#AD – Gifted for Review
The girls are both HUGE Frozen fans (so much in fact they still regularly still watch the first movie on repeat!) and therefore in this household we are all pretty excited about the release of Frozen 2 and all fab new Frozen 2 products that are now available to buy including the Playdate Sven ride on reindeer.
Of all the Frozen 2 toys available there is one that you simply cannot fail to miss – the Playdate Sven Ride on. Neve first saw Playdate Sven in our local Smyths Toys superstore, and immediately let out a little shriek. Her favourite character from the original Frozen movie, she was already counting down the days till the Frozen 2 release and suddenly there he was, in her eyes at least, in lifesize form. She almost burst with excitement!
What is the Playdate Sven ride on reindeer?
The Playdate Sven ride on reindeer for children aged 3 and above, and standing at over 3 feet tall with the ability mto support weights of up to 70lb, he is sure to make quite the impression!
Sven comes with his very own carrot and features 20 different sounds including 2 phrases in Kristoff’s voice -the most frequent of which appears to be “give me a snack…. pleeeeease”.
Pop the carrot into his mouth and he will make real life chomping sounds and pull on his reins to hear real galloping sounds and other reindeer noises.
With a super soft faux fur mane, his head bobs up and down when touched.
Sven requires 2 AA batteries (included) and is available from Smyths Toys and retails at an RRP of £116.99 *currently on offer at £95.99.
First Impressions of Playdate Sven ride on Reindeer
Whilst she had previously had a little sit on the Playdate Sven ride on reindeer in the store, little did she know that we were being sent one to review, so when it turned up in our hall a few weeks later in an incredibly large box, she was absolutely over the moon, very quickly heading off to find her Anna outfit in preparation!
Unpacking him from the box I couldn’t help but laugh a bit to myself, wondering what the hell Mike was going to say when he came home from work to find a ginormous Reindeer taking pride of place in our living room. Playdate Sven ride on reindeer is BIG, and I mean BIG. Standing at around 3 foot tall, he certainly doesn’t go unnoticed, and of course this is something to bear in mind when purchasing. He doesn’t fold down or get smaller for storage, so where ever you decide to keep him, you are inevitably going to see Sven’s dopey eyed smile beaming back at you.
There is a small amount of adult assembly required, firstly removing the protective “hoof covers” from his feet (a nice touch!) and then clipping the antlers into place. They are held on with cable ties, and it’s quite tricky to cut these off (as not much space to get a pair of scissors underneath!) but once off, the antlers are simply pushed up until they click into their upright position. This is where we later experienced some issue (but I’ll come onto that later).
Neve was very excited to feed Sven his carrot, and I have to say his noises are pretty cute, especially when he begs for a snack. The volume is perfectly acceptable, unlike some toys which seem to come at a ridiculously loud level, and therefore Neve could play with Sven without disturbing other people in the room.
When it came to sitting on the Playdate Sven ride on reindeer initially she was actually a little bit scared. He is pretty big for a 3 year old, and as her feet were no where near the floor when she was up, she was a little concerned about falling off. We ended up using our bathroom step so she could get on and off unassisted, and she found this pretty hillarious.
From a parents point of view, I couldn’t help but feeling like Playdate Sven was lacking something. He’s very cute, and the girls love strocking the soft fur mane on his neck, but as a ride on toy, there isn’t really much of a ride. Whilst his head does bop up and down, and you can pull on the reins and the move in and out of the base, Playdate Sven doesnt actually move, something which I think is a bit of a missed opportunity. Having seen other ride on horse products where the children bob up and down and the legs span out, I think the girls would have LOVED this to do something similar.
That said, Neve loved getting dressed up and me creating some snowy frozen scenes with the power of photoshop. For a few moments at least she was transported into her very own imaginary Arendelle, riding through a snowstorm in her mission to rescue her sister. She even got a brave enough to ride hands free (at which point I was possibly glad that he had his feet firmly on the floor).
What happened next…
Unfortunately, an hour into our experience of reviewing the Playdate Sven ride on reindeer, my girls managed to break him. Yes really. The instructions in the box do make it quite clear that during assembly the antlers should be pushed up until they click into place, after which, you should not attempt to force them down again, as this could damage the product.
However, this to me is a bit of a problem. My girls are 6 and 3, so both well within the target age range of 3 and above, and when sitting on Sven, the reins were low (at waist level) and the antlers are RIGHT THERE, slap bang in front of their face. Being high off the floor and wanting to feel like they were actually riding, it is of course all too tempting to hold on to the antlers and pull. With no other actual movement, this made them feel like they were riding, so despite being told not to do so, I can understand that this was an almost instinctual thing to do. Pull they did, and after one enthusiastic ride from (a fairly petite and small 6 year old) Sven’s right antler flopped back down and will no longer go back upright.
Poor Playdate Sven now has one proudly erect antler and the other well… pretty darn flacid. Whilst I jest, I do think this is a bit of a design flaw, and had I paid full price for a toy to get broken an hour into Christmas Day, well, I’d be pretty frustrated.
It’s worth noting that despite this mishap, our Playdate Sven ride on reindeer hasn’t lost his appeal, and the girls are still playing with him despite his flopped down left antler. Whilst I guess I can use this to reinforce the message that its’ what’s on the inside that counts, it is a bit of a disappointing result from what started as a very exciting toy review.
Pros of Playdate Sven:
- Fun sounds and voices, at a parent friendly volume.
- Tall and fun to climbing on – great for creative play and pretend mini frozen adventures.
- Neve in particular has really enjoyed feeding him the carrot and listen to the interaction and noises he makes in return.
Cons of Playdate Sven:
- As fun as the concept may have been, for me Playdate Sven is lacking something. It feels like he should actually move but he doesn’t, and I can’t help feeling like there was a bit of a missed opportunity here to make something that was REALLY fun, instead of just a bit fun. Take away the movement, and you’re left with what is essentially a very large oversized reindeer toy.
- Even at the discounted price of £96.99 – this is a very high price item, and as such, I can’t help but feel it’s pricing out a lot of Frozen 2 fans (and in many cases Father Christmas!)
- Obviously as we managed to break Playdate Sven after having it for less than an hour, I do have a concern about the construction of the product. The antlers click into place, after which the packaging makes it very clear not to try and click them back down. However, try telling an excited child not to pull on the antlers when they are right in front of their noses. Given the lack of real life movement, pulling on the antlers is the only thing from the ‘driver’s seat’ that makes the rider feel like they are actually riding, as Sven’s head moves up and down as they do so. The rein feels somewhat lower, where as the antlers are right in their eye line, so it is inevitably going to happen, despite warning them not to, Pull too hard, and that antler is never going back up again. I for one know that if I had spent £96.99 on a product that broke an hour into Christmas Day I would be feeling pretty well peeved, and therefore would have expected the construction to be able to sustain a lot more than an excited (and small!) 6 year old child.
You can learn more about Playdate Sven ride on reindeer here.
*Disclosure – We were sent a Playdate Sven Ride on Reindeer for the purpose of this review however all thoughts and opinions are my own*
