jeavinl's Full Review: Parents My First Rc Car Red
My little guy is such a car buff! He's only 20 months but he's made his penchant for four-wheeled vehicles loud and clear since he was around one. He loves his sister's My Little Pony Scootaloo and she insisted he needed his own remote-control vehicle. The Easter Bunny brought this toy a couple months ago and I wish I could return it.
The My First RC Car is made by the Parents brand through the Battat toy company. It is a wireless remote control car meant for toddlers ages 1 and up. It has a very simple one-button operation and has an on/off switch on the bottom of the car. I bought ours at Target for about $15. I've had good luck with several other Parents brand toys so I figured this one would be good as well. That was a bad assumption.
This is one of those toys that looks cooler than it is. The car is wide and stable. Through the five windows (two side, front windshield, rear windshield, and sunroof) the internal workings of the car are visible. So little boys get their first taste of moving gears and electronic boards. There's a small button on the back that activates car sounds. It is two-toned and has a thick plastic-covered bendy antenna on the back. The remote has a similar antenna and is chunky and curved at the sides to make it easier for little hands to grasp. Both parts are sturdily crafted and seem to be well designed in that there doesn't appear to be that many things that could possibly break off and pose a choking hazard. The remote requires one 9 volt battery (not included). The car requires four AA batteries (included).
Now to the real test: what my little guy thinks. This car is really loud and annoying and scared the bejesus out of my then-18-month-old. He normally just looks at me a little weird if he hears a loud sound like the blender or vacuum. But this thing, with its loud, grating sounds (nothing like a real car in my mind!) and flashing lights, startled him and he kept running away from it and hiding. I ended up turning the switch to "off" and just letting him play with it on his own manually, minus the remote. He's been pretty content doing that.
I've tried on a few other occasions to get him to use the remote and I've had a little more success but he still hides behind my leg if the car and its obnoxiously loud sounds get too close to him. His big sister, who's 4 1/2, doesn't seem to mind the loud car. In fact, the few times I let her play with it, I had to stop her because the darn thing hurt MY ears.
As far as mobility, this car is pretty blah. It gets stuck a lot. It doesn't move fast. The large circular green button on the remote does one of two things: when you push it the first time, it makes the car move forward; when it's pressed a second time, the car turns in a circle. Try explaining that to a 20 month old... or even a 4 1/2 year old. What ends up happening in this house is the car just spins around next to something blocking its path and then doesn't move once it's wedged itself but continues to make the excruciatingly painful noises.
Although I can't return it, I've done the next best thing... switched it "off" and buried it at the bottom of the toy box.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 15 approx. Type of Toy: Radio Control
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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