Wonderpets Flyboat

The toy itself is actually quite basic. It's a red plastic ship with a plastic sail and mast, 2 exhausts, 4 wheels and the 3 Wonder Pets. It sing several melodies and has several sayings, and flashing lights too but thats about it. Unfortunately, the boat is not friction powered and so relies on the child to push it around which is a shame as I think the addition of friction power would have made it more appealable and user friendly too. Even so, its an aesthetically pleasing toy that children will love because of the 3 characters on board but for adults, there isn't much to get excited about.

For the price, I don't think this toy does very much at all, and again the price is a reflection on the branding and the fact it is a character toy rather than its actual worth. When you push the boat along, it wobbles giving the impression it is "flying" but really just feels a bit annoying on your arm! As you push it, it starts the boat beginning one its phrases or songs, and these seem to be on a loop so you get the same 5 or 6 things over and over again. When it starts to make noises, the 3 lights along the side of the Flyboat (only on one side though) start to flash wildly.

You get 3 little plastic figures which represent each of the Wonder Pets and actually have a pretty good likeness. The toys have wobbly heads as well so when the flyboat moves, they move a bit too. They sit on the Flyboat via 6 different pegs situated along the top of the Flyboat. Therefore, you can choose the positioning of the toys yourself on top of the boat and they are fairly easy to take on and off, and Harry seems to do this easily. The pets seem to stay well on the boat when its pushed along, even at speed like Harry does so this is clearly a good method for fixing the toys to the boat.

The large sail is removable which is good for transporting the toy around as otherwise it would be a bit cumbersome. It seems pops into the circular slot in the middle of the toy and again this is easy enough for a child to manage alone. However, the sail detaches from the mast and Harry struggled to put this back on alone as its quite fiddly to line up the pegs properly but for an adult its fine, I just don't see the need for that to be removable too. It's all pretty durable because its made of plastic, and therefore can be dropped or smashed around without too much damage... Harry's boat still looks new which is good.

The boat should cost £19.99 to buy, and I certainly would not pay that for it now I know what exactly it does. However, I paid £9.99 in a half price sale for it and I think that is a much more reasonable price for a branded toy like this. If your child likes the Wonder Pets, they will probably want this toy, but I have been disappointed with how little Harry has played with this. He's far more into his Lego which has endless playing possibilities, rather than this which is so limited in its novelty and isn't at all educational either. It's an okay toy but doesn't do much, and the endless repetition of the theme song can get right on your nerves!

My 2 little ones love this toy but do get frustrated by the fact that the 3 characters fall off all the time and are extremely difficult for little hands to put back on (they are 3 and a half and 2 years old). Also, the mast falls off constantly. I'm sure this is a safety feature to ensure it pops off easily thereby ensuring no one loses an eye but it is still very irritating. Having said all this, the children are dedicated Wonder Pets fans and still love the toy!

My son who is two just loves this toy and he sings and dances along to the song. A great toy for children as they can take the animals in and out of the boat and play with them along with other toys or together.