"Mom! I want this! Puuhhlleeeeeze" said my 5 year old, over and over in the days before Christmas. To most of you, this is a perpetual whine, but to me, it was a startling announcement coming from my non-verbal, quiet son. For most of his young life, it took a huge amount of coaxing to get this child to express anything via sign language. To get him to use his voice to utter a word was an accomplishment. So I had to restrain myself from getting into the car and heading to Toys R Us the first time he requested this toy.

In the days before Christmas, I expressed my desire to purchase this item to a group of online friends. "Don't!" said one of them, as she rattled off reasons why this was a most-hated toy at her house. Apparently the noisy rattling and the bubbles were the reasons most likely to drive an otherwise sane mother to toss this toy outside where it remains a "summer" toy.

But still, the child had spoken and my heart had jumped for joy. I was going to proceed with this purchase and hope that it wouldn't end up falling apart and tossed in the trash bin like many of our previous car contraptions.

Fast forward to Christmas morning and the lights on the tree were no match to the glow in my son's eyes as he opened his present. "I got it! I got it" he exclaimed and danced around the room. Score one for Mommy, er, Santa.

Putting it together was literally a snap. The parts fit together nicely and I did not end up with a headache. Three "C" batteries were placed in the back and closed up with two small screws. A tanker truck was included and ready to be washed and dried.

Guess what?

This nice little bubble machine does not include bubble solution. Unless you read the tiny, tiny print on the lower left side of the carton, you would not discover this before your purchase. Twenty wet noodles for Mattel, the parent company of this toy. A $40 dollar toy that doesn't include a 30 cent bottle of bubble solution? Come on. I have written to the company about this.

Fortunately, Mommy had several bottles of bubble solution stashed away from our summer stock. Score another one for Mommy. Of course, there is always the homemade solution with dishwashing soap. Emergency Car Wash requires emergency measures, thanks to Mattel.

Here's a tip, use a pourable measuring cup to pour the bubble solution into the tank. The lip of the tank protrudes just a tiny bit, so it requires the precision of a surgeon to pour a tiny amount of bubble solution. I have no clue what the designers were thinking when they came up with this idea. Apparently they figured that the parents would be delighted to assist the kids in keeping the tank filled with bubble solution every three to five minutes. That's right, that's about the time when the bubble solution runs out and has to be poured in again.

Here's how it works: After you locate the impossibly hidden on/off switch and start the machine, bubbles begin to blow our over the conveyor belt. The tanker truck goes up the ramp, into the super-spiral elevator. Several cranks later, it arrives at the top of the ramp and goes down onto the conveyor belt. The belt automatically moves the tanker through the bubbles, down another ramp and into the spin tank. Several pulls on the tank switch and the tanker goes around and around. It is then lifted by a scoop, placed on another ramp and goes around and down to the exit. At the exit, you'll find the wind tunnel. A few cranks of the switch and the wind tunnel dries off the tanker. Push the attendant button and the tanker goes down a mini-ramp where it is turned again and then down another ramp.

Done! You have a spiffy and sticky tanker. That's right. This little toy doesn't clean, it merely places sticky bubbles on the cars and sticky bubbles over the conveyor belt, on top of the wind tunnel and down the ramp...

Oh yeah, and all over your floor. Now to be fair, there is a teeny, tiny mention in the manual and on the box (next to the teeny, tiny print about the lack of bubble solution) that it would be a good idea to protect the floor surface. So I suggest that you get your biggest beach towel and place it under the toy before flipping that "on" switch.

So, is this a toy that's worth it? Probably not. If you've got a child who is really into cars and trucks, they might find this interesting longer than my son did. After about a week, the toy lost its appeal and it's just sitting there on my kitchen floor collecting dust. There's no other place for it, it's too large to store in a closet.

If your child is clamoring for this toy, let me make a suggestion. Get a bottle of bubble solution, a bowl of water, a salad spinner and a towel. Place your child's cars in an assembly line, blow bubbles on them. Drop them in the bowl of water. Off to the salad spinner and give it a whirl. Then place the cars on the AC/heating vent.

You just saved 40 bucks.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 40.00
Type of Toy: Car, Truck or Raceway
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years