TBF toy review 2: Fisher Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm...

... Or as I like to call it the 'Fisher Price Little People's $40 Capitalist Rip off Disappointment Farm.'

Back by popular demand, it is time for another look at some of the toys the baby and I play with on a daily basis in an effort to unscientifically rate how useful, annoying and fun they may be. If you missed the first review, you can look here http://trialbyfireparenting.blogspot.com/2010/01/tbf-toy-review-1-tempo-tiger-singing.html.

Just a reminder of how my very well thought out, soon to be accredited rating system works. The toys will be rated on a scale of 1-5 in five different categories, 1. Child enjoyment, 2. Parent enjoyment, 3. Annoyance, 4. usefulness (in keeping my kid occupied and/or quiet) and finally 5. staying power- that is, will the toy last more than a few weeks before it gets cast aside to be tripped over and eventually hurled in the trash.

Today we will be looking at the Animal Sounds Farm shown above. A little bit of back ground. In charge of buying toys for Christmas, I had my eye on the farm for some time. The baby likes animal noises and farm things, and she also likes small, bubbly plastic toys to play with. It was a perfect match. I was putting the farm off until the end of my shopping, as it was an easy buy and I knew where it was. I purchased it from Target a few days before Christmas for $39.99. Yes. $39.99. I wasn't happy at the time, but I figured 'hey, it is for my kid. I am sure it will be worth it. Whether or not I was right is debatable.

The results were mixed when the toy was opened and eventually played with. The baby had a great time. She loved- and still loves to play with the farm. I, on the other hand, was pissed. For $39.99 this is what you get from Fisher Price. A barn attached to a silo with several animals inside as well as a farmer named Jed. The animals include a pig, sheep, goat, horse and cow. There is also a rooster attached to the farm that does not come off. Now, it is really the 'animal sounds' claim that I am upset with here. Most of the animals (excluding the goat for some reason) have their own specific place in the barn. Jed, for all of the work he does in running the farm, also does not have a home. He seemingly goes on the roof, where the suggested game is to slide the musical rooster across and knock him two-stories to the ground. Cool. The barn door swings open to make horse and cow noises, while the pig pen makes a pig noise. There is a random platform for the sheep and if you slide the rooster across the roof it makes a rooster noise. Slide it the other way, it plays a 20 second version of Old McDonald. Yeah. So that is five animal sounds and a 20 second song for $39.99? Really?

In any event, here we go.

1. Child enjoyment- As I mentioned, the baby loves this farm. She loves playing with the animals, sliding the rooster and tipping it over. Most of all, she loves to put toys inside the silo and open up the door on the bottom to take them out. I don't think that she really cares that the barn makes animal noises, as she barely acknowledges them, but all in all the toy keeps her fairly occupied if for no other reason than the silo game is really fun to her. 5 points.

2. Parent enjoyment- As I have already mentioned, my wallet was pissed about this purchase and despite her enjoyment, I can't help but feel completely ripped off. (I purchased a toy called the 'Alphabet Train' for $5 more that plays about 30 different songs, has five different characters, teaches a word for every letter of the alphabet and allows the child to ride on top of it. This has set the standard for toys over $20). Those feelings aside, the toy itself is fairly enjoyable from my perspective. It keeps her occupied and it is an easy distraction if she is playing with something else that I don't care for. It does, however, mess with my neurosis and anal retentive nature as I insist that each animal must be in its proper home before we put the toy away. 3 points.

3. Annoyance- I suppose the one bright side to being ripped of with very few animal sounds is that the toy is not very annoying at all. There are only a few sounds and they are not very loud, so this gets a full 5 points.

4. Usefulness- As I mentioned, the primary reason for buying the farm was the baby's interest in videos and other toys that include farm animals and animal sounds. From this perspective, the toy is not so useful. It isn't all that educational and the animal sounds do little to really catch the baby's attention. That said, the silo game has been a fun way for her to learn the concept of in and out and open and closed. 3 points.

5. Staying power- Here is the only place where the $39.99 price may pay itself off. I really don't see a time where she gets sick of the farm, again because of the silo game. The barn has become a staple in the corner of the play room and is visited a few times a day. Obviously, there will come a point where she out grows it and then we will have to get rid of it, but it certainly is not something that we look at and say 'she never plays with this.' 5 points.

So, for all of my disgruntled thoughts and angry swearing about paying $39.99 for a toy that does half of the things I wished it would, the Fisher Price Animal Sounds Farm scores 21 points. That is only four points off of a perfect score. The baby has gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the toy, and it is far from annoying, which are the two most important things on this scale. If it were a $9.99 toy it would probably be perfect. It is just the cost that keeps killing me. I just feel like it should do more.