Fisher-Price Stack and Smile Crocodile -- Cute name... that's about all.
Written: Dec 04 '07
Product Rating:
Durability:
Pros: Um... easy to clean...
Cons: Just an unnecessary waste of money and space
The Bottom Line: The Stack and Smile Crocodile really doesn't serve any purpose but taking your money and taking up space in your own... unless you love crocodiles, I'd just avoid it.
gatorgirlie's Full Review: Fisher-Price Stack and Smile Crocodile
While most of my readers don't really know me, most can glean one piece of important information just from my user name. Gatorgirlie means just what you think it does -- I'm an alumni of the University of Florida (mascot: Albert the Alligator). It only stands to reason that I try to indoctrinate my son into the Gator Nation early -- I buy him orange and blue outfits, he plays with stuffed gators, and I purchased the Stack and Smile Crocodile the first time I saw it on the shelf.
But... it's a crocodile!
It doesn't matter. It appears to be more alligator shaped (crocodiles have pointier snouts), so I feel they went with the name "crocodile" for rhythmic reasons. Anyway, what is the Stack and Smile Crocodile, you ask?
It's a little plastic alligator made by Fisher-Price. The mouth opens, as does the back (giving the alligator a little storage compartment for the blocks). The back has a little plate of ridges on it, to accomodate the special blocks that comes with the toy. The blocks are special because on two of the six sides there are ridges, allowing them to lock onto the alligator's back. Since everything these days requires batteries, the alligator plays cute little jingles when you press the back down. The gator comes with four blocks of the "peek a block" variety (meaning there are little shapes and objects inside the block that you can see and jingle around.
The cost is $14.99 and it requires 2 AAA batteries. It is rated for babies aged 12 months and up.
Why do I buy silly toys?
This is a really cute toy on the surface. The growls and songs the gator emits are cute and not obnoxious... and the concept itself is fun. Baby can feed the blocks into the alligator's mouth and "discover" them inside its belly! The blocks having those interlocking ridges supposedly makes it easier for babies to stack the blocks.... but cute concepts don't necessarily make it in our household.
The first issue I had was that the gator didn't interest my son in the slightest. We've been trying for over a year to get him to do anything with it besides stow stuff in its back and push the back down to play the music and Aidan steadfastly refuses. He likes the music and he likes to store stuff inside it, but really that's where the fun ends. He never got the hang of positioning the ridges correctly and the more I think of it, the more I question the design. Isn't it much easier to just stack blocks on top of one another than to worry about putting the correct side down in the correct spot and pushing until they lock? Even now, when he can make a tower of 7 - 8 blocks (before knocking them over), he refuses to try and play along with the concept. In addition, it only comes with four blocks. That wouldn't be so bad (since I have a ton of peek a blocks), except that these have ridges... so if you want to build a big tower with these blocks, you'll have to buy more. More blocks means spending more money -- $14.99 is good, $25.99 is bad.
While the gator hasn't really been used much for its intended purpose, it's been used plenty of times for unintended purposes... games like "Eat the Little People Fireman" and "Godzilla attacks the Little People Farm" are games that only daddy and Aidan love to play (obviously) and they usually involve the Stack and Smile Crocodile in the role of man-eating monster attacking the village (whomever thought of giving the gator the ability to move its' jaw up and down must have been a man). I can't count the number of times I've had to rescue various people from the bowels of the gator. Oddly enough, my son enjoys sticking the people in the crocodile's mouth but not the blocks. Go figure.
The Stack and Smile Crocodile is easy to clean (spray and wipe) and wears well. The batteries last a while -- I have yet to replace them even though Aidan does like to listen to the cute music it plays. It's exceedingly durable -- it withstands the abuse that only father and son games could provide.
Overall
Overall, this isn't a bad toy... it's just a waste of money and space. I have fifty million blocks in my home as it is, I don't need another set of four with special ridges on them. What mother needs another toy to make noise and take up space among their children's toys? While it may be inexpensive, sturdy and easy to clean, there really aren't any upsides to it. So it comes with four blocks, big deal.... most kids have blocks coming out the ying yang anyway. So it helps kids stack blocks better, so what? Your child will learn to stack blocks just fine without it (mine certainly did). All this thing does is waste your money and add another piece of clutter to your home.
I'll give it Three Stars because it isn't a *bad* toy (per se... and at least there's no lead... as far as I know)... it's just not a particularly fun and useful toy. While I am giving it an average rating, I'll have to say No on the recommendation... it may only be $14.99, but it's not worth it.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 14.99 Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
this cute alligator's folded tail has a bumpy surface that aids baby in stacking the 4 new Peek-a-Blocks Builders blocks on - and it rewards baby with...More at Amazon Marketplace
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