ELC Toybox toy testers review thread

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the MN testers who were sent a selection of the new ELC Toybox range of toys to test with their LOs.

ELC say "Our new Toybox range is a nostalgic and classic collection of toys with a contemporary twist, designed and developed by an in-house design team who were inspired by toys from their childhood. Toybox features a host of collectable animal characters and vehicles for young children aged 12 months and above. Each toy is made in a high quality shiny new plastic and the characters have clicking legs and arms so they come to life when children are playing. The animals have textured, rubbery ears to stimulate the senses and are designed to help develop fine motor skills.

The range comprises of 9 characters; Dotty the dolly, Ted the teddy, Sam the soldier, Ellie the elephant, James the Giraffe, Rosie the rabbit, Frankie the frog, Monty the monkey and Kitty. Each character sells for £4. Also in the range are Rosie Rabbit and her cute motor car, Monty Monkey and his funky car, Frankie Frog, in cool yellow goggles, and his flying machine. The Toybox animal train is a fun engine train with moving eyes and two carriages that comes with two characters; James Giraffe and Kitty, with room for a friend. The train is interactive; push the funnel down and the train chugs along to 'toot toot' sounds with four magical tunes.

The Toybox collection is perfect for igniting children’s imaginations and encouraging them to act out stories, take charge of an environment and make things happen when they choose"

Testers - please add your feedback by answering the questions below and please also add your own honest reviews (following the guidelines sent) to the links below:

Toys and Games Reviews on MN

Toybox on ELC

Please state which toys you received and the age and gender of your child who played with them

How much time did your child spend playing with the toys? What was their first impression?

Did they seem to enjoy the clicking sounds?

Did they notice the different textures?

Did you take the toys out and about with you? Were they good distraction toys on car journeys etc?

Do you think the toy encouraged imaginative play with your LO?

Is this a range you'd recommend to a friend or relation? Why?

thanks, MNHQ

How much time did your child spend playing with the toys? What was their first impression?
My 3yo ds was very excited when the toys arrived (due to having a broken giraffe last week) He received the giraffe & the frog with car. He thoroughly enjoyed playing with them, still does 4 days later

Did they seem to enjoy the clicking sounds?
he notices the clicking noises, seems to enjoy them

Did they notice the different textures?
I noticed the different textures more than he did. I think they are very good quality

Did you take the toys out and about with you? Were they good distraction toys on car journeys etc?
They have stayed at home

Do you think the toy encouraged imaginative play with your LO?
Yes! He's constantly chatting away to them

Is this a range you'd recommend to a friend or relation? Why?
Yes I would. I think they're good quality, very tough..

Please state which toys you received and the age and gender of your child who played with them
We received Frankie Frog and his Flying Machine plus Monty the Monkey for my 12-month-old son to play with.

How much time did your child spend playing with the toys? What was their first impression?
He wanted to play with the toys as soon as he saw them and sat playing with them for a surprisingly long time considering his age. He quickly learned to put the characters in and out of the plane and I liked the way that there was a simple round hole in the plane which meant that it was easy to put the toys in. It also means that other toys can be used with the plane which is good for imaginative play.

Did they seem to enjoy the clicking sounds?
He didn't seem to notice that the limbs moved and played with the characters without moving them. I think that was due to his age though, he hasn't had much experience of toys like this yet.

Did they notice the different textures?
No he didn't seem to notice the different textures either.

Did you take the toys out and about with you? Were they good distraction toys on car journeys etc?
We didn't try that. The plane would be too big to take on journeys but the characters would be good if he had latched on to one as a particular favourite.

Do you think the toy encouraged imaginative play with your LO?
Yes, there were suggestions on the box for imaginative play and it would be possible to act out a lot of different scenarios, especially if using more than one character. My older two boys (aged 10 and 7) also enjoyed playing with the toys and found ways to play with them, even though they are aimed at younger children.

Is this a range you'd recommend to a friend or relation? Why?
They are certainly good toys and I would be inclined to recommend them or buy them as a gift for a 1-2 year old child. They are similar in style to the Little People and HappyLand toys but the larger size makes them much more suitable for younger children.

We got given the train with James and Kitty. DS2 is 13 months. He started playing with it straight away andvit kept him occupied for a long time. He kept going past it and pushing the funnel to hear the toot toot.

