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(More customer reviews)The Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher is the latest disappointment in my son's collection of Toy Story 3 branded merchandise. I don't understand why the overpriced merchandise for Toy Story 3 can't be equal to the quality of the movie. It isn't like this stuff is cheap.
We can usually rely on Hot Wheels branded merchandise to be well made and provide for hours of fun. Before buying the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher, the "usually" in the preceding sentence was "always."
To the manufacturer's credit, the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher comes out of the box fully assembled. It comes with one car, but has two launching slots. I'm sure some bean counter somewhere had a spreadsheet to justify that decision. So you get the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher out and you set it on the ground. You push the little arms back, put the included car in one slot, and one of your own cars in the other (yes, I know, what respectable family doesn't have at least five Hot Wheels cars in the sofa cushions?), and you press the buttons on the back. The little robot arms go forward, the cars shoot out of its feet, race across the floor, and crash into your newly refinished wood work.
Whoopee.
Note that the car does not lock into the slot. If you tip the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher forward, one or both of your cars will roll out and have to be penalized for a false start. To me, the most fascinating part of the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher is that you can't seem to launch the cars unless the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher is on the ground. I haven't figured out how the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher stops the launch yet, but clearly the wizards at the Hot Wheels Corporation put more thought into this feature than how children will have any real fun with the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher.
It certainly works as designed. While the cover art seems to imply that the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher will roll after the cars after it launches them, even my finely-tuned legal brain could find nothing further to back that assumption. I demonstrated the proper and safe operation of the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher to my five year old son. We watched the cars roll across his bedroom floor and then under an 800 lb antique dresser. He then looked at me and asked, "Is that all it does? I thought it rolled after the cars too." Well son, it doesn't have wheels so it can't roll. But look - the arms move!
He then got his beloved Toy Story 2 Buzz Light Year robot down and stood it next to the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher. Buzz towered above the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher. He looked up at me with a puzzled expression and said, "That isn't right." How do you explain differences in scale to a five year old who is coming off a sugar high and up past his bed time? I gave him a hug and told him I love him.
The Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher earned an educational value of three stars because it teaches a valuable lesson: sometimes life can be pretty disappointing. It is too bad the boy is learning this at such an early age.
We agreed that we will be returning the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher once I get the dresser moved and we recover the car with which it came.
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Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher Robot and vehicle!From Toy Story 3! This nearly 10-inch tall rolling robot from the Disney Pixar film is the ultimate Hot Wheels launcher. Raise and lower powerful arms to launch two Hot Wheels cars simultaneously- racing side-by-side until one takes the lead! Attach a section of Hot Wheels track to the front of the launcher for even more racing fun! Comes with 1 Hot Wheels car. Not for use with some Hot Wheels vehicles. Ages 3 and over.
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