Kiddieland My Rocking Tigger Musical Kids Rocker

With five kids, holidays must be done on a budget. In the case of Christmas, I can't sacrifice quality for quantity. This Christmas I got lucky when I found for my twins new Tigger rockers for $15 each at MegaloMart.

My twin sons were 18 months old this past Christmas. Their slight older sister, Catezilla, was two-and-a-half. She has a wooden and plush horse rocker. I wanted the boys to have rocking horses mainly so the screaming and fighting over the one rocker would stop.

While grocery shopping in November, I saw the perfect solution:  Kiddieland Musical rockers. Best of all, they came in a variety of licensed characters. I decided on Tigger. (He's bouncy, just like my twins.)

Eventually, Christmas morning arrived in its usual "It took weeks to coordinate and wrap all of that and only minutes to rip it to shreds and have it all over the house," glory. The Tigger rockers had been assembled by Santa the night before. Cate's rocking horse had had been magically, strategically placed between the boys' Tiggers. The little kids came out and immediately saddled up. We actually had to convince them that they must eat breakfast and then dismount to open the other presents.

Tigger plays those ol' kiddo favorites of which all adults have grown weary. No volume control hits such as "On Top of Old Smokey," "This Old Man," "Skip to My Lou" "Camptown Races," and some other song that sounds like it belongs on Disney's "Winnie the Pooh," but isn’t the actual theme. All your little tike has to do is squeeze either of Tigger's ears. The four 'AA' batteries currently in the Tiggers are the same batteries that were installed Christmas Eve.

The only real oddity to Tigger is how low he sits to the ground (less than six inches of clearance). I realize that Tigger is rated for children 12-24 months, but apparently the children in the test group had shorter than average legs. It's a "whatever" for my kids because they have realized that they can launch higher when lower to the ground.

Eight months later, the Tiggers are just as sturdy, despite having been stacked and used as ladders, been dragged outside for a Camptown race, thrown, kicked, crushed by opening doors, and, oh yeah, rocked upon. The sound effects still work. The only flaw to Tigger's structural soundness is a flaw all rocking horses of this type have: the handles to either side of the head frequently need a good twist to re-secure them to the horse's head.

I do wish that Tigger could be skinned and laundered, but there's no way to take off the plush without destroying it (or having a seamstress that works for free and is on call 24/7). Tigger has seen one too many sand baths and oak tree stick brushings.

If you're on a slim budget and can find a Kiddieland rocker at this price and have a little prince/ss that loves to ride, pick one up. If your budget has a little more room, pay up to $35 or so. You won't regret the rocking; just keep it out of the dirt.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 15
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months