I received this today for my 5 year old, together with a Gup-A. Still waiting for the Octopod...
She is delighted! The Gup-A was better value as it's bigger, opens out, and can be used for a few characters at once.
This is a good toy, though, and it has a cool gimmick in the aqualung feature. In the bath, the Captain Barnacles toy sinks. Press down on the tail and hold it and he floats; let go of the tail and he sinks again. As you can probably tell, I enjoyed this. My 5 year old did too, but it's quite tricky to press it down and hold it, so younger kids probably wouldn't be able to do this (allowing more scope for you to have a go though :-) The Captain Barnacles toy can go into the cabin quite easily, which is just what kids want.
It doesn't do much on dry land, but can be run around on its wheels and shoots the net a very short distance if you press the tail. In the bath it is a little unsteady and prone to capsizing if your kid splashes around. Younger kids may get a bit frustrated with this. It looks just right floating about though.
Slight grumbles apart, it is a Gup-D and my kids both absolutely love it! The character is good quality and you can move his arms and legs.
Overall, you'll be a hero if you buy this for an Octo-fan and its a pretty good bath toy even if your kid is unusual enough not to like the Octonauts too much...