Can We Fix It? Yes We Can!
Written: Apr 08 '03
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Pros: sturdy, fun, doesn't need batteries except for the music/sayings
Cons: no easy storage for loose pieces, no Bob figure included, crane
The Bottom Line: Any Bob the Builder fan would love this Construction Site.
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| fallyn96's Full Review: Playskool Bob the Builder Adventure Bob Constructi... |
Christmas Eve, roughly 10 PM.
There I am, sitting on the floor in front of the TV, half way listening to the ‘A Christmas Story’ marathon (I think I remember something about ‘You’ll shoot your eye out, Ho Ho Ho’). In front of me, there is this funny looking stool type thing. It’s brightly colored- yellow, blue and red- and keeps singing the Bob the Builder theme song whenever I hit the seat wrong. I’m busy snapping the last plastic pieces into place, wondering why I’m even bothering because I know that there is no way that those plastic pieces are going to be there come this time the next night. I finish putting the toy together, stickers and all, before Ralphie and his family sit down to their Christmas dinner of duck.
Christmas Morning, roughly 8 AM.
The presents are all wrapped, and under the tree. Except one- Adventure Bob’s Construction Site. It’s sitting proudly in the place of honor- right in front of the tree, all waiting for Monster to come downstairs. I head out the door to go pick up some last minute things for Christmas dinner. I come back to find my parents unloading tons of presents for the boys, and the sounds of Bob the Builder’s theme song coming from the seat under Monster’s bottom. He’s singing along, until he sees me. Then he jumps up, runs to me, and says loudly ‘Santa here! Mommy, look! But Mommy- no Bob.’
That’s right. This new toy that we… er, Santa bought our son doesn’t come with a Bob figure. Of course, this is written on the box, so we were prepared- but what self respecting toy would not come with a figure for the set? It’s only a minor hurdle, but not something that we would have wanted to encounter if the set came from someone else, without our knowledge. Monster opened all of his presents, played with the construction site all day (with his new Bob figure right beside him), and sure enough- I was right. All those little plastic pieces that I snapped on the night before were no longer attached the toy.
April 7th, 6 PM
Monster woke up from his nap asking to play with his ‘Bob Toy’ today. He brought it downstairs, set it up, and then began playing. I sat back and watched. That’s when I decided to write this review. So I sat down to really play with him. I asked him to show me how the crane worked. He had some trouble cranking it, and eventually gave up and started swinging it back and forth (it was more fun that way, I guess).
Bob’s Construction Site looks like a little stool. The child sits on the seat- which promptly plays the Bob the Builder theme song, or says ‘Can We Fix It?’ or ‘Yes we can!’ or ‘I’ll need your help for the repairs’- to operate the crane. The crane rotates, making moving the plastic pieces of wood, or pipe, or whatever suits your child’s fancy very easy. The site also comes with a plastic platform that hooks onto the crane, for carrying those items that don’t have holes to hook onto the crane. The crane can be raised and lowered using a small blue crank, located on the crane itself. My three year old has trouble with this, but it doesn’t seem to affect him.
The stool has three legs. One leg is an elevator for supplies- it looks kind of like a snowplow attachment. Another leg is Bob’s house, and has a door that opens. The door and window are supposed to come off easily- so that your child can help Bob fix the door and window (both the door and window are able to be picked up by the crane, without the platform attachment). The last leg is Bob’s workshop. There’s a wooden platform that snaps above it, creating a sort of scaffolding for Bob to stand on.
There are three ways to set off the music- by your child sitting on the seat, or by placing a Bob the Builder figure on the seat, inside the part that holds the crane up, or (and this is my favorite) by simply turning the crank. When the crank turns, it moves a pipe (that you have snap in) that pushes a button, that starts the music. The seat requires batteries, but they aren’t needed to play with the toy. Meaning- once the batteries die, your child can continue to play with this toy. The toy uses 2 AA batteries that are inserted into the bottom of the seat. The toy comes with some gray pipes and stacks of bricks that are a pain to keep track of. I think that’s my only gripe about this toy- no easy place to store the pieces.
Final Thoughts
My three year old loves this toy. He loves to pretend that he’s fixing things, even if he doesn’t have his Bob by his side. It’s worth the money- it has definitely passed the three year old test- with the exception of those snap on pieces (most of which are supposed to come off, so that your child can repair things)- it’s still in one piece. It’s also passed the 10 months old test- Bean loves to pull up on it, and push the buttons. It’s passed the Mommy test- I love playing with this toy with Monster, and eventually, Bean.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 20
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
fallyn96
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Member: Tracey
Location: Illinois
Reviews written: 263
Trusted by: 104 members
About Me:
Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.
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