Fisher-Price Little People Helicopter: Up, Up and away!
Written: Jun 17 '02 (Updated Jun 17 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Affordable, great for the imagination
Cons: Why doesn't this thing fit with any of the Fisher-Price cities?
The Bottom Line: Another great Fisher-Price toy!
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| Mininut's Full Review: Little People - Helicopter |
Wayne loves the Little people and so do we. I grew up with Little People and so did Greg so why not buy them for our own little one. We bought the Little People Discovery City and the Little People Garage for Wayne and since both had a helicopter landing on the top we figured we would go ahead and get a helicopter, after all wouldn’t all little ones love a helicopter?
About the Little People Helicopter
When you head out to purchase your helicopter or when you purchase it on-line like I did, your copter will arrive in a clear plastic “box” so that you can easily see the copter and the little person who fly’s it.
The helicopter measure’s about 8” long so it is the perfect holding size for a toddler. The body of the helicopter is a wonderful bright yellow and the seat and landing area are a bright blue. The propeller and the trigger are cherry red. I love how bright the colors are on this toy, it makes it really easy to see and it really helps the toy get a child’s attention and it also helps you to see it in the middle of the night as you are staggering through the house. Believe me this thing hurts when you step on it. When you press the red trigger the propeller spins, the headlight located in the front of the helicopter beams brightly (well as bright as a toy can get) and your little one will hear the sounds of a helicopter and sirens. The faster you press the trigger, the faster the propeller spins. Also included with your little ones helicopter is a pilot. Of course you can’t fly a helicopter with out a qualified pilot. Chuck who you may also know from his roles in some of the Little people videos, graduated top in his class at the FP flight school for Little People. He is qualified to take your child’s imagination for a great ride! He comes complete with his silver headset that is molded onto his plastic body. Chuck is removable from the copter and that is great because he can be used with other play sets. The copter does take 2 AA batteries and they are in the toy when you purchase it (at least mine were) but you don’t have to have batteries for the propeller to work. So if the noise gets to you then pop out the batteries and let your little one play quietly. I know; quiet and 2 year olds do not belong in the same sentence.
What I like about the Little People Copter
Of course those of you that know me, know that there is not a Fisher Price toy out there that I don’t like. I grew up playing with little people and oh how they have changed over the years. I love the fact that these are safe toys, no little parts, all the people are molded plastic and they are solid and durable as well. The copter is made for children 1 to 5 years old so they will be useable by your little one for quite a while and that lets you get your moneys worth from these toys. Chuck is completely washable and easy to disinfect. I have a weekly toy wash and all the little people go in the dishwasher. I will warn you this, if you place little people in your dishwasher be sure to turn your dishwasher off of heat dry. If any little people get near that heating coil you can kiss them good-bye. We still miss poor Eddie and daddy will never let me forget about toasting that poor little person in the dishwasher. The copter is easy to clean, just wipe it down with a damp cloth but do not submerse it in water because it is electronic and it will not make those wonderful copter and siren sounds anymore if it gets wet. I really like the fact that it is an affordable toy. They generally run $9.99 but I got mine on sale at Toys-R-us.com for $2.99 and I was not about to say no.
What I don’t like about this Copter
Now I rarely ever have a complaint about a Fisher Price toy and this isn’t really a complaint but there are a few things about this toy that make it not as wonderful as the rest. For one thing there is no off switch, not a big deal, the sounds only last for a few seconds and then they stop and the sound is not extremely loud so it is not as annoying as the corn popper. I swear you won’t be ripping your hair out on this one and you don’t have to stock up on Tylenol, but it would be nice to turn it off now and then. The other thing that annoys me is not with the copter itself but with the play sets that Fisher Price offers. The Garage and the Discovery City both have helicopter pads but the copter does not fit properly on either one. It fits much better on the city but not perfect and the garage it sort of teeters on the landing pad. I don’t know why they didn’t make this fit better but for some reason that annoys the tar out of me. In fact all of the little people cars and trucks are larger than the cities and garages, why couldn’t they all be the same scale?
What Wayne thinks about this copter
Wayne is fascinated by all cars, trucks, bikes, boats, tractors, helicopters, planes and anything that rolls, floats, drives, or flies. Frankly if it has a motor, he has a new best friend. We thought he would really love this copter but it is not very life like and he really didn’t want much to do with it. He flew it once or twice and then poor Chuck was grounded to sit on the Discovery city and help Cheryl look for fires. He loves the fire trucks and other little people items he has especially his bus (what a classic) but he just doesn’t have any enthusiasm for his copter. Being 2 ½ years old he still has some dexterity issues and it is hard for him to press the trigger and fly the copter at the same time and he gets very frustrated with it.
In closing
This is an excellent toy, it helps boost your child’s imagination and it is a great addition to any Little People set. All in all I would recommend this toy, Wayne may not play with it now but who is to say that he won’t play with it when he is 3 or 4 years of age. Now if we can only get a bigger landing pad installed we would have it made.
So how do you contact Fisher Price
There are three ways to contact Fisher-Price. You can call them at 1-800-432-5437 or 1-800-442-2664, contact them at http://www.service.mattel.com/ or http://www.fisherprice.com, or mail them at Consumer Affairs, ARCOtoys Inc, A Mattel Company, C.S #9008, Crossways Park West, Woodbury, New York 11797.
The following information does not pertain to this toy but recall information is important to the health and welfare of our children. I will continue to post any and all recall information in my reviews when ever available.
Recall Information
Fisher Price has a recall on the following items:
Power Wheels-Harley-Davidson-Ride-on.
Lift & Lock Swing.
Get Up & Go Walker.
Intelli-Table
Big Action Construction Set.
Hop, Skip, Jumper.
3-in-1 Cradle Swing with Detachable Carrier.
Bounce 'n Play Activity Dome.
Grow to Pro Basketball set.
Power Wheels Vehicles.
Fisher-Price Safe Embrace Car Seat.
To find out more information about these items, please go to http://www.fisherprice.com/us/help/default.asp#safety
Big Smiles and Warm Hugs
Heather aka MiniNut
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2.99
Type of Toy: Plane, Kite, or Rocket
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
Mininut
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Member: Heather
Location: Leander, Texas
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 273 members
About Me:
Mother of 4 gorgeous children and survivor of Cervical Cancer.
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