The View-Master Thomas & Friends Gift Set ~ View with Caution!
Written: Sep 24 '05
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Pros: ● It’s Thomas the Tank Engine!
● No batteries required
Cons: ● Reels bend easily, which causes frustration
● Seems second-rate
The Bottom Line: The View-Master Thomas & Friends Gift Set has caused a lot of aggravation over the last 9-months, so I’m inclined to cautiously recommend it.
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| marybatson's Full Review: View-Master Thomas and Friends Gift Set |
The View-Master Thomas & Friends Gift Set is an updated version of the original View-Master that I had when I was a kid. If you’re not familiar with the View-Master toy, it’s a hard plastic viewing machine somewhat like binoculars with a lever. Insert a reel into the apparatus to view the 3D animation film, and pull the lever to advance the frame. The new and improved View-Master is streamlined. It’s much smaller than the original, and only weighs 5-ounces. The surface is smooth with rounded corners, which is nice for little ones. Unlike the updated viewing machine, the reels are nearly the same as when I was a child in the 70’s. Today they seem a bit more flimsy, although that may be my memory working on me.
The Thomas & Friends Gift Set came with a View-Master, 3-reels, and a plastic storage case. The reels are round, and each have 7-different images. The reels have a picture label, so children who aren’t reading can tell which story they are about to view. Each frame is identified as well. This set has 3-separate stories: Thomas and the Jet Engine, James and the Red Balloon, and Percy’s Chocolate Crunch. The Thomas & Friends View-Master is blue with a red lever, and a picture of Thomas on the front. The storage case is red with a snap closure, and it stows all 3-reels.
View-Master is recommended for children 3-years and up. The gift sets come in a large variety of characters, such as: Disney Princess, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Spongebob Square Pants, and Rescue Heroes to name a few. To add to your View-Master collection, the reels are sold separately for the very reasonable price of $3.00 a set.
Our Experience:
Last year William’s preschool teacher asked me what I thought might make a nice Christmas gift for my son. She knew we were about to embark on a long flight across the country to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa, and she offered the View-Master Thomas & Friends Gift Set as a suggestion. I jumped at the idea, as my son is a huge Thomas enthusiast. In addition, I thought it would make an excellent travel companion. Surprisingly, the toy didn’t make any impact on my son. In fact, it’s been the source of much frustration over the last 9-month. He completely ignored the toy on the plane ride to and from Indiana.
Several months later, we flew to Connecticut, and thus I tried again. This time he gave it a bit more consideration, but it didn’t last more than 5-minutes. Thinking he needed more to capture his attention, I picked up some additional reel sets, and a storage case. The case that came with the set never closed properly, and I quickly recycled it when my son wasn’t looking. I know… I’m a terrible mother. Well anyway, I was disappointed, and William was frustrated. The reels bend easily, and at 4, my son doesn’t have the patience to glide the reels into place. They jam up on him making it even more difficult to flatten, and glide into the machine. Then, I learned a secret. If you clear the track first, by pulling the lever down, and then slide the reel into the machine, it seems to solve most of the jamming problems. Once I showed him this trick, he’s expressed more interest in the plaything.
I’ve really debated about how to rate this toy. Now that we’ve worked out the kinks, William seems to enjoy it more. In fact, he’s requested more reel sets, which I’m inclined to oblige. At the $3.00 price, it’s hardly a hardship. In addition, it’ll make a nice stocking stuffer. That said, I’m not sure Fisher-Price did themselves a service by overhauling the View-Master. The diminutiveness is great for small hands, but the overall feel is cheap. I will probably purchase more reel set, and who knows, maybe I’ll come back in a few months and change my rating. At this point, I consider the new and improved View-Master an average toy.
A special thank you to Suzanne for adding the View-Master Thomas & Friends Gift Set to the database for me.
Fisher-Price Headquarters
636 Girard Avenue, East Aurora, and NY 14052
Telephone: 1-800-432-KIDS 8 AM ~ 6 PM EST Monday through Friday
www.fisher-price.com/
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $9.99 (Gift)
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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marybatson
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Member: Mary
Location: Phoenix
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