actually the head of a hidden "bumperbot," or robot, attached to the underside of the vehicle. When paired with a Rescue Hero, the robot communicates in English ("The smoke is heavy!"); otherwise, it's reduced to electronic gibberish. The truck is suitable for a variety of rescue missions--the bumperbot's pneumatic handcuffs, for example, can clear trees or pull victims from car wrecks--and would be a dream toy for many kids. Action figures are sold separately. --Andy Boynton ... Read more

Amazon.com

This pink electronic lap-book looks worth the sacrifice of foregoing afternoon cartoons--and it is. The two included storybooks ("Ernie's Neighborhood" and "School Skills") fit inside the book and, thanks to microchip technology, kids can read, count, talk, and sing along with characters using a handy stylus as a pointer. They can stop the story whenever they like to figure out words, phrases and puzzles along the way. Buttons for letters, words, music, and "surprises" are within finger-distance, and so is a full reference of capital and lower-case letters. There are also 60 or more learning activities stored in the book, designed for kids between 3 and 8 years (or up to the 2nd grade). Activities range from simple (spelling, telling time, music) to more complex (problem-solving, comprehension, vocabulary). Required: four AA batteries. Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (52)

Don't waste your money!
I got the PowerTouch Learning System for my 3 years old son. He loved that until the day that he got tired of Elm's book. I went to look for the Dora's book and other books to buy for him. The Dora's is not for sale at any store and there are just few different books avaliable in the market. I got really frustated. I wish I had gotten the Leap frog, they have a way more books which keeps the toy very interesting for the kids. Another problem is that while playing with it, my son eventually touch other parts of the book with another areas of his hand when he points a figure, which make the PowerTouch Learning System starting spelling or reading another word instead of the one that he intended, making him confused at first. Even without touching the book, a closer approach to it, is more than enough to activate. Now I like the idea of the pen in the leap frog. I would never buy this toy again!

An attention getter!
We bought this for my 2 1/2 year old son for Christmas. He loved it and still does. He really does not care about the story too much. He mostly likes the music, counting, and pointing to pictures and it tells what the picture is. Its very durable. The only problem is the cartriages are small, but we try to keep the books and cartriages in a back pack. We bought all the books but he loves Ernie's Neighborhood and Blue's Clues the most. It was definately worth it!

Fisher Price does it again
My daughters got this gift for their second birthday even though the age on it is 3-8. At 2 1/2 they are still too young for it, so I really would go with the age limit on this toy. My 2 complaints with this electronic book is the books that go in the toy come in and out ever easily with is very annoying to my toddlers. I can't imagine at 3 they would be any better with the books though. To me, it seems like the system would work better if the books clipped in a bit better. Also some of the books seem "cheap" in their text. Example: Ernie's Neighborhood plays a song, "who are the people in our neighborhood" based on what the child is pointing at. Ernie sings most of the song and then some other voice chimes in with "police man" or "mail carrier", then Ernie continues to sings. Seems to me they could of spent more $$$ on the books development as well.

What I do like about this system is the fact the girls can use their fingers and not a pen to use the books. Plus the girls really seem to like this toy. I hope FP gets some better books soon.

One of my children's favorites!
We'd considered the Leap Pad for my daughter when she was 2 1/2, but decided to go with this one. For one thing, there's no wand or pen with it; it's all done by touch, which is helpful for little ones who haven't perfected their fine motor skills yet. It's also nice, because a wand or pen can be used as a weapon against siblings or parents! I also checked the durability of the books that come with it, because in addition to my daughter we also have an 18 month old, and he would be pulling on the pages. We've never had a page rip yet; they're very strong. My favorite thing about this product, though, is the fact that it even works without a book inserted! The plastic casing itself has the alphabet on it, so you can push the letters and play even when the insert books have been temporarily misplaced.

My daughter is 3 now, and has played with this nonstop for the last 6 months, and her younger brother (18 months) adores it as well. My children aren't "gifted" or anything; I'd say they're prefectly average, and they're able to work the Power Touch very easily, yet not so easily that they get bored. I highly recommend this product!

Do not recommend
I do not recommend purchasing the Power Touch Learning System because there have been no new books developed that I can see. And, at the back of some of the books it shows a Dora Explorer Book, and an additional Clifford book that are not offered anywhere, my son and I look in every store, I have searched the web and search engines. Basically Fisher-Price is not supporting this system, so I wish I had purchased the Leap Frog system. Although the Leap Pad we had when my son was younger had some problems with the stylus not touching correctly and giving incorrect answers, at least it has plenty of books and support. My son is 4 years old, has done all the Power Touch books and doesn't use it anymore, he's become bored with all the same books, he rather play with his old Leap Pad. And in the stores, you quickly see how much more there is available for the Leap Frog, and I think the stylus is also a great learning tool for practicing holding pencils/pens. Hopefully Fisher-Price will introduce new books soon, and this problem won't be such an issue. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Don't Bother
We were looking for a push tricycle or bigwheel for our 18 month old.Don't bother with this one.It took me over an hour to put together (and I am the fix-it person in our home)and I ended up making a mistake.When my husband got home, it took him over an hour to get the piece off with brute strength (not kidding) and reassembled.It didn't help that the part was clear and therefore I didn't even see it.Once we started trying to use it, it was too clunky.As the parent, the only control you have is pushing, so if your child, like ours cannot steer yet... you can't really use it for walks.In addition, the height of the canopy/handle is not adjustable - so when using it to push - it was too short for us.If you are under 5'6 maybe it will work for you.My husband after playing with our child for 10 minutes complained of a sore back.We are returning it today.

Great Ride!
This was an absolutely great gift we got! My son got it for his second birthday. It took me about an hour to put together. Nothing too serious, but a second pair of hands was needed to put the wheels on. (It recommends this in the directions anyway.) Very easy for a child to maneuver, (steering wheel makes smooth turns), and the handle is perfect for a helping push if they can't pedal yet. Fun design, and cool sound effects. My only problem is I have two boys and only one car! I highly recommend this to any liitle boy or girl who loves to "drive" around.

cheap!
my daughter got this for her 1st birthday after seriously thinking of returning this item I ended up putting it together.Nightmare!Just a pain to get together.Too many pieces..directions not exactly clear..there is barely a bounce...and doesn't even ride good...I knew I should have just returned it and got something else because after 1 week I put it out in the trash..Im just glad it wasn't my money that I spend. ... Read more