Customer Reviews

Barbie Airplane

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I too was amazed at the stellar reviews on this toy. Please do yourself a favor and save your money. This toy could be a real disappointment. No sooner had I put it together for my daughter and she began playing with it, the wings fell off and Ken would not fit properly into the chair, that is when the chair actually stayed together! Not to mention the small parts(ice cubes that come out of an ice maker in the stewardess' area) that get lost easily and have no real purpose. My daughter begged me for this gift last Christmas and I searched and searched, but was not able to buy one until her birthday in February. Apparently, the stores couldn't keep them on the shelves they were such hot sellers. Well, after her birthday was over and the toy proved to be a disappointment, I sent it back with my daughter's blessing. She has never looked back! So if this seems to be a "must have" for your daughter this year, please think twice and perhaps steer her toward something more durable. This toy is not worth the money or the time!

The Barbie Bug has finally bitten my 6 year old, and her latest obsession (for the last three months or so) has been getting the Barbie Airplane for Christmas. Santa delivered it, and she's not taken her hands off it since!

The plane environment comes with all the goodies that any self-respecting real plane has. This includes, among other things, reclining, sliding seats (with belts and headphones!), luggage, real microphone & takeoff sounds (batteries required, not included), and a whole plethora of goodies to make any trip worth it's while. I have even seen some Airplanes come WITH a bonus of a Pilot Barbie and two other children dolls, but don't know how commercially available these sets are.

However, bear in mind that since most of the play pieces are scaled down to Barbie's size, they can easily get lost. There is a coffee pot, mugs, glasses, pitcher, ice tongs and ice (VERRRRY small bits of ice! ), cans of Coke and silverware. There is on-board space and nooks & crannies to store all of these goodies during takeoff and landing, including a magazine rack with 'zines and movable drink trolley (in which you can store the drinks, food, silverware, food trays and snap-on seat trays). Just bear in mind that one good jolt to the plane can send everything flying pell-mell inside the cabin if it's not carefully stowed.

As far as interactive, creative play, the possibilities are endless, and the overall design of the toy is very detailed, especially the cockpit which is loaded with buttons, pulleys and levers (NOTE: in the cockpit, other than the "steering wheel"--if this is the correct term for an airplane-- and a set of levers, nothing else moves). The back of the plane sports a coffee and juice dispenser that "pours" a pretend stream of drinks into cups or mugs. The amount of detailing clearly indicates that the makers of this plane took their time and made sure to provide all the amenities of life.

My daughter, however, has expressed two concerns which she asked me to pass along in my review. The first is the aforementioned smallness of the pieces-parts, ESPECIALLY those ice cubes, which are about 1mm or so square--they're about 2 or 3 times the size of table salt crystals. They also BOUNCE when dropped in the plane, and the plane itself has numerous little slots and grooves in it. These grooves are good in that they often catch the runaway cubes, but are non-optimal in the respect that most children, and certainly almost all adults, will not be able to retrieve them with fingers (we discovered that the ice tongs or a piece of tape are especially handy in retrieving the runaway ice).

The other criticism she would like to pass along is that the seat belts are a bit tricky to get the dolls into. Tilting the seat back helps, but often the Barbie's legs get stuck on the belt and pop it open. Putting the belts back in requires some dexterity and patience, which all children may not have.

DEFINITELY **NOT** RECOMMENDED for children under about 4 or 5, or those children who like to eat small things, of which there's plenty in this set.

My mother bought this for my daughter last Christmas (She was 5 then) I was not thrilled when I saw the millions of little pieces. (Down to extremely tiny ice cubes no less) Yes, my back wings never stay on. Yes the seats tend to fall apart sometimes. And the whole thing doesn't always close very well. But ya know it's a year later and she still takes that dumb thing out at least 2x a week. Sets up the coke cans in the tray; puts the Barbies in the chairs. Makes ice. Her most favorite part though is that stupid microphone and button for the take-off noises. She LOVES to play stewardess and pilot on the "intercom" It doesn't stack up to what I thought it would but she loves it. Faults and all.

