Gearhead Mom

Friday, February 13, 2009

Final Countdown

Posted by Missy W. @ 9:33 AM

Ed. Note: Today’s review written by Ashli, mom to two year old B. Thanks, Ash!

I’m a sucker.  It was December, and I was trying to divert my toddlers attention from the fact that I was buying her a big ol’ Fisher Price farm.  So as we cruised the aisle at Target, I looked for a way to distract her so she wouldn’t notice the box the size of a small Volkswagen going into the bottom of the stroller.  And my eyes landed upon this - the Little Tikes PopTunes Melody Bead.
I put it in her lap and took advantage of the “try me!” button.  The piano keys lit up!  It played songs!  She seemed enthralled.  I added it to the bottom of the stroller and on Christmas Day it officially became unwrapped and part of the toy entourage.

The cute pop tunes?  Well, it only knows three.  THREE!  And it doesn’t even play all of them.  It plays a five second clip, and then you have to hit another key to get the next five seconds.  But the weirdest thing about this toy is the songs - some depressed Little Tikes employee with musical knowledge played a cruel trick on all the toddlers and parents soon forced to listen to their strange and sad song play list.  First up?  “Message In A Bottle” by the Police.  I like the song, but it is about the abject loneliness that defines the human condition.  The next song is a Dixie Chicks song.  I don’t know much about them, but it does bum me out how much crap they had to put up with years ago for airing their political views.  But it is the third song that really is weird and creeps me out… “Final Countdown” by Europe.  Nothing like a song about Armageddon to get the toddlers dancing.
And if you get sick of hearing it in tinny piano notes, you can flip a button and hear it in flat dog barks. 

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