This one works, and kids love it
581309
We bought this Christmas of 2003 and it didn't work.  We went to exchange it, only to find that it was sold out everywhere as it was a "hot" toy.  We also then discovered that others out there were having problems getting it to work.  My kids were very dissapointed, as they really liked it, even if the electronic parts didn't work.

Well, when I saw that it was available again this year online (not in any of local "box stores") I went ahead and took another shot - I was hoping they had fixed the probelm.  I assembled it carefully (as I had last year) and this time it worked, and the kids absolutely love it (4 year old boy and 7 year old girl).

The thing I noticed this year, but can't recall from last year, is that the large doughnut shaped piece that contains the ice looks like it could be rotated and snapped in to the wrong slots (not exactly sure if it would fit, but it looked like it might).  The important thing to notice is that one of the connection tabs on the bottom of this piece, has a small pin that pushes a button necesarry to activate the toy - this tab needs to go into the slot near the crane.  Also, this whole piece can come just loose enough to release this button and stop working.  This happened to my 4 year old, and I just told him to push down on the road by the ice, and he was able to get it to work by himself.  Now, he knows how to get it working again if it comes loose.  If it ends up being a bigger inconvenience, I am sure I can easily come up with something that will keep this button pushed, regardless of whether the peices loosen up (by the way, it's not noticibley loose, it's just that the button is only 1/8 x 1/8 inch).

I don't regret giving this toy a second chance.
4850909
bought as gifts, and play with it more than the kids
1956786
Works great! Plugs into our TV for lyrics, though we don't use that much as neither of my girls can read very quickly yet. They keep it in their room to sing mostly.
 Bought another mic to hook up, and it works great too. The CD reader takes a little time to get going, but it always works. It has been a while since I've had a CD player. Can't remember if they were always a little slow, or if I'm spoiled by the digital age now. But it works well, and my 7 and 5 yr old girls can work it themselves, so that is a win!

They love turning off their room light and letting the karaoke machine's flashing lights take over too.
2675185
Kids love this and the top is easy for them to use.
3239934
Works great.  Purchased one for my kids, brother, and a friend.
2101885
I see a fair number of less-than-stellar reviews for this toy based on it being flimsy.  It may be that the issue is that the production is inconsistent, but the one I got is fine.  Works as the directions suggest, and the kids love it.

This is the coolest Optimus Prime toy for the Rescue Heroes line so far, in that he is sized right compared to the other characters (in other words--he's a bigger robot on the show than the other robots, and this toy stands taller than the other toys in similar fashion)  He is just as simple and easy to transform, and he looks good (some of the other Rescue Bots toys just don't resemble their look on the show).

That he comes with a trailer big enough to hold the other guys is really great.  I opted for this over one of the stand-up or rolling bases also in this toy line because the others just didn't seem worth their price point, and I think it was a good decision that satisfied my budget and the kids' desire for cool toys from one of their favorite shows.

That this Optimus is also a triple-changer (kind-of) is also really cool.  The trailer can come apart and a section of can attach to Optimus's back to give him rather large wings and a "jet mode."  It's reminiscent of previous iterations of regular Transformers Optimus Prime, and the kids really like slapping those wings on him.  (You can't hold him by the wings--he will disconnect from them as the robot guy himself is too heavy for the connection made between him and the wing piece--but it is no biggie once you point out to even the 5-year-old that you have to fly him around by his waist, not the wings.)

We have not found that the trailer won't stay together or is too flimsy to hold up the other toys.  You just attach it as directed, and it's good.  Looks totally like old-school Optimus in almost a big ol' Tonka version.  Neat.  He rolls well in Truck Mode and the trailer is easy to connect and disconnect.

The one downside is the sticker application.  First of all, there is sticker application.  Secondly, the stickers that go on Optimus come to a few elongated, tiny points, and they are hard to get just right.  I suspect these pointy bits on the stickers will come undone and roll back up off the surface eventually.  We've had this for a couple months now, though, and they haven't, so I might be wrong.  If you had to cut them off, you wouldn't miss them, though, so we'll live,  The rest of the stickers look great and don't look sketchy at all as far as staying-power.