I'm not sure he noticed the clicking sound or the different textures.

These toys seem robust and can cope with quite a lot of banging about. I would recommend the toys to family and friends but the only thing I would say is that there are 3 places on the train and you only get 2 characters. For £30 I wouldn't expect to spend a further £5 on another character.

Hi! Sorry for the late feedback. We've had some family illness.

We got the train with the kitty and giraffe. DD is 12 months exactly. Beore i answer the q's I will add to the chorus about the elephant being on the box but not IN the box - in fact my mum, who was there when we opened it, was very disappointed! Ha.

How much time did your child spend playing with the toys? What was their first impression
She hasn't spent much time at all playing with the train - looks somewhat alarmed by the loud music and baffled by the seemingly inexplicable movement . But she LOVES the giraffe figure and has spent ages (couldn't say how long, there is frequent picking up and putting down) examining its horns!

Did they seem to enjoy the clicking sounds?
You mean of the animals' arms and legs, rather than when the train hits the wall? She hasn't really noticed, not old enough for the sort of imaginative play that would involve moving their limbs. I find them a bit random!

Did they notice the different textures?
Not that I could say - unless that is what is motivating her interest in the giraffe horns? I can't say I've noticed texture....

Did you take the toys out and about with you? Were they good distraction toys on car journeys etc?
No, it's too big and loud, definitely an 'at home' toy.

Do you think the toy encouraged imaginative play with your LO?
As far as I know, she isn't engaged in that sort of play yet. But who knows what she's thinking when bashing poor little giraffe around and shouting. I would say the figures, yes, train, no. She's not even interested in the train when a favourite soft toy goes for a ride in it.

Is this a range you'd recommend to a friend or relation? Why?
No, sorry. I just don't find it interesting enough - either to look at (not keen on the colours and chunky molding) or in terms of what it can do. DD seems to feel the same - her other electronic toys (eg V tech walker) have occupied her far more. Perhaps she is too young for it?

Last thing - weird perhaps but it niggles. The space on the train seems too big for the animals to stand, too small for them to sit....? For a chunky toy like tis I think a neat it is more satisfying, almost like a shape sorter iyswim.

Would add - I might consider buying her more figures at £4. Thinking about it, they're a great size for her wee hands and I quite fancy some too

Please state which toys you received and the age and gender of your child who played with them

We received the train and it was played with by DS 2 years 7 months and DD 12 months

How much time did your child spend playing with the toys? What was their first impression?

Both children initially played with the train for around 15 minutes. They often come back to it and the 12mo particularly enjoys playing with the giraffe and cat figures. However, the train does not hold their attention for very long at a time

Did they seem to enjoy the clicking sounds?

I'm not sure that they really noticed or that it makes very much difference to them at these ages

Did they notice the different textures?

The different textures are a bit too subtle to notice and the 12mo will just chew any part of it.

Did you take the toys out and about with you? Were they good distraction toys on car journeys etc?

We have taken the figures out with us - good for the 12 mo - the 2.7 yo doesn't play with them for long enough - he prefers smaller cars / trains / books for out and about

Do you think the toy encouraged imaginative play with your LO?

I didn't find that it really encouraged imaginative play - the train element is really just something they press - it moves across the floor and its forgotten.

Is this a range you'd recommend to a friend or relation? Why?

I wouldn't really recommend to a friend for 2 main reasons. Firstly the train is way too loud. Most toys have 2 volume settings - this does not and i found that we had to raise our voices to be heard over it. Secondly I felt that at £30 it was too expensive, £15-20 would have been a more appropriate price point.

Ooh batteries need replacing after just a few days of very light play, if these are the ones supplied I would look at that. If battery life is short I would see that as a serious negative.

Follow up - after not a lot of playing, the teddy sheaf no longer clicks and is loose-ish, as if it would break.

And I too have noticed that they don't sit nicely, and that their legs straighten a bit too much so they don't stand. Also, if in the sitting position, they don't fit in the car. So they have to stand in the car, but then the space is too big for them so they wobble about and fall out.

On reflection, I'm a bit concerned that they break too easily, and that some basic considerations seem to have been ignored.

Not so sure I would recommend now. (Although, they still look nice!)

*Teddy's head