Playskool Alphie

Product Description:

Alphie The Learning Toy Robot - Who better to explore the world with than someone whos new to it? This ALPHIE robot figure is on a field trip from his home planet and, with a kooky grin and funny faces, its his mission to introduce your child to learning! Theres practically nothing this little dynamo doesnt want to talk about - from letter sounds and shape sorting to patterns, cause and effect, vocabulary development and much more, your ALPHIE figure is a whole big classroom in one little portable robot buddy. As his buttons light up, and as he sings and plays music, your childs brain is stretching, growing and helping turn him or her into a super-duper learner and problem-solver! Educational fun on-the-go is as easy as can be, too, with this little guys handled noggin and storage spot for his cards in his backpack. Theres a whole lot to discover when youre a preschooler and this ALPHIE figure shares one of the most important lessons, too: learning is tons and tons of fun! Robot figure comes with 30 double-sided cards. 

Hasbro first started in 1923. Hasbro, Inc. is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time products and services with a rich portfolio of brands and entertainment properties that provides some of the highest quality and most recognizable play and recreational experiences in the world.

Customer Review For This Product:

By Steve:  

My wife and I got this for our four-year old daughter. She's been using a computer since she was three and we needed something that was electronic that would hold her attention off the computer (preferably non-video game related). Alphie ended up fitting in perfectly. Despite the fact that she's a bit advanced for games and activities it has, it keeps her interested for quite some time. She's now showing our 6-month old how to use it, so it's likely to become a good starter for her, as well as an excellent bonding tool for the both of them.

Each card has two sides, each with a game/activity. They they range from simple shape matching to letters and math, which I'm quite interested is seeing how my youngest takes to it as we'll use this as an introduction to math and letters. We also find it quite amusing that Alphie seems to have a bit of a personality... it'll come up with all sort of comments between games and steps, such as 'hold on while I drink a glass of water' or 'could you scratch an itch' (complete with button blinking that you must push to sooth Alphie). Alphie will also provide hints at the right answer if the wrong one is selected.

We've had only two minor complaints about Alphie... first, one of the cards isn't recognized. No matter what we do or how it's inserted, there's one card that can't be read by Alphie. The second complaint is durability... the cards are thin laminated cardboard, very similar to a good set of playing cards, so they will bend and wear easily. After a month of use, they've seemed to have stayed in better shape then I expected, but they are beginning to show a bit of wearing. I think once my younger one gets hold of it, the cards won't last much longer. Kids can be a bit rough with toys and laminated cardboard isn't quite forgiving. The cards also limit how young a child can be before they use this toy unsupervised. If my daughter had this when she was two and I walked out of the room for three seconds, I would come back to a pile of bent up and mangled cards. So, overall two is a bit too young for the cards and four is a bit too old for the lessons... that leaves a small age window where Alphie would be best suited. Alphie himself is quite sturdy and rugged. Luckily, you can at least replace the cards.

Overall, this is a highly recommended toy for parents looking to get their kid an electronic device without getting them hooked on video games just yet. As I said, my 4-year old is a bit advanced for the lesson part of the games, but it holds her attention just the same, and for a younger child that's learning, this would be even more valuable. 

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 12 x 11 inches ; 3.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003CRJU36
• Item model number: 39350
• Manufacturer recommended age: 3 years and up
• Batteries: 3 AA batteries required. (included)

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