Anyway, this toy (and the others in this toy line) are holding the attention of kids 5-10 in my home, and they really like having fun with them.
1546039
The kids are having lots of fun with it. It's been 6 months and they are not at all bored with it.
4918322
Kids love it! Works great.  I don't see them getting tired of this at all.  they can play with just the wet sponge so that was nice for clean up
1166464
The kids love it.  Would prefer to be able to select colors but that's not a significant issue.
4599657
I bought 2 of these for my children 18 months ago.  Both are still in perfect condition after heavy use by my music-loving kids.  Their favorite feature is picking a favorite song on CD or line-in mp3 to wake up to.  They can also pre-set the volume of the song.  I like the sleep settings.  When I'm tucking them in at night, I can push a button to make sure the music goes off in 15-30-60-90 minutes.  The kids listen to the radio frequently and needed some help understanding how to set the am/fm stations.  The radio tuner seems to work fine, which says alot because we are an hour from any cities.  Speaker quality is OK, nothing special, but the kids don't care.

The display shows the time and which alarms are set. I can easily see that the alarm is on for the children...and if it's not, one touch of a button turns it on.  I have no trouble finding the buttons in the dark.  The kids sometimes use the clock as a nightlight.  It has 2 neon blue settings (bright and brighter) and 1 low non-neon setting.  Again, it's as easy as pushing the snooze bar to change the light settings.

All the frequently used buttons are on top and labeled well.  No flipping the clock to find things.  The volume control is on the side, but that's not a problem.  The nap/sleep/mode buttons are on the other side.  They are labeled but sometimes I hit the wrong button.  If I do, I just "scroll" through and go back to "zero" to undo...just a couple of clicks.  Because of its slant design, this clock doesn't take up much space on the table.

Overall, my kids love these devices and so do I.  Most impressed with the functions and durability.
1154167
Purchased for my kids bedrooms, works great.
1548840
My kids love it. So far we've had it for 7 months and it still works! (with boys, both 3 and 6 years old, that's saying a lot)
25086
Not only do my kids love this thing, but all the neighborhood kids want to ride it constantly! I'd like to make it faster by adding another battery when my kids get older, but for now it's plenty fast for their age and seems to be faster then the other electric vehicles I see kids riding in the neighborhood. It does the job for now until they are old enough for the real thing.
2432765
My kids have several AquaDoodle color mats that they enjoy pulling out from time to time. The problem with them is that they don't really color; they use a water pen to bring out the blue in the playmat, and once you get it wet enough, you can't draw on it again until it's dry. Usually, the mat gets wet beyond use well before the kids want to stop playing, and the tips wear away on the AquaDoodle pen, and the water spills or the pen gets lost.

So I was interested to see how this Doodle Magic set with actual markers would actually work. First of all, the kids were excited that there are four markers, which means they don't have to fight about who goes when or who gets the better pen (if they can even find more than one). They might tussle over the different colored markers, but even that is short-lived, as the mat is big enough that they can both draw on opposite ends at the same time.

My kids enjoyed the ocean-themed stencil that came with this set, but it only lasted through one play session. Because it is made of cardboard and some of the patterns have designs that leave a lot of negative space, the stencil is rather flimsy. It bent in half while my 3-year-old was using it. He wasn't being particularly rough, just coloring pretty excitedly. The problem is that the stencil bent under the marker rather than the marker gliding over the stencil, as it should have. Still, the stencil is not the best part  of the set. All four markers work great, and probably just as important, there is storage space for them when you're done playing.

There are two places where you can store markers, one is an outside pocket that can be easily reached, even when the mat is rolled shut. Another is at the top of the open mat, where elastic rings hold the markers in place. The fact that the mat can be rolled up is another plus. The AquaDoodle mats are always a little stiff and unwieldy, and none of them have ever fit back into their containers properly. Fortunately, this mat rolls up so nicely that it's easy to store. there are even velcro clasps to help keep it shut.

We've had no problems with the ink staining any furniture, walls, clothes, or body parts. And when it comes to kids arts and crafts, that's always a good sign!
3701869
It's fun to use, keeps the kids entertained.  I like that the volume is controllable and sound can be switched off if needed.  My advice: your child needs to be old enough to place the tip exactly on the black dot, and at the right angle, or it will say incorrect and frustrate them.  Our first one was destroyed by my toddler who kept pressing too hard and bent the tip.  Lesson learned.
242248
Works well, but you have to read the instructions, and do what they say.

Kids have not destroyed it yet.
2287026
Kids love it and there's no problem with delivery or function.