Terrible !
Written: Jul 29 '01 (Updated Aug 22 '01)
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Pros: Price
Cons: Assembly difficult, Electronics are not protected against liquid spills!
The Bottom Line: This kitchen is not worth its price, it's not very practical, it may be hazardous. It's just badly designed overall.
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| hansmuff's Full Review: cookin' sounds gourmet kitchen |
Our almost 2 year old daughter just got this kitchen from us. I have almost nothing good to say about it, except that she does play with it sometimes.. so it does serve a purpose.
However, this thing has made me angry ever since I had to put it together. The assembly is dairly straightforward, but when I to put the kitchen countertop on, I had to try 3 times, and only brute force would get it to fit. Fine, at least it's now together, but I am not sure if this thing can ever be disassembled.
The decorations are almost all stickers, very little in terms of turnable/pushable buttons/knobs, but since this is a "cheap" model, I figured it's allright yet I wish there were a few more things to push and turn.
The telephone that's "integrated" makes sounds when you push the buttons, but only when you put it right to your ear; otherwise the very silent speaker can not be heard. Yet the buttons are on the back of the earpiece, so the kid has to put the phone to her ear and then push the buttons on the back... needless to say, this telephone is unused. Also the pocket that hold the phone is too small and the phone needs to be pushed in so that it fits.
There's some sort of a removable cutting board under which there is a hole in the counter top, in that hole there is another hole leading down to one of the few small shelves. What's that for ? EDIT: found out, the baby can put a doll there.. that's a nice touch, my fault for not realizing that.
Talking of shelves, those are awfully small and unpractical. They don't fit much because they sit on the corners, so most of the stuff we bought for it (plates, cups, whatever..) are sitting in the oven or microwave most of the time.
Now the worst and unforgivable part: when liquids are spilled into the stove, they land right on the speaker inside the stove, and next they will flood the electronics which will short out, stink and then stop working ! How is it possible that this part was so overlooked and ignored ?! I mean, whose 2 year old would not spill some luquid every here and there, or saw mommy put water in a pot on the stove and then try that in their own little kitchen ?
What I have now is a completely broken stovetop, it does not make any sounds anymore. I opened it up to discover a dripping wet speaker and PCB which has black marks on it and smells awful. And this is from one single water spill!
The stove top has 2 sides, one side is a normal 'heat plate' and the other side is a grill. Both sides will let any spilled liquids get inside, drip on the speakers, and on the heat plate side it will spill in the electronics.
I am extremely upset with Little Tikes. Their stuff may be good usually, but this "kitchen" is just the pits. Many things are just unpractical/unusable and potentially hazardous ontop of that.
I may be expecting a bit much, true, but the episode with the water spill, to me, is a sign of a really terrible, quickly thrown together toy that should be avoided.
EDIT:
After contacting Little Tikes, after an initial response which was not what we were hoping for, we were contacted by someone in charge of safety issues. That person mailed us a replacement stove part which I now will try to seal off so our daughter can use it without damaging it again.
While Little Tikes was forthcoming with the replacement, I wonder how many people will have those problems. Also I am wondering, who is paying me for the time I am spending making a child's toy child safe ?
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 80
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
hansmuff
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Location: PA, USA
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 3 members
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