Sponsored by Nuffnang Australia.
Quite often an opportunity for Aidan to review a fancy new toy arrives in my inbox and I hover over the reply button, trying to decide whether or not I should. Will it help Aidan learn anything through play? Will it suck up too many batteries? Does he really need it? As soon as I got the email about the Thomas Steam ‘n Speed I said yes with absolutely no hesitation.
Aidan’s not a Thomas fanatic but he loves his TrackMaster Train Set that he reviewed a few months ago but with this toy he could still play trains without me having to set up the entire thing. It was even big enough for his dinosaurs to ride (thanks to blu-tac) if he wanted them to, unfortunately it’s not big enough for Charlie.
Thomas would be great for kids aged 18 months and up. He is solid, has no flimsy little removable parts which I like and Thomas looks rather handsome. The remote is the same, simple and sturdy with only three control options: straight ahead, reverse curve and “special moves” which has a pre-programmed routine. The remote takes 3x AAA and Thomas takes 4x AA batteries so if you do think about surprising your little one this Christmas don’t forget to buy some.
It didn’t take too long to get Thomas out of the box, chuck in some batteries and get him going. Aidan was pretty impressed and mastered the controls straight away. Thomas says cute phrases, you can hear his chugging engine and his little toot toot but the best part took Aidan totally by surprise…
… Thomas puffs out steam!!!
Before you freak out, the steam is completely cool to touch. See that little plastic pouch? Well that’s a dropper and you pull it out, fill it with 10ml of distilled water (tap water can leave mineral deposits which can cause Thomas not to work) and you put it into a little hole in the top.
GIVEAWAY
Thanks to Fisher Price and Thomas & Friends I have a $100 Toys R Us giftcard to giveaway to one lucky reader. To enter all you have to do is answer this question:
What was the coolest toy you owned when you were little?
Please note that the prize will not arrive prior to Christmas, refer to the competition Terms & Conditions prior to entering.
{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
That is just way cool, and Aidan’s surprised face is priceless.
The coolest toy i owned when i was little was a melody doll ,she played music by pressing her hands and feet and belly :) i played with her for years until my brother accidently threw her in the oil tank in our yard .
Aidan’s face is perfect. My favourite toy as a kid was my dolls pram and cradle which belonged to mum as a kid as well. I adored them and would set myself outside an have picnics and pretend to be a mum.
I was really, really scared of the dark when I was a kid so the coolest toy to me was this weird plastic hedgehog that glowed. It was super cute but hard to cuddle! But it sure saved me from many a dark night.
My favourite toy as a kid was a orange boat with sailors by fisher n price. All us kids used to use it at my grandparents farm in the bath and in the cow troughs. It went missing all the time, often it sunk in the tough and a year later someone would dig it up. This boat is still being used by the kids who visit my Grannys house now and I can never rest picking it up and reminiscing. My Nephews in Brisbane are Thomas obsessed!
The coolest toy I owned when I was little was a Stretch Armstrong! Its a boys toy and second hand but my family didn’t have much money. I loved him all the same!
Mine was one of those Russian doll nesting sets… I would spend hours pretending they were Russian royalty and I was in charge of them! I wish I still had them.
A wooden garage for my cars… me and my sister would drive our cars round and round the garage alllll day. We were hopelessly addicted to it!
I grew up in a single parent home, so cool wasn’t really a word I’d use to describe my toys. But I’ll never forget turning sixteen and getting my double deck boom box. Gold.
Very low tech present – a pogo stick. It took me a long time to master it but it had streamers coming out of the handles so I thought it was pretty cool!!
I had a My child doll named rachel, and she was the coolest doll i ever owned, and i still have her and now i collect them, and they are worth a FORTUNE!!! So glad mum and dad bought her for me!
i actually used too own a toy gumby lol he was the coolest
In 1976 I was given the coolest ever present of a Baby Alive. omg I took dolly evrywhere even in my basket on my bike. Fond memories of feeding and changing nappies :))) Didnt much like the nappy part hahahahah
A green machine!! All the boys in our street wanted one, and this girl had one, so my awesome toy made me cool.
I think they’re back on the market now, after all these years !
A doll that looked just like me. We were the same height, had the same curly hair, eye colour, and when I got her I even fit into the box, just like she did. It was cool having a twin, until I grew bigger than her.
Baby alive. I loved being a mummy to my dolly. Little did I know that when you have a real live bubs changing nappies isn’t such a novelty.
Does anyone remember the Quints dolls? I used to have a set of them, and they had their own matching quint playgrounds, were a mixture of boy & girl dolls. I used to be totally obsessed with them. :)
My imagination & sense of adventure, throw in my flash 10 speed bike & I could go anywhere & be anything!
I loved my doodle bear. Remember those? I would graffiti mine all the time, and get my friends to do it also. :-D
My Barbie Townhouse! Got it fir my 10th (I think?) birthday and I adored it!
My Strawberry Shortcake. Her hair and cat always smelt like strawberries.
His expression when the steam comes out is perfection!
My coolest toy was my yellow teapot house. It was a dolls house in plastic teapot form. It came with a little family complete with dog, car and furniture. The best part was that you could drop the dolls down the tea pot
… spout like a slide into the house! (Two part entry as I accidentally published before finishing my happy toy memories!!)
I’d have to say my cabbage patch kid, her name was Lizzie and I loved her!
I had a Teddy Ruxpin and that still today is the coolest toy I had as a child. I loved him so much!
I can’t remember it’s name, but it was a dog that’s tummy opened and it had puppies. about 4-6 of them and they were all different colours. It was very cute!
