KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Toy Testers: Dolls, dogs, flying machines and more

Toy Testers: Dolls, dogs, flying machines and more

By Lauren Keith

MOREHOUSE, MO (KFVS) - This Toy Test takes us to Morehouse, Missouri to the kindergarten of classroom of Mrs. Mattie Trum.  This test features cheers, jeers and even some tears.  The idea: put a bunch of toys in the classroom, tell the kids to play, and see what they like at first. Then, return a few days later and see what's still tops and what's not.

"1-2-3!"  I shout to the excited kids.  And, only 3 seconds in, and we already have tears in Toy Test '08.

"I wanna see her!" shouts one little girl fighting over Baby Alive Learns to Potty Doll.

The girls can't keep their hands off Baby Alive. This doll really tells you when she needs to go "number one or number two," after you feed her special food.

"Look she's eating!" they shriek with joy.

Then we hear the doll say, "I made a stinky!" and the children laugh.

"Oohh! she pottied in her pants again!" they shout.

It looks like she hit the toilet this time.

"Eeewwww!" and the kids are just loving this doll and her accidents.

It also appears Barbie and her toilet-training *pups* are no match for Baby Alive Learns to Potty, even when the little magnetic nuzzling pups use their piddle pads like good dogs, too. Just feed the pups water in their special bottle and they dribble on the enclosed pads.  Only one little girl consistently played with this Barbie and Taffy Three Little Pups set.

Meantime, we hear sirens on the other side of the classroom. Both boys and girls liked chasing one another with the Helmet Heroes set. They also got caught up in the chase and didn't really need to press the special siren sound at times.

Perhaps, our officers need to arrest some others for loud music. "What's my name?" one little girl says into the microphone.

VTECH's Kidijamz Studio not only lets kids sing on a real mic, they can also follow the keyboard lights and learn to play nursery rhymes. Plus, with a little adult help, they can actually record songs and play them back.

"That's her!" they excitedly say, after listening aloud to one little girl's song she recorded into the VTECH toy. So, can their sweet sounds have Tumbles the Rollover Pup howling?

"It's the Rollover Pup!" the kids shout.  They recognize this toy from Saturday morning commercials during cartoons.

The Furreal Friends toy is a kids' best friend. The pup really does roll over and whimper when a child presses his paws or neck, but from the looks of things, he might get trampled by some free-fallin' plane chasers.

"Yea!" we hear the kids say as they launch a plane from the special gun.

The Shake 'n' Go Flyer plane truly does take flight when you pull the trigger.

So, six toys for us to see what's still hot a few days later when I return to Mrs. Trum's classroom.

"They fought over Baby Alive; they did not fight over Barbie and her pups," says Mrs. Trum.

Baby Alive Learns to Potty is still the number one favorite, but Mrs. Trum wants parents to know the doll and her little accidents can make a mess. Plus, she only uses the potty after eating her special foods, which you'll buy separately, almost like a real child! "I spent $20 on this alone for extra food and diaper packets," says Mrs. Trum.

Baby Alive Learns to Potty costs between $50 and $60 plus extra food and diapers come in packs for about $5 each. "If I had a little girl, this is what I would get her for Christmas," says Mrs. Trum.

Ok, the Baby Alive Learns to Potty doll sits comfortably with a B plus.

Since we're already talking bathroom business, let's see what kind of mess Barbie, her dog Taffy and her three little magnetic puppies created. The little pups really did piddle on the pads, but parents beware of the water marks this could potentially make on your furniture.

"It has a lot of small pieces with magnets, too," says Barbie.

The dolls in this $20 Barbie and Me Taffy and Dogs set chew on a good grade B minus. So, what about the boys?

"They all love the plane gun, but right after you left, it didn't take long and it broke!" says Mrs. Trum.

Get this though. After Mrs. Trum taped it back together, the kids still loved chasing after the flying plane as it shot through the air.

"Even broken, it stayed on here and still shoots," demonstrates Mrs. Trum.

For only ten dollars, we didn't expect much, so we're not knocking it down too much, based on its popularity.

The Fisher Price Shake and Go Flyer soars with a B.

Something else the kids enjoyed chasing? One another while wearing the Helmet Heroes set, but, "They had complaints the speakers wouldn't work," says Mrs. Trum talking about the toys' microphone on the police helmet.

Yup, if the mic isn't positioned clearly to the remote control handle bars, you could have a little trouble. The toy maker explains that in the instructions. This $25 dollar toy also sucks up the battery juice. We replaced it twice.  That said, we'll ticket Helmet Heroes a good B minus.

"They love doing their name," says Mrs. Trum, speaking next about VTECH's Kidijamz Studio.

Turns out Mrs. Trum's class contains some aspiring DJ's. The VTECH Kidijams Studio is more than your average keyboard. THe $60 toy is very durable. it rocks out to an A minus.

"If you didn't want a real dog, this would probably be the thing!" points out Mrs. Trum while holding Furreal Friends Tumbles the Rollover Pup.

Boys and girls alike loved the $35 Rollover Pup.

"They couldn't hardly keep their hands off him so he could roll over!" she says.

No need to whimper, Rollover Pup. You get an A,  and believe it or not,  each of this six toys passed our first special toy test.  You can find most of these toys at Wal-Mart, Target and Toys 'r' Us.