Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes: Portable Billy
Written: Mar 21 '05
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Pros: small, portable, inexpensive version of two favorites
Cons: can be used as a weapon
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line wants to know who on earth gives a three-year-old boy a toy that shoots things with such force.
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| pippadaisy's Full Review: Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire T... |
My mother's favorite pastime, it seems, is buying things for my children. She has a knack for finding toys that they will love, but I often wish she'd find these toys in smaller numbers, since our house is nearly over-run. For Buster's recent birthday, I entreated her to "think small" so instead of reducing the number of gifts, she merely reduced the size of some of them, as is evidenced by Buster's Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes toy.
::: Miniaturized Versions of Favorite Toys :::
The Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes really is an adorable little set, containing two of the most popular toys in Buster's Rescue Heroes collection: Billy Blazes and his fire truck. Billy stands just a tiny bit over 2 inches tall, and is articulated only at the shoulders and hips. Both legs move as one unit, and while his arms can move independently, they have a tendency to move together. Billy's paint job is nearly identical to that of the Mission Select Billy Blazes figure, with black and yellow fire gear, silver belt and gloves, and red helmet. Even with his tiny little head, Billy's porn-star moustache is in full-force, and his huge feet enable this tiny figure to stand easily.
Of course, Billy wouldn't be complete without his firetruck, and one is included. The small plastic vehicle is approximately 5&frac3/4; long by 3 inches wide by 3¾ inches tall to the top of the water cannon. The details on the vehicle are cute: six black wheels on a grey base and red top, with the cockpit sort of area (no regular steering wheel here!) painted silver, as well as a small "deck" area behind the water cannon, which even has the same steel texture you'd find on running boards on a real fire truck. The water cannon is silver with black accents and a red firing button, and rotates a full 360 degrees. Billy can either sit in the cockpit and drive, or stand behind the water cannon via a small peg in the deck and a hole in his right foot to "fire" the cannon.
Also included are two small plastic (about 1½ inches long) jets of water that launch out of the water cannon. Their loss to the ages is detailed below.
::: Portable Rescue Heroes Goodness :::
My son and my 4½-year-old nephew have their top three interests in common: Rescue Heroes, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Buzz Lightyear. It's often very easy to pick toys for Buster based on what my nephew loved the year before, and now that they are both over three, sometimes we get them the same gifts back-to-back. When my nephew fell in love with the Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes to the point where my sister gave them out as party favors rather than useless gift bags, my mother decided that she was onto something, and she was right. Buster LOVES this miniaturized version of his favorite Rescue Hero, Billy, and his favorite vehicle (the Mission Select Rescue Firetruck), and he has begged to take them everywhere with him.
For a $5.00 toy, the Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes is nearly perfect, with two small issues. One is that there really isn't a whole lot of room for Billy on the deck behind the water cannon. You can put his foot on the peg and press down, but he has to lean right into the cannon with his face, and if you move the cannon even slightly when you are firing, he goes flying off the back end of the truck. Buster is just over the minimum age and has a difficult time getting Billy placed on the truck, so this involves a lot of annoyance on my part in putting Billy back onto the deck.
My second issue is the launching of the water. We have the larger-sized truck, and the water cannons launch with a gentle "pfft" and are soft, hollow plastic, inflicting nearly no damage even when shot at others, as little children for some odd reason are wont to do. No such luck with the Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes, however. For whatever reason, this tiny little firetruck launches the two small water jets with an extreme (in my opinion) force). The last time I saw the water jets was when Buster aimed the cannon at my daughter's head from about a foot away, and firing. The resulting "CRACK" that I heard when they hit my daughter's head was enough for me to confiscate the water jet pieces, and Buster hasn't seen them since.
I should also add that Billy and the water jets are tiny and definitely choking hazards that should be watched carefully if there are any smaller children around. The "3 and up" recommendation on this toy is one I'd definitely stick with, and Buster is only allowed to play with this when his younger brother is occupied with something else.
All that said, however, for $5.00 to give your Billy fan something easier to tote around than the large figures and an even bigger vehicle, the Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes Micro Adventures Fire Truck with Billy Blazes is well worth the price. I'll definitely take a tip from my sister and give these out as favors instead of gift bags if Buster ever moves on to Rescue Heroes for his party theme.
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More Rescue Heroes stuff:
Al Pine with Arctic Tracker • Bicycle Helmet Value Pack • Dune Buggy • FDNY Billy Blazes • Firefighter Collection • HydroTeam Billy Blazes • Mission Select Ariel Flyer • Mission Select Billy Blazes • Mission Select Jake Justice • Mission Select Matt Medic • Mission Select Mountain Action Command Center • Mission Select Rescue Firetruck • Mission Select Wendy Waters • Optic Force Jake Justice • Rescue Heroes Walkie-Talkies • Robotz Movie Team Billy Blazes & Firestomper
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 4.99
Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: Other
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pippadaisy
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About Me:
Divorce seriously cuts into the amount of time for reviewing.
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