I agree with the others parents that wrote about this toy. My daughter received the airplane as a Christmas present last year. It was hard to find. My 5 year old loves the toy and plays with it at least once a week. We haven't had trouble with the wings falling off, but seats want to come unlatced. The main problem I have with the toy, is all the small and extra small pieces in the plane. They are so small (forks, spoons, ice cubes) that even the small children have trouble handling them. They are very easy to loose. I would give this toy alot of thought before buying it, especially the cost.

All I have to say is WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK. This was the worst [money] I ever spent.Why did they even bother to supply wings with this toy? they have yet to stay on for more than ten seconds.When my daughter tries to roll it along the floor the door keeps popping open.there are too many pieces inside the airplane unattached, the child gets very frustrated trying to put everything where its supposed to go, and it's not easy! This one gets a big thumbs down from me and all the kids that have played with it .

The Barbie Airplane is the seasons best selling toy from mattel! My daughter was so suprised and so happy when she recived the airplane for Christmas she was so happy she was about to cry! But things turned around when we opened the package! The airplane was very tricky to assemble! After me struggling with it for an hour my daughter started to play.(and found it extreammly amusing)FOR THE FIRST HOUR OR SO! It took her more time to actually put the seatbelts on and keep the pretend food trays and glasses from falling over. She got tired of having to put the seats together after they have disassembled after her long struggle to put her barbies in the seat! That was not such a big problem, UNTIL SHE DECIDED TO PLAY WITH THE ICE! The ice lever got stuck in place and she could not stop the ice from falling all over the floor and plane. She has one major concern: The pilots luggage will NOT fit in the luggage compartment. I DO NOT reccomend this for people with a low patience level!

As with most other Barbie accessory toys, the Barbie Airplane looks awesome on TV, is kind of a neat toy when your kid first plays with it, then after a few days it goes in the closet with the other Barbie toys. I was impressed with the realistic airplane cabin with the carts, trays, microwave, ice dispenser, etc. If your child is impressed with airline travel and the job of being a stewardess, this is the toy to get. Problems were that the ice dispenser doesn't hold the ice very well, and there are about 100 teeny tiny little cubes that get stuck in every little crack and indentation in the plane. Not too worry, they do vacuum up nicely from the carpet. Let's face it, this is a plastic toy with lots of plastic parts, so don't buy it for its durability. The wings on the tail will have to be replaced each time your child plays with it, which really isn't a big deal -- just expect them to fall off a lot. I would buy this toy again, simply because it was at the top of my 7-year-old daughter's birthday wish list. I do wish she didn't like Barbie things quite so much, though -- I don't feel that they are a very good value.

I am surprised to see such positive reviews of this toy. This is not an inexpensive product and it constantly requires reassemly due to the wings falling off or the doors of the inner compartment cabinets breaking. A six year old gets tired of this rather quickly and there you have a large plastic toy that is too frustrating to play with and very difficult to store. I bought this product last Christmas when it was the toy all six year olds just had to have! I thought I just got a lemon, but when I checked with the other mothers at school, they too were very disappointed with the plane. Many quietly disposed of the plane by spring. My daughter asked if she could give hers away to someone who might like it. I couldn't think of anyone.

What a wonderful, educational and entertaining toy! It has so many elements of interest: from the real microphone down to actual take-off and landing sounds! Our 6-year old daughter loves role playing with her Barbies and flying to make-believe places! My husband--who is an airline pilot--also agrees that this is great toy for children to learn and explore while using their imagination. It is also a terrific toy for children to play either alone or in a group environment, and both boys and girls seem to enjoy this delightful toy.

I bought his airplane for my daughter for christmas. My oldest daughter and I put it together the night that I purchased it. I have to say that this will be my daughter favorate Christmas present this year. The reason I know this is because my oldest daughter and I sat up and played with it for hours before putting it back in the box and wrapping it. The airplane comes with alot of little gagets and it will keep my children amused for hours. I cant wait for Christmas morning so we all can play again.