Monday, October 3, 2011

Product Review: Tonka TX Ricochet Trickster

I received the following product as a result of being a BzzAgent.  They send me products and I get to talk about them!!  No other compensation was given or offered, and all opinions are my own!

We received the Tonka TX Ricochet Trickster almost a week ago now, and what a fun toy! For starters, the kids were just excited to get something in the mail that was for them. I’m always getting this or that, but rarely do they ever receive anything, much less a toy. So opening the package was a bit of a big deal to them! The next thing was getting the toy out and running. Unfortunately, while the toy did come with the rechargeable battery, in the car portion, it did not come with the 4 AA batteries required to run the remote control. We had just used the last of our batteries in a Wii remote, so the fun was delayed until I could get into the store. It was further delayed by the fact that the car needed to be charged after the batteries were in place..more groans and whines from the kid section on that one.

Once the Trickster was up and running the fun was immediate. This toy is FAST! I had though, at first, I might try and get an action video to post but between my small kitchen and the table, chairs, kids, and the fastness of this toy – I couldn’t really get a good video either. Which is a good thing. The kids like the fastness. They liked running it into walls and chair legs, and of course…the cat. I thought the cat would also enjoy the toy, chasing it around the kitchen or something equally as fun, but in typical cat fashion – if you think he’s going to like something, most likely he’s just going to watch it with mild disdain. Oh well, a 3 out of 4 satisfaction rate isn’t all that bad!

I do think this toy would be great fun for kids this Christmas holiday, probably great for ages 5 – 9 or 10ish. It IS a remote control car, but please, do not underestimate the female interest. We have two girls, and both of them love to play with this toy!

Good points:
  • It seems durable. It’s typical toy plastic, but the controls are a little different from the average remote control, more compact and no big long wire hanging out of the top waiting to be kinked, bent, broken, etc. This toy will do well in a toy box – while most remote control cars need to be kept separate from regular toys so they don’t break. * This is a big bonus for us, because the kids rooms don’t really have those “extra” places, and toys either end up making the room look messy, or the toy ends up broken.
  • It is FAST! I already mentioned this, but for some reason kids really like fast things. We haven’t run the battery down just yet, but I’m sure it will slow down as it does, but for now it’s great fun.
  • Easy to figure out. It took only a few minutes to figure out how to use the controls, but thankfully kids are smart, and once it was learned it was easy…assuming they are holding the controller right-side-up that is. It is very easy to flip it around.

Some downsides:
  •  Like most remote control vehicles – this runs best on tile. Carpeted areas are no fun!
  • Batteries are not really included, plus you need to charge the car as well – no instant gratification regardless if you buy the batteries at the same time. If purchasing for Christmas, I would recommend getting it prepped and ready to go prior to wrapping it!

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