I had one of them too, the mum was a white fluffy dog, and my favourite puppy was the spotty one (called Spot!).
Aiden’s face in that photo is so cute! My coolest toy when I was little was my cabbage path doll Tanya. I loved dressing her in different outfits…such a girlie thing to do I know :)
I loved my ‘Street Sharks’ and ‘Biker Mice’ toys. I don’t know what happened to them, but they were cool, funky and rad
My favourite toy when I was young was definitely my Peaches and Cream barbie doll with her necklace, ring and earrings and the perfect peach dress.
My sisters did the role playing scenarios going over to each others ‘house’ whilst I primped and preened my barbie for hours. Her hair. Her dress. Her heels. I was always meant to be a stylist. Last year I had the best news … the did a remake of her!! She is on my wish list as a reminder.
That Thomas toy looks pretty cool – steam! My favourite toy growing up was my baby doll, named Skye! She cried tears, drank ‘milk’, ate ‘food’ and soiled her nappy. I had a bunch of different outfits for her. I would take her to my friends house to play ‘mums and dads’, gave ‘birth’ (by putting her up under my shirt, carrying on a bit and then she would magically appear) on numerous occassions, and my cousin and I would put her in a pram and go for walks to the park. I still have her somewhere!
I remember I had a jack in the box. i used to wind it & wind it & BAM !!!It scared the hell out of me every time but i just kept going back for more. :)
I actually remember very few toys. For the most part I was very bookish, as soon as I was able to read. But I do remember a Peaches and Cream Barbie doll. We didn’t celebrate Christmas so my parents saved up for months each year to make sure that my siblings and I (there were 4 of us) had a big present day at least once a year and then lots of smaller ones throughout.
When I was 9, it was Peaches and Cream Barbie. She was (in my opinion) the most beautiful barbie of them all. So very 80′s, so glamorous. I saw her back in the stores just recently and she sparked off a wave of nostaliga. I remember that year being an incredibly tough one financially. So that year when we unwrapped our gifts, and we all had brand name gifts (in a big family, that was a big deal), it was amazing to us. <3 Now you've made me all warm and mushy again.
http://www.thethingsidtellyou.com/2010/06/trip-down-memory-lane.html
Melissa Mitchell recently posted..Gratitude
I spent many hours playing with a tree house that had a little boy called chip I think, a sister, mum, dad, car and dog and swing, plus there was an elevator to get to up the tree house and then it all collapsed down…wicked…omg and the shoe house with the little people and slippery dip, with the lace and little roof that had a clock…oh my and my doll that ate food you made and then did wees and poos was cool too…they dont make toys like they used too
My purple dragster with white wall tyres chopper style forks and a footy card (usually a Cantebury player) held on with a peg for that authentic motorbike sound. I thought I was way cool.
I owned a polly pocket, I’m still amazed that polly had so much room in that little container!
A doll house and wee dolls to play with. I envisioned the perfect nuclear family, where everyone was happy and content. Unlike my own at the time I suppose. I could decorate and remodel and it even had working lights. I played with it till I was about 13, in secret of course, as I probably would have been horrendously bullied had anyone known. I didn’t want to grow up.
CONGRATULATIONS You’ve won the $100 Toys R Us voucher… Nuffnang will be in contact with you shortly.
I owned a MOUSETRAP game…kept me occupied for hours – where you’d roll down a small marble and as it got to the bottom would release a cage that trapped the mouse…but you had to build the trap correctly or the mouse was free.
LOVED THAT GAME
Probably Baby Alive she was the bomb after all she could pee pee just like a baby! But what i truly remember was the Xmas my Sister got a sugar bag with nothing in it as she had been naughty and the look on her face as I opened my presents now that was Gold! Lol
A ‘walky-talky’ doll (I’m on the wrong side of 50!) with the very grand name of Barbara. She starred in all my games and with a bit of help, did walk and talk!
My favourite toy were peg men vs curtain peg men. Oh the strategies between the lounge room curtains and the hills hoist…priceless!!
One of my childhood treasures was a ‘Dragonfly Kite’ grandfather made for me, crafted using wooden sticks, bamboo straws & tough silk-paper!
Having to admit, its look doesn’t quite match the exquisite ones in shops (I helped to paint the eyes), and no it didn’t fly very high, alas… But it was definitely the coolest toy to gather my buddies for a summer afternoon glide in the skies!
LEGO. The plain bricks (red, yellow, blue and green) and to get windows and doors one Christmas was fantastic. Instead of leaving gaps in the buildings I could actually put my little windows in that opened out and have doors in the entrance. I built house after house and played with it for years.
A doll that walked and talked singing me happy birthday she was stunning!
My favourite toy was my barbie set. I had rock’n'roll barbie that had a stage and a guitar and also a barbie pool set and sat outside for hours letting them have a swim! Ahhh…. the memories!
The coolest toy I owned was a Japanese Doll my uncle bought back for me from overseas, it is absolutely gorgeous
I think I was ten when I received a Commodore 64 for Christmas, and sat up all night marveling at the incredible technology!
COMPETITION CLOSED
Hi Dani!!
Sorry I’m so late with this! Christmas and New Year was a blur and my daughter got sick. I only just opened my emails from the last 2 weeks this morning.
Much, much appreciate this, so much!!! My Ella can’t walk well at the moment because of a recent operation so we can get some toys and crafts to keep her from going stir crazy in her holidays.
Thanks to you and Toys’r'us and all involved. Wow!!!!